Chapter 40
‘A monster wouldn’t appear here, would it?’
However, his haste was unwarranted as Freesia was peacefully dipping her feet in the spring.
She had removed her coat and accessories, wearing a white chemise dress.
Holding up the hem of her dress to her knees, she looked towards something. From his angle, he couldn’t guess her thoughts.
What was so interesting there?
“Wild strawberries!”
Forgetting that Izar could hear, Freesia exclaimed out loud.
Then, joyfully splashing, she moved towards the wild strawberry bushes.
Watching her, Izar clicked his tongue and turned away.
“Ha… truly unbelievable.”
One moment she’s feverishly pleading, and the next, she’s overly excited after letting her guard down.
<Lord Izar, don’t go.>
…Not that her begging was any better.
That sleep talk seemed to scold him, questioning why he went out to fight monsters.
‘Why did you leave me? Why did you let me become like this?’
“Stop with the foolish thoughts.”
But then, from behind him, the woman screamed again. However, this time, it wasn’t a gasp of wonder but a sharp cry of alarm.
“Aaaah!”
The sound was so filled with fear it sent shivers down his spine.
Izar rushed back towards the source of the noise once more. There shouldn’t be anyone else around here capable of coming in.
Could it be a wild animal or a monster that had wandered in?
“What’s going on!”
Just as Izar was about to burst through the underbrush and shout, he realized what had made the woman scream.
A blond man was staring intently at the woman from in front of her, his face obscured by the backlight, even though it was clear what she was wearing.
Yet, he made no move.
But midway through drawing his sword, Izar recognized the man’s face.
“Wait, that man is…”
Before he could shout, the woman scooped something from the bottom of the spring and swung her arm.
Thwack!
“Argh!”
A satisfying sound of something hard hitting its target followed by the man’s pained scream echoed through the forest.
The stone thrown by the woman hit the blond man squarely on the forehead.
***
The second son of the Deneb family returned to the castle unexpectedly.
That was fine. Albireo Deneb showing up out of the blue wasn’t new, and his parents, the Marquis and Marchioness, were not surprised by his sudden appearance.
However, it was somewhat unusual for their son to try entering through the ‘healing spring’ shortcut and get hit by a pebble thrown by the Duchess.
Even though he mitigated the impact with magic, his forehead bloomed with a rather spectacular mark.
From the perspective of the Marquis and Marchioness, they could complain about lending the spring only for their son to nearly get seriously injured.
But the issue was that the son had seen the Duchess in a compromising position at the moment of the impact. Such an unintentional act would have been considered extremely rude decades ago, enough to cause one or both parties to prefer death…
As a result, Deneb Castle was engulfed in an awkward silence.
And Freesia, sitting beside Izar, bowed her head in embarrassment.
‘What now… I don’t know what to do in such a situation.’
She couldn’t bring herself to look directly at the Marquis and Marchioness or Lord Albireo Deneb, especially since she had been picking wild strawberries and had lifted her dress hem quite high.
“Ahem.”
Eventually, the Marquis broke the uncomfortable silence.
“Well… First of all, it seems my son’s intelligence is unimpaired.”
“Father, that’s too much.”
“I shall apologize first for the rudeness my son has caused the Duchess.”
Despite Albireo’s interjections, the Marquis neatly ignored him.
Freesia managed to regain her composure.
“I am truly grateful for your kind words, Marquis. And to Lord Deneb, I really don’t know how to express my apologies.”
“Don’t worry, Duchess.”
Only then did Freesia dare to glance towards Albireo.
‘The beloved troublemaker of the ladies of the court.’
True to his nickname, Albireo’s handsome features, complemented by his blond hair and clear blue eyes, stood out. While Izar gave off the impression of a stormy night, Albireo seemed like he was nurtured by bright sunlight and gentle breezes.
He even managed a leisurely wink at Freesia, though the plaster in the middle of his forehead made him look somewhat comical.
“As my dear father just said, there’s nothing wrong with my intelligence.”
“…”
“If that greeting was exclusively for me, I’m rather honored.”
Freesia instinctively leaned back.
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