/
Dorothea nodded at his gaze as if he had something else to say.
“What’s going on?”
“….”
At Dorothea’s question, he quietly reached out to her.
Above his hand was a pin of white shell.
Since Dorothea gave it to him, it is a pin he has always worn on his chest when he is escorting her.
“Why is this? Are you giving it back to me now?”
‘I have been with Stefan for many years, but this time it was not easy to grasp the meaning.’
As if it was an incorrect answer, Stefan quickly shook his head.
“then?”
“I…”
‘Is Stefan trying to talk!’
Dorothea and Clara waited intently, but his lips hesitated for a long time in frustration.
‘Why is he so hard to say a word?!’
Finally, Stefan’s gaze turned to his chest with the medal.
Dorothea then understood the meaning. It means that the princess should put it on his chest.
“It’s too shabby to be worn among those medals.”
Stefan’s expression hardened at her concern.
His eyebrows were making a strong claim that the seashell pin wasn’t shabby at all.
“How long are you going to wear this?”
‘I asked because since I gave it to him, he never took it off.’
The kid at that time was so confident that what he made was strong, but seeing that it hasn’t broken even after a few years has passed, it looks like it was really sturdy.
“….”
Stefan’s eyes without an answer were saying ‘to the end’. Until this seashell pin breaks.
If it didn’t break, it seemed like he was going to ask them to bury it in his grave as well.
“I never gave you a present before other than this seashell pin, right? I’m sorry, Stefan.”
In the end, Dorothea, unable to overcome Stefan’s stubbornness, muttered, putting a pin directly on his chest.
To give meaning to such a cheap pin and keep it for a long time. Dorothea felt sorry and sad rather than grateful.
She should have given him something better.
Then, as always, Stefan shook his head kindly.
“What do you mean no?”
‘If I had known that you would cherish it like this, I would have gifted you a wonderful jewel that would stand out among the decorations.’
“But today I brought a gift that Stefan wouldn’t be ashamed of.”
She thought it was a good thing that she prepared a proper gift today.
Dorothea signaled with a clap, and a servant who had been waiting outside came in with a gift wrapped in expensive leather.
Dorothea took the gift from the servant and held it out in front of Stefan.
Stefan paused in amazement, but then knelt down and politely accepted her gift with both hands.
It felt heavy in his hands.
With Dorothea’s permission, he unwrapped the leather, revealing a sword in a black, sleek scabbard.
As soon as Stefan saw the sword, his eyes widened.
It had a plain and simple appearance without decorations, but just by looking at the handle, the feel of the sword was different from other swords.
It was a perfect sword that minimized all unnecessary and focused on the essence of the sword.
“It’s the famous sword Setter Calyps.”
To Stefan, who recognized the true value of the sword, Dorothea told him the name of the sword.
Before returning, she had a hobby of collecting famous swords, and it was one of the most famous swords in her collection.
After returning, she didn’t enjoy the hobby, but he remembered how to obtain which famous sword and which ones held particular appeal.
The Setter calyps was one of Dorothea’s favorite swords.
Because of its crudeness, ordinary people often do not know why it is a famous sword, but those who know can know it just by looking at it.
A sword that is strong and hard enough to be called a sword that can cut through rocks, perfect curves, and proportions.
‘Therefore, the longer I look at Setter Calypse, the more beautiful it becomes and I never get tired of it.’
A mysterious sword that perfectly equips what a swordsman wants.
Among the famous swords, the most convenient to actually use is the Setter Calyps.
So, when Dorothea decided to give Stefan a gift, she thought of Setter calyps without looking at anything else.
“I thought it was the sword that best suited Stefan.”
The sword that best suits Stefan, who is silent and faithful to his job.
“This is the first sword I give to my knight. So please accept it.”
At that, Stefan clenched his sword tightly and nodded once.
* * *
Dorothea headed to the hall where the ceremony was held.
I want to see Joy’s face too, but the knights who are appointed today have undergone rigorous ceremonial training ahead of the ceremony.
Dorothea couldn’t help but smile at the thought of the potato doing the ceremonial training.
And when she entered the hall where the ceremony was held, Dorothea felt their gaze focused on her.
“Princess Dorothea Milanaire!”
“Good afternoon! I greeted you at your debutante ball, princess.”
“Oh my god, Princess. You look so beautiful today…”
In an instant, the nobles gathered for the ceremony came to her and greeted her.
‘If that’s the case, I would have come with Ray.’
Raymond and Carnan would probably arrive at the same time as the emperor and crown prince.
Raymond had offered to accompany her to the ceremony, but of course, Dorothea refused him.
