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Chapter : 12
Dressed beautifully and even wearing makeup, Kanna knocked on the door of the office on the second floor.
As soon as she heard permission to enter, she quickly went inside.
Wayne and Piru were sitting side by side on the sofa, reading documents together.
Since Wayne had his arms crossed, Piru turned the pages for him on the reading stand.
“Kanna, what is it?”
Piru adjusted his glasses and asked instead. Meanwhile, Wayne did not react at all and kept his eyes fixed on the documents.
“I brought some snacks for you.”
She answered shyly, using the sweetest voice she could manage.
“It’s already four o’clock? Put them in front.”
“Yes.”
She walked over confidently and placed the tray of pistachio cookies beside Wayne.
Even though Kanna had approached, Wayne’s burning red eyes remained focused only on the papers.
Wanting to at least make proper eye contact with him, Kanna could not bring herself to step away immediately.
“Your Grace, I’m worried because you haven’t been eating properly lately.”
“……”
“If there’s anything you want to eat, please tell me. I’ll prepare it right away. Even if it’s a snack from another city, don’t hesitate to—”
“It’s fine.”
Only after asking several times did she finally hear Wayne’s voice.
His low tone made Kanna’s heart pound wildly.
“Then should I buy the pickled tomatoes you like? I was already thinking of visiting my hometown for a short while anyway.”
“No need.”
“Then perhaps some wine—”
“Kanna, do I look free right now?”
It meant he was working, so she should stop talking and leave. Even while warning her, he still did not bother to look at her.
Kanna instinctively realized she should not continue speaking and slowly stepped back.
Then—
“Wait, that dress… isn’t it the one His Grace gave to Miss Valley?”
Piru noticed first and widened his eyes. Since he had personally watched Wayne call a salon designer to the estate and choose the clothes himself, he recognized it immediately.
At those words, Wayne’s eyes slowly turned toward Kanna for the first time.
“……”
His red eyes slowly examined what she was wearing.
The gaze she had desperately wanted was finally on her, yet Kanna could not feel happy at all.
Because Wayne’s expression had become even colder than before.
The light purple dress Kanna was wearing was the very dress Wayne and Piru had argued over while choosing clothes.
‘Three everyday dresses are already enough.’
‘I know.’
‘Didn’t you say she might leave after one month? Then why even buy an outfit for going outside…?’
‘I’m buying that too.’
‘What? Your Grace!’
The reason Wayne had insisted on buying that dress was simple.
He wanted to see Valley wearing that light purple dress while standing in the garden.
It had been such a small reason, but now that Kanna was wearing it instead of Valley, Wayne felt unpleasant.
“Was Piru right?”
It sounded less like a question and more like an order to explain exactly what happened.
Kanna had been waiting for that question. Following the story she had prepared, she lowered the corners of her brows, trembled her lower lip, and made a pitiful expression.
“Yes. It is the dress Your Grace gave to Lady Valley.”
“Then why are you wearing it?”
“Lady Valley threw it away.”
Wayne’s left eyebrow twitched slightly.
“I delivered the clothes exactly as Your Grace ordered. But after checking them roughly as if she wanted to tear them apart, she threw this dress at me and said it wasn’t her style, so I should throw it away immediately.”
“……”
“At first, I planned to do that as well, but I couldn’t ignore the thoughtfulness Your Grace put into preparing it, so I dared to keep it myself.”
After quietly listening, Wayne finally looked away from Kanna and returned his attention to the documents.
Kanna became flustered because his reaction was far smaller than she expected. So she stuck out her lips slightly and forced herself to sound even more tearful.
“I only acted for Your Grace’s sake, but if it upset you, then I’ll throw it away agai—”
“It’s fine. Wear it.”
The answer she wanted finally came out.
Kanna felt like she might burst into a smile, so she quickly covered her mouth with the back of her hand and nodded.
“Thank you. Every time I wear it, I’ll think of Your Gra—”
“You can leave now.”
Wayne clearly showed he had no interest in continuing the conversation.
Piru, who had stayed silent until now, also waved his hand as if telling her to hurry up and go.
Since she had already achieved her goal, Kanna did not want anything more. She bowed politely before quickly leaving the office.
The entire way back to the dormitory, she could not stop smiling.
“Hehe, as expected, he really does treasure me specially. If it had been another maid, he would’ve told her to throw it away immediately.”
Unaware of Kanna’s reaction, silence filled the office.
