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Chapter 20
Hazel stood in front of the door.
He looked at the tightly closed door, sweating nervously.
Hazel couldn’t grab the doorknob and just paced back and forth in the hallway.
“What’s wrong, Sir Hazel?”
Wolf finally came over and asked after watching Hazel act like this all morning.
Hazel turned his head in surprise, like a child caught doing something wrong.
It was hard to believe a huge knight could act so silly.
“Uh… Is the Captain inside?”
“He hasn’t come out all morning, so he must be.”
“I see!”
Hazel wiped his sweaty hands on his pants, took a deep breath like he was making a big decision, and put his hand on the doorknob.
But before he could turn it, the door opened by itself and a huge figure appeared.
“Ahhh!”
Hazel stepped back and shouted in surprise.
Escallion came out of the sitting room, frowning at his silly-looking knight.
“Captain.”
“What is it?”
“I… I have something to tell you…”
“I was about to go to the training grounds anyway. Talk as we walk.”
“No, wait!”
Hazel yelled out.
He looked up at Escallion nervously.
“Not the training grounds… I need to speak with you in private…”
Escallion looked Hazel up and down, then walked back inside with a sour face.
“Then come in.”
Hazel entered the sitting room, still looking very uneasy.
He didn’t sit down, just kept clenching and unclenching his fists while watching Escallion.
Finally, Escallion frowned and spoke.
“Why are you acting like a nervous dog? If you have something to say, say it and leave.”
“Y-yes, okay. I… I was Lady Belladonna’s escort yesterday…”
Escallion remembered yesterday.
He remembered how disappointed Belladonna looked when he said it was time to go home. That memory made him feel bad.
“So?”
“I… I accidentally drank some alcohol…”
“Alcohol?”
A crack appeared on Escallion’s face.
Hazel was famous for being the weakest drinker in the whole knight order.
Even one drink made his face red and he talked nonsense, so the others made fun of him. Drinking while guarding Belladonna?
Hazel saw his captain’s angry face and shrank even more.
“N-nothing bad happened…”
“Why did you drink?”
“Because… Lady Belladonna looked so sad about going back to the castle so soon… I wanted to cheer her up and… ended up drinking a little…”
“Tell me straight. Did Bella get hurt?”
“No! Lady Belladonna wasn’t hurt at all!”
Only then did Escallion relax and sigh.
“Then what is it? How long do I have to keep asking these questions?”
“Right before we went back to the castle… Lady Belladonna wanted to go somewhere, so I went with her.”
“Good. Where was it?”
Hazel swallowed hard.
Escallion frowned, impatient.
“Where was it? Why are you acting so stupid today?”
If he knew where Belladonna wanted to go, maybe he could buy her something from there to cheer her up.
But the answer from his knight was something else.
“Y-Yupranga… 76th Street…”
Escallion closed his mouth when he heard the address.
The word slowly went from his ears to his mind.
“What did you say?”
“…135…”
“How does Bella know that place?”
Escallion’s golden eyes turned dark and sharp.
At the same time, his big fists clenched tightly. Hazel squeezed his eyes shut.
“I-I don’t know! I just… said I went to Yupranga 76th Street often by mistake…”
Escallion looked at his foolish knight, then pulled off his tie as if he was choking.
Belladonna wasn’t the type to just go somewhere because someone else talked about it.
‘She must have known about it before.’
He had no idea how much she knew, or how she found out.
“So you were the one hiding in the bushes.”
“Ugh…”
He had noticed someone hiding, but there was no danger, so he didn’t worry. He had other guards hidden near Scarlet’s house anyway.
But it turned out it was Belladonna.
He tasted bitterness in his mouth.
And at the same time, he remembered how cold Belladonna had been to him last night.
“Damn it.”
He covered his eyes with his hand and spoke in a low voice.
“These are earrings made with bright emeralds! What do you think?”
The jeweler excitedly turned the sketchbook for Belladonna to see.
Belladonna looked at the drawing with a blank face.
The jeweler checked her reaction, then hurried to take out a fancy box from his bag.
“Ah, maybe it’s hard to imagine with just a picture! The real thing is much better. I brought it myself! Please have a look!”
He opened the box carefully. Inside, the sparkling emerald earrings shone brightly.
“They were made by one of the best jewelers in the Ellinus Empire. It took almost five years to finish these!”
“Wow!”
Cindy, who was sitting beside Belladonna, gasped and covered her mouth.
They are pretty…
Belladonna stared at the earrings with an uninterested face.
But even if I wear them, I can’t see them myself. What’s so good about things like that…?
“Ah… You don’t like them? Then, how about this sapphire necklace…?”
Click.
At that moment, the sitting room door opened and Escallion came in, looking anxious.
The jeweler and Cindy both stood up and bowed.
“Hello, my lord!”
“Thank you for coming so early.”
Escallion barely glanced at the jeweler and sat across from Belladonna, watching her closely.
She looked at him for a second, then quickly looked away. He couldn’t tell what she was feeling.
Damn…
He licked his lips, then carefully asked,
“Did you see anything you liked?”
“I’ve been showing her many things! Lady Belladonna is so beautiful, she’ll look good in anything! It’s actually hard to choose, haha!”
The jeweler answered for Belladonna with a sly smile.
There was no way gifts like this could make her feel better. She wasn’t upset about coming home early from the festival.
Escallion awkwardly watched Belladonna, not sure what she was thinking, and sat across from her.
“Can I see what you brought too?”
“Of course!”
The jeweler was glad to have someone to talk to. He began to explain the boxes one by one—rubies, sapphires, emeralds, and other luxury items.
When the jeweler finished, Escallion spoke.
“I’ll buy everything you brought today.”
“What? Oh, thank you, my lord! I’ll prepare them right away!”
The jeweler was shocked but very happy, quickly packing up with shaking hands.
“Wow, my lady! The lord is buying everything here! How generous!”
“……”
Belladonna frowned at him.
Why buy so much? I don’t have ten necks or twenty ears!
She reached out and stopped the jeweler.
“…Yes?”
She picked up a pen and wrote:
[I don’t need them. I haven’t even worn the last ones you bought.]
The jeweler read her note and turned to Escallion, looking awkward.
Escallion also read the message and his face hardened.
He forced a smile and spoke slowly.
“Just prepare them. They are gifts for my wife.”
Belladonna quickly wrote again:
[I said I don’t need them.]
The jeweler, unsure what to do, looked back and forth between Escallion and Belladonna.
“Haah…”
Finally, Escallion ran his hand through his hair and sighed.
“I’ll call you again. For now, please leave. Sorry for making you come for nothing.”
“Oh, it’s fine! I’ll come again next time!”
The jeweler quickly packed the boxes. Cindy helped, and used the chance to leave the room with him.
Now only Escallion and Belladonna were left in the sitting room.
They stared at each other, both feeling tense.
Escallion finally broke the silence.
“I didn’t know you didn’t like jewelry. Most women like shiny things…”
He realized he made a mistake before finishing the sentence.
Belladonna’s blue eyes stared at him, cold as ice.
Escallion felt a chill down his back and swallowed hard.
Damn…
