98. Shared Experience

The art museum date the following day concluded on a surprisingly positive note.

Mentoring prepared remarks, practicing actions, tailored for each artwork.

The detailed, situation-specific method was certainly remarkable, but Claris’s ability to memorize and internalize it all in a single day was equally impressive.

“Remembering things based on the specific artwork wasn’t too difficult, you know. It’s not like there were any completely irrelevant parts. It was all connected to the artwork’s unique characteristics, so it acted like a kind of hint. If there’s a hint, it’s not difficult. Because I’m extraordinary!”

Claris, shrugging, seemed quite pleased with herself as she spoke.

Viewing their day-long date as some kind of test was a little… strange, but.

‘It’s necessary, though.’

Isaac decided to let it slide for now. Enticing Prince Raphael was a higher priority than Claris’s feelings at the moment.

“So, what shall we practice today?”

Claris crossed her arms and struck a pose, as if swaying her hips.

She deliberately practiced being charming by adopting various poses, but recently, it seemed like she was simply enjoying it.

“Isn’t there a hunt scheduled for tomorrow?”

Tomorrow’s agenda consisted of horseback riding and hunting.

Hunting usually conjures images of hunters in forests or fields, using bows to take down animals, but.

Royal hunts were a different affair.

Escorted by countless guards, they safely secured the wild beasts that had been deliberately released.

A rather extravagant pastime, costing not only money but also a great deal of time.

“Right? Is there anything for us to *do* at the hunt?”

“If it’s a hunt, they will have taken care of the preparations on their end. This time, simply respond and offer your applause.”

Think of it as a kind of open-air performance. They, for their part, would be employing various stratagems, just as we are, to elevate Prince Raphael.

We need only match their efforts, offering suitable responses and clapping our hands.

We desire to applaud, and they desire to be applauded. A convergence of interests, one might say.

“Is that truly all there is to it?”

“Yes, it might be one of the most carefully considered events of their entire week, but—”

Conversely, we on our side need only clap casually and enjoy ourselves.

But Clarisse seemed vaguely unsatisfied, adding a trailing thought like an echo.

“Even so, shouldn’t we perhaps rehearse something? In case some unforeseen variable arises?”

“I trust that Your Highness will manage any variable capably. You have done so admirably thus far, and I am confident you will cope with any sudden eventuality.”

“……”

It’s nice to be trusted, but… why this feeling?

A subtle wistfulness in Clarisse.

“Rest today. You have been practicing late into the night these past days, have you not?”

“Then will Isaac also rest? I actually wished to ask separately—”

“Izaac!”

The pigtail-wearing young lady burst into the princess’s chamber without the slightest hesitation.

Beaming, Sharen rushed forward and seized Isaac’s hand.

“Let’s go! They promised to bake bread specially for us at this hour, so if we go now, we can eat it still warm.”

“Is it that time already?”

“Yes! It’s that time already! Hurry, let’s go!”

The two of them were scheduled to visit the bakery again today.

Del would have had enough time to think things over, at least for a day, and she had promised to come again today, so they had to visit.

Sharen had even gotten a promise that they would bake a new bread just for her.

“Then Your Highness, please rest well today. I’ll go with Sharen to see Del.”

“……Isaac, do rest as well. It wasn’t only I who suffered, you suffered as well.”

She wasn’t the only one who had been practicing dates every night. Isaac, too, must surely be tired, and she worried he was pushing himself too hard.

“This much is nothing.”

Having gained a healthy body with this Regression, not to mention, back in my Murim days, burning the midnight oil to write was an everyday occurrence.

Watching Isaac leave like that, Claris blankly stared at the door he’d exited through.

“Hmph!”

She flung herself onto the bed, muttering.

* * *

“Waaa.”

Sharen, mouth full of steaming bread, beamed with delight.

Lately, I’ve been thinking, ever since Sharen escaped Hellmund, she’s definitely become more emotionally rich.

Her running about so freely, is it perhaps because of a childhood where she couldn’t?

‘Well, she’s still young now, though.’

Del smiles softly, watching Sharen devour the freshly baked bread.

From the baker’s perspective, it must be gratifying to see someone enjoying it so much.

Del’s gaze shifts from the bread-munching Sharen to Isaac.

Seeing her face immediately cloud over with complex emotions, Isaac felt a pang of guilt, but still, he couldn’t back down.

“Have you given it much thought?”

“Yes… More than you know.”

From the tear tracks around her eyes, it was clear how much she’d cried through the night.

“Um, Baron. Could you spare a bit of time separately?”

At Del’s request, as she untied her apron, Isaac gave a small nod.

Leaving Sharen in the shop, the two stepped outside.

It was around three in the afternoon, so the day was bright, and the streets teemed with busy people, pulsing with life.

“You said… you’ve had a similar experience as well, Baron?”

“I can’t say it’s exactly the same. Similar, perhaps.”

“Did you also struggle with this same dilemma, Baron?”

“It would be a lie to say I didn’t.”

“…”

“I was pointed at and criticized from all sides. I even heard rumors that I was a sly fox trying to seduce a noble lady to improve my lot in life.”

“That’s right. I heard them too.”

Del nodded.

The conversation flowed surprisingly well, perhaps due to a shared understanding.

“May I hazard a guess at what you fear most?”

“Pardon?”

