TPOTLPIM Chapter 28

Rosein, who had arrived at the Serin estate, looked stunned as she watched Cecilia greet her.

"Rose!"

Cecilia pulled Rosein into a tight embrace as if delighted to see her.

"Thank you for coming. Even Lord Dmitri came along. I feel terrible for taking up your busy time."

"You wound me with such words, Miss Cecilia. My brother seems to visit often, but I wonder if he's properly comforting you."

"Lord Teros is such a great source of strength. I shudder to imagine what this situation would have been like without him."

Cecilia smiled brightly as she guided the two of them to the garden.

"Cecilia, you have dirt on your cheek."

Rosein raised her hand to brush away the red soil smudged on Cecilia's pale cheek.

"Oh, look at me. I've been staying home so much lately that I've taken up gardening as a hobby. Planting seedlings, watering them, removing withered leaves—I lose track of time doing it."

Rosein carefully observed Cecilia walking ahead of her. There was soil on her white fingertips and on the hem of her dress as well.

As if sensing Rosein's gaze, Cecilia turned back and smiled.

"I wore something that would be easy to launder, but I get dirt on my clothes every time, so poor Dalein has been looking so forlorn lately."

The three of them took seats at a white table in the middle of the garden. Soon a maid arrived carrying a teapot and simple finger foods.

"Miss Cecilia, what flowers were you just tending?"

"Lillian flowers."

Where Cecilia pointed, clusters of flowers with lush white and pale purple buds could be seen.

Dmitri suddenly rose from his seat and moved closer to the flower clusters, then bent down to savor their fragrance. Rosein, finding her dress inconvenient, didn't feel like getting up and simply watched Dmitri's retreating figure.

"Beautiful flowers indeed. Worthy of being chosen as a bride by Yulia, the sun god."

Dmitri praised the flowers' beauty by quoting a passage from an ancient epic poem by an unknown poet. It was content related to the myth surrounding lillian flowers.

"I love that story too. Unfortunately, they're too delicate to be near the sun, so they bloom in autumn."

"Hold my poor love in your earthly embrace. We shall gaze upon each other for eternity."

As Dmitri recited the passage from the epic that he remembered,

"As the fertile fields and clouds do, as spring and autumn do."

Cecilia continued the recitation.

The two, having exchanged verses, laughed simultaneously as if sharing the same sentiment.

"Dmitri, come here and try this cookie. It's a flavor you'll like."

Rosein was displeased with Dmitri standing before the lillian flower clusters. Momentarily, she felt as though only Cecilia and Dmitri occupied that space, while she herself had become an uninvited intruder observing the two without permission. Rosein summoned Dmitri to the seat beside her, as if drawing him with invisible threads.

"You're the one who likes cookies."

Like a marionette yanked by Rosein's hand movements, Dmitri came to sit beside her, then picked up a cookie and placed it in her mouth.

"Good heavens!"

Cecilia covered her mouth with both hands and exclaimed.

"Ah, I've been discourteous in front of Miss Cecilia. I came to offer comfort but ended up showing such an embarrassing display."

Dmitri, realizing his unconscious action, rubbed the back of his neck and smiled awkwardly.

"Not at all! It looks so lovely. I've been feeling bored these past few days since Lord Teros hasn't visited, so seeing affectionate lovers has lifted my spirits too."

Rosein studied Cecilia's expression with incomprehension. Ever since the engagement ceremony with Dmitri, whenever they conversed amicably in front of others, Cecilia had always carried thorns in her words. Her mouth would smile, but solid resentment would settle in her eyes. Whenever Rosein saw that look, she felt a sense of dominance over her.

But now, Cecilia seemed like an innocent child. Like a girl whose eyes sparkled at others' romantic affairs, dreaming of love to come. Her appearance, drained of all venom, was disappointing to the point of creating an unfamiliar fear. 'Why is she acting like this?'

"So you call Rose 'darling,' I see."

As Cecilia burst into teasing laughter, Dmitri also propped one elbow diagonally on the table and smiled mischievously.

"What do you call my brother, Miss Cecilia?"

"Um..."

"Surely you're not still using the honorific 'Lord'?"

"Well..."

"Good Lord."

Dmitri leaned back against his chair and pressed his forehead. Hidden beneath the hand covering his forehead, his mouth was smiling. The corners of his lips curved up like a languid cat.

"We decided to drop the 'Lord' soon!"

"Still being so formal with each other. What a sweet time. Isn't that right, Rosein?"

When Dmitri turned his head toward Rosein, who sat like a doll, Rosein forced her lips to curl into a smile.

Though it was Dmitri's smile that she usually loved, at this moment Rosein couldn't help but find that smile utterly detestable. The increasingly harmonious laughter filling the garden was grating to her ears. She wanted to stop that giggling smile on Cecilia's face.

Deciding to change the subject, Rosein reached out and grasped Cecilia's hand resting on the table.

"Cecilia, you must be worrying a lot about your father's situation."

"Ah, yes."

"Don't worry too much. He'll return safely soon. When he does, all the rumors circulating will be completely resolved."

"Do you really think so?"

