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After seeing Ruth off, Yustaf breathed out a sigh, wanting to wash away the feeling of filth right away.
PR/N: Poor Yustaf, he’s been contaminated by the sleeze bag ⊂(◣﹏◢⊂ )∘˚˳°
At that time, there was the sound of light footsteps.
“Yus?”
Ran approached with a worried face, her wheat coloured hair fluttering.
“I heard the Crown Prince came and went?”
“Did you hear that?”
“Yes, Rolf told me.”
Her green eyes stared at Yustaf.
The same color as Lachia’s deep green.
Yustaf said, somehow feeling a little bit better.
“There is nothing to worry about.”
“Really? Are you okay?”
“Yes.”
He answered and asked with rare hesitation.
“Would you like to return to Lachia?”
At the sudden question, Ran blinked in surprise, crossed her arms and said.
“Well, I’ll be here until at least the end of this social season.”
“Okay.”
Yustaf nodded without much objection.
“You can go back first if you want to.”
At Ran’s comments, Yustaf replied, “I know.” Ran glanced at his face and said.
“But, uh, I’d like you to stay.”
“Gladly.”
Yustaf said so and bowed slightly. At his sudden closeness, Ran opened her eyes wide.
“Yus?”
“Yes.”
“Well, uh- do I have something on me?”
“No.”
Relaxedly observing Ran’s emerald-colored eyes, Yustaf asked after straightening his back.
“Would you like to go to my study with me?”
“Huh?”
“We have a report on the second prince.”
“I want to go.”
Ran nodded and took the lead in walking.
You can’t trust anyone. Be especially careful of those who whisper that they love you.
Yustaf’s mother whispered several times with her crazy eyes.
Or you’ll end up like me.
“Sister.”
“Huh?”
“What would you do if I betrayed you?”
“Oh! I hope you’re not selling me to the Crown Prince!”
When Ran looked back at him and said that, Yustaf replied as if it was not worth thinking about.
“No way.”
“Right?”
As if it was a lie that she was surprised, Ran said with a grin, sweeping her chest excessively.
“What if Yus betrayed me? Well. It would be painful.”
“I see.”
“And you will meet Ran Romea de Lachia, who has returned from hell.”
Hearing what she said while laughing, Yustaf looked at Ran silently then nodded deeply.
“That would be fine.”
“In what way is that fine?”
Ran frowned and asked back, adding.
“And if you’re planning something, tell me beforehand. Haven’t we already reached an agreement? I won’t burden you.”
“We did.”
“So then?”
Ran shrugged her shoulders.
‘Hehe, I’m not scared of you at all.’
Thinking so in her mind, Ran glanced at Yustaf and their eyes met. Ran, who turned her eyes away quickly, could not see Yustaf smiling.
Entering his study, Yustaf held out the document Nok-young gave him, and Ran frowned deeply.
“Are these letters?”
“Oh, you don’t know how to read the code.”
“I don’t know.”
“Then please sit down for a moment.”
Yustaf said so and opened the ink bottle. Instead of sitting down, Ran went to stand behind his back. Yustaf looked back at Ran, who was staring at him from over his shoulder as he continued translating.
“What are you doing?”
“Yus, you have beautiful handwriting.”
“Your handwriting is bad.”
“Do you know how hard it is to use a quill pen?”
In response to her protest, Yustaf raised the quill pen he was using and said.
“I know enough.”
Ran wished she had a ballpoint pen, or at least a fountain pen.
‘Wouldn’t it be possible to make it using Dwarf or Elf workmanship?’
Thinking that she should order it later, Ran read what Yustaf had translated.
“It’s more normal than I thought.”
“If there’s already a Crown Prince, there’d be no second Prince who’d want to stand out.”
“That’s right.”
Ran nodded. Ran, who was glued to Yustaf’s back and watching him write, fell into amazement.
“But it’s amazing.’
Ran said that she could never get tired of looking at Yustaf’s neat writing and stepped back awkwardly.
Writing down the last sentence, Yustaf waited a moment for the ink to dry up before handing the paper to Ran.
“I’m sure you’ve already read it all.”
“But I’d like to read it one more time.”