The emperor or the prince will step on the red carpet in the center according to the order of the ceremony, but as an ordinary imperial family, she will have to squeeze through the nobles and enter quietly.
The look on Raymond’s face made her think he was going to ask her to follow Carnan down the aisle, but she hated it even more.
However, she thought that it would have been better to wait until the ceremony had begun to sneak in quietly.
Then she wouldn’t have had to deal with all the pretentious greetings.
“Next week, I’m going to invite my acquaintances to have tea time, will the princess come too?
“I’d be grateful, but I’ve only just moved into the palace, and there’s still a lot to take care of.”
When Dorothea politely refused, another nobleman next to her interrupted.
“My family is planning to hold a party next month, and it would be an honor if the princess would also attend.”
Dorothea smiled awkwardly at the crowd of invitations.
‘At Cerritian, I turned down the invitation on the excuse that I was still young and not feeling well, but now I have no excuses.’
At this rate, it seemed that Dorothea couldn’t rest until she had met all the nobles in Lampas.
at that time.
“Princess.”
Dorothea’s head turned like a habit at the soft voice calling her.
It was Theon Fried.
‘Theon also attended…’
“Your Highness Raymond was looking for you earlier, and you are here.”
‘Ray was looking for me?’
Dorothea tilted her head puzzledly, and Theon smiled.
“I thought it was an urgent matter, so let’s meet him before the ceremony begins.”
“Yes.”
“I will guide you.”
Theon took her out to the back of the hall where the ceremony was held.
Dorothea followed behind him, watching his back.
It’s been a few days since her debut, but Theon looks different from before.
‘Theon knows how to deal with dark spirits….’
Dorothea thought as she watched his hair sway gently and she took a step forward in line with his stride.
She hadn’t noticed at all.
When he was despairing over losing Raymond, when he was dying day by day, she only blamed him for not loving her like a fool.
It was Theon who didn’t deserve to be blamed.
Dorothea had plenty of opportunities to notice.
‘When I visit his room every night, a frighteningly dark darkness greets me.’
When Dorothea smelled a candle burning in the middle of it, she assumed that Theon had just blown it out and was pretending to be asleep.
But perhaps the candle was indeed burning. It was just that the dark spirits devoured the light.
In the night when Fried’s powers were growing stronger, Theon was trying to slow down the suffocation of his breath by releasing uncontrollable power in the terrifying darkness.
And the birds he killed. Even on the days when Dorothea’s gift of a glasshouse and beautiful, rare birds met tragedy, Theon must have felt despair at his power.
“Do you still love me?”
The day the beautiful birds died, she asked.
How did Theon feel when she asked that question?
A deep despair, which Dorothea could not read properly, interpreting it selfishly.
‘How dare I say I loved him if I didn’t know him well?’
Dorothea was not confident. She was selfish and ignorant. To Raymond, to Theon, and to Ethan.
At that moment, Theon’s steps stopped.
Then, Theon stopped walking.
There was no one around, and there were no noisy nobles, so it was quiet.
Dorothea looked around for Ray.
“What about Ray?”
“Ah… You seem to be in trouble, so I borrowed Ray’s name for a moment.” Theon said shyly.
‘Oh, you did it for me.’
“Did I do something unnecessary?”
“No, no. thank you.”
“It’s the first time I’ve seen you since your debut.”
“Yes…”
Dorothea kept a moderate distance from him, fiddling with the brooch she had on her chest.
“With the power I gave, you will be able to keep Theon Fried by your side.”
Ethan said so, referring to the power of the Spirit Stone.
With this power, she will be able to save Theon, and maybe use that as an excuse to get engaged to him.
A chance to keep Theon by her side.
Still, Dorothea was hesitant to reach out to seize the opportunity.
‘Is it because I just organized my thoughts?’
She handed over the handkerchief and the bottle of ointment to him and thought she was done.
‘I ended up with a long unrequited love.’
Even if he was holding hands with Julia, he could only feel the bitterness of memories that could make her laugh in moderation.
‘I could tell Clara that Theon Fried doesn’t like me…but I can’t believe I have the power to hold him again.’
Dorothea looked up at him.
Now she understood why he had so readily agreed to be her debutante partner, even though he had no interest in her before the return.
Now She knows why Carnan, who had never taken an interest in Dorothea, suddenly pushed for her and Theon’s engagement.
Strangely, Carnan was so aggressively pushing for her engagement to a man she liked.
‘I knew from the start that it was a marriage without love because it was a political marriage, but….’
‘The fact that Raymond was the reason Theon married me…. was a little sad.