FCMD 08

She couldn’t just pretend not to know. Her mind would only be at ease if she expressed her gratitude. Lauren, who had been brooding over what to say and how to act, finally got up from her seat late into the night. Draping a shawl over her nightwear, she left her room. Her steps toward Aster’s office felt somehow heavy.

Walking through the dark hallway, she stood in front of the office. A faint glimmer flickered in Lauren’s light lavender eyes as she stared at the massive door. Was Aster still in his office at this late hour? Lauren bit her lower lip tight. Let’s just knock. If there’s no answer after I knock, I can just turn back. After hesitating for a long moment, Lauren raised her hand and knocked gently on the door.

There was no answer from beyond the door. Letting out a soft sigh, Lauren turned around to return to her room, but a beat too late, a low voice calling for her to enter came from inside. She had thought he had already left the office. Startled by his reply, Lauren froze right where she stood.

The door opened without her even touching it. The room beyond was as dark as the hallway. Lauren’s eyes widened as she faced the person who appeared from within. A man with hair as white as snow was looking down at her with ruby-red eyes. His gaze reminded her of a white rabbit, or perhaps the garnet attached to her bracelet.

The man took a step back and gave her a slight nod. His face was as beautiful as a boy out of mythology, but his emotionless, blank expression made him look like a exquisitely crafted doll. Staring too intently would be rude. Lauren shifted her eyes toward the sofa. Leaning back on the couch, Aster was looking at her with a furrowed brow.

“You may return, Garnet. I’ll be relying on you for this matter as well.”

So that person is Garnet. Without saying a word, the man bowed respectfully to Aster and left the room. It was an attitude entirely different from how he had treated Lauren.

“Sit,” Aster instructed curtly. He didn’t even ask what business had brought her there.

Lauren’s gaze followed him as she sat on the sofa. Aster took a glass from the cabinet and brought it directly over to the low table, along with the liquor bottle and glasses that were on his desk. Then, sitting down in the seat across from her, he stole a glance at Lauren.

“Are you all right with alcohol?” “I can drink a little.”

Nodding at her answer, Aster poured liquor into the two glasses—less than half for one, and well over half for the other. Naturally, the glass containing the smaller amount was placed in front of Lauren. Leaning back against the sofa’s headrest, he raised his glass slightly and brought it to his lips.

“Isn’t that a bit too much?”

She hadn’t intended to nag, but the words slipped out of her mouth automatically. It was probably force of habit. Lauren quietly bit the edge of her lip. Her father, too, used to enjoy a glass of liquor in his office. And every time, Lauren would nag him about it.

Over the rim of his glass, Aster’s green eyes fixes upon her. I shouldn’t have said that. Wanting to avoid his gaze, Lauren hurriedly picked up her glass. As the golden liquid touched her lips, a sharp, buzzing sting of alcohol washed over the tip of her tongue. It was a far stronger drink than she had expected. As Lauren coughed in surprise, Aster let out a low chuckle.

He drinks something this strong in such large quantities? Lauren narrowed her eyes. A faint smile settled on Aster’s lips as his throat vibrated with laughter. His subdued green eyes turned toward the glass in his hand.

“Since the battlefield… that’s when I started drinking.”

Lauren fell silent. Even in the Shiaze Barony, where the air was clean and beautiful, soldiers who had participated in the war came to recuperate. As the baron’s daughter, Lauren had visited them, conversing with them and looking after their daily lives. She knew about the terrors of war from what she had heard from them. Even after the war ended, the battles they had to endure were rife with blood, screams, and agony. The torment of burning the enemy or being burned by them remained an indelible memory, tormenting them still. For a very, very long time.

Aster had fought at the vanguard of the battlefield, crossing swords with the enemy. No matter how extraordinary his mental fortitude as a soldier was, such memories wouldn’t be easily forgotten. Perhaps he drank because he wanted to forget. She truly shouldn’t have made that comment. Lauren bit her lip.

“I didn’t say that to make you wear a face like that.” “…Yes.”

Unlike Aster, whose face seemed to wear a faint smile, Lauren’s hardened expression did not soften.

‘How foolish of me.’

Lauren grasped the glass with both hands and gulped it down. One of Aster’s eyebrows shot up, but she didn’t notice.

“So, what brings you here?” Aster asked, leaning deep into the sofa.

“Ah,” Lauren let out a short sound. Come to think of it, she had something she needed to tell him. Straightening her back, Lauren took a deep breath.

“Someone from the Aloria dress shop came today.” “I heard. Did you like the clothes?” “Yes, they were truly beautiful.”

In truth, she hadn’t cared about the clothes at all. She had always thought that as long as what she wore was comfortable, it was enough. But right now, that wasn’t important. Lauren looked Aster straight in the eye. He tilted his head slightly, staring intently at her. It seemed he had realized she had something more to say.

“And… thank you for your thoughtfulness.”

Lauren bowed her head deeply. She knew a single phrase couldn’t convey all of her emotions. Still, she hoped this heart of hers would reach him. Her grip tightened on the glass held in her hands.

The Aster she had experienced was neither the ruthless war machine nor the murderous demon of the rumors. He was a human being who drank to forget the trauma of war, and who even laughed.

His pleasantly smiling face was truly handsome. There was no way a person who smiled like that could kill people without a second thought. Though that might just be her own naive assumption.

“I don’t know how to properly thank you. If there is anything I can do to repay you, I will do whatever it is.”

The jewels she had been forced to sell just to survive were not merely jewels. They were proof that she had been loved by her parents, proof that her parents had once existed here. She had been forced to sell such things.