“That Prince Raphael suspects you. That must be your greatest fear.”

“……!”

Del’s eyes widened.

Then, she nodded ever so slowly.

“You’re right. I worry so much about Prince Raphael misunderstanding me. It plagues me.”

“I felt similarly. What if Lia misunderstood me? It was a constant concern. Because I married Lia for Lia, not for Helmunt.”

The lilacs blooming in the flowerbed were my way of conveying those sentiments.

Drifting back to that time, Del giggled, covering her mouth.

“Contrary to appearances, you’re quite the romantic, aren’t you?”

“Well, I was, back then.”

A brief silence settled.

The sounds of children playing ball filled the void.

The street shone with vibrant life, yet Del, walking upon it, seemed enveloped in a solitary shade of gray.

Because she possessed the love of the noblest of men, she was burdened with worries she never before needed to consider.

“Actually, when you came to me this time, asking me to run away with you… I was a little frightened.”

“…….”

“My parents, the bakery, my hometown filled with childhood memories. You were asking me to abandon them all so suddenly.”

It was becoming clear why Prince Raphael had been apprehended so quickly. His partner in escape simply wasn’t prepared.

“I’ve been confused ever since. What if I don’t love the Prince as much as he loves me?”

“……That is not your fault.”

Why?

For what reason.

Why do you come to my mind?

“Abandoning a hometown one has lived in for their entire life.”

He, too, had once dreamt of it like a vision.

“Abandoning the family one has lived with.”

One day.

Rianna, I wished she would take my hand and say those words.

“To discard one’s memories.”

Discard them, and let us depart.

“That, it is never, not an easy thing.”

My lips spoke the truth, though my heart yearned for the opposite.

Knowing it could never be easy for Rianna, I had still hoped for it.

At Isaac’s words, Dell folded her hands over her chest, as if cradling a wound where new flesh was sprouting.

“Thank you.”

She uttered the gratitude laced with tears.

They paused their steps, the two of them.

In the silence, their emotions differed, yet somehow they shared a moment of realization.

“Actually…”

Dell forced a smile and spoke again.

“Even as a concubine, it would be alright. I plan to tell Prince Raphael that.”

“…”

“If even that is difficult, then… then just a lover would be alright. Someone the Prince could use and discard.”

At Dell’s words,

Isaac shook his head with a hollow laugh.

How could this be?

“Are you…are you not just like me?”

“Pardon?”

“I, too, have said such words to Ria before.”

“R-really?”

It seems people’s thoughts are all the same, after all.

Isaac, too, had spoken to Rianna in such a way.

-There’s no need for you to marry me, specifically.

[…….]

At the sudden proposal, Rianna had stared blankly at Isaac.

-Just keep me as a lover, it’s alright. No need to enter the Hellmundt manor.

-Keep being a boatswain, even. Waiting for the day you come to visit… it wouldn’t be so bad.

[Then.]

Lianna, after a moment of consideration, asked calmly.

[If I were not to come?]

– I would find a reason.

[…….]

– Today, she is busy with family matters.

– The next day, there is a banquet in Hellmunt, it seems.

– She must be held by her husband, or perhaps she has caught a cold, the weather being chilly, or she is exhausted from sword practice.

– Today, the day is exceptionally gloomy.

[…….]

– Adding my own reasons, as I see fit.

– I would wait.

– Endlessly.

“Tha-!”

Del’s voice snapped Isaac from his brief reverie.

“What was her answer? This Lia- person…”

Seeing Del, so eager to hear the answer, perhaps because his own heart had been spoken for, Isaac smiled playfully.

“Go and ask. Hear what the Prince’s answer was, and then share it with me.”

“You are teasing me.”

“It is merely my experience. You must hear your own answer, Miss Del.”

Even as he spoke those words.

Suddenly, a felt gaze caused Isaac’s head to turn ever so slightly.

And there, astonishingly.

Raphael and Clarice were facing each other.

Both wore expressions of utter surprise as they looked at the other.

“…Following?”

It seemed they had each been following, and quite possibly, been caught in the act by each other.

* * *

“I would wait, endlessly.”

Near the riverbank.

Upon the bridge.

Lianna remained silent for a long while after I’d spoken of the possibility, of her taking another man as husband.

‘If I were piloting a ship, I’d want rapids with this much current.’

Well, if that were so, a bridge like this one would be built, wouldn’t it?

It was after such trifling thoughts had passed that she finally spoke.

“I refuse.”

Her firm voice carried the weight of contained emotion. It seemed she was suppressing some feeling that threatened to overwhelm her.

“Absolutely not.”

Her hand, which had been resting atop mine, intertwined our fingers.

I couldn’t match Lianna’s strength, so I yielded readily. And yet, the grip she held was surprisingly tight.

“But Lia, I-.”

*Squeeze!*

“Ack!?”

Lianna tightened her grasp on our interlocked fingers.

A brief shriek escaped my lips because of it.

“……”

Lianna, in contrast, remained silent.

Her expression was as impassive as ever, but there was a strange hint of bashfulness, tinged with a touch of pique.

“……Are you sulking?”

I asked, cautiously.

Lianna simply stared straight ahead and began to walk.

Even so, her hand held mine, as if she wouldn’t let go.

‘I’m glad.’

That I was so happy it was difficult to suppress the grin that threatened to break across my face…

…was a secret known only to me.