I quickly peeked at him and looked at the side of his face. I could see he was enjoying the flower.
The lights of the lanterns were shining upon Kyle. His face was dreamier than usual; I was even wondering if Kyle was human or a sculpture for a moment. The illusion disappeared when he opened his mouth.
“Riddel Spencer.”
“Yes?”
“Do you like flowers?”
“Yes, I do.”
“… I see.”
For some reason, Kyle didn’t wear his usual apathetic mask. It was not just me, but Kyle was becoming gentler these days, almost docile.
Well, maybe…
‘What does Kyle think of this flower?’
I tried asking the same question out loud but stopped myself. I could remember Kyle trampling the wildflowers before, the same I revived them with my divine power.
A strange silence settled upon us. We hadn’t talked to each other for the last few days, not that I really minded the quiet time to myself.
‘Lily’s got to be on the lookout. It’s getting late, let’s move and get back to my room.’
It was at the same moment when I looked up behind at Lily that Kyle flicked his thumb and index lightly. A faint light began to rise from the ground. It was magic.
The magical light, which became denser and brighter, raised into the air immersing the garden. I was soon surrounded by countless lights.
“Wow.”
The admiration flowed from my heart. I had no choice but to look around me, amazed by the wonderful sight.
The withered roses in the garden were blooming one by one.
When I clearly lost my mind, laughing and incapable of looking at anything else than this vision, Kyle asked me.
“Do you like it?”
“… Don’t say it.”
“What is it? Don’t say what…”
“I really love it!” I shouted with an excited face waving my arms erratically.
Kyle, who was looking at me seemed to have something to say, but kept quiet. What was he trying to say? I thought I’d ask, but I could not care at this moment. He was already making a face whose curiosity had been solved.
‘Maybe asking him right now would only ruin the mood.’
Honestly, I didn’t feel like myself, but I couldn’t help it. This was a scene, a sight, that only could be called magical.
“… It’s so beautiful.”
When I saw the fresh roses thriving in this cold, I was amazed all over again. I was giving him a smile soaked in happiness.
Although the smile didn’t last long.
“… Hey, Archduke. What are you doing?”
It became absurd. Kyle was already walking and breaking the stem of a rose.
“Why did you suddenly pick a flower without answering me? Huh?”
My questions didn’t last. Kyle was admiring the silver leaking from the broken stem of the rose. After a while, the rose was magically removed from all his thorns.
I looked at Kyle, who handed me the rose and asked in a puzzled way.
“This flower, did you break it for me?”
“… Yes.”
Did you really break it for me? I had a mixed look of surprise and doubt. Not too long ago the same man who had just stepped on flowers, destroying them unconcerned, was giving me one as a gift. Besides, I didn’t ask for it this time. Oh… Where are my manners?
“Is this a thoughtful gift?”
“… it’s a gift.”
I just accepted it without complaining. The flower was an innocent gift anyway. I accepted the rose, then grinned with gratitude.
“That’s so pretty. Thank you.”
“… It’s nothing.”
“Nothing? I will cherish it and put it in a vase. Oh, by the way, you must be very busy with work these days?”
“Why do you ask that?”
“The Archduke never came to the room.”
“…”
Kyle’s silence was making me embarrassed. This was a question filled with pure curiosity, but on the other side, it could feel like an interrogation, or even blaming him.
I asked the next question in a hurry. “Well, you don’t have to answer, more importantly, Archduke, did something urgent happen for you to go out today?”
“No. I just disposed of some garbage.”
Kyle wouldn’t have picked up the trash on the side of the road… I’m sure there must be an implicit meaning there. A corrupt nobleman or a rotten old rival causing trouble to Kyle.
‘Wait, isn’t that blood on his cheek?’
Oh, my God. I glanced at Kyle with reasonable doubt, but he opened his mouth first.
“I didn’t kill it.”
“What?”
“I said I didn’t kill it.”
I just blinked at the sudden remark.
‘What didn’t you kill? Wait, does ‘it’ mean someone…?’
I felt embarrassed when I realized Kyle looked at me with pure calm. Wait, what? Well, come to think of it, I was the one who told him not to kill anyone.
“Good job.”
Ah.Ah.Ah. It was awkward but I complimented Kyle as much as I could with a smile. But why?
“Yes.” Kyle’s voice felt softer this time around.
***
“Good job.”
Kyle was staring at Riddel who complimented him. His only thought at the moment.