Wayne calmly continued reading the documents without the slightest change in expression, while Piru nervously bit his lip and played with his nails, unsure what to do.
“What are you doing?”
“Y-yes?”
“Turn the page.”
At those words, Piru carefully asked,
“…Are you really alright?”
“With what?”
“She said she threw away the clothes you gave her. How could she treat your sincerity like that? She truly has no shame.”
Piru looked so angry that it seemed like he might run outside at any moment.
Meanwhile, Wayne remained calm as if it had nothing to do with him.
“She probably just didn’t like it.”
“What? If someone thoughtfully gives you something, the least you should do is thank them.”
“I didn’t give it expecting that.”
Wayne casually gestured with his chin for Piru to continue turning the pages.
Because anything Wayne touched would burn, he could not even turn a single sheet of paper himself.
Piru was still upset, but since Wayne himself did not seem bothered, he forced himself to stay quiet and continued turning the documents.
“It’s worded very indirectly, but in the end, it seems the imperial family wants Your Grace to stop participating in monster extermination missions for the time being.”
“I see.”
“For what reason would they suddenly worry about Your Grace’s health?”
“It’s not concern.”
“…Pardon?”
“They simply don’t want to remember me as a hero if they force me into battle and I die for the empire.”
Once Piru understood the real meaning, his expression became even more hurt.
“How could they do this after the Biterad family sacrificed themselves for the empire as a special force for generations….”
“It means we’re no longer useful.”
Wayne tightly clenched the fist of the arm he had crossed over his chest and stood up from the sofa.
Every request he had ever made to the imperial family had been rejected.
When fire-attribute magic users began dying quickly over the last ten years, he had begged them to seek treatment methods even from other empires.
And after he became the only survivor, he asked them to create a memorial space dedicated to fire-attribute users so their sacrifices for the empire would not be forgotten.
That request had also been denied.
He had even heard from former unit members that the palace was erasing all traces that Wayne had ever been captain of the special forces.
The imperial palace was trying to erase the very existence of fire-attribute users.
Wayne had no intention of quietly allowing himself to be forgotten, so he was personally remodeling his estate into a memorial space.
But progress was slow.
No—more accurately, his death was approaching faster.
That was why the most important thing was whether Valley could finish decorating the flowerbeds before he died.
Standing near the window, Wayne absentmindedly looked out at the garden when someone suddenly caught his attention.
It was Valley, busily walking around the barren garden where not even a single blade of grass grew, while wearing the beige dress Wayne had given her.
“The sleeves…?”
He narrowed his eyes and stared carefully at her.
Just as he had first noticed, her arms were fully exposed.
He had specifically chosen long-sleeved dresses because she would mostly work in the garden and he worried her arms might get scratched, so why was she dressed like that?
Wayne silently watched Valley running around like an energetic puppy.
Curious, Piru slowly stepped closer and noticed her too.
“She’s still doing that?”
“Still?”
“Yes. She was already out in the garden before I even came to the office.”
He did not know exactly when she had gone outside, but it meant she had been there for at least three hours.
“Open it.”
“…Pardon?”
“Open the window.”
Piru blinked slowly before finally understanding what Wayne meant, then hurriedly shook his head.
“Surely you’re not planning to go see Miss Valley?”
“Yes.”
“There’s no need. She even rejected your gift. You should simply avoid interacting with her for the next month and then on the final day— Your Grace!”
Since Piru kept talking too long, Wayne uncrossed his arms and suddenly grabbed the window, pulling it open.
Then, without the slightest hesitation, he jumped out.
The second floor was about eight meters high, but Wayne made his body as light as a flame carried by the wind and landed easily on the ground.
Still, the window he had touched and the place where he landed both became blackened with scorch marks.
After standing still for a moment to cool off in the cold wind, Wayne walked straight toward Valley, who was now crouched in front of a flowerbed.
“Hmm, maybe matching colors would look better? But the entrance should still feel more colorful….”
She was so focused that she did not notice Wayne approaching at all.
He also intentionally stayed silent as he stood behind her and watched what she was doing.
Using a tree branch, Valley was drawing landscaping designs into the dirt of the flowerbed.
Watching her, Wayne spoke flatly.
“Practice your magic first.”
“Eek!”
Startled by the sudden voice, Valley’s shoulders jerked violently.
Because of that, the crouched position she was in lost balance, and she fell backward.
Since Wayne was standing directly behind her, her back lightly landed against his long legs.