After bringing up a topic meant to crush Cecilia's spirits and earnestly spouting false comfort, Rosein's mouth froze at the question that flew at her like a dagger. Though flustered, she felt satisfied. 'Finally, you're revealing your hidden feelings. You must resent me.'

The more Cecilia resented her, the better Rosein felt. Her resentment would stem from envy toward Rosein and pessimism about her own situation.

"Yes, absolutely."

Rosein answered firmly while facing her opponent's expressionless face. Then a gentle smile began to play across her opponent's features, soon followed by a sunshine-like smile.

"Thank you, Rose. Hearing you say that makes me feel it really will happen. Father will definitely return. And soon the world will know of Father's innocence."

Rosein carefully examined Cecilia's smiling expression. It seemed too genuine to call it pretense. 'Was this child always so inscrutable?'

In the end, after their brief conversation, Rosein had no choice but to leave the Serin estate with an unsettled feeling. Though she linked arms with Dmitri, somehow he felt distant. He seemed foolish, grinning away without recognizing her unpleasant mood.

Rosein thought it would have been much better if Cecilia had treated her coldly instead. Then she could have at least pretended to be a pitiful woman wounded in front of Dmitri.

Even when she boarded the carriage leaving the Serin estate and was alone with Dmitri, Rosein's mood remained sour.

"What's wrong, darling?"

Dmitri, who keenly noticed her expression, asked as he wrapped his arm around Rosein's shoulders. Rosein reflexively shrugged off his arm with force. Then, avoiding the gaze of Dmitri who had leaned close to examine her expression, she turned her head toward the window.

"I'm feeling melancholy."

"Why melancholy?"

"Because of Cecilia. That girl—her face has been badly affected. She's smiling, but she's not really smiling."

"Really? I thought she seemed better than expected, which was a relief."

"You don't know her."

"That's probably true. You should visit Miss Cecilia often from now on. My kind-hearted darling."

Dmitri stretched out both arms and leaned against Rosein's shoulder, embracing her as if clinging to her. The soft hair of warm tones tickled her neck, and when he rubbed his head like a puppy, Rosein forgot her sulking and let slip a small laugh.

"And don't worry too much about Miss Cecilia."

At the unexpected words, Rosein looked down at Dmitri, who had his head resting on her shoulder, but she couldn't see his expression.

"As long as Teros is connected to the Serin family, the Serin house will absolutely never collapse. Even if it were to collapse, it wouldn't collapse quietly."

Dmitri's delicate fingers threaded between Rosein's fingers, interlocking them.

"Tell Count DeNeuve as well not to covet the Serin family's holdings too greedily. He could end up facing a backlash instead."

After seeing off Dmitri and Rosein, Cecilia returned to the garden and walked between the flower beds carrying a large gardening watering can. She was even humming a low tune, as if tending to flowers brought her joy.

"Miss, please have some of this first."

Dalein brought a plate of freshly baked brioche with a worried expression.

"Dalein, I ate plenty with the guests earlier, but if you bring more like this... how wonderful!"

As soon as Cecilia caught the sweet aroma brushing her nose, she brightened and approached the table.

She first washed her hands in the bowl of water that had been brought, then picked up a knife and fork to cut the brioche and chewed thoughtfully.

"Miss, are you all right?"

Dalein looked at Cecilia with worried eyes.

"I mean Miss Rosein. She was so rude, wasn't she? She hasn't even come here for a while, and then she claims she came to offer comfort—did she come to comfort or to gawk?"

"I can't hide anything from you, Dalein."

Cecilia smiled bitterly. Rosein's intention in coming here with Dmitri was obvious. She must have come to mock the socially isolated situation of the Serin family and to ridicule Cecilia's unrequited love.

Cecilia thought that even Dmitri's presence here was Rosein's scheme. Conversely, never dreaming that Dmitri might have brought Rosein along, she had initially frowned when she first heard news of Rosein's arrival.

However, the moment Cecilia actually faced Rosein and Dmitri, she was surprised by her own remarkably calm emotional state. She was in such an indifferent state that it would have seemed natural to layer on all sorts of emotions like joy, gratitude, and excitement.

A feeling that was neither good nor bad. 'Is this what they call indifference?'

Though she was spending sleepless nights worrying about her father, she smiled even bigger to avoid showing even a sliver of her dark heart. Surprisingly, as she smiled and chattered, she found herself somewhat enjoying it.

Cecilia herself didn't know she was so good at managing her emotions.

Then again, with her family in crisis, she didn't have the luxury of feeling emotional turmoil over seeing Rosein and Dmitri.

And...

After the two left, she found herself missing Teros. Watching Dmitri put a cookie into Rosein's small mouth, her first thought wasn't jealousy but that she missed Teros.

He had left saying he would resolve things, and there had been no news for three days. What if three days became a week, then a month? Surely he wouldn't exceed a month like Father.

Cecilia shook off her gloomy expression again and stood up.

"Dalein. I can't just stay like this either."

She went to find the butler. Father's absence might be prolonged. Once Count Serin began to be suspected of assassination conspiracy, their reliable business partners who had been steady allies fell away one after another like rain-soaked leaves. She needed to check the Serin family's operational finances and prepare for what was to come by establishing plans for the next several months.