For Cali, thank you for the ko-fi!
<Episode 148>
His noble face casually emptied the champagne glass.
Count Serenier smiled as if to say, “If you have something to say, go ahead,” with eyes that showed no sign of a conscience. I swallowed a sigh and watched the first dance as a bystander.
Rue had clearly done something ridiculous.
Yet, I couldn’t criticize him and ask him ‘Why did you decide to do something like that on your own?’
‘I think I would have done something similar.’
It was difficult to imagine the details… but I was at least certain I wouldn’t have put up with it.
Is it because love, by nature, pushes away those around us, and also makes us anxious enough to want to monopolize even just one dance? Rue was the first person I felt this way about, so it was hard to judge if this was normal or if there was something wrong with my head.
Count Serenier did not dance.
It was only natural. Since he’d sent my dance partner away, shouldn’t he at least stay by my side to fill the space, if he had a prick of a conscience?
Count Serenier’s background, status, and appearance attracted many suitors, some of whom openly asked him to dance with them.
Every time that happened, Count Serenier politely declined, showing his injured shoulder as an excuse. Then, as if expecting praise, he would wink at me.
I spent most of my time with the Calpenweaver sisters.
The lack of interest in dancing was one of the few things we had in common. We drank together, occasionally engaged in conversations with the friends of the sisters who approached us, and sometimes looked around to choose the best dancer.
The dancer Tara chose was the newly-returned Rowayne. He was undoubtedly one of the most popular figures at the event. Just like Viscountess Werkhord wished, he had the opportunity to mingle with several women.
Not a single woman rejected Rowayne’s dance proposal, so he had to keep dancing without a break. It was a bit tiresome because every time I saw him, he was dancing.
Count Serenier kept his seat next to me, but was generally busy. I tried to listen in on his conversations with the elderly gentlemen, but I quickly lost interest. It was boring, to say the least.
There were occasional questions about his relationship with me, and every time, Count Serenier responded as follows:
“I haven’t accomplished anything yet. It’s one-sided love from my side.”
Rarely did anyone take Count Serenier’s words at face value. And for good reason, since his attitude as he said ‘love’ was strangely relaxed. Thanks to that, the topic of conversation quickly changed, relieving us of any bothersome situation.
And so, after two hours since the start of the banquet had passed.
Raphael, who had disappeared, reappeared.
The hunting ball was just beginning to ripe. The clock pointed to twelve, and since it was said that the ball would continue until the sun rose, it would go on for another six hours without a break.
When I noticed Raphael’s presence and looked back at Count Serenier, I found him looking at me too. After excusing myself from the Calepenweaver sisters, I whispered to him.
“I’ll see him for a bit. Don’t interrupt us this time.”
Count Serenier returned me a bright smile. I gently patted him on the shoulder and added a few words.
“Raphael has been my comrade through life’s ups and downs for ten years. I want to have a conversation with him alone.”
“Just the two of you?”
“That’s how it has to be. You already know that, don’t you?”
“Oh no, I made a foolish mistake. If I had graciously allowed you to have the first dance, our dear Daisy wouldn’t have made such a demand.”
Count Serenier gracefully put down his glass and chuckled, brushing his fingers against my chin.
“Go quickly before I’m tempted to secretly follow you, Daisy.”
Instead of approaching Raphael directly, I moved through the ballroom, making sure he could spot me, and headed outside to the nearest terrace.
The opportunity to dance with him had already passed, so I thought it would be best to have a conversation in a quiet place.
Today, I would reveal myself to Raphael.
Honestly, I don’t think he will receive it gracefully. Raphael had already accepted me as ‘Daisy Weatherwoods, Andert Fager’s sister.’
I didn’t know if he would accuse me of abandoning him, or respect my circumstances. Nevertheless, I would reveal it to him, because…
‘I don’t want to deceive him anymore.’
As expected, Raphael followed me straight out.
“Here.”
As I lightly waved my hand, Raphael, who was standing near the door, quickly approached me with brisk steps.
A refreshing scent of the outdoors blew in, enough to make me forget the slightly stuffy air around us. It felt like we had just arrived at the party.
Raphael, standing in front of me, sincerely apologized with a genuine expression on his face.
“I’m very late. I apologize.”
“It’s okay. It’s only been about two hours. It will be a memorable debut in the social circle.”
“I have nothing to say for myself this time.”
“Really? Honestly, I thought it was fortunate that you came late. I’m not very confident in dancing. I’m still not used to wearing heels, so I don’t have the courage to run around in them for long periods of time.”
