AWLITEB Chapter 31

It was unprecedented.

Smashing cake into the Grand Duke's face!

Everyone was swept up in shock.

A noblewoman with a weak constitution even collapsed like a feather before the wind, the back of her hand pressed to her forehead.

"F-Forgive us!"

One of the orphanage teachers came running in a panic. Her face had gone white as paper, and she fell to her knees with a trembling body, pressing her forehead to the ground.

The boy reflexively dropped to his knees and bowed his head low.

The common people turned their heads away, anticipating the bloodbath about to descend.

Genos Perdian was known as a benevolent Grand Duke, but even so, royalty was royalty.

In a situation like this—caked with frosting in front of everyone—there wasn't a single royal who wouldn't draw blood.

Genos finished wiping his face with the handkerchief the trembling maids had brought him.

Thick cream clung to his jet-black hair like a discordant note.

"Quite different from traditional engagement congratulations."

Genos spoke.

In the space where even the sound of wind had ceased, only Genos's voice echoed.

"Stand up. And lift the child as well."

Genos addressed the teacher.

Expecting him to draw his sword the moment she rose, the teacher could only shed tears, unable to move.

Genos glanced at Isabella, giving her a light look.

"It's all right. Stand up."

Reading the Grand Duke's unspoken intent, Isabella walked over and took the teacher's hand, helping her to her feet. Then she helped the boy up as well.

The boy looked at Isabella with eyes full of tears. His expression showed he hadn't expected things to turn out this way—lost, uncertain.

"I'm not sure how to resolve this matter. It's not often I find myself in such accidents. Isabella, what do you think?"

As Genos spoke, the crowd's eyes all turned to Isabella.

Genos smiled faintly.

From his smile, Isabella could easily read his intent.

After all, Genos was the hero of the North. The person who needed to make a good impression here today and score points was Isabella herself.

Isabella steadied her mind and opened her mouth calmly.

"A child who dared to lay hands on Your Grace's person would not be without reason. He's not so young as to be unable to distinguish a simple prank."

Isabella gestured lightly, summoning the head butler.

The head butler, who had been frozen since the moment the cake incident occurred, finally moved his body and approached Isabella.

"Ask the boy what circumstances he has and inform me. However."

As Isabella's gaze turned to him, the boy sucked in a sharp breath—hik—and hastily lowered his head.

"Whatever circumstances you may have, you will perform one year of community service in the village. Keep that in mind."

Genos looked at Isabella with satisfaction.

It was a generous and excellent resolution, just as he had intended.

"I'll go clean up. Take care of the guests for me."

Genos whispered to Isabella, then showed a light smile to the nobles and common people.

"The party has suffered no blemish. The only blemish is to my dignity, so don't worry and enjoy yourselves again. So that your host won't be embarrassed."

Genos moved into the building, and the teacher and boy were led elsewhere by the head butler.

"My goodness. The young lady truly has exceptional ability in handling such situations. If it were me, I would have just shouted angrily the moment I saw cake cream on my fiancé's face!"

Sonya covered her face with both hands as she spoke.

At her voice, Isabella suddenly came back to herself.

She had momentarily forgotten Sonya was beside her.

"Still, how wonderful for you. To be destined to become husband and wife with His Grace the Grand Duke. I'm truly envious."

Sonya looked at Isabella as she spoke.

The gaze looking down at her made Isabella uncomfortable.

The innocent eyes of someone who had lived her whole life as a beloved noble lady.

To Isabella, it stung worse than a poisoned needle.

"Thank you for saying so."

"Oh my, I told you to speak comfortably with me, young lady."

"..."

"Please?"

"Then... I'll do that."

"Hehe. Now my heart feels at ease."

At Sonya's beaming smile, Isabella hesitated for a moment before asking.

"Does Lady Sonya have someone special in her heart?"

"Me? Do I?"

Sonya's eyes went round as she asked.

Isabella made a gentle smile, creating an expression that said she was merely asking out of curiosity.

In her mind, a single sentence floated up: It's not Genos, is it?

"Yes. Have you perhaps had anyone propose to you?"

"A proposal!"

Sonya's face colored as she laughed with an embarrassed expression.

