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~Chapter 15~
“Ahh! Are you crazy!?”
Aveline, who had been grabbed by Ares, managed to escape using the self-defense she learned during knight training.
“Who just throws their precious little brother like that! Don’t you know my face is my greatest asset?”
“Then you should’ve let go when I told you.”
Ares grumbled as he stood up. But he seemed a bit wobbly, probably because his hip hurt from hitting the floor.
“Anyway, isn’t that mark on your wrist from someone biting you?”
“Who would bite me? Those are my own teeth marks.”
She’d been bitten by a vampire with Duke Ribes’s face in her dream, and when she woke up, there was really a mark on her wrist. But she couldn’t say that, so she made up an excuse.
Ares frowned at her answer.
“Why would you do that?”
“I just do it sometimes.”
Her forced reply made Ares’s face scrunch up even more.
Just as Ares was about to say something, Hans came looking for him.
“Young master, Young Lord Casey is here to see you.”
“Show him to the drawing room and ask him to wait a moment. I’ll be right there.”
Hans bowed at Ares’s instructions and disappeared.
“Young Lord Casey… is that Logan?”
A familiar name caught Aveline’s attention.
“We’re supposed to go out together today.”
The answer came from elsewhere.
When she turned her head, someone was leaning against the dining room entrance.
He was a sickly handsome young man, with silver hair, violet eyes, and pale skin.
“Hi, Aveline.”
“It’s been a while, Logan.”
Logan was the only son of Duke Casey, a moderate faction, belonging to neither the Emperor’s side nor the nobles.
He was also one of the few friends who had been close to the twins since childhood.
When they were little, they’d always been together, but after Aveline became a recluse, she hadn’t seen him much.
“You were told to wait in the drawing room.”
“I heard the twins were fighting in here, so I came to check it out.”
Logan smiled playfully.
“Well, you two go out and have fun. I’m going back to my room.”
Aveline seized the chance to slip away.
“Where are you—?”
“Want to go out with us?”
At Logan’s unexpected suggestion, both Aveline and even Ares—who had tried to stop her—turned to look at him.
“What?”
“It’s been ages since the three of us went out together.”
Logan suggested it with such a refreshing smile that it would have been hard for anyone else to refuse.
But Aveline shook her head.
“I haven’t gone out in so long that I don’t have anything decent to wear. The only clothes I have are out-of-fashion frilly things. If I go with you, you’ll just end up embarrassed.”
It wasn’t an excuse; it was the truth.
Even when she went to meet Viscountess Berta last time, she’d chosen the least outdated dress she owned.
Still, she couldn’t shake off the feeling that she looked old-fashioned.
And when Duke Ribes showed up out of nowhere…
‘Father had to close his eyes tight.’
Aveline remembered the look on her father’s face back then.
She briefly thought about getting new clothes made, but she just couldn’t muster the courage.
‘It’s not like I go out often anyway.’
She was so used to staying at home, the idea of getting new clothes felt like overdoing it.
“It’s fine.”
Logan interrupted her worries with his usual gentle smile.
“I bought your birthday present in advance.”
“My birthday’s still a month away.”
“Then I’ll just give you something else when the day comes.”
With a wave of Logan’s hand, one of his servants came forward carrying a wrapped gift.
“How is it? Isn’t it fun to be out again?”
In the running carriage, Logan turned to Aveline with a bright smile.
“Mmm…”
Right now, Aveline was wearing the outfit Logan had given her, with a wide-brimmed hat pulled down low to cover her face.
She’d followed along on impulse, but it had been so long since she’d dressed up and gone out that she felt awkward for no reason.
“But what’s with this carriage? There’s no roof?”
The carriage Logan brought was open on all sides, so the wind could be felt directly as they rode.
“Open carriages have been in style for a while now.”
Ares, sitting across from them with a sulky look, replied in a curt tone.
He was still annoyed, since he’d asked Logan where his own present was and Logan had just dodged the question with a smile.
“On days like this, when the weather’s nice, I ride in it often. Do you like it?”
Logan changed the subject so Aveline wouldn’t feel awkward.
“Yeah, it’s nice.”
Nodding, Aveline turned to look out at the scenery.
How long had it been since she’d gone out to have fun like this?
