Chapter 19
Aden always shows up out of the blue and brings a storm with him.
Both in the past and now. Bellieta, watching him under the lights, smiled broadly as she faced Sierra again.
“Have fun at the banquet. I’ll see you around.”
With a final wave, Bellietta turned and left.
The smile slowly faded from Bellietta’s face as she walked away with the sound of her heels.
“Observe more of Sierra and its surroundings and report back, Fiorette. Don’t miss a thing, all of them.”
“Understood.”
Fiorette replied quietly, closing her eyes.
Bellietta stepped out of the darkness and into the bright light, a smile returning to her face.
As if on cue, the darkness moved away from Bellietta.
Bellietta blended into the light.
In contrast to Bellietta’s blending into the light, Sierra’s smile vanished from her face as she remained in the darkness.
Staring at Bellietta with a cold face, Sierra silently lifted her glass to her mouth.
I won’t forget what you said today. So don’t ask me later why I did that.
The red wine disappeared from Sierra’s lips.
It’s all because of what you brought upon yourself.
Sierra turned her body, and Aden’s gaze just looked at her back.
*** *** *** ******.
Tap, tap, the fingers moved up and down in a regular motion.
The owner of the fingers tapping on the table jerked his chin as he glanced back at Sierra’s distant back.
The man’s fine silver hair fluttered like silk as he moved.
Dark brown eyes darted downward as they followed Sierra’s back out of sight.
The way his legs uncrossed and re-crossed again, the way he leaned his upper body back, long and leisurely.
Though not as thick and muscular as Aden’s, his long legs and arms were no less cool and solid.
“You look displeased.”
He was chasing Sierra. As soon as she completely disappeared from sight, he pouted his lips and complained.
“Wow, I was invited and attended, but I’m being treated like a reed in a field of reeds.”
“You’re being a bit harsh, weren’t you almost run over by the rush of people a moment ago, all eager to have a word with the eldest son of the Duke of Palieva?”
“I’m a little jealous that the attention was so quickly diverted.”
For that, weren’t you looking at it with quite interest?”
“When did I?”
Count Lehman Graham, who was smiling at the grumbling Kestian, stood up with his cane in hand.
Kestian himself rises from his seat to help the elderly earl to his feet.
“Hehe, you’re always indebted to Confucius.”
“I’ve heard you say that a hundred times already. It’s enough to make me want to bow down, so just lean back.”
His brow narrowed in displeasure, but his grip on Lehmann’s hand was gentle.
As Lehman straightened his back after getting up from his seat with Kestian’s help, Kestian let out a sigh and took a step back.
“Are you going?”
“It is not a good thing for an old man to stay at a banquet for a long time. “I want to go back and rest.”
“I’ll be happy to escort you.”
“There’s no need for that. The Duke enjoys the banquet more. Even an old man like me looks good next to a fireplace.”
Lehman smiled tiredly.
The old earl, who had been greeting him in a languorous voice, turned again to see if anything had occurred to him.
“By the way, She’s grown up a lot, young Brilloxen. When I saw her five years ago, she was just a child, and now she’s become quite mature.”
“Do you know her?”
“I’m sure you know, Confucius. There were a few times when Brilloxen Young Lady participated in the regular military meetings as a proxy.”
“Did she?”
Lehman sighed softly at the unfamiliar expression on his face, as if he was hearing this for the first time.
Knowing Kestian’s tendency to be uninterested in anything until it’s of interest to him, Lehmann shook his head.
“We decided to meet up briefly in the evening, would you like to come along if it’s okay?”
Kestian sat down with a disinterested expression on his face.
“Why should I follow the grandfather there? Forget it. I’ll just have a little more to drink here. Chill out.”
***
“This is my first time meeting you, Lady Briloxen. “Please call me Kestian.”
Kestian was the first to say hello to Sierra, who was sitting across from Leman at the minibar in the Marquis’s residence, having a quick drink and chatting with him.
Lehmann looked up at Kestian, who hadn’t intended to join them, and a smile tugged at the corners of his wrinkled mouth as he followed behind.
The smile was hidden by his beard, but it tugged at the corners of his mouth as he moved.
Kestian forced himself to avert his gaze from Lehmann, who was watching him with a furtive glance.