"Why would you say such a thing? Are you teasing me?"

"Hm?"

Isabella tilted her head slightly, unable to grasp the meaning.

Sonya's cheeks were still flushed red.

"Who would propose to someone as immature as me, young lady? Of course, after my birthday this year I'll be fourteen, but..."

"...Wait. What did you just say?"

"Me? That I'm immature..."

"No, the last part. After your birthday, what?"

Isabella asked, pale as if she'd seen a ghost.

"That I'll be fourteen?"

This can't be.

Isabella couldn't hide her shocked expression.

"What's wrong?"

Sonya asked, flustered by Isabella's reaction.

"Ah, well, you look mature for your age, so I was a bit startled. If I was rude, I apologize."

"Oh no, there's no need. I've heard many times that I'm tall for my age. I've done a lot of exercise since I was young, you see. Would you like to feel my muscles, young lady?"

Sonya proudly flexed one arm as she asked.

She was unmistakably a child.

Isabella forced a smile and poked at Sonya's arm.

"Indeed. Your muscles are quite impressive."

"Right?"

Watching Sonya giggle, Isabella felt an uncomfortable surge of embarrassment.

But at the same time, Isabella felt a strange sense of relief washing over her entire body.

That fact confused her even more.

Fortunately, the banquet concluded well.

The returned Genos, together with Isabella, properly imprinted their engagement on the North.

The boy told the head butler the same story he'd told at the orphanage, and within a few hours, the uncle who had stolen the boy's compensation money was caught.

Everyone was moved by Genos and Isabella's warm hearts and generous resolution.

Genos joked that he had merely done as his fiancée instructed, drawing a bit more attention to Isabella.

Once the banquet successfully concluded and the farewell to all the guests was finished, Isabella immediately asked.

"Why did you do that?"

"What, the cake?"

Genos asked, massaging his stiff shoulders.

"Yes. Originally, I was supposed to be the one hit."

"I thought the sight of me ruining my face would be more striking."

"Even so, how could you think of being subjected to such a thing?"

"You've been subjected to it too, so why are you so serious?"

"That wasn't in a place like this for me."

"Either way, you were subjected to it."

Genos spoke lightly as he walked into the main building.

Isabella walked alongside him.

"Besides, it's your first time greeting the North, so if you'd gotten cake in the face, people would gossip forever about it being an unlucky engagement."

"And there won't be gossip if Your Grace is subjected to it?"

"Of course not. If I'm subjected to it, they'll be moved that I didn't kill any of my people despite such a thing happening, and they'll just praise me as a generous royal."

Genos removed his cloak and handed it to a passing butler, then continued.

"Oh right. There was one more reason I buried my face in that cake."

"What?"

"Because I couldn't very well tell my fiancée to get cake smashed in her face. I have my pride as a man."

At Genos's playful words, Isabella let out a small laugh.

"I'm not even your real fiancée."

"Where else would you find two people who clearly need each other like we do? It's more special than a real engagement."

"What?"

"It's true."

As Isabella stood there somewhat dazed, the two had already arrived in front of her bedroom.

"The maids will knock soon to help remove your adornments. Rest a bit until then."

"Wait!"

Genos, who had just turned away, looked back at her.

As their eyes met, her mind suddenly went blank as a white sheet.

"No, it's nothing. Get some rest."

Isabella hurried into her bedroom and closed the door.

"What's wrong with me."

Isabella leaned her back against the door and scrunched up her face.

The strange feeling she'd experienced when learning Sonya was thirteen kept floating in her chest.

Dawn was deepening but Isabella couldn't sleep.

Her legs were stiff and aching from walking around here and there during the banquet, but that wasn't why she couldn't sleep.

It was because she kept thinking about the strange emotion she'd felt toward Sonya.

"When I saw that child, I envied how she was a beloved noble lady. I was a bit irritated and angry too, I think. I admit it. But why..."

Why did it all melt away like snow the moment she learned Sonya was thirteen?

Jealousy toward someone who had lived their whole life loved.

Such jealousy was far too natural for Isabella herself, who suffered from affection deprivation. It should have continued regardless of whether Sonya was thirteen or five.

But the moment she heard Sonya's age, the uncomfortable feelings and jealousy melted away like snow.

