GDPSW 4

⟡Chapter 4⟡

“So, what do you think? Just as I said, there was an imperial princess, right?”

At Isaiah’s words, the Grand Duke nodded.

“Yes.”

“How was she?”

“How, you ask…”

“Since you’re going to stay in the human world anyway, getting married wouldn’t be so bad, would it? Did you like the princess?”

“Well… it’s hard to say. She fainted the moment she saw me.”

The moment he heard that answer, Isaiah burst out laughing.

“Stop laughing. More importantly, Isaiah—there was someone else there besides the royal family.”

After listening to the description, Isaiah replied,

“That must be Anneliese Solaritzen. Do you remember Anelarion, my lord? He had a younger sister. She’s her descendant.”

Anneliese Solaritzen…

‘Long blonde hair, pale violet eyes. Quite beautiful. It was amusing how someone so pretty always wore such a tired expression.’

If she ever smiled brightly even once with that face, men would line up to give her everything they had.

Though it seemed she hadn’t met anyone worthy of that yet.

And of all days, for his lord to run into her today—it was an incredible coincidence.

Or perhaps not coincidence at all, but fate.

Recalling his memory, Isaiah gave a brief remark.

“She was a pretty young lady.”

“Pretty? Is that what humans consider pretty?”

The immediate reply was sharp.

That unnecessary edge was unlike how his lord usually treated humans.

A man who had never cared at all about human beauty…

Since when did he start paying attention to that?

Noticing this, Isaiah suppressed a smile.

“She is. I’m sure she received plenty of attention from men her age. She even has a nickname—‘The Lily of the Empire,’ they say.”

“Hm.”

The Grand Duke silently recalled the woman he had just seen, then spoke in a bored tone.

“I can’t understand human tastes.”

“Is that so? Then I suppose nothing about her particularly stood out to you.”

At that, he fell into thought.

“There was something that kept bothering me while I was there.”

“What was it?”

The Grand Duke’s gaze naturally shifted to the hand that had held Anneliese’s wrist.

He spread his fingers, narrowing his eyes as if measuring something.

“Her wrist was small and thin.”

Isaiah’s pupils widened slightly.

Leaning back against the carriage with his arms crossed, he responded,

“Ah. I see.”

His voice was unable to hide its interest.

“So that small, delicate wrist dared to disturb my lord’s heart…”

At the meaningful tone, the Grand Duke narrowed his eyes.

“You seem far too entertained. It’s almost concerning.”

“But in the hundreds of years I’ve served you, this is the most interesting thing that’s happened.”

Before he could continue, a low voice cut sharply through the air.

“Isaiah.”

“Understood, my lord. Shall we head back?”

If he pushed any further, he might not live to tell the tale.

Coachman, bodyguard, right-hand man—Isaiah held many roles, and today he was being thoroughly worked as usual.

Not that he minded. It was entertaining.

Nodding, he obediently climbed onto the driver’s seat and took the reins.

A few minutes passed.

As the carriage moved, the Grand Duke, who had remained silent, finally spoke.

“Her skin was excessively pale. Wearing white clothes on top of that—it was hard to tell where the clothes ended and her skin began.”

Even as he spoke at length, his eyes remained as calm as ever.

Isaiah always found those empty eyes—so good at hiding his true thoughts—rather amusing.

As if he’s not interested. He can barely keep quiet.

‘Hmph.’

Clenching his teeth, Isaiah held back his laughter.

“And her blonde hair… the way it shimmered in the sunlight.”

With an attitude that suggested complete indifference, his lord began recounting his first impression of Anneliese Solaritzen.

Isaiah wisely kept driving without interrupting.

“It was the most irritating shade of blonde I’ve ever seen. And why is she so small? When I looked down, I could practically see the top of her head…”

There was no sign of the Grand Duke stopping.

One hour, two hours, three, four…

A total of five hours passed.

They had circled the same route so many times it was hard to count.

Isaiah was starting to want to go home.

Unaware of this, his lord’s voice continued to pour relentlessly into his ears.

Even Isaiah, who had been silently smiling as he drove, finally spoke up.

“My lord, just in case you’re unaware—you’ve been talking about that young lady for exactly five hours now.”

Hair like dripping honey.

Long eyelashes and large pale violet eyes.

A neck long and slender like a swan’s.

From the description alone, Isaiah could now vividly picture Anneliese from head to toe in her dress.

That’s how absurdly detailed it had been.

The Grand Duke acted as though nothing had happened.

“It’s just that I’ve never met such an irritating human before.”

In his usual tone, he summarized five hours of nonsense in a single line.

“Yes, yes. Of course.”

Isaiah nodded along.

That’s how it always starts.

Only after another hour did the carriage finally reach its destination.

The Grand Duke of Aperhis’s temporary residence was a quiet estate located in the mountains near the capital.

Isaiah stopped the carriage at the front gate and opened the door.

The Grand Duke stepped down.

His golden eyes turned toward Isaiah.

Brushing back his black hair, he asked,

“Isaiah. Do you know when Fornensha Hildegard’s banquet is?”

Isaiah hadn’t expected such a question—from his lord of all people.

He didn’t bother hiding his surprise.

“The Emperor’s banquet? It’s in a week. Are you planning to attend? That’s unexpected. Didn’t you say you hated places crowded with humans?”

A brief silence fell between them.

The Grand Duke stared into the air, as if recalling someone.

Frowning slightly, he replied,

“It’s not unbearable.”

There was definitely something going on.

For him to willingly attend a banquet he usually despised…

Looks like Anneliese Solaritzen said something to him.

Maybe he’d drop by when he was bored and make his presence known.

“Shall I pass along a place to meet?”

Isaiah smiled faintly as he waited for his lord’s answer.

* * *

This isn’t a dream, right?

To think she had agreed to meet the Grand Duke at the Emperor’s birthday banquet.

Standing in an empty corridor, Anneliese looked down at her wrist.

A faint mark remained where he had held it.

For someone so big, his hands are big too.

Rubbing her wrist with her thumb, she recalled what had just happened.

Still, I’ve never seen someone that strange before.

He couldn’t stop staring at her wrist, and then he even told her to go get more sunlight.

Being treated like a random stone on the street was… oddly refreshing.

Those eyes really were completely emotionless.

Every time she recalled the Grand Duke’s eyes, a strange warmth spread through her heart.

A life without emotional labor. A clean relationship without clinginess…

She naturally began to picture a dull, gray future with him.

The sacred relic of Aldeon should still be in the Solaritzen estate’s storage. I should write to Mother.

She was walking down the corridor to return to her residence.

As she neared the Crown Prince’s palace, a faint scent of roses tickled her nose.

Before she knew it, rose petals were scattering at her feet.

Roses… in a corridor that had been empty just moments ago?

An uneasy feeling crept over her.

No way…

She was afraid to look ahead.

Through half-lidded eyes, she saw the corridor ahead—littered with rose petals—and a person.

A man lying there shamelessly in broad daylight, in a place where people walked around freely.

He was someone Anneliese knew all too well.

“Ha…”

She squeezed her eyes shut.

Wasn’t the princess supposed to be unconscious? Shouldn’t he be tending to her?

Why was this person here?

Should I turn back now?

She hesitated.

“My lovely Anneliese.”

It was a pointless thought.

Crown Prince Robert had already spotted her.

From the other end of the corridor, he began rolling toward her.

With a rose clenched between his teeth.