Chapter 12
“You’re not still in love with that boy from back then, are you?”
“Whether I’ve forgotten him or not is my own business.”
“No, I don’t think that’s right. If you ask me, that boy is probably already married by now. He probably has three children.”
He muttered almost to himself:
“Maybe even five.”
Whether it was three or five, he couldn’t say. But somehow the thought irritated him.
How many years ago was that? It had only been a Harvest Eve Festival dance. On that night, everyone danced with whoever happened to hand them a flower. That boy had almost certainly done the same thing without giving it a second thought.
By now, he was surely married to some young woman, raising children, and living a perfectly happy life.
And yet Daisy alone had spent all these years unable to let go of that single memory.
It made Aaron strangely angry. She deserved to be happy too.
She deserved…
‘Why am I getting angry?’
Although it had nothing to do with him, Aaron found himself growing angry. Everything about it irritated him.
Why did someone as charming as Daisy have to hide herself beneath such a dreary gray robe, spending her life shut away inside a lonely tower? Surrounded by dusty spellbooks. Confined to that strange laboratory. Unable to step outside.
And then, when she did appear at a royal banquet, she was mocked by nobles and Holy Knights alike.
It infuriated him.
Most of all because he himself had been one of the people mocking her.
Without knowing a single thing about her, he had ridiculed her with careless words and turned her into the butt of a joke.
And yet, she was helping him now as though none of it had ever happened. Without showing even the slightest trace of resentment.
◇ ◆ ◇
“Oh my! Doesn’t the slipper fit my foot perfectly?”
Ignoring Count Garland’s daughter, Joanna, who was making a dramatic fuss while insisting that the clearly ill-fitting slipper was a perfect match, Aaron’s gaze drifted instead toward Daisy, who stood quietly by the window.
Sunlight streamed in through the open window, casting a soft golden glow over her blonde hair.
It was beautiful.
Why did he find her so lovely, even though she wore no makeup at all?
Unlike Abigail Senkov, whom they had visited earlier, or Joanna, who was stubbornly forcing her foot into the slipper, Daisy wore no elaborate cosmetics.
Yet she possessed a quiet beauty that neither of them could match.
She wore no overpowering perfume either. But whenever he walked beside her, there was always a gentle fragrance about her. It reminded him of wildflowers.
She wasn’t wearing a gown with a daring neckline. She was dressed in nothing but that gloomy gray robe. But for some reason, that was the image that lingered in his mind.
Why? Was it because he pitied her? Was this simply sympathy…? Or was it gratitude mixed with sympathy?
“I’m afraid Miss Garland isn’t the one. My apologies for troubling you.”
Aaron reached down to remove the slipper from Joanna’s foot. But Joanna seized it with both hands, refusing to let go.
“Look! It’s a perfect fit!”
Joanna insisted. Then, turning toward Daisy as though seeking an ally, she pleaded”
“See for yourself, Lady Wizard! Doesn’t this slipper fit my foot perfectly?”
“Miss Garland, if you would be so kind as to return the slipper to me…”
Aaron let out a weary sigh as he rose to his feet. Abandoning any attempt to retrieve the slipper by force, he gave Daisy a subtle glance. Let’s go. That was what the look meant.
“As an apology for my discourtesy, you may keep the slipper, Miss Garland.”
Having given up on reclaiming it, Aaron left the Garland estate.
Once they were outside, Daisy quietly asked”
“Would you like me to create another pair with magic?”
“No, that’s all right.”
Aaron shook his head, touched by her offer.
“I’ve decided not to keep playing this game of searching for my hidden Cinderella.”
“What?”
“I’m giving up.”
A resigned smile crossed Aaron’s face as he mounted his horse and started forward.
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