And she had thought it was fine to do so. Her parents, who loved her, would have preferred that she survive even if it meant selling the jewels, rather than being sold off as a rich old man’s second wife and dying while bearing an unwanted child. If it was her parents, who had indulged all her spoiled complaints about not wanting to attend social gatherings and wanting to work instead, they certainly would have wished for that. That was why she had thought she was okay with it. But it wasn’t true. Only after those jewels returned to her did Lauren realize: they weren’t just jewels, but accumulated memories.

Aster must have known that, which is why he tried to return the jewels to her.

“…Anything?”

His voice, reaching Lauren’s ears, sounded somehow rigid. Lauren, who had dropped her gaze, rolled her eyes up to look at Aster. His brow was deeply furrowed. Was he planning to demand something absurd? He didn’t seem like that kind of person, though.

He silently sipped his drink. He appeared to be lost in deep thought.

‘Was it really something to contemplate so heavily?’

Somehow, she found herself tilting her own glass as well. The liquid, which tasted faintly of smoke added to an indefinable fruit aroma, was strong enough to make her head spin, but it seemed to help organize her thoughts.

How much time had passed? At last, he spoke.

“Then, will you teach me how to do administrative work?” “Pardon?”

It was an unexpected request. Whether the alcohol had taken effect and paralyzed her mind, Lauren could only blink, unsure of how to answer. She had thought he was leaving all the tedious work to her and Leti, yet he was asking her to teach him how to work. It was a statement she had never even imagined.

“You don’t want to?” “No, I don’t mind… but will that really be enough for you?”

Aster, pulling up one corner of his mouth into a crooked smile, nodded. His gaze remained fixed on his glass. She couldn’t read what he was thinking.

“Because I went to the military academy early, I never had the chance to learn how to manage an estate.”

Ah, so that was it. Perhaps it wasn’t just her imagination that he seemed unaccustomed to it. But why did he, the only son of a ducal family, go to the military academy? Usually, military academies were where second or third sons who wouldn’t inherit the family line went.

Her thoughts couldn’t progress any further. Her cheeks flushed hot. Her exhaled breath felt warm. Finding it difficult even to sit up straight, Lauren leaned deeply back against the sofa, just like Aster.

The furniture of the ducal estate was certainly of better quality than that of the barony. The soft cushion touching her back supported her body. The feeling of being comfortably enveloped felt somehow pleasant. This must be why that man liked this sofa so much. With her head spinning, she was undoubtedly drunk. Her eyelids felt heavy.

“Then… I look forward to working with you.”

Her words trailed off softly, though Lauren didn’t realize it. Unknowingly, she flashed a smile at him, her eyes softening into a relaxed curve. Beyond her blurred, color-bleeding vision, one of his eyebrows shot up again. Why did he make such a face when he possessed such handsome looks? Her vision blurred before turning completely dark.

Aster let out a dry, incredulous laugh. Lauren, who had emptied her glass before he knew it, was fast asleep, leaning against the sofa. Her face looked far too defenseless.

Her hair was pitch-black—a sight rare among capital nobles, resembling a moonless night sky without a single star. Contrary to her light lavender eyes that emitted a strong luminescence, Lauren possessed a soft impression. Yet, her competent administrative skills, inherited directly from the previous Baron Shiaze, alongside her refined expressions, made her appear quite mature.

Lauren always wore a gentle smile. But she wasn’t someone who didn’t know how to express her emotions. From the moment they first met, he had seen her face hardened with tension to the point of weariness, and she had looked quite joyful while teaching Leti. However, he had never seen her laugh brightly. In truth, because she possessed an appearance that could make anyone fall in love at first sight, Aster had been slightly curious about how she looked when she truly laughed.

Yet, at words he had spoken without much thought, she had laughed. Crinkling her relaxed eyes and curving her red lips into a full, brilliant smile.

Unwittingly, his face had hardened. The reason Lauren had laughed like that was surely because she was drunk. He was well aware of that much. Still, because her smiling face shone so dazzlingly, he couldn’t turn his eyes away.

What was she so happy about? His request for her to teach him work was merely something he had blurted out on a whim. A casual remark—something that might or might not happen, something he could have just laughed off if she had declined.

Watching her sit beside Leti as he learned the work had been enjoyable. Perhaps because her smile deepened a little more each time, he had wanted to see it from up close. Leti was a good student, but Aster’s grades at the military academy had been far superior. Whatever he learned, he would do much better at it. At the sudden thought, Aster shook his head. What stupid thoughts am I having? He was definitely drunk.

At the military academy, they didn’t teach things like managing an estate. So, learning the work from her was for the sake of running the territory. Even if he couldn’t visit the territory, he was still the lord. No matter how competent she was, he couldn’t leave everything to her or Leti.

Right, it’s all to run the estate properly. Brushing his hand over his face, Aster stole a glance at the defenselessly sleeping Lauren. He hadn’t wanted to talk about the military academy. What if she felt disappointed that he wasn’t the cherished only son of a ducal house?

Aster let out a dry laugh at the foolish thought. It wasn’t that he wanted to talk about a woman’s capabilities or appearance, but the reason he kept having these chaotic thoughts was simply because she was excessively competent. And, Lauren was remarkably beautiful.

Weak to alcohol as she was, she sure drank that strong liquor without hesitation. The grip in Lauren’s hand relaxed, making it look as though the glass she was holding might fall at any second. Aster approached her and took the glass from her hand. Setting it on the table, he gazed down at her intently.

She would be terribly exhausted if she woke up after sleeping here. Though she had draped a shawl over herself, she was wearing thin nightwear, so she might catch a cold. They didn’t keep blankets or quilts in this room. After a moment’s hesitation, Aster lifted her up into his arms. Only by letting her sleep comfortably would his own mind feel at ease.