“Wow, what a surprise!”
The person who was hiding behind a bush was startled by the sudden attack and fell backward awkwardly.
That person was none other than the Count’s son, Gerald Senospon.
“Aren’t you the Count’s master? Why are you here…?”
Confirming that he was the owner of the mansion and not an intruder, Cloud put the sword he had drawn back into its sheath with a puzzled look on his face, but Ayla was still holding the dagger in her hand and glaring at Gerald with wary eyes.
“Well, that…” “I’m just curious about what you’re doing.”
Gerald avoided Ayla’s gaze with a flashed face.
It seemed like he couldn’t stand it because he was so embarrassed that he fell backward and hit his butt in a situation where showing off his cool face wasn’t enough.
“… … .”
Cloud instantly realized the reason why Gerald was acting like this. Even if he tried not to, he couldn’t have known. His fondness for Ayla was evident on his face.
‘It’s difficult.’
He clicked his tongue inwardly.
By all accounts, Ayla could not be Gerald’s opponent.
She was a consumable item that would one day be used and discarded, and even if that wasn’t the case, she was a noble princess of the Duke of Weishafen and someone he couldn’t ignore.
However, since they are dependent on the count’s family for their stay, isn’t it impossible to say something unpleasant to his son, saying, ‘If you do this here, it will be difficult. Please go back immediately.’
“… … So, I want you to put that knife away for now. I’m not a suspicious person. I’ve seen you before.”
Gerald smiled shyly and appealed to himself in a charming voice.
Ayla put aside the dagger she’d been pointing at him, though she still had an awkward expression on her face. He was obviously who he was, even if he didn’t enjoy that he attempted to conceal and observe her.
Ayla, whose interest has disappeared, sits back on the iron chair with a sour expression and holds a mug in her hand.
She didn’t know why the count’s precious young master would do something like this, but whatever the reason, it wasn’t something she should pay attention to because she was already complicated with her own problems.
She just hopes you return quickly so she can rest quietly.
However, Gerald seemed to have no intention of granting her wish.
“I’m Gerald. Gerald Senospon.”
“… … so?”
She thinks she already heard the introduction on her first day at this mansion. She answered bluntly and took a sip of cocoa.
Although it might hurt his pride to be treated coldly like this, Gerald smiled brightly as if he liked that aspect and sat down in the chair that was originally Cloud’s seat.
Then he cleared his throat and gave Cloud a look. It was a signal to leave the room since they wanted to be alone together. Taking someone else’s seat was not only a shame. It was an overly shameless attitude even for the owner of the house.
However, Cloud pretended not to notice the signal and just stood quietly behind Ayla and kept his mouth shut.
Gerald twitched his eyebrows in dissatisfaction for a moment, then smiled brightly and spoke to Ayla again, as if he had never done that before.
“you? “What is your name?”
“… … “I don’t have a name.”
Even if she asks a question, she wonder if it only ends up being such a difficult question. Ayla bit the soft flesh on the inside of her lip and swallowed her frustration.
For some reason, she felt like she was starting to hate this guy named Gerald more and more.
“Where the hell are these people without names? “Are you kidding me?”
Gerald must have thought her answer was a funny joke, so he hit his knees and burst into laughter.
Seeing that, Ayla narrowed her eyes and looked at Gerald. The more she talked to him, the more her mood seemed to sink to the ground.
Of course, she also has a pretty name, ‘Ayla Heiling Weisshafen’, and she only knew that now.
In her previous life, she was truly a ‘nameless girl’.
How sad it was that she didn’t have the name that everyone had.
In such a situation, if she had met a person who made fun of her and asked where there was such a thing as ‘I don’t have a name’, Ayla at that time would have fallen asleep with her pillow wet with tears.
And Gerald, who belatedly noticed the cold expression on her face, stopped laughing and looked at her. If she laughed a little longer, she was ready to hit her.
“… … You don’t want to tell me? name.”
Gerald interpreted Ayla’s answer in his own way and pouted his lips as if depressed, and she felt even more angry.
Maybe he just trying to see the situation the way he wants to see it.
‘Isn’t it only when you have a name to tell me that you will tell me!’
She just wanted to tell him her name and yell at him to get out of there if he knew.
However, if she answered that her name was Ayla in front of Cloud, her secret would be revealed, and even if no one was around, she couldn’t tell her name to someone who might run up to her father and say, ‘That girl’s name is Ayla.’ Because it was work, Ayla kept her mouth shut.
