RAMHM Chapter 89

Your face, my lady. Just my type.

Rhodness was glaring at me as though I were his mortal enemy.

"Did I... do something wrong, Your Highness?"

"No."

As if. At the small champagne table set up in one corner of the welcoming ceremony—where only tea and refreshments had been prepared—only the two of us had been steadily downing champagne.

"If you're thirsty, shall I bring you some water?"

"Are you serious?"

Rhodness let out a scoffing laugh as though utterly incredulous, then summoned an attendant and ordered water brought. He must have been thirsty after all.

"You are not my maid. Don't say such things."

His voice was cold. Was it the alcohol? Somehow my heart felt buoyant, and I found myself able to smile warmly at him.

"Is that so? Though it's called attendance, I suppose I thought of myself as practically a dedicated lady's maid to Prince Epero or Prince Viktor."

Rhodness had been staring intently at my smiling face, but the moment I finished declaring myself the dedicated servant of the party's guests of honor, his expression hardened again. He downed in one gulp the ice water the attendant had brought, ice cubes bobbing on the surface.

'That'll give you a headache.'

As expected. Rhodness briefly furrowed his brow as though his head ached, then looked at me again with a slightly more relaxed expression than before.

"...Isn't it stifling?"

The one who looked stifled was Rhodness himself. I could see him loosening his already somewhat disheveled cravat even further. Each time he did so, my eyes naturally traveled to his hollowed collarbones, so I deliberately turned my gaze to the ceiling.

"Are you stifled? Even though I had them open the ceiling windows wide so it wouldn't be stifling? It's getting dark now, so I should have them light the lamps."

Rhodness quietly watched as I busily summoned attendants and issued various instructions.

"Are you uncomfortable being alone with me?"

The moment my business concluded, he asked. I laughed awkwardly. It would be a lie to say I wasn't uncomfortable. Unlike usual, Rhodness had appeared in a navy blue velvet dress uniform and had commanded everyone's attention from the moment of his entrance. I was no different. The instant our eyes met, the cheek that had touched him two days ago grew hot, and goosebumps rose all over my body. If I hadn't been clutching tightly to Viktor's arm—he'd been my escort today—I might have lost strength in my legs and collapsed.

"No, why would I be uncomfortable around Your Highness?"

"Then why have you been avoiding my eyes all evening and not even glancing my way?"

"Me?"

"You've been whispering constantly with that bear-like... that bearish bastard."

Rhodness seemed to have more to say, his mouth working, but he stopped there. I watched with wavering eyes as his thick Adam's apple bobbed visibly.

'Being with you makes me feel strange. All tingly and...'

Knowing I shouldn't say such things easily, I worked my mouth briefly then pressed it firmly shut.

"Are you sorry toward me?"

"Pardon?"

Was it something to be sorry about? My attending Viktor? The question arose, but I couldn't interrogate him about what exactly bothered him when he was already extending his hand. He seemed to have built up some unknown grievance against me, and even if I asked, he looked unlikely to answer.

"Shall we go outside together?"

"Pardon? But Lord Viktor and Prince Epero will return soon..."

"Even Epero can navigate Atilchard Hall on his own."

"But..."

"Do you refuse?"

Though his expression had hardened severely, his tone held a note of regret as he asked. I rolled my eyes, feeling Doris's gaze from afar—and Nora's too—boring into me intensely.

"All right."

The moment the words left my lips, Rhodness extended his arm deeper toward me. Ever since that day in the carriage when I'd climbed atop him and received his jacket... somehow touching his body had become even more difficult. Even before, I'd been wrapped in a strange tension, but having my heart pound as though it had relocated to my ears was bewildering. Apart from his firm arm twitching several times, Rhodness's expression remained quite composed. When we left the party hall and entered one of the terraces connecting to the grand corridor, an amazing sight unfolded before my eyes.

"Wow—."

"...What do you think?"

Adrienne released Rhodness's arm and covered her mouth with both hands. Rhodness stared briefly at the arm that had grown empty without her hand, then looked past Adrienne's eyes sparkling like stars to gaze at the fireflies glittering in the garden spread just below the terrace. They were creatures not easily seen in early evening.

"How is this possible?"

"This garden is darker than other places, and these fireflies only shine from sunset through early evening."

Rhodness watched not the fireflies before him, but Adrienne's eyes reflecting their light. His heart ached. The heart that had felt as though it were in a gutter even in the beautiful party hall seemed to brighten slightly. The jealousy that had begun tormented him enough to make him bolt upright even from sleep. Seeing another man casually touch what he himself could only reach after dozens, hundreds of deliberations made fury flash before his eyes. He wanted to touch Adrienne too. He wanted to touch her more intimately than anyone. If he could touch her like that, he would have been fine even if Adrienne's soul inhabited the most insignificant creature. Watching Adrienne casually tell other men she wanted to be close to them, wanted to be friends with them, made his stomach churn. The reality that this wasn't the situation to be jealous about such things drove him even more insane. Moreover, thinking of Adrienne who would startle and pull her hand away even at holding hands once made his heart sink into an abyss. But what was he to do with this burning heart every time not only the Ellaconian prince but even young Epero looked at Adrienne with eyes sparkling with interest?

