As soon as they returned to their rooms, Alessia’s tone had completely changed, completely different from when she was pretending to be shy.
“Why don’t you just tell everyone what happened, huh?” she scolded. “Were you even thinking? Is that thing on your shoulders just for decoration?”
Kaon stood there, listening to the nagging. It was true that he had been acting visibly awkward over the past month, and that he had often heard rumors that the two of them were fighting. But while he didn’t make any excuses, he felt like his reaction was warranted. He was being forced to deceive his family, and he felt like all of his years of honest living were slipping away.
In addition, it was difficult to adjust to Alessia’s real personality, which was so different that it wouldn’t have been hard to believe if she was actually exchanged for an identical twin.
‘I’m crazy.’
Most painful of all was the fact that he’d idiotically fallen in love for the first time with someone like Alessia. That he’d wanted her to stay in Ferdinand forever, worried about the way she looked so fragile… In retrospect, none of it was real.
All of his plans for the future were made in sincerity, but their experiences together were a farce to her.
Kaon shivered. He’d been having a hard time sleeping recently, the memories plaguing his mind.
“Does it look like a decoration?” he replied roughly.
His head throbbed with worry and weariness.
“The candlesticks are decorative, and so are the rugs, but your head? Oh, and that carpet is wonderful to look at.”
It wasn’t easy to ignore her, though.
“So? Aren’t you going to do anything about your face?”
Kaon, fed up with her incomparably rude and sharp criticism, snapped back, “What do you care about my face?”
“What?” Alessia snorted, then suddenly tucked her hair behind her ear. “On the other hand, you like my face, don’t you?”
“Ah…” Another childish response on the tip of his tongue was swallowed when he really looked at her.
She was pretentious and cunning, but her face was still exactly suited to his taste, much to his annoyance.
“Right, Kaon?” Her soft voice was just how he remembered it.
“…You’re crazy,” he muttered, unable to deny it, and quickly turned away.
***
“Madeleine? What’s this all of a sudden?”
“Young Master, why didn’t you tell me?”
“What… what?”
Out of nowhere, Madeleine had brought her special… juice on a tray, seemingly overjoyed. “I’m really happy that the young master appreciates my intentions. If it’s your health, doing this much is no trouble at all, so don’t worry.”
“I… don’t understand what’s happening.”
“You don’t have to pretend you don’t know. Lady Alessia told me everything. You shared the juice I made last time because you didn’t want it to go to waste! I didn’t expect you to be so considerate of me…” Genuinely moved, she wiped her eyes. “Oh dear, I’m making a fool of myself.”
Kaon glared at the velvet curtain.
It appeared that that crazy swindler was playing another trick on him.
Alessia knew why he didn’t like drinking it because he’d practically begged her with his eyes to drink it with him that one time.
However, to misinterpret it in such a way and tell Madeleine about it was truly insane.
“I made a lot today, especially for the young master, so please feel free to drink all of it.”
“Oh, well…” Unable to deny her expectant gaze, he held his breath and drank.
The lingering aftertaste made him nauseous.
“How is it? I made it a little stronger than last time. You’ll surely be energized.
Kaon didn’t know about that, but he appreciated Madeleine’s affection and concern.
But still, taste-wise wasn’t it closer to poison than anything else?
Desperately enduring the bitterness in his mouth, he raised his head. “…Wait, Madeleine.”
“Yes!”
“I feel a bit bad for drinking all of it alone. Alessia must also be tired from all the inspections.” Kaon forced a smile, pointing at the curtain.
When making trouble for others, one must be prepared to suffer retaliation.
“She should have some as well.”
“Oh, our young master has truly grown up!”
The older woman looked at him so proudly that he felt a twinge of guilt, but he suppressed the discomfort for the sake of his revenge.
“But what should I do? The lady is allergic to jacinthe fruits…”
“Really?” Kaon’s expression crumpled.
Jacinthe trees grew mainly in warm regions, which meant that it was unlikely that they could survive in a place as cold as Ingelos. And yet, she was allergic to it? It didn’t make any sense that she even knew about the fruit.
“Indeed. She said she wanted to try it for herself, but couldn’t.”
Alessia Ingelos, that sly girl, must have prepared for this situation beforehand.
“She can’t drink it, so please drink on her behalf and stay healthy. That will please everyone…”
Not him, though…
Kaon swallowed his tears.
***
“Allergic to jacinthe? Have you even ever tried jacinthe fruit?” Kaon stood huffing in puffing in front of the curtain after Madeleine left.
He’d had to empty two glasses in a row in front of the maid, who said things like “I’m satisfied just watching you drink,” and “The lady in heaven will be so happy to see you grow up well.”
“It’s good to be healthy. What’s wrong?”
The answer from behind the velvet angered him even more.
‘If you like it that much, just drink it yourself.’
“Don’t bother me with nonsense and just go about your day. Read another book or something.”
“Isn’t this something trivial?”
He laughed coldly. “Alessia Ingelos, do you think this is a small matter?”
“Then is it so important that you complain about something bitter?”
“It’s not just about this. You…!” Kaon paused, resisting the urge to yell.
The curtain moved to the side, revealing his fiancée, arms folded as she leaned against the wall.
“Do you want to live like this for the rest of your life? Are you really going to marry me and keep doing this?”
At one time, he’d sincerely hoped for such an outcome, but now…
“What else can I do?”
“What do you want to do?”
He was genuinely curious. Their families still had unresolved issues between them, so she could still leave now that they were yet to be married. As such, that meant that they could simply part ways and keep each other’s secrets.
‘If she leaves, everything will be solved.’
The thought of her leaving sent a pang through his heart, but Kaon tried to ignore it, a bit dismayed at the proof that he was a bit more like the romantic that his father had been.
“If I go back,” Alessia began after a long while. “I am going to die.”
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