If that happened, Byron could have activated a curse or something and lost his life.
No, it might be a good thing to misunderstand it like that. If he makes it clear that he doesn’t want to talk like this, He’ll go back and never bother her again.
Gerald was a young person with an excessive amount of gritty determination.
“… … It’s okay. You don’t have to tell me. What should I call you?
He asked with one eye narrowed, and Ayla almost spit out the cocoa she was holding in her mouth.
She had no idea what she had heard. She was so goosebumps that she felt like the hairs on her whole body were standing on end.
Even Cloud, who had been standing still as if he were just a part of the scenery, let out a sigh and cleared his throat at that statement.
“Okay, pretty. “Do you like it too?”
However, Gerald smiled brightly at her as if he liked the nickname he had given her.
She couldn’t tell if he was serious or just joking to tease her.
Even after seeing the expression of disgust and shock on Ayla’s face, he was asked if he liked it.
And just then, a voice was heard desperately looking for Gerald.
“Young master! “Where are you, master?”
“Oh, I have to go. I’ll come again, pretty girl.”
He ruffled Ayla’s hair and disappeared in the direction from which the sound was heard with a flower-like smile.
Normally, she wouldn’t have let him touch her body, but she was so entranced by the shocking ‘pretty girl’ comment that she couldn’t stop it.
Ayla, who had been in a daze with her mouth open even after Gerald left, came to her senses after a while and opened her mouth.
“… … “Are you crazy?”
Yeah, crazy. There is no word that can describe him better than crazy.
Cloud, who was standing behind her, didn’t react much to her words, but judging from how he groaned and made strange noises, he seemed to be thinking the same thing.
“Are you really going to come again?”
“You’ll probably come again.”
As she muttered to herself, Cloud, who had regained his position, answered in an embarrassed voice.
She didn’t know what it was, but Ayla suddenly felt exhausted, as if all her soul had been drained out of her. Today was training, and she wanted to put everything aside and rest.
She sighed deeply.
* * *
Early in the morning, with the sun not yet up, the Peles Empire’s imperial palace.
The diligent chamberlain was already ready to start the day and was standing in front of the prince’s bedroom.
“Your Majesty, did you cough?”
He knocked, but there was no answer from inside the room. It seems that the crown prince of this country is still wandering in dreamland.
It was a morning no different from usual.
“… … “I’m going in, Your Highness.”
The chamberlain grinned and opened the door.
Even though he grew taller in just a few months and grew a year older, turning 15, Crown Prince Winfred still couldn’t shake off his childlike appearance.
She is not sure if it’s okay to think such blasphemous thoughts towards the crown prince he serves, but he is truly a cute prince.
When the chamberlain approached Winfred’s bed to wake him up, he was groaning and talking in his sleep as if he were dreaming.
“No, I don’t want to…” … !”
He was crying and struggling, so it seemed like he was having a horrible dream.
“… … “Your Majesty, your Majesty!”
The Chamberlain lightly shook Winfred’s shoulder. No matter what he was dreaming about, it was time to wake up from it.
Then Winfred jumped up as if someone had forced him to stand up and let out a rough breath.
“Ugh, huh.”
“What did you dream about?”
The chamberlain looked at Winfred with pity and poured cold water into a glass.
Winfred gulped down the water in one go, sighed, and muttered.
“An unpleasant dream.”
It was a very unpleasant dream.
It was good that Ayla appeared, but the problem was an unknown boy of that age standing next to her. Moreover, he even casually put his arm around Ayla’s shoulder.
And no matter how desperately Winfred called her, she didn’t answer and disappeared somewhere along with the boy.
‘No, don’t go, Ayla!’
He shouted and tried to run after him, but his legs were so heavy that he couldn’t follow him.
It was a truly terrible nightmare.
Winfred tried to console himself by saying that a dream was just a dream, but he had an ominous feeling and his mood did not improve easily.
Still, to proceed with the day’s schedule without a hitch, it was time to get up. Winfred put down the empty cup and struggled to get up.
And just as he was about to change his clothes, the door burst open and someone came in.
“Binka… … ! “How many times do I tell you to knock when you enter His Majesty the Crown Prince’s residence?”
“Ah, ah! I’m sorry. I thought no one would be there… … !”
It was Binka, a maid who quickly rose to prominence as the person in charge of cleaning the crown prince’s bedroom thanks to her role in finding the crown prince’s precious handkerchief.
