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Chapter : 05
4. That Was a Mistake?
“Well, it’s good that you already know each other! Lucien, show them around the lab. And Duke, I’m sure you’d prefer a lady over an old man like me, right? I’d better go see our little darling now.”
For reference, “little darling” was the name of the plant that the headmaster had been doting on recently.
Aten stretched her arms toward him with effort, barely reaching Chester’s waist.
Chester bent slightly, as if to accommodate the peculiar gesture.
Aten the headmaster smiled gently and patted his shoulder.
“Please take good care of them, Duke.”
Then, before either of them could respond, they disappeared in a blink.
Lucien realized a beat too late that she hadn’t asked what the headmaster meant by “that class,” but by now, only the two of them remained in the office.
An awkward silence settled. She forced a casual smile and spoke.
“Well… first, I’ll show you the lab. If you’re only coming for the special lecture, you probably won’t use it often, but since the headmaster has prepared it, it should be quite nice.”
Aten might be a harsh employer, but even she could see that he had a good sense of aesthetics.
The moment one entered, their blood pressure would rise, leaving no time to notice the background, yet this office alone displayed the grandeur and opulence one would expect from the mansion of a noble.
She guessed that the guest teacher’s room had probably been decorated at least as elegantly as the Duke’s reception room.
Her eyes followed the fist she had hidden behind her back, and then lingered on his face.
“I mentioned this before, didn’t I?”
“Uh… what, what are you talking about…?”
“Rather than using your fists—”
“Ah! Wait a moment!”
Without realizing it, Lucien shouted and raised her hands to stop him.
“Your Excellency, back then… I truly, I made a serious mistake…”
As she began explaining, a sudden sense of indignation welled up inside her.
‘No, anyone can make a mistake, right? I didn’t do anything wrong, did I? Anyone in that situation might react like that! Besides, I corrected it! Isn’t it dishonorable to dig up the past now?’
After her self-righteous mental justification, she lifted her head.
“I trust that a gentleman like you would overlook a lady’s minor mistake.”
Meaning: stop mentioning that incident and keep quiet.
In reality, it was such a trivial matter that there was no need to bring it up again.
At least, for Chester Rosanacht.
Moreover, she had apologized that day and even offered a token of atonement! He had accepted it!
“…It was a mistake?”
“Pardon?”
“A minor… mistake.”
Even his already stern expression seemed almost forgiving now.
His cold, subdued gaze resembled a predator that had just lost its prey, or perhaps a child who had received a gift only to have it taken away.
She felt justified, yet seeing that expression gave her an inexplicable guilt, as if she had committed a grave wrongdoing.
‘…Did I say something wrong?’
Philonia’s daughter had made her debut in the social scene.
Not a gloomy report of monsters in some region, but a light, springtime story that drifted into the tightly closed Rosanacht mansion.
It was rare for gossip from the social circles to cross the gates of the Duke’s residence.
Of course—it wasn’t like anyone there was involved in social affairs.
If news reached even the Duke’s mansion, it meant that there wasn’t a single person in the capital unaware of Philonia’s daughter’s debut.
“She’s like a lily… like the goddess of the morning star… like a fairy of a mystical lake…”
As time passed and praise for her beauty became stale, more specific rumors began to circulate.
One that stood out: she was a younger sister cherished dearly by Lucas Philonia.
Her skills as the youngest royal knight, barely out of youth, were verified by him personally.
Above all, she had no trace of the recklessness typical of her age; instead, her gaze held a deep, mature quality—an achilles heel of talented individuals.
Until that point, Lucien Philonia had left only that impression on him, and he had quickly forgotten it.
He first met the so-called beautiful daughter of the marquis a few years later, at a small-scale banquet held by the emperor for the only princess’s birthday.
It was far from a typical encounter.
“Oh my, is that…?”
“I hear she enjoys seeing demonic blood…”
“Did you hear about the last purge? At this point, maybe the prophecy was wrong…?”
“Shh, don’t say that lightly. And it’s not certain yet.”
“Yes. That sense of foreboding… it’s different from the Grand Duke.”
Chester ignored the whispers around him.
The content wasn’t pleasant, but at least it was human language, unlike the howls of monsters.
“So, does this mean His Majesty has decided to accept Rosanacht as well?”
“Well… His Majesty perhaps, but as for Your Highness… I don’t think there’s been an official announcement from the temple?”
“Hmm… the truth of that incident isn’t fully revealed… and since then, no more prophecies.”
“Time is indifferent. Who could have known the young duke would grow like this? It’s hard to believe he’s the same person.”
“This shows the importance of environment and education. Are there any other young nobles his age who haven’t even graduated from the Academy?”
He was probably the youngest duke in the empire’s history.
Moreover, he had skipped his debutante ceremony, dropped out of the academy, and volunteered for the battlefield. So everyone had something to say about his first appearance in society.
While Chester was drawing more attention—and criticism—than the princess herself at the banquet, a commotion arose at some distance.
All eyes turned in that direction instantly.
“Oh, that’s the Philonia daughter. She never fails to amaze. No wonder the marquis keeps her under wraps.”
“It’s been a while since her debut. They say many marriage proposals came in, yet no news has surfaced.”
“She’s naturally frail, so she rarely goes out. Looks like she dropped her cup.”
“Oh dear. The marquis and his wife must be worried. Among girls her age, it was a rare occasion to see a mage. Yet here she is, like a flower in a picture.”
“Flower in a picture”—even someone unfamiliar with social jargon could sense the gentle ridicule.
Oddly, it created a sense of kinship with the person who had diverted some of the criticism away from him.
That was why he approached, having heard the commotion from the balcony.
“Oh, how outrageously expensive! And you won’t even sell it because you don’t know when you’ll die…!”
“You mentioned the Royal Knights. Can you say that in front of my brother as well?”
“Hah! This wet-behind-the-ears kid thinks he’s untouchable? Since you pamper him—”
Even without seeing, Chester could picture the scene clearly.
He could predict the next move of this unusually un-knightly man, behaving like a street thug.
As he opened the balcony door, a dull thud sounded.
“Argh!”
The scream didn’t come from a delicate woman, but a robust man.
An unknown man clutched his nose and collapsed before Chester.
The woman who had delivered a perfectly aimed punch to the bridge of his nose turned back at him, her face pale and terrified.
Moonlight-colored hair cascaded like waves, and her pale blue eyes trembled as they met his.
‘…Lucien Philonia.’
The once-cliché praise of “goddess” or “fairy” lingered in his ears.
Before she could speak, the man who had collapsed stood up, his face contorted red and blue.
“Ugh… how dare you—!”
His pronunciation was intact, so it seemed he was unharmed. The punch had landed, but lacked full force.
A prey whose breath hadn’t been fully cut off deserved a finishing blow, Chester instinctively felt, and his fist tightened.
But then, an astonishing thing happened.
“I-I already have someone I love!”
A gentle breeze fluttered her clothing. Or rather, a slight force clutched at her sleeves, mistaken for a breeze.
Chester saw the hand gripping her sleeve so firmly that he turned pale.
…If he let go, it felt like he would commit an unforgivable crime.
