IDIBC Chapter 46

Absolutely Unacceptable

Was I wrong? Did I not remember but just assume? No, but how would he even know what I look like? From the moment he approached me, it seemed like he had already figured out who I was.

When I raised my hand to my chest, my heart was still pounding away busily.

“Anyway, he said I had come to his bedroom, and how could that make any sense? He even mentioned that I was holding a yellow rose.”

“…….”

“If Young Duke Chaplin remembers that incident, won’t the Rochester family have problems?”

As I carefully retraced various possibilities, I suddenly realized something. That Ricardo hadn’t said a single word this whole time.

I slowly raised my head to look at him. Meeting eyes with Ricardo was always heart-fluttering, but now I even felt somewhat afraid.

Still, I had to ask.

“Why are you so angry?”

The face I actually confronted wasn’t making any particular expression. He was, as always, a person whose emotions couldn’t be read. But then why did I feel like he was extremely angry?

As if to prove my guess was correct, Ricardo gave no denial in response to my question.

“Am I being too oblivious? But really, I didn’t do anything that would give me away… I was just taking a walk and turned around, and Young Duke Chaplin was standing right there.”

He, who had been silently and quietly just watching me, took off the outer coat he was wearing. Then he stretched his arm out long and placed it over my shoulders. The coat that enveloped my shoulders with a soft thud was much warmer than I remembered.

Ricardo pulled the collar of the coat with his remaining warmth and carefully dressed me in it. Even after that, he didn’t withdraw his hands from me.

Perhaps it was because his eyes had sunk so deeply? Even though I knew it was midday, I was overcome by the feeling that if I opened the door and went outside, it would surely be night.

As I met that gaze, somehow all the excuses I was making became meaningless words that scattered into the air.

Then he opened his lips as if muttering to himself, with a slight smile.

“I was away from your side for barely an hour.”

“…….”

“Barely… an hour.”

Was he blaming me for causing trouble in that short time? But somehow, the words thrown out felt like he was reproaching himself—that was probably my delusion born from wanting to escape this moment.

“The grand priest said something very important, but honestly, I didn’t care about it at all.”

We were at a distance where I couldn’t distinguish whose breath was whose. Pulled along with the collar, I remained bound by his gaze.

The silence where even my breathing seemed jarring, and the very thin distance that existed between him and me somehow made me feel like a guilty person.

He no longer seemed inclined to even continue sporadically uttering those difficult-to-understand words, and just quietly stared directly at me. As if he would trap me inside those pitch-black eyes like the deep sea.

I gradually became afraid of that gaze. Afraid that he would finally notice my pitiful heart that wanted to cross the line he had drawn last time.

“Lienne.”

He called my name both tenderly and cruelly.

“The reason I erased Walter’s memory wasn’t some trivial reason like worrying the Rochester family would be in a difficult situation or anything like that.”

“Then why…?”

“I just wanted to erase that ridiculous memory from that bastard’s mind—the memory of you entering his bedroom holding a yellow rose.”

“And…”

A languid whisper mixed with a light laugh continued.

“Just because I can’t touch you… doesn’t mean other bastards can.”

What on earth did that mean…? Before I could grasp the exact meaning, my face flushed hot first.

“At least, while you’re my fiancée.”

“…….”

“Absolutely unacceptable.”

Ricardo pulled the collar he was holding a bit more to fasten the front properly. His touch was so gentle that the words I’d just heard didn’t quite sink in. With a face that felt no warmth, he smiled slightly and let me go. Then he buried himself deeply in his seat.

Only then did my mind return, like ice melting in the sunlight and a single drop of water falling with a plop.

“W-well, that’s obvious!”

I grumbled while unnecessarily adjusting the coat he had covered me with.

“Then from now on, if such a situation arises, I’ll just collapse on the spot.”

Ricardo chuckled and went straight outside. Returning to the carriage immediately, he closed his eyes tightly without any explanation.

“We’re… not going back to Rochester like this, are we?”

I have absolutely no intention of coming here again.

