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Percyville turned the horse’s head. When the body that was facing the front along the parade was twisted, Catherine thought she was dreaming for a moment. She intuitively felt the eyes that did not fall off her face.
Percyville didn’t forget me.
She thought about it.
If she reunites with that crazy guy in a place like this, she won’t be able to raise her head in this neighborhood.
“Ha.”
Even so, the provocative article title that appeared this morning, “Paladin, Carlos! Baldness can’t stop the affair! Falling in Love with the Lady of the Haunted Mansion?”, it was Catherine.
If Lily’s holy knight, loved by everyone, was added to that, rumors would spread to the imperial social circles, and the reward of leaving Orleans could be lost.
So Catherine ran. A narrow back alley that harms people and no horses can enter, like crazy!
Hiiing.
“Kyaak!”
The sounds of horse cries and screams were scattered behind her back. Can he actually run over the people and follow her all the way here?
Even if she thought so, her legs continued to steam without a break. This is because she remembered the anxiety this crazy guy could do in a corner of her head.
It was time when she went deeper into the alley. A strong grip grabbed Catherine’s arm and led her to a dark place.
“Huh?”
“Ssh.”
The bell rang. As she sat down on the floor and looked around, the ceiling and floor were all familiar green vegetation. Damian’s eyes, with his back low in front of her, peer through the window.
Catherine took a breath and stared at his calm back on the head.
“—Why are you here?”
“I came to buy herbicide.”
Somehow, she thought it was familiar, but this was a flower shop that she often saw while passing through the square. She thought it was getting farther from the square, but it seemed to have turned around and eventually returned to its place.
“The owner left the store with me for a while, saying we should watch the parade. I mean, tsk, they see the Imperial Knights so easily.”
She couldn’t hear any more horseshoe sounds. The heartbeat, which was beating like crazy, gradually began to calm down. It’s been a long time since she was so surprised, who is usually calm.
“Why did you bring me all of a sudden? My heart almost dropped.”
“It’s me, not the Lady, who is surprised. Why is that crazy guy chasing after Lady? Are you even the enemy of his parents?”
Enemy?
Catherine and Percyville didn’t have such a great relationship. It’s not great, but maybe they’ve made each other feel betrayed— no, is it correct to describe such a relationship as terrific?
Whether her silence was considered positive, Damian laughed in vain with an incredible face.
“Ah, you’re the enemy of that crazy bastard—. I thought there could be such a terrifying person in the world, but the Lady must be one of them. How have you kept your life alive?”
“Don’t say weird things. It’s not like that.”
“Then, hidden siblings?”
“It’s not like that either.”
“Then, the hidden lover?”
“If you’re a lover, you’re a lover. What’s there to hide?”
“It’s worth hiding it. Isn’t he the heir to the throne with such a personality? The fiancee he has been with since birth is so pretty.”
Ah.
‘Right, Percyville had a fiancee.’
Thanks to Damian, she remembered the long-lost memory. It is said that she was born with a weak body and suffered many serious illnesses.
Yes, the fact that he had a fiancee was also one of the fundamental reasons that broke her relationship with Percyville.
‘—No, that’s just an excuse.’
At that time, Catherine Orléans was wearing a rather vicious mask full of contradictions.
For her at the time, Percyville was only a brief escape. Perhaps even if there had been no fiancee who had been promised to each other, the marriage would never have happened between them.
“Let me ask you something, Damian.”
Damian’s expression hardened at her words.
“What do you mean? Were you really a hidden sibling? You felt strangely extraordinary, so you are also the hidden Princess of the Fahenrichin Holy Kingdom—.”
“I fully understand that you have a lot of imagination, so please stop talking nonsense.”‘
Cough. Damian coughed a little.
Catherine looked at his face like that and asked slowly. If she had been an old and close acquaintance, she would never have said it.
“When a man tells a woman to run away together, why does he sound like he’s going to give his heart?”
Damian’s answer immediately came out.
“It must be love.”
There seems to have been a short silence.
“Haha.”
An empty laugh echoed through the empty flower shop.
“Hahaha! Ey, there’s no way. That crazy bastard made such a suggestion to the Lady— haha!”
Catherine stared silently at Damian’s face. Because she thought it was the right reaction.
“Haha, ha—”
However, his laughter did not last long.
“—Did you reject him?”
“No.”
“What if you didn’t say no— Aha! Haha— Well, that’s the case with both men and women. Love that seems to last forever will fade and fade over time, right? I understand everything.”
“I said yes and ran away on the day I promised.”
“—W, what? You ran away?”
Looking back, that was exactly the time of storm and stress.
Inside OrlĂ©ans, she lived by killing “me” as much as possible, but outside, everything seemed to be under her feet. She thought she could play with the Pope’s favorite. In fact, she half-successfully seduced him.
“Why did you run away?”