That was strange.

Honestly speaking, her heart had felt at ease the moment she realized Sonya was thirteen and wouldn't be involved with Genos.

Isabella kept tossing and turning until finally she couldn't stand it and sat up abruptly.

Her disheveled red hair puffed up in a frizzy cloud, cascading wildly over her shoulders.

After hours of wracking her brain, she had finally reached a conclusion.

Isabella hastily threw on a black shawl over her nightgown dress and burst out of her room.

All the servants had gone to sleep in the annex, and the guards were outside protecting the estate, so right now only Isabella and Genos were in this main building.

Thinking that, her steps quickened. Nothing stood in her way.

Arriving at Genos's bedroom in a rush, she pounded on the door with her fists.

Thud. Thud. Thud!

After exactly three knocks, the door opened inward.

She saw Genos wearing a loose white sleeping shirt.

Genos rubbed his half-asleep face with his palm and leaned his head crookedly against the doorframe.

"Is there an earthquake?"

"..."

Isabella said nothing, only stared at Genos. She needed a moment to organize the many words floating in her head.

Genos looked at her with a puzzled expression, then snapped his fingers.

"Isabella, this isn't sleepwalking, is it?"

"..."

"Oh right. I was going to ask you anyway—how have you been applying the ointment since then?"

"..."

"You're applying it yourself, aren't you?"

"..."

"You need to apply it properly at least once every three days for it to be effective. Should I come to your bedroom on schedule..."

"I'm the same!"

Isabella shouted, her eyes blazing.

'What is she talking about?'

Genos looked at her with an expression that showed he didn't understand even 1%.

"What?"

"I'm the same. I'm the same as Your Grace!"

"Right. We're both half-mad."

"No, not that!"

Isabella shook her head fiercely, then looked up at Genos with burning eyes as she gripped his forearm tightly.

"I also have possessiveness toward Your Grace. An enormous amount of it."

"What?"

"You chose me as your warhorse. The one closest to you, the one and only. Right?"

"Right."

Genos spoke with his arms crossed, standing with his weight on one leg.

Isabella continued to grip his arm tightly as if the Grand Duke might run away somewhere.

"Then Your Grace must also be faithful to me."

"What?"

As Genos burst into laughter, Isabella glared at him with the coldest expressionless face in the world.

"I didn't say that to make you laugh. I'm being very serious right now."

"All right. I understand. Keep talking."

"Just as Your Grace claimed ownership of me as the first person to discover the rough gem, I'm the same. I want Your Grace—who recognized my value and got in the same boat as me—to treat me especially, to behave only toward me in a special way."

"I already think I favor you quite specially."

"I'm telling you to be even more, more careful in advance. So that there's nothing to make me angry."

"All right. I got it. If my warhorse tells me not to do something, I shouldn't do it."

The Grand Duke's answer was both concise and certain. Enough to please Isabella. A smile formed at the corners of her mouth.

"I feel good. That's a perfect answer."

"Did Sonya trigger this?"

As Genos asked calmly, Isabella's expression froze like ice.

Because it was true that the misplaced jealousy she'd felt toward a thirteen-year-old child had led to this conversation.

Isabella's face gradually flushed red as a sunset with embarrassment.

"Then from now on I'll be even more polite and draw clear lines not only with other adult women but also with thirteen-year-old children. Will this satisfy my fiancée?"

At Genos's teasing, Isabella glared at him.

"I didn't mean you should be cold even to children, Your Grace. I'm capable of distinguishing between public and private matters to that degree. And for the record, that child Sonya... honestly speaking, she really does look like an adult. Don't you think?"

"She is quite tall for her age."

"...Anyway, I'm done now. I've said everything I needed to say, so I'll go. Sleep well."

As Isabella bowed her head and turned to leave, she heard the door closing.

Genos must have gone back to his room, she thought, but strangely, footsteps continued.

She turned around to see Genos following her.

"Where are you going?"

"To your bedroom."

"What?"

"I need to apply the ointment."

"...What?"

"What do you mean, 'what.'"

Genos walked past Isabella and ahead of her, opening her bedroom door first.

"Hurry up."

Genos spoke lightly.