The handwriting was written as quickly and cleanly, like typed print.
“Come to think of it, Sister, you’ve met the Crown Princess.”
“Oh, yeah.”
“What kind of person is she?”
“A scary person.”
Yustaf asked lowly at Ran’s comments.
“Has she harmed you?”
“Not really, but she picked a fight. Well that’s because her husband’s hitting on me…”
Suddenly, while speaking, Ran blurted the end of her words. Is the Crown Princess someone who would get mad about that?
You’re gonna poison your husband anyway, aren’t you?’
Ran tilted and nodded ‘yes’. People don’t change their minds so easily. Anyway, the Crown Prince is her husband, so he won’t be completely free there.
“Sister?”
Yustaf stopped writing and turned completely towards her. Ran said “Ah.” and shook her head.
“No, speaking of feelings, she seems like someone you don’t want as an enemy.”
Yustaf didn’t respond any further and continued to write down the neat letters on the paper. After a while, he finished writing down the last paragraph and said.
“Sister, you’re too close.”
“Huh? I didn’t notice, I’m sorry.”
Ran said so and looked at the document.
Second Prince.
Ravel Monia La Martel.
He is two years younger than the Crown Prince, and is 26 years old this year.
‘There’s nothing particularly conspicuous, and there are no rumors about him.’
The fact that he likes to study and that he is not active in social activities gave him extra points.
‘In the original work – no, in the one I channeled[1] – he had become the Emperor without much resistance. There were no problems after that.’
Ran thought so and started taking the papers towards the candle. All of a sudden, Ran realized that the documents began to burn.
“Yus, where should I throw this away?”
“In the fireplace.”
Ah, Ran scurried up to the fireplace in a daze and threw paper in, but the burning paper didn’t go inside and fell onto the carpet.
Startled, Ran stepped on the paper with her feet a few times. There was a slight burn on the carpet, and Ran sighed looking at the barely burnt paper. As she tried to put a piece of paper in the fireplace and find a match, Yustaf approached and flicked his finger.
Fwoosh~!
The blue flame swallowed the paper. Yustaf asked as Ran looked at him in surprise.
“Are your fingers all right?”
“Yeah, I’m fine. Was that the Blue Flame?”
“Yes. I haven’t completely mastered it, but this much is possible. It’s enough to at least surprise someone.”
“I see.”
Ran sighed and said.
“Then I’ll meet the second Prince.”
There were talks of meeting him once before, but after that, Ran had become busy and couldn’t put in a request for an audience.. Yustaf asked after thinking for a moment.
“Will you?”
“Yeah. Should I ask for an audience?”
Yustaf thought for a moment and shook his head.
“No, let’s do it in a different way. ”
The pride of the ‘Viridescent Arch’ was not only the mansion itself. The beautiful garden that the mansion was named after was the real pride.
Most of the Duchesses of Lachia spent more time in the Viridescent Arch[2] than in the cold northern Sky Mansion. Most of the time, when they had children, they did not return to Lachia at all. And as if to compensate for the barrenness of the north, Lachia’s garden shone no matter the season; starting with snowdrops blooming before the snow melted, and even camellia and silver thorns in Winter.
So Ravel replied to the polite invitation by saying that he’d come to visit Lachia’s garden.
‘But I didn’t think that I’d be the only one invited.’
Ravel thought so and looked in front of him at the Duke of Lachia, who was pouring tea.
Like a casual socialite, she wasn’t overly glamourous, dressed in comfortable clothes with her long hair loosely braided..
‘Indeed.’
Ravel thought that he now understood why his brother was chasing her so adamantly.
There are all kinds of colorful flowers in society, and although they are all different, a noble lady is still a noble lady.
There was a part of him that felt that it was inevitable.
Well, it was true that he felt that the Duke of Lachia was alien. But, he couldn’t pinpoint why exactly he felt that way.
‘Something’s a bit different…’
Ravel looked at Ran, thinking so. Elegant wheat-colored hair with green eyes that attract attention at first sight.
He had never seen such vivid green eyes like emeralds. All that combined with a sense of alienation was giving the Duke a unique charm.
“Do you want sugar or milk?”