Sierra When she was going to have a cup of tea with her father’s teacher, Lehman Graham, she was embarrassed when the eldest son of the Palieva Duke family, who was not an ordinary nobleman but was in charge of the military industry, showed up.
An unexpected guest is a guest, but such was Kestian’s status.
“……Why is the future Duke here?
Kestian told Sierra that it was his first time seeing him, but Sierra knew Kestian and had personally seen him sit on the dukedom.
Unlike the Dukes of Bozbourne, the young lord of House Palieva, which was kept in check by the imperial family, was a man as hard as the earth and as heavy as a rock.
He was a discreet man who didn’t show himself in social circles or to the outside world.
Why would such a man be here?
“My grandfather said he wanted to introduce me to a kind person, so I’ve come along. Forgive my rudeness.”
“Hehe, Confucius. Didn’t you say no when I asked you to come with me?”
“Me? When?”
“Oh, no. I’m old and weak and my eyes are droopy, but I still have my ears. How dare you try to test an old man’s memory?”
The conversation was so light and friendly that the half-century age gap between them was negligible.
Sierra felt the gap between the Kestian that remained in her memory and the Kestian now.
I hurriedly opened my mouth.
“It’s not bad to stand up and talk, but why don’t you sit down? There’s a chair next to the Count.”
Sierra’s calming suggestion caught Kestian off guard, and he looked embarrassed.
Kestian cleared his throat, sat down on the chair, and ordered a martini from the employee.
The distracted atmosphere calmed down for a moment, and Sierra looked at Kestian, caressing the cold glass with water droplets on it, then tilted her head diagonally.
“But, is this the first time we’ve seen each other? I think I’ve seen you a few times before… … .”
Kestian gave Sierra a puzzled look.
Lehmann had told him they’d met a few times at conferences, but he’d forgotten.
Lehmann looked at Kestian with a puzzled look.
Kestian’s mouth dropped open slightly, his eyes narrowed, and he spoke slowly.
“I’ve seen you before, Muulon, but this is the first time we’ve met and talked in private like this, so I just said hello. We saw each other. that… … .”
His narrowed brow and shaking hands wandered back and forth, unable to find the words.
Lehmann, seeing no better, sighed and helped Kestian up.
“Governor’s meeting.”
“Governor’s meeting! I met you a few times during count governors’ meetings hosted by Palieva. Do you remember?”
Kestian, who had barely escaped the situation with Lehman’s help, asked with a shameless expression whether she remembered.
Sierra looked at Kestian as if he were a strange person and nodded hesitantly.
“So, what are you doing here all of a sudden? Oh, if it’s for the conference next month, I think I’ll be attending, my parents are out of town right now.”
“……Yes?”
“I was just talking to Count Graham a little while ago about the meeting next month, and he said that Palieva is very worried about it, but don’t worry too much. Brilloxen is in favor of Palieva’s direction.”
Kestian looked back at Lehmann, unsure of what to say.
Lehmann raised his glass, a smile tugging at the corners of his wrinkled mouth.
“You were worried alot, so I asked for help. Miss Sierra has studied and trained under the Counts and Countsess Brilloxen. The Brilloxens’ support is a great strength, so I asked her to do this for you.”
“Is that……? I’m always grateful for my Grandfather’s support.”
Kestian pushed the corners of his mouth upward with effort, his expression brightening.
“I see, you were having that conversation with your grandfather. Mmm…….”
Sierra tilted her glass and stared at Kestian as he stammered, then shook her head.
Then, at the sight of a familiar face behind him, she stood up.
“It was a pleasure talking to you, Count Graham. Princess Pallieva, it was a great pleasure to speak with you privately. Later on, I don’t think it would be a bad idea to set up a separate meal and talk instead of drinking like this.”
“Are you going?”
“I have some work to do.”
Sierra smiled and bowed slightly before turning and stomping away.
Staring after her back as she walked away, Kestian sighed.
I came this far with a lot of interest, but I couldn’t even have a proper conversation.
His mouth felt bitter, and he drained the glass he was holding.
“Would you like another drink?”
“I’m …… done. Let’s go.”
Lehmann stood up and watched Kestian’s back as he limped away, a soft smile of amusement on his face.