Raphael looked at me with a faint hint of doubt and asked.
“Did you really not dance with anyone?”
“How could I dance when the promised party was away? Was I supposed to bring a non-existent Duke Raphael with me?”
“Sir Rowayne and Duke Jurian were here, weren’t they?”
“Well, yes. But if I danced the first dance with them, you’d complain later with something like ‘Do you hate dancing with me that much?’ wouldn’t you?”
Instead of retorting, Raphael burst into a hollow laugh.
He looked at me with an expression of fascination, then quickly changed to a face that lacked surprise. Did he change his mind from ‘How can there be a woman like this?’ to ‘Well, it’s Andert’s sister, so it’s not surprising.’? I wondered why I found it a bit distasteful.
“So, Raphael, do you think Princess Natasha will appear tonight?”
“…I’m not sure.”
With a stiff expression, he turned his back to me.
“For now, please follow me. I will deliver Dian Cecht’s relic as promised.”
It was a genuine question, but it seemed like Raphael had heard it as urging to quickly hand over the item. I felt a bit sorry about that. But I had to get what I was supposed to get, so I gracefully followed behind him.
The weather this evening was so cold even though it was only early winter.
“The temperature has dropped a lot.”
Raphael, who said that, took off his suit jacket and handed it to me.
Was this for Andert or Daisy?
‘…I keep evaluating Raphael’s behavior since the hunting competition.’
I couldn’t help it. Raphael had been treating me as Andert’s sister all this time. With mixed feelings, I draped the suit jacket over my shoulders.
The place Raphael guided me to was in front of a carriage, standing still beyond a bridge over the canal in the courtyard. When he gave a signal, a servant got off the carriage and took out a neatly packaged box from the inside. Carefully, he placed the contents of the box on the chair closest to the door.
“This is…”
Dian Cecht’s cage.
It didn’t feel particularly new, probably because I had seen it once in the Zenail Estate. However, the cage, which I examined up close, looked even more worn and shabby than I had glimpsed before.
Although it was called a cage, there was no door, and a leather strap tied to the iron bars was neatly placed on the inside bottom.
“I assume that strap was the bird’s tag.”
The tag referred to the bird’s name-tag. When I carefully turned over the leather strap, I saw black letters engraved in the center.
『Ash』
Again.
This name.
“…Raphael, this item, it’s not a fake, is it?”
Even after the passage of time, the letters were engraved clearly. Seeing the mysterious energy emanating from it, it seemed to be magically preserved.
Raphael asked in return, “Do you have any reason to suspect it might be a fake?”
No.
The problem was that there was none. Yes, at least there was no significant issue with the name ‘Ash’ itself. But if that name, ‘Ash’, was written in a very familiar handwriting…
‘And if that handwriting is my own.’
Wouldn’t that be a problem from here on?
Ash.
Ash.
Ash…
…
No matter how much I think about it, it’s strange.
Why?
‘Why that, of all names?’
Why was it that name? Why was it scrawled in my handwriting?
There was no connection between me and Dian Cecht’s existence other than the heart crystal. Even that was something I’d swallowed by a coincidence caused by the swordmaster. It meant that there was no reason for my traces to be engraved on an item so old that it was called a relic.
‘Or perhaps, have I met Dian Cecht before without my knowledge?’
Maybe the identity of my old next-door neighbor was actually Dian Cecht. Well, technically, he wasn’t that smart of a man. Even if the speculation was correct, I couldn’t recall any memories of writing ‘Ash’ on leather like this.
No, well… I might not remember if it happened when I was 10 years old or something.
I was enveloped in a confusion that I couldn’t find an answer to.
‘I should discuss this with Rue. He might know something.’
After cooperating, I asked Raphael for the other payment I was supposed to receive as part of the deal.
“What about the other relic of Dian Cecht?”
The answer came quickly.
“As far as I know, it is with the Berkeley-Gratten Duchy.”
…God Damn it.
Thank you again Cali for the ko-fi!
Swordmaster being a shady son of a gun as always
Thank you for the chapter!
This smells like Back to the Future but if so plot makes even less sense now. Maybe reincarnation? Daisy past life being that Dain Cecht was looking for? Relics have nothing in common either.
I’m also wondering if there’s some sort of time travel element. The relics so far have been what motivated Daisy to try to extend her life and to go to the Weatherwoods and meet Rue and everyone else so I wonder if a future Daisy/Ash leaves them for herself.
Thank you for the translation! The plot thickens!
Does it has something to do with her actual name? I believe she never mentioned her real name… Though she might have made the connection already if that were the case.