For Kaela, Lusenford was a place where her life, filled with endless gloom and tears, finally collapsed and ended in agony.
As soon as she arrived here, she only thought about death. So when the opportunity arose for the nobles of Lusenford to be wiped out, she reluctantly ate the ferenco she had been avoiding.
In this place where the food was terrible, the weather cold and gloomy, and people cruel, laughter did not exist. She had to strain her memory to recall when she last laughed.
“If there was anything uncomfortable, or if you thought ‘this isn’t right’, you must tell me. I’m dull, so I won’t know unless you tell me,” Peon said, holding both of Kaela’s hands.
Kaela watched Peon’s expression carefully as he spoke. It was pitiful to see her being so cautious, but at the same time, the way she fidgeted with her hands and looked up at him was lovely.
There was a slight flush on her cheeks, and her slender fingers fiddling with his hands were pale white. Although it was cute to see her hands peeking out from the fur wrap he had just bundled her in, they must have already frozen.
“It wasn’t… uncomfortable,” Kaela answered haltingly after hesitating.
Peon nodded with a genuine smile. “Is that so?”
“And there wasn’t anything that felt… wrong.”
“I see. Anything else?”
He gently asked, reaching out with his gloved hand to hold her fidgeting hands. Suddenly, her blue eyes, which had grown much larger, looked up at him.
He wished those clear, piercingly blue eyes without any dark outlines would remain fixed on him like this. No, that was a dirty greed.
Once, these eyes had consistently held and followed him, but he had kicked away that golden opportunity himself. Now, this foolish man could only clutch his stupid, lingering heart and tuck her small hands into the fur wrap.
“It’s cold,” he said.
She obediently stayed still after he tucked her hands in. It was so much like when Kaela was young that Peon couldn’t help but smile.
“Let’s go. Keep telling me as we walk.”
He took very slow steps. Kaela was already weighed down by the heavy velvet dress and bundled-up attire, not to mention her small stature and short stride. So he often, intentionally or unintentionally, distanced himself from Kaela. He always distanced himself.
[Oppa, wait for me!]
The small footsteps and the whimpering voice clinging to the back of his head sometimes felt annoying, and sometimes, mischievously, enjoyable. Either way, Peon, who was just a young boy then, didn’t know what was truly precious to him.
“There’s not much… to say…” Kaela said, carefully taking steps while thinking hard, furrowing her brow as she looked up.
“Nothing happened. Nothing at all.”
“How could nothing have happened with so many people there? Who greeted you first?”
This man wasn’t originally someone who would ask about every little detail so warmly and attentively. Kaela didn’t hide her puzzled expression as she looked up at him blankly. Even with that look, his gaze remained expectant.
Could there be some political calculation behind this? Ah, yes. That must be it.
“The gatekeeper’s wife came forward and greeted me first.”
Although her tone was calm and composed without any emotion, Peon didn’t disregard a single word.
“So you’re saying it wasn’t because you ordered her to greet you.”
“That’s right.”
“What else did she do after coming forward?”
His tone carried a strong conviction that the gatekeeper’s wife must have done more than just greet her. Well, Peon must have had some experiences with the wives of important officials like gatekeepers.
“Please tell me exactly as it happened.”
It seemed he already had an idea. Kaela hesitated a bit before deciding to speak honestly.
After all, what benefit would there be in hiding it from him? And even if being honest led to something bad happening to her, that would just be what was meant to happen anyway.
There was nothing new about this, so it might be better to speak frankly and at least feel unburdened.
“The other ladies could have introduced themselves directly, but she tried to take on the role of introducing them to me. So I stopped her and had everyone introduce themselves in turn.”
It wasn’t like a wife sweetly recounting the day’s events to her husband, but more like a report to a superior. The stiff tone, unsuited to her delicate voice, made it feel even more like a report.
“So they introduced themselves one by one, and I received their greetings. We had refreshments… I said I was grateful they came.”
She wasn’t particularly grateful, but it was the Grand Duchess’s role to say such customary things, even if halfheartedly. In truth, even that was bothersome, but she did it anyway.
After greeting everyone in turn, she thought she should be the one to break the ensuing silence. She didn’t want to give the floor again to rude people like Yolnes Pare who liked to speak out of turn.
“Is that so?”
But Peon smiled more deeply, as if the mere fact that she had said something was important. The corners of his mouth lifted further, and his beautiful violet eyes were filled with laughter. Why was he smiling? Was what she said funny?
In Lusenford, where every word she spoke was met with snickering sounds and sarcastic remarks like “Ah, so that’s what Her Highness thinks,” followed by muffled laughter among themselves, Kaela gradually lost her words.
Everything she said became an object of ridicule. Not knowing why they were laughing, she didn’t know what to do. Sometimes she had the terrible thought of wanting to stab a pen into their laughing faces, which would then startle her.
So Kaela was afraid of people who laughed when she spoke, even when it wasn’t something to laugh about. That’s why she intentionally spoke more stiffly, but now Peon was smiling.
“Yes,” Kaela replied in a subdued, cracked voice, then closed her mouth again. Here, neither food nor speaking was free.
When she didn’t say anything more, silence fell between them. Kaela was already used to such silence, so she just walked quietly. She could feel Peon’s gaze on her, but she didn’t want to speak.
“What else did you say?”
But he insisted on making her speak. She couldn’t dare not answer the Grand Duke’s question.
Now that she thought about it, was he determined to keep making her talk just to make fun of her? It would be better to just ignore her; being mocked and ignored was hard for the pride of the Princess of Ostein to bear.
“Your Highness?”
Kaela, who had been pressing her lips together, opened her mouth again.
“It was just formalities. I don’t understand why you’re curious about that.”
Her voice, even stiffer now, carried no emotion, but a perfect shield was raised, ruthlessly deflecting Peon.
The noble Princess of Ostein was radiant even with just a slight smile, but when she closed her mouth, she exuded an atmosphere that made it difficult to approach her casually.
She was so precious and elegant that it seemed only those of sufficiently high status could even speak to her. People who didn’t know her said she was cold. In fact, it was just narrow-minded people who disparaged her for not smiling at them.
Peon knew well how warm-hearted and kind she truly was.
