ISGJV 25

Chapter 25

“It’s a bouquet I made.”

He hadn’t been mistaken.

It was clearly the bouquet he’d never managed to give to Cassia.

It was now completely dried, but the clumsily intertwined flower stems and stalks were unmistakable.
Above all, the way the stems were tied using the knot his mother had taught him made it certain.

“How…?”

While Edmund stood there in a daze, Cassia accepted the dried bouquet the maid handed her.

After lightly inhaling its scent, she smiled softly—and Edmund could only stare at that smile like an idiot.

The maid removed Patrick’s flowers and set another glass vase in their place, placing a bouquet of daisies inside.

“……”

After a little time had passed, and there were fewer eyes watching, Edmund finally managed to speak.

“What is that? That flower?”

“Hm? Why?”

He felt oddly embarrassed and awkward.

That was why he spoke more irritably and sharply than necessary.

“It doesn’t suit anything at all. Where did you get it?”

“Why? I think it’s pretty. I happened to pick it up not long ago.”

“……”

Edmund licked his lips slightly. His mouth felt parched.

Something fluttered deep in his chest.

The one I threw away without giving it… Cassia picked it up?

Was that even possible?

Could such a ridiculous coincidence really happen?

He felt a strange joy and exhilaration, yet at the same time he couldn’t shake his suspicion about this incomprehensible situation.

A sudden doubt crossed his mind.

Does she know I made it? Is that why she’s acting like this?

It was far too perfectly timed to believe easily.

He even wondered if she knew everything and was deliberately trying to toy with him.

“Why would you bother picking up something so clumsy and shabby and bring it here?”

That confrontational tone slipped out for that reason.

Cassia clicked her tongue in mild irritation.

“If I think it’s pretty, that’s enough.”

“That ugly thing?”

“What do you mean ugly! It’s pretty cute!”

Edmund pressed down the corners of his mouth that were threatening to rise.

He couldn’t let it show.

If he got found out, it would be more embarrassing than dying.

She absolutely must not find out that I made it!

Especially—

She must never find out that I pretended not to know and asked her about it!

Grumbling, Edmund left the drawing room.

“What’s so good about some clumsy wildflowers anyway…”

Watching his back as he left after picking a pointless fight, Cassia sighed.

What’s wrong with him?

She stepped closer to the dried bouquet he’d criticized and examined it.

Just as she thought—it was clumsy and shabby, and all the more lovable for it.

Cassia flared up.

“It’s pretty!”

As if making sure Edmund, who hadn’t yet gone far from the door, could hear her.

She didn’t notice that the boy’s steps faltered for a moment.

Nor that his ears had turned bright red.

Edmund was in an excellent mood.

He had to consciously suppress the grin that threatened to send him floating into the air, and the shoulders that wanted to dance.

Knowing exactly why he felt this way, the boy tried hard to rein himself in.

Over something like this… honestly…

Calm down. Calm down, Edmund Cohen.

And never let Cassia find out that I made it for her!

If she did, she’d realize he’d been pretending not to know and probing her.

He couldn’t even imagine what expression she’d make or how mercilessly she’d tease him.

Absolutely not. Never.

But this resolve of Edmund’s shattered in just two or three days—

At the hands of the one person in this villa who could be called his most loyal retainer.

“Young Duke, that strange dried flower arrangement in the young madam’s drawing room—did you make it by any chance?”

“W-w-what?! Don’t talk nonsense—!”

Edmund jumped like a rabbit splashed with boiling water.

“…So it really was you.”

Only then did Edmund realize it.

That with his reaction, Willes had gained absolute certainty.

But that meant Willes had already had his suspicions, hadn’t he?

Lowering his voice, the boy asked,

“How did you know?”

Willes’s answer was simple.

“The knot was identical to the one the late Duchess used. As far as I know, no one but her used such a distinctive knot.”

Edmund’s mother, the former Duchess, had been notoriously bad with crafts.

Edmund wasn’t quite that hopeless, but he remembered the unique knot she’d taught him and used it just as she had.

“I couldn’t think of anyone else who would use that knot besides you, Young Duke.”

Since Willes shared memories of the Duchess, it was only natural he’d notice.

Flustered, Edmund cleared his throat, trying to hush him.

“If—if you tell Cassia—”

“I won’t. There’s no reason to.”

Edmund let out a breath of relief, clutching his chest.

Willes, watching him with an unimpressed expression, muttered silently.

It’s a relief that he hasn’t realized it yet—but I have no intention of telling him.

That was because Willes still hadn’t abandoned his suspicions of Cassia.

And this was one of the reasons.

I need to be suspicious on the Young Duke’s behalf as well.

Edmund firmly believed he was sufficiently wary of Cassia and didn’t trust her.

But in Willes’s eyes, that was laughable.

Why else would he have noticed that the dried bouquet was Edmund’s handiwork?

Because Edmund had been far too obvious.

Every time he went to the drawing room, he’d grin at the flowers.

He kept asking Cassia about the bouquet, picking fights over it…

And most of all, whenever she said she liked it, he couldn’t suppress his smile.

With that, combined with the late Duchess’s distinctive knot still tied around the bouquet, Willes had been able to reach a conclusion.

That was made by the Young Duke.

Yet seeing how he was enjoying it so indirectly, it seemed he hadn’t given it to her directly.

That led to another suspicion.

Could it be that she knew he made it, brought it here, and is deliberately playing with him?

If so, her intentions were undoubtedly pitch black.

Willes renewed his resolve.

I really need to stay on high alert.

In truth, he was already watching Cassia with eyes full of suspicion.

But now, another impure motive had been added.

I must rescue the Young Duke from that girl’s clutches!

He couldn’t leave the sole precious heir of the Cohen ducal house in the hands of such a suspicious girl.

What is it? Why is he acting like that?

I sensed something was off.

The reason was simple—I could feel someone watching me.

Click, snip.

Beyond the first-floor window where I was, I saw the gardener Marco—no, Willes—absently moving his pruning shears in the garden.

For some reason, he was watching me with eyes full of suspicion and distrust.

My response was simple.

Do whatever you want.

I was already busy enough.

Since I’d taken over all the work that Moretti, Marsha, and Paul used to do, it couldn’t be helped.

I didn’t have time to care about Willes’s stares when there was work to be done.

Even if he watches me, nothing will come of it. If he wants to suffer, let him.

I immersed myself back into my work.

About four days passed like that.

During that time, Willes meticulously monitored Cassia’s movements.

He watched with hawk-like intensity, trying to find even the slightest suspicious detail.

The result left him stunned.

How can a mere fourteen-year-old manage the entire villa household perfectly by herself?

Even if the villa was smaller than the main estate, it was still on par with a typical noble residence.

And yet a fourteen-year-old girl—who hadn’t even completed formal academy education—was managing it without a housekeeper.

At first I thought the nanny was handling things, but she wasn’t.

The nanny was purely responsible for Cassia’s personal care.

She was nearly clueless when it came to managing the estate.

Even the assignment and management of new staff is flawless! And the ledgers are unbelievably neat.

And that wasn’t all.

On top of all that, she’s also teaching the Young Duke? How is that even possible?

After Willes arrived, Cassia had stopped teaching magic—something she herself didn’t fully understand.

Instead, she poured more effort into the other lessons.

And after glimpsing those lessons through Edmund’s notes, Willes had been shocked.

This was taught by a fourteen-year-old girl?

Even at the academy, even in the Mage Kingdom, he’d never seen anyone that young capable of teaching at this level.

To think such talent was hidden here! …No, wait—that’s not the point!

For a brief moment, Willes nearly forgot his hardened suspicions.