“What?”

I asked repeatedly, but no answer came. It was an important matter to me, but I judged it would be better to just quietly wait for him to open his eyes for now.

After some time passed, it became a bit noisy outside and Freddy’s voice could be heard.

“Your Grace, it’s ready.”

Just as I thought we were about to leave, Ricardo opened the door and received something from Freddy. It didn’t take long to realize that the item was a new lace shawl to cover my shoulders.

Instead of asking where it came from, I quietly took off his coat and handed it to him, then obediently received the shawl from him and put it on. The lace wrapping around my shoulders was much softer than what I had brought.

It was clear they had made the great Crown Prince of Dermeier and the young lords of the other two ducal families wait because of this trivial shawl.

Ricardo, having put his clothes back on, got out of the carriage first and extended his hand to me. Without hesitation, I took his hand, which still held warmth.

From now on, it was time to restart a play whose ending everyone already knew.

****

The reception room of the Crown Prince’s palace had a completely different atmosphere from the audience chamber where I’d met the Emperor. Light continuously poured in through the large windows, and soft carpets with exotic patterns were laid on the floor. It was filled with warmth, as if they usually lived here.

The portrait of the Crown Prince and Crown Princess couple that filled one wall was beautiful, but it was difficult to gauge their age from the expressions of the young couple in the painting alone.

On the bookshelf placed below it, books were sporadically arranged. With a book just placed on the shelf as if it had been read until just moments ago, it was a scene that could have been any noble family’s reception room.

As I had worried, everyone was waiting for Ricardo and me. And there, I had to meet one more person I hadn’t expected.

“We meet again. Though it would be difficult to call what we had last time a meeting.”

At first glance, I recognized who she was. It wasn’t easy to forget a beauty with such vivid coloring.

“I greet Your Highness the Crown Princess.”

She seemed to be someone who didn’t care much about formalities. Without waiting for me to complete my courtesies, she stood up and personally took my arm to guide me to my seat.

Despite receiving excessive kindness from the Crown Princess, I found this entire situation simply uncomfortable and difficult.

This meeting had come about because Rochester’s engagement couldn’t be dismissed as merely family business. But no one in this space was unaware that I was Ricardo’s temporary fiancée, and that he had undertaken this engagement merely to save Fennel.

While ordinary nobles might not know that Rochester’s star had risen again, the imperial family and ducal families would naturally know this fact.

Nevertheless, I was in the position of having to participate most actively in this play.

After taking time to introduce each person, appropriate courtesies were exchanged. Afterward, conversations that were hard to understand continued intermittently, but I tried to focus on the gathering while quietly nodding.

Fortunately, thanks to the Crown Princess, the atmosphere flowed smoothly. Of course, no matter how comfortable a setting they created, the atmosphere emanating from each and every person was still far from modest.

Then a story about me began to flow.

The Crown Princess’s story, which began with “I visited Rochester myself, you know,” drew considerable interest from people.

“He was hiding her away so tightly that I barely managed to see her hair before coming back.”

“Is that so? That Young Duke Rochester has such a side to him—it’s hard to believe without seeing it.”

Only Julian actively responded to the Crown Princess’s words. Walter had been silently staring straight ahead from earlier, just lifting and setting down his teacup. When I glanced sideways to check, the tea in the teacup hadn’t decreased at all and remained the same.

“I simply wanted to ask Lady Fennel what would be good as an engagement gift.”

“Perhaps it’s because there’s nothing the Rochester family lacks. Isn’t that right, Lady Fennel?”

At Julian’s question, I tried to deflect the situation with an appropriate smile. I wanted to see Ricardo’s expression at this moment, but it was difficult to check since he was sitting right next to me.

But I had the feeling that the Crown Prince had been staring at me intently from earlier. Thinking it must be my imagination, I turned my head, but I could no longer pretend not to notice the persistent gaze.

I wasn’t the only one who noticed.

“Your Highness, Lady Fennel must be embarrassed. Why are you staring at her so intently?”

“Ah…”