TMST 12

Chapter 12

Fortunately, the gods were on Karin’s side.

“Ah, look over there!”

Karin pointed out the window with all her strength. Somehow, the rain had already stopped. Pale sunlight seemed to be shining through the clouds.

“The sun is out! And the rain has stopped too!”

Her tone was exaggerated, as if she were acting in a play. Karin lightly clapped her hands, drawing everyone’s attention.

“It’s time for everyone to go home!”

“The rain really has stopped. Karin, I’ll be going now. Thank you.”

Thankfully, Iris stood up at once, bringing the gathering one step closer to ending.

“Iris, see you next time.”

As soon as Karin finished saying goodbye, Marie—who had been watching the situation unfold—dutifully scampered over and opened the door. Rising from her seat, Iris brushed off the hem of her skirt and headed outside.

Okay, one down. Two left.

“You two over there, hurry it up. How long are you planning to squat in someone else’s house?”

But the Duke showed no intention of getting up.

“When did the young lady visit?”

Still seated on the sofa with one leg crossed over the other, the Duke calmly addressed Arken.

It was as if an invisible glass wall stood between Arken and Karin.

“It was around two weeks ago. The young lady…”

Arken was just about to make that disastrous statement.

As if she would let that happen!

Karin charged straight through the invisible wall and sliced her hand between them.

She was too desperate to care about manners now.

“Excuse me? Can you hear what I’m saying? I’d like you to leave my house.”

The Duke’s face crumpled like paper gripped too tightly.

How many times had she already seen that scowl today?

This is common-rank loot. Please stop dropping already.

The Duke’s twisted expression was like the trash items you keep pulling in a random gacha game.

In short, utterly useless.

“How unbearably rude.”

The Duke frowned and glared at Karin.

He dared to bring up rudeness? Karin had plenty to say about that. Crossing her arms, she stood tall.

“The rude one is you. You took shelter from the rain in someone else’s house and didn’t even say thank you.”

Given the circumstances, she omitted the honorific “Your Grace.” Perhaps because of that, the Duke’s gaze sharpened even more. It felt as if beams might shoot from his red eyes.

You use informal speech too, you know. Hmph.

“The homeowner says she’d appreciate it if the rude guest would leave.”

“I’ll grant your wish.”

The Duke spat out the words. His eyes never once drifted in Karin’s direction as he rose from the sofa and walked to the door.

Now only one remained.

Fortunately, Arken had already stood and was walking toward the entrance. But had the distance from the sofa to the front door always been this long?

If things dragged on, the two might start talking again.

Whatever.

Karin placed her hands on Arken’s back and shoved him toward the door.

She felt him flinch at the unexpected contact.

What a cute brat.

With the added force, his steps quickened.

“What are you—”

“I thought you were a turtle!”

“…”

“Take care!”

The moment Arken stepped outside, Karin slammed the door shut.

Thank goodness the rain had stopped at just the right time.

She already wanted to crawl into a mouse hole every time she remembered what had happened at the mansion. If Arken had repeated it aloud with his own lips, she might have died of embarrassment.

Let’s see. He probably guessed I learned his name from somewhere.

Karin perched on the sofa’s armrest and thought furiously.

It didn’t matter if the Duke learned that she had gone to the mansion. The real problem was whether he knew what she had said to Arken.

Arken didn’t seem the type to voluntarily recount every detail of what happened, but judging by the Duke’s persistent personality, there was a high chance he’d interrogate him thoroughly.

And Arken had no reason to refuse to answer the Duke’s questions.

If he reported every word she’d said—that she didn’t like the Duke, that she actually liked Arken—

I’m doomed. Completely doomed.

She might have to endure the Duke’s mockery for the rest of her life.

Still, there was a sliver of hope.

Since the Duke seemed unaware of her visit until now, perhaps Arken had deliberately kept quiet about it.

Maybe he had hidden it from the Duke?

…Or maybe he’d simply forgotten to mention it because he thought it trivial.

How am I supposed to know what he’s thinking?

Thinking any further would only give her a headache. Karin shook her head vigorously, trying to fling away useless thoughts.

Despite all the commotion earlier, the hall was now quiet as if nothing had happened.

On the drawing room table remained four teacups, one teapot, and water stains on the floor like traces of battle.

The maids would have a hard time cleaning it all up.

Just then, Marie came in with a rag and began wiping down the sofa.

Karin’s gaze followed her, then stopped at the sofa itself.

The seat where the Duke had sat was deeply sunken, but the place where Arken had sat was smooth as if untouched.

