3 – Baron Barcklith’s Manor
I smiled to myself with a sense of satisfaction.
Though it was technically a punishment, it came with its perks: I couldn’t bring maids or escorts, only a single handmaid.
‘If I just said I was visiting, I’d have to bring along a parade of watchers, but now I can shake them all off!’
Moreover, it was by the emperor’s order. Neither Edwin, Simon, nor anyone else could stop me.
With only one handmaid accompanying me, I stood before Kayan, who was waiting by the back gate of the imperial palace.
Kayan still had a bewildered expression on his face. Yet, he greeted me with unwavering courtesy.
“Your Highness, please reconsider.”
“Reconsider what?”
“About allowing our family to serve you, Your Highness.”
At this point, it was hard to tell who was being punished.
Kayan spoke with a troubled expression.
“The manor is still unsettled, as we recently acquired it. It would be inconvenient for Your Highness to stay there.”
At his words, I clapped my hands in delight.
“Wow, a brand-new place! Always the best!”
“We haven’t furnished it yet and are using the old furniture. It might not suit Your Highness’s taste.”
“But I love vintage styles.”
“We haven’t even hired servants from the capital yet, so the estate is staffed entirely by northerners. They might not be up to the standard of serving Your Highness.”
“Wow, old acquaintances are the best!”
“There’s still an air of strict discipline left over from the major expedition a year ago, so the atmosphere might feel unfamiliar to Your Highness.”
“But I think all relationships need a touch of novelty.”
“……”
As I beamed and enthusiastically retorted, Kayan was at a loss for words.
“Stop thinking about serving me.”
I stepped closer to him, lifting my head to meet his eyes, and spoke gently.
“Let’s just stay as we were before. Like in the North. That’s all I want.”
“Stay as we were… before?”
“Yes, completely close. From morning to night, closer than anyone else.”
“Wait, hold on…”
Kayan hesitated, stepping back nervously.
I smiled reassuringly at him.
“It’s fine. There’s no etiquette rule saying we can’t be this close.”
“With all due respect, Your Highness, that’s a misunderstanding. There are no rules against it, but I’m avoiding it purely out of instinctive fear.”
In the end, it was clear he intended to keep his distance.
With my hands behind my back, I closed the gap once more and spoke sincerely.
“I already told you, a year ago, I was wrong.”
In truth, I had been wrong all my past life.
“But if one mistake leads to eternal distance, I’d regret it for the rest of my life.”
I still regret not approaching you in my past life.
“I’ll stay by your side and make up for my mistakes. I’ll do so well that you can look forward to it.”
I will stay close to you as much as I regretted it in the past.
“I’m so excited about it too.”
I’ll make sure I do my best.
He had secretly protected me in my past life. But I hadn’t known for the longest time.
I had learned a valuable lesson from that: this time, I would protect him loudly and boldly. Quiet protection only leaves you with nothing in the end, as I had learned from Kayan’s heartbreaking sacrifices.
When I smiled brightly and stared into his eyes, a brief silence fell.
After a moment of hesitation, Kayan let out a small sigh.
“You know I’m not a proper noble, right?”
“Hm?”
Then, in a low voice, he added,
“I still lack… refinement and manners. I may make many mistakes while serving Your Highness.”
Though Kayan’s expression remained calm, his words made my heart ache sharply.
‘Lack refinement and manners…’
The fact that he now referred to himself like that was entirely my fault.
‘I just did what Simon told me to do, but that moment was awful…’
The moment Kayan cut ties with me came to mind.
A year ago. At a small garden party enjoyed by a few nobles, I had been sulking the entire time.
Noticing this, Kayan, who was sitting next to me, subtly asked,
“Iv, why are you in such a bad mood?”
Up until then, Kayan had called me by my nickname and spoken casually with me. We had agreed to treat each other the same way we always had, even in the imperial palace.
When I didn’t answer, he played a familiar joke.
“Did I do something to upset you? You’ve been like this since morning.”
It was a playful act where he lightly bumped his fist imbued with aura against mine.
Normally, allowing someone else’s aura into your body is considered an attack.
However, Kayan and I had spent countless times sparring with each other’s auras since we were young.
Under normal circumstances, I could repel his aura even in my sleep. He also made sure to use just enough aura for me to easily deflect.
It was a lighthearted, almost reflexive gesture between us.
“Ouch!”
But at that moment, I didn’t repel Kayan’s aura.
Aura, strictly speaking, isn’t something innate but rather a concentration of natural energy contained within the body. Thus, it wasn’t covered by the imperial blessing’s protections.
Even if an aura were disrupted or harmed, it wouldn’t affect one’s basic movements. In fact, many nobles never even use aura, and those incapable of wielding it live perfectly normal lives.
When I let out a scream and clutched my hand, everyone around us was startled and gathered.
“Wait, did he just attack Her Highness with aura?”
“My goodness… No matter how crude or ill-mannered one might be, how could he call that a joke?”
“It’s no surprise. Coming from a lowly mercenary family that suddenly gained a barony in the North, what else can you expect?”
Naturally, Kayan was visibly flustered.
The criticism directed at the young boy was relentless.
“I heard he calls Her Highness ‘Iv’ and speaks informally to her?”
“Is that true? Even the ignorant should know their place.”
At that moment, I couldn’t bring myself to meet Kayan’s gaze. Struggling, I barely managed to say that I wanted to cut ties with him and told him to return to the North.
Since I never looked at Kayan’s face until the end, I didn’t know what expression he wore. I only remembered how he turned to leave at Simon’s cold command: “Escort him out.”
‘He probably knew better than anyone that I deliberately didn’t repel his aura.’
After that, we didn’t see each other for a year—until just now, when I had spoken to him.
Now a young baron, Kayan respectfully addressed me as “Princess Ivnoa” and no longer used informal speech, even when we were alone.
“Crude and ill-mannered, they said.”
I swallowed back tears and forced a brighter smile.
“How could they say that? You and I grew up the same way.”
“Being uneducated is an unavoidable flaw,” Kayan said flatly.
“Just now, I didn’t even realize a servant was mistreating me. Isn’t that proof of my ignorance?”
“But you figured it out eventually, didn’t you? You even scolded him so sternly.”
“I only did what you taught me, Your Highness.”
“That’s not true!”
I shook my head firmly.
“I told you to say, ‘There will be no second chances,’ but you said, ‘I won’t forgive you next time.’!”
“…….”
“How is that the same? It’s a totally fresh take! A highly creative adaptation! A model of ingenuity!”
“……Yes. The word count is indeed different. Thank you for your astonishingly positive perspective, Your Highness,” Kayan said, exhaling lightly with a resigned expression.
“In any case, I worry that my lack of education or judgment might inconvenience you, Your Highness.”
“I only care that your lifespan isn’t short.”
“…….”
“I mean it.”
I looked straight at him.
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