‘How does this woman shine so brightly?’
Kyle somehow felt a tingling heat to his numb heart. It was another up and down of those unknown emotions. He felt affected more than ever by those mood swings.
***
Early in the morning, Jean came into his office and asked him.
“Did you call me, my lord?”
Kyle, barely looking at him, was clearly lost in his thoughts.
After a while, Kyle opened the desk from the drawer in front of him and took something out. The content quickly passed through his fingers. It was an ornate key made of gold and a single piece of paper.
Kyle gave them to Jean and waved them at him.
“Give this to Riddel Spencer.”
“… Could his Highness not give it to her?”
“…”
Kyle’s eyebrows wiggled in an apparent way of asking ‘why should I’?
‘Oh, you’re such a disrespectful master.’
Jean’s mouth went up and kept going up. On the surface, he knew the stark atmosphere emanating from Kyle was his usual apathetic mask, but Jean was excited about his rare request.
There were two reasons why Jean was so responsive this early in the morning.
Firstly, discovering that Riddel could call his name and calm the Archduke right away. Only the Archduchess could accomplish something like that, no one else. Of course, Jean didn’t see it with his own eyes, but the information was coming from her Highness. He knew it was not a lie.
Secondly, Jean already knew the development between the two of them. The rosy romance that took place in the rose garden last night. No, it wasn’t just Jean. All the employees and knights of the Great Duchy knew. It wasn’t an exaggeration.
The rumor originated from Lily, the only witness to the scene.
“ – Listen, listen! How romantic! The Archduke last night…!”
Lily, who had always been obsessed with romance novels, couldn’t sleep at all thanks to the excitement of the previous night in the garden.
As soon as morning came, Lily, who was working in the kitchen, related everything that had happened last night to the other maids.
“ – I can’t believe the Archduke spoke to her Highness first. He even used wind magic in case it was too cold for her.”
“ – Oh, my God, I know you adore her Highness, but you can’t be telling sweet stuff like that.”
“ – I’m telling you, it’s true. I saw it with my own eyes. Besides, that’s not the end of it. The Archduke and the Archduchess watched the flowers together. But do you know what her Highness said?”
“ – What? What did she say?” When another maid, who suddenly stepped in asking the question, Lily put her hands together and said in a theatrical tone.
“ – Oh, Kyle! You’re as beautiful as a flower.”
“ – Oh, really? That’s what her Highness said?”
“ – Yeah!”
“ – Oh, my God! Oh, my God! Oh, my God!”
“ – Oh, my God!”
Thanks to Lily, the kitchen was in chaos in an instant. Excited by the enthusiastic response, she continued retailing the story with the full attention of captivated faces.
“ – What, what, what’s going on?”
“- What’s going on in there?”
“ – Come here and listen! Archduke Romani…!”
With all the other employees who had business in the kitchen, the disturbance grew out of proportion. Lily, excited by the enthusiastic reaction, continued with a dreamy look on her face. Even after retailing the first part dozens of times.
“ – And then the Archduke stared at the Archduchess with his eyes dripping with honey, then he asked her, Riddel, do you like flowers? Then… He used his magic and let the withered rose garden bloomed in the dark night!”
The way Lily spoke, the picture of them mixed with Kyle’s bloody face and Riddel’s sarcastic demeanor, seemed to have been distorted through a filter in her head.
“ – Oh! The Garden, I think I’ve seen that. I was going to sleep last night, but when I looked through the window, the rose garden was shining brightly!”
“ – Really? That’s too bad. I would like to have seen it.”
“ – Anyway, that’s so romantic! The cold-blooded Archduke is so sweet to his Archduchess. He must really love her!”
Honestly, it was close to the point of fabrication, but the responses of everyone who listened to her stories was instant. In conclusion, last night’s meeting between Riddel and Kyle was the romance of the century.
Jean, who was nearby, could hear all the vivid stories not far from the door since Lily was the only one talking in the kitchen, putting everyone to a stop to hear the famous love story.
Thus, the love between the two spread widely in the Great Duchy. When the two reasons lingered in Jean’s head, he felt like smiling again.
However, he answered his lord keeping his composure, with a calm attitude that he didn’t feel as to not raise suspicions. Jean was trying not to be obvious in front of Kyle.
“Of course, I’ll deliver it to her Highness.”
Leaving the office, Jean struggled to keep his expression neutral until he finally reached the door.
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