The only people she really saw were Ares, the maids, and Logan, who visited sometimes.
‘Even then, I never really fit in.’
She’d always used being tired as an excuse to run off to her room whenever Logan came to visit.
He could have been hurt, but he kept approaching her with the same kindness. She was always grateful for that.
“But how did you get the size right? The outfit fits like it was custom made.”
It wasn’t flattery—Logan’s gift fit Aveline as if he’d measured her exactly.
“I calculated how much you’d grow every year. Since you always kept about a hand’s length away from me since we were kids, and you’re always a bit smaller than Ares, if I know his size it’s easy to guess yours.”
It was a typically obsessive, bookish answer for Logan.
“Creepy guy.”
Ares muttered as he shot Logan a glare, looking disgusted.
Then he suddenly turned to Aveline.
“What are you looking at?”
“….”
Ares frowned and then looked at Aveline’s wrist—the one where he’d noticed the bite mark earlier.
He stared at it for a while, then ran a rough hand through his pink hair, as if something was bothering him.
‘What’s his problem?’
He was her twin brother, but sometimes Aveline just couldn’t figure out what he was thinking.
While watching Ares mess up his hair, Aveline suddenly realized her own pink hair was just as noticeable.
If she went around like this, people would immediately spread rumors about the twins with pink hair and Young Lord Casey going out together.
Since she hadn’t been out in society for so long, she really didn’t want to become the center of gossip.
‘I’d better hide my hair under my hat.’
The carriage was just entering a busy street.
Right as she untied the ribbon under her chin to tuck her hair in before they reached the crowds—
“Ah!”
A gust of wind blew her hat away.
She quickly reached back and just managed to catch it.
“Are you okay?”
“….”
Logan, startled, asked from the side, but Aveline couldn’t answer.
Because, in that moment when she’d reached out, she made eye contact with Theron, who was standing nearby with his group.
And on his cheek was a scratch, exactly like the one she’d left in her dream.
Aveline, Ares, and Logan sat at the terrace of the most popular dessert shop in the capital.
Aveline had wanted to sit in a corner, but Ares insisted on the terrace because all the seats inside were full.
When Aveline muttered in disbelief, Logan explained kindly:
“Ares likes it when people passing by look at his face and sigh in admiration.”
It was, indeed, a very Ares-like reason.
And in fact, many people glanced shyly at Ares as they passed, faces reddening.
Every time, Ares took a deep breath, looking secretly satisfied.
“Is he sniffing the smell of popularity or something? That guy would never tolerate even the smallest scar on his face.”
Aveline shook her head, exasperated, and Logan stifled a laugh.
“….”
But Ares didn’t laugh. Instead, he frowned and suddenly stood up.
“Where are you going?”
“Got something to do.”
When Ares left, only Aveline and Logan were left at the table.
“What’s with him?”
Aveline grumbled, baffled by her brother’s sudden departure, and Logan spoke up.
“Who knows. Maybe it’s because of someone’s wounded wrist?”
“…You saw it?”
Aveline’s eyes widened in surprise.
“When you reached for your hat.”
She must have reached out with that arm to catch her flying hat.
‘Did Duke Ribes see it too?’
She remembered locking eyes with Theron for a brief moment.
Even though it was just a moment, his gaze had clearly fallen on her wrist.
‘Did I really meet Duke Ribes in my dream?’
Even to herself, it sounded impossible.
It had been a dream with Hiskin in it, but apparently, it was really Duke Ribes.
‘Wait, then the Duke knows about the book too?’
The thought sent a chill down her spine.
It was such a scandalous book, and he of all people had to find out.
And even if it was just a dream, she’d punched him.
‘I’m going to lose my mind.’
Aveline grabbed her head.
She could feel Logan looking at her strangely from the side, but she couldn’t manage her expression.
Then suddenly, another thought struck her.
‘No, wait. He bit my arm too, didn’t he?’
If it came to weird behavior, they were even.
‘Yeah. We’re even.’
As she tried to calm herself down with that thought—
“Hey, here.”
Suddenly, something glittering was held out in front of her.
Ares, sweating as if he’d rushed somewhere, was standing there, holding out a thick bracelet set with a large jewel.