“It’s unrealistic.”
At that time, it’s just—.
She thought she could overcome everything with the burning affection of the two men and women.
Percyville’s eyes that held Catherine down were overwhelming. The thick scent of flowers surrounding him also made Catherine’s heart beat like a verse from a long romance novel. Maybe Percyville didn’t feel the same way as her.
He was drawn to the memories of that day and followed her, but there was nothing to miss or regret about the unfulfilled relationship.
“Lady— you’ve been terribly realistic from a young age.”
“I can clearly see what you’re thinking. How can you do that, right?”
Damian shook his head.
“No. Actually, I’m much more surprised that a crazy bastard said that. I can’t say right or wrong about Lady’s personal situation.”
Damian, who said that, had a look of awe, sympathy, and a crazy b*tch that exceeded expectations.
“But Lady is amazing too. Sir Cesare is not enough, so now the crazy bastard too? No matter how you choose to meet—”
Hup. Damian closed his mouth and looked around carefully. Whether Cesare exists in a place like this and appears like a light here and there.
Damian felt a little pity when he thought about his usual appearance.
“Such a bastard, no, crazy— No I mean, have you only met great people? Do you have a river-like charm that only I don’t know?”
Since he was genuinely curious, Catherine also answered with sincerity.
“Don’t make fun of me and buy herbicides.”
Still, she thought it was very fortunate to have Damian in a place like this.
Damian asked for a variety of gardening tools in addition to herbicides. Two-handed scissors, sickle, and even a pickaxe—.
She was very grateful that he started working in earnest while working without a penny. But Catherine’s wallet was completely empty.
1,000 Rid.
He’s a Grand Duke from a wealthy Duke family that makes her eyes widen, but have he already forgotten the 1,000 Rid he threw at her?
‘No, a man like that can never forget that. If even 1 Rid disappears, I’m sure he’ll tell me to empty the mansion right away.’
The future was dark. Now, finding an excuse to make money can no longer be delayed. She vowed to open the newspaper right away and look at the job postings, and Catherine returned to her mansion with Damian, who was carrying the two-handed bag.
「Oh. Catherine returned with the expression of someone stepping on shit in her face!」
The cat hiding in the garden jumped up and down and stopped at Catherine’s feet.
“If you think so, please comfort me.”
「I’m sorry, but I’m busy today! I will go on a hunt for a cruel beast that smells of blood today!」
Leaving those words behind, the cat disappeared back into the garden faster than it had run. What a cruel hunt that smells of blood with its small size? She wonders if it sounds like a joke, or a truth.
Upon entering, her newspaper was already being read by someone else. Like Catherine, Rose, who had just arrived, turned around, putting on her apron. Damian groaned.
“Lady! First of all, let’s drink warm tea to relieve body fatigue—”
“Cesare? What are you doing here?”
“And—Huh! Then Lady, I’m going to go take care of the garden. Please enjoy your time with Sir Cesare.”
Damian said hello to Cesare and ran out into the garden in a hurry.
Since he appears out of nowhere like this, Damian keeps looking outside, just in case.
Whether the owner returned or not, Cesare kept his eyes on the newspaper. She wondered what the hell was going on with his serious face, so she cautiously approached his back and looked at the unfolding side.
「The Paladin on the way back from subjugation, a scandal with the Mistress of the haunted mansion?」
Her mind is getting flustered rapidly. She screams internally and takes the newspaper from Cesare. Only then did his eyes turn to Catherine.
“Why are you taking it?”
“That’s because you’re reading useless articles!”
“What do you mean it’s useless?”
Tak, tak. When he turned his attention to the usual sound, Cesare was pounding the table with the back of the fountain pen.
“I was working on a puzzle.”
After that, she looked at the newspaper again. A horizontal and vertical puzzle was placed under the gossip column that was the size of the gate. It was even more than half filled. She was embarrassed.
“—I’m sorry.”
Why did she think Cesare would have been reading 「The Paladin on the Return to Subjugation, the Scandal with the Mistress of the Haunted Mansion?」 They’re not even interested in each other’s private lives.
Catherine swallowed as many as two glasses of cold water to escape from the awkward air. And just before she goes to help Damian, she opens her mouth to ask about this.
“So what’s going on today?”
Cesare, who was solving the remaining puzzles, answered by writing the answer in the newspaper.
“Well, there’s nothing to do. And there was an interesting article, so I wanted to check it out.”
She looked at Cesare with a doubtful gaze.
“You’re not talking about the article you’re looking at right now, are you?”
“Exactly.”
She looked at his shameless face.
The moment when Catherine felt embarrassed that she thought it would never be the case became unfair. So, without realizing it, she spoke in a sharper tone than usual.
“Why are you curious about that? What if it’s not a false rumor?”
At that word, Cesare changed her expression. His eyes look like he didn’t really like something.