Likewise, the Duke’s teacup had been left carelessly askew, while Arken’s cup sat neatly in the exact center of the place before his seat, perfectly aligned as though measured with a ruler.

“As expected… a perfect man.”

“Hm? Miss, what did you say?”

“Ah, nothing.”

Her determination to win him over only grew stronger.

No matter what, she would become his life partner.

She would save Arken’s life, claim his heart, and secure a perfectly sealed happy ending.

He kept putting up walls so firmly that it felt like scraping an iron gate with a spoon, but looking back, at least today he hadn’t misunderstood her.

That was enough.

Thinking as positively as possible, Karin chased away the clouds hanging over her mind.

The Duke, who had left the mansion as if fleeing, found Iris waiting for him with a shy smile.

In the end, he had to escort Iris home before returning to his own estate.

The Duke led the way, Arken following behind him.

Now it was time for the conversation they had been putting off.

“So, what did the young lady say when she came?”

“She said she was looking for Your Grace, so I sent her away.”

“So there was a reason for all that fuss. Nothing else?”

Words circled endlessly in Arken’s mind, but for some reason he did not want to voice them.

So he lied.

“There was nothing else.”

“I see.”

The Duke snorted as if amused.

“Not long ago, she came to me saying she wanted to withdraw her confession. Said she realized we weren’t meant to be.”

“…”

“She even came all the way to my house, yet expects me to believe that nonsense. What a ridiculous woman.”

“…”

Arken had fallen too deeply into thought to hear the Duke’s later words.

His mind was tangled like a knotted skein of thread.

Why had the young lady been trying so hard to impress him lately?

Today was one thing, but even last time had been full of strange moments.

When Baron Plang had picked a petty quarrel, she could have simply ignored it, yet she stepped in and drove the baron away.

At first, he assumed she was angry because they had caused a disturbance.

But when she stumbled over herself trying to clear up the misunderstanding, that didn’t seem to be the case.

She had stepped in for his sake.

But why?

Today too, she’d given the absurd excuse of wanting him to change clothes, personally picked out what he should wear, and then kept smiling at him as if enchanted by something.

That smile was almost…

As Arken recalled the young lady’s bright face, an involuntary faint smile touched his lips.

She had smiled that same way when she came to the mansion calling his name.

His name.

Come to think of it, how had she learned the name Arken?

Even the Duke, who had known him for years, never used that familiar form of his name.

And that wasn’t all.

She knew things about his past as well. That he had graduated top of the academy was something only a few people knew.

Had she investigated him somehow?

But why would she go to such lengths?

The most likely possibility was that she was using him to approach the Duke.

Yet somehow, it felt strange that she would put in so much effort for only that.

Or perhaps…

No, this was absurd, but perhaps…

“Arkenas, are you listening?”

At the Duke’s voice, Arken snapped back to attention.

“Yes?”

“You weren’t.”

“My apologies.”

“I’ll ask again. There was something unfamiliar in your room. What was it?”

Ah, that.

It was something the Duke had no need to know about. Arken had already prepared an answer in case he asked.

Without changing expression, he replied calmly.

“It was nothing important. I’ve recently taken an interest in alchemy, so I bought a few necessary supplies.”

“I see. Tell me if you make any progress.”

“I understand.”

“Good.”

As expected, the Duke paid little attention to his answer.

Arken closed his mouth and tightened his grip on the reins.

Thanks to the Duke speaking to him, it felt as if cold water had been splashed on his face.

There was something else he should be focusing on.

Something more important than figuring out why the young lady was trying to win his favor.

There wasn’t much time left until the Ashite Flower Festival.

Enough of these useless worries.

The moment that thought crossed his mind, he remembered what conclusion he had nearly reached earlier, and a laugh escaped him.

This time it was not an amused laugh, but one of ridicule directed at himself.

Someone like me? As if.

He had almost entertained a ridiculous fantasy.

Such things didn’t happen in reality—not in fairy tales, not in plays, not even in cheap melodramatic novels.

Above all, long experience had carved one truth into his heart.

It is better never to begin with false hope.

Given his circumstances, and knowing all too well how wretched and brutal it was when hope became despair, he had no desire to take such a risk.

Arken tried to forget Karin.

But like an empty ball forced underwater that keeps floating back up, thoughts of her continued to rise and torment him, one after another.

In the end, he wrestled stubbornly with himself until the moment he finally fell asleep.

Only the next day did he manage to catch his breath.

But that was all.

How the battle had ended—

Whether he had succeeded in carving those elegantly curved emerald eyes out of his heart—

Even he himself did not know.