“No, I’ll put it in myself.”
Ravel said so, and Ran nodded, poured tea into his cup and sat down.
A pleasant wind softly shook the leaves of the garden, and a gentle scent of flowers brushed the tip of her nose.
It was early summer.
“What a beautiful garden.”
“Thank you. I am always amazed.”
“But I didn’t think I’d be the only one invited.”
Ran smiled faintly at Ravel’s words.
“I’m personally interested in you.”
“Hmm.”
Ravel gave an ambiguous answer, adding sugar and milk evenly to the teacup and raising the cup.
“I was also curious about the rumored Duke of Lachia.”
“Then today’s meeting would be appropriate for both of us.”
Ran smiled and lifted her cup full of sugar lightly as if toasting.
“Is that so? I’m curious. Why is the Duke of Lachia interested in me, the second Prince?”
Ran smiled lightly.
“Can’t I?”
“I already know that my brother is interested in you.”
“The Crown Prince has Princess Olivia.”
“Does that mean you are interested in me as your marriage partner?”
At Ravel’s comment, Ran’s eyes widened and laughed aloud. It’s not appropriate etiquette for ladies, but Ravel shrugged, thinking that her laugh was refreshing.
“Sorry, I’m not used to the aristocratic way of saying things.”
“As a matter of fact, neither am I. And the answer is no.”
“Alas, I heard that the condition is that you will first hand over the position to the Young Lord.”
“I see, but even after that, the answer will be ‘no’.”
“I see.”
Ravel said so and blinked lightly in surprise after having a sip of tea. It smelt a little different from normal tea.
“Sugar.”
At the sudden remark, Ran looked at Ravel and replied as if she had read his mind.
“It smells different because the sugar is different. It’s Lachian sugar.”
“It’s Sugar.”
Ravel said, “Excuse me,” and after lightly tasting the sugar said,
“It’s different.”
In general, the flavour and smell are different.
“It’s different. It suits the tea.”
“Are you expanding to the sugar industry? Isn’t Lachia’s wealth piling up too much?”
Ran smirked.
“The wealth of Lachia is the wealth of the Empire.”
“You said you weren’t used to it[3].”
At Ravel’s comments, Ran laughed again. That’s what she said while also saying, ‘I’m not used to the aristocratic way of saying it’.
‘What, this man.’
Ran thought he’s totally likeable.
If the Crown Prince has blond hair and blue eyes, with the image of the prince the girls envision, this Prince has dark brown hair and deep amber eyes.
He had a strong intellectual feeling.
“If you like it, I’ll send it to you, too.”
“I won’t say no.”
Ravel said so and was lost in thought for a moment.
The Crown Prince’s approach, the war which the Emperor had no choice but to turn a blind eye to, and contacting the second Prince in the midst of all this.
“Duke of Lachia.”
“Yes.”
“I don’t like noisy things.”
“I know.”
“And being used is not my cup of tea.”
“It would be the same for anyone.”
Ran blinked and said. She sighed deeply and said.
“I know what you’re worried about. But this is just a social gathering. There’s no need for political concern, in a place like this.”
Really.
With that face, Ran gently gazed at Ravel. His shoulders lost their strength.
“In that case, I’ll make myself at home.”
“Yes, please do.”
Ran laughed again. After drinking tea, Ran asked.
“Would you like to take a walk in the garden for a minute?”
“That sounds good.”
Ravel nodded. Ran rose from her seat and began to show him around the garden. The Duke of Lachia’s garden was beautifully groomed to match its reputation, and Ravel was in awe the whole time.
Halfway through, Ravel winced and shrugged.
“Your Highness?”
Ran looked back at him, wondering if he had been stabbed by a thorn.
“No, I think there’s a black leopard between those shrubs…”
After spitting it out, Ravel felt awkward because it was a ridiculous statement.
“Black leopard?”
Ran also turned to him with a puzzled face then said, “Oh.” and smiled.
“Yus!”
Yustaf, wearing a slim black suit, appeared from between the shrubs.
[1] She didn’t really write the book, she kind of “channeled” a version of the future
[2] Referring to the garden
[3] Referring to aristocratic speech