"It's so... beautiful. I've never seen anything like this."

"During your debutante ball. I wanted to show you this place and tell you something."

If he said he loved her, would she run away? Rhodness ultimately couldn't overcome the impulse rising to his throat.

"Tell me something?"

I had been momentarily captivated by the beautiful scene before me, but I inhaled sharply at Rhodness's movement as he pressed closer and closer behind me. Pushed back by Rhodness approaching me, I stumbled backward until I leaned against the terrace railing. As I flinched and shrank at his approaching presence, Rhodness gripped the terrace railing tightly with me between him and it. Directly above the crown of my head, his every inhalation and exhalation were clearly felt. It was torture. Though his breathing was light as a feather, each time his breath poured over my crown and my exposed nape, all my nerves concentrated there.

'Oh, what do I do?'

My heart pounded madly. Since that day when Rhodness had given me his jacket and left, the seductive lavender scent that had emanated from that jacket began tickling my nose from behind me. I couldn't even ask what he'd wanted to tell me. My throat felt constricted, as though any sound I made would be worse than a frog being trampled to death. He took his time. He gripped the railing so tightly that several thick veins rose on the backs of his hands.

"Adrienne, I..."

The moment Rhodness opened his heavy mouth, other voices burst forth.

"Oh? There you are?"

"Found you! Took forever!"

The noisy ones who'd been searching for us through the garden seemed to have finally discovered us, waving their arms vigorously as they approached from ahead. Two bright-faced young men expressed their delight with their whole bodies as they rapidly approached below the terrace.

"Wow! These firefly bastards are still alive. Come down here. My lady! Let's look together!"

"Beautiful things. Here too."

My body, which had been stiff with tension, released with a thunk. I carefully turned my head toward Rhodness. His atmosphere as he looked down below with his chin lifted and eyes deeply sunken was not just cool but cold.

"Go deeper into the garden and there are way more! Hurry up! Brother! My lady!"

"Come. Quickly."

"Your... Your Highness?"

Rhodness, who had been staring down for a while, rolled only his eyes to look at me. My breath caught.

"...Will you go?"

"Pardon? Well... shouldn't I? I... am supposed to be attending them after all... and the party is still..."

I felt flustered, and honestly regretful at the thought that going deeper inside would let me see this beautiful sight from even closer. Rhodness watched me with regretful eyes for a long moment, then leaped down below the terrace. And before the two men who had extended their arms toward me, he openly spread his arms even wider to catch me as I followed down.

We went a bit deeper into the garden. Viktor's next target seemed to be not me but Rhodness, as he poured out questions about the fireflies without pause. Rhodness barely responded, but whenever Viktor spouted strange nonsense, he retorted sharply and decisively. I stood slightly apart, blankly watching the fireflies while listening to the sound of their conversation alongside Epero. Being in the imperial palace in a healthy body watching fireflies like this felt like a dream.

"It was you, wasn't it?"

Epero's voice, which had been acting quite bright and cheerful just moments ago, dropped low just as I had briefly immersed myself in sentiment, focusing on the fireflies circling around. At the abrupt strange question, I felt a slight chill and wrapped my arms around myself.

"...Pardon?"

"The one who sent me the letter."

Epero was smiling with two small dimples in one cheek, looking mischievous for certain, but his voice was cold. The firefly lights flickering in his deep blue eyes seemed to be devoured by something dark rising within them. This prince—he knew. The aggressive gaze of Epero, standing on the verge of adulthood, was fixed directly on me. I grasped my heart that had been moved by the fireflies and barely managed to stretch my lips into a smile.

"What do you mean?"

"I know the Ronteaux imperial family well, and no matter how much I think about it, there's no one who would summon me with talk of playing the son's role."

"Well, His Grace the Grand Duke might have thought differently, don't you think?"

When I spoke evasively, Epero narrowed his eyes. He was interrogating me based purely on suspicion without any evidence that I'd done it. I absolutely must not get drawn in.

"The Grand Duke is one of the people who'd prefer I never leave Ellaconia. Rather, I'd think it was an idea from the head of that Grand Duke's mistress. That's what I think, anyway?"

Epero raised his pinky finger again with a smirk.

"Since we'll have to see each other's faces for a while whether you like it or not, don't be like that."

I soothed him like an adult. Epero ostentatiously waved his pinky finger before withdrawing it and whispering low.

"Well. I don't know about others, but I'm quite fond of Brother Rhoan. So I'm warning you, my lady."

Warning. At the word warning, my body stiffened, and Epero took another step closer.

"Play with Crown Prince Bardenaldo all you want. But don't cross the line with Brother Rhoan. There's a limit to how much I'll play along."

"...What did you say?"

"One more scandal for you isn't a big deal, is it?"

His flashing blue eyes lewdly swept over my lips and nape. This bastard whose head still has blood...

"Your face, my lady. Just my type."

...that hasn't even dried yet!