After the brief and somewhat meaningless matchmaker meeting that lasted only about an hour, we informed both families of our decision.
It was only natural that a smile, almost splitting their faces, appeared on the elders’ lips.
How long had it been since I saw my parents smile because of me?
However, even seeing that smile didn’t bring any new emotions, nor did it make me feel bitter.
I had long since lost the innocence to desire my parents’ smiles, and I had already drifted too far to be happy with their smiles alone.
Anyway, after that, she and I met frequently under the pretext of strengthening our bond as fiancés.
It wasn’t the sweet secret meetings where we sent letters, waiting for each other with affectionate hearts, and met after mutual agreement on the day.
We were just forced to meet due to the urgent pressures of our families, continuing obligatory meetings.
Even today, I had rushed out without having lunch because my mother insisted, “Introduce your future wife to me already.”
But I didn’t have any complaints.
After all, getting closer to her and winning her favor was my top priority.
“I’m sorry I’m late, Lord Lyard. Did you wait long?”
“Yes, about 20 minutes.”
When the silver-haired woman, who had arrived at the meeting place before me, rushed up and spoke to me, I checked my watch and nodded firmly.
Most ordinary men would have said something like, “I just arrived too,” even as a polite excuse, but I knew that wouldn’t be meaningful in front of this woman, so I was honest.
As expected, a faint smile appeared on her lips.
“Heh, then you must be really hungry. We should eat first.”
“Yes, I suppose.”
“…?”
I nodded shortly in response to her next words and was about to look around to see if there was any suitable restaurant nearby.
That’s when I felt an intense gaze that was almost as hot as if a fire were being lit beside me, so I gently turned my head to look down at her.
It seemed like she might have been planning to secretly glance at me, but when our eyes met, she immediately began to speak.
“By the way, Lord Lyard, there’s something I’ve wanted to ask for a while.”
“Yes, please go ahead.”
“When we first met, you used to speak casually, but now you’re speaking more formally. Why the change? Normally, it’s the other way around, isn’t it?”
Her tone didn’t sound mocking but seemed to stem from pure curiosity.
And if I felt like her lips were slightly pouting, that was probably just my imagination.
It wasn’t a difficult question to answer, so I paused for a moment, stopped walking, and responded calmly.
“Although the engagement hasn’t been announced yet, officially, we are betrothed. So, I should at least show basic respect.”
“Ah, I see that perspective.”
She sighed in admiration and seemed to understand.
“Is that the explanation? Well, then let’s go have a meal.”
“No, it’s still not enough.”
“Yes?”
However, that seemed to be my misunderstanding.
Just as I was about to walk again, I was briefly stunned by her firm head shake.
What does she mean by ‘not enough’?
“I do appreciate the respect. But speaking casually doesn’t mean you’re being disrespectful.”
“But there’s a certain formality, isn’t there?”
“Formality and respect are different things. I’m grateful that you treat me with respect, but I don’t want you to distance yourself just for the sake of formality.”
It was a slightly difficult statement to understand, but not entirely incomprehensible.
What she seemed to be saying was that she wanted me to treat her with the same casual tone I had used when we first met.
But back then, my way of speaking wasn’t really casual—it was more like the crude language of a street beggar who had no manners at all.
“So, please speak to me as you did when we first met. I actually preferred that version of you.”
“Are you calling that the way of a country bumpkin?”
“Of course, the tone might have been a little rough, but at least it felt more like the real you than now. But now, it feels… like you’re wearing a thin mask.”
Her words struck me sharply, and I couldn’t help but shudder slightly.
To be honest, she was right.
Back then, I had acted recklessly for a moment, but from now on, I was trying my best to appear proper in my actions and speech to win her favor.
“Also, I know. That version of you might not have been the real you either. The real you is probably a little gentler.”
“… You’re saying such embarrassing things right to my face.”
“What’s embarrassing about it? I’m just saying what I feel.”
Hearing such words for the first time, I also felt embarrassed and instinctively scratched my cheek while avoiding her gaze.
But Sylvia Eleonore just shrugged her shoulders and continued to look up at me, still wearing that faint smile as if to ask, “What’s the problem?”
In any case, in some ways, she’s more difficult to deal with than my own family.
“I understand. Since it makes the other person uncomfortable, there’s no need to insist on this tone.”
“See? If you were such a bad man, you would have refused even my request now.”
“Stop with the nonsense and let’s go eat. The seat I reserved is going to disappear.”
Honestly, with the name of the Lyard family behind me, I didn’t really have to worry about something as trivial as losing a restaurant reservation.
But I quickly moved forward as if escaping, thinking that if I talked to her any longer, my head would start spinning.
“The way you naturally guided me inside like the flowing water…”
“Enough.”
Maybe it was because the sun felt particularly hot today, but I felt my face heating up too.
Around the time I started using formal language with Sylvia Eleonore again, whether it was just my imagination or not, it felt like our meetings were becoming a bit more frequent.
No, it couldn’t just be my imagination.
If I roughly estimated, the number of times we had met in the past two weeks would be higher than the number of times we met last month.
Just today alone…
“I’m sorry, Lord Lyard. I came without notice.”
She had even visited the castle directly and suddenly appeared in front of me.
And while she apologized with her words, the faint smile on her lips was really irritating.
…It didn’t look like an apologetic face at all.
“Well, to be honest, I’m not that sorry. It’s not a crime to visit your fiancé. Still, there are certain things one should say out of courtesy.”
I wanted to point this out to her, but all I got in return was a shameless answer.
I was sure she hadn’t been like this when we first met.
Back then, she seemed to be the one who was influenced by my words, but now it seemed like she was the one controlling the conversation.
To be honest, if there were no prying eyes, I would want to smack her across the face.
But wait, what does it matter? I’m already known for being a mess, so is it really a problem if I hit a woman?
It wouldn’t surprise me if my parents called me in to scold me, or if others pointed fingers at me—none of that is new.
“Ha.”
Anyway, my life is already doomed, so there’s no need to dirty my hands prematurely. This is my last act of mercy.
Sighing, I suppressed my emotions as best I could and threw a question out as indifferently as possible.
“So, what brings you here today?”
“I wanted to see Lord Lyard.”
“We met just the day before yesterday.”
“It’s been a whole day since we last saw each other. How awful.”
Should I just close my eyes and hit her once?
“I’m joking. The truth is, I came to see the garden here again.”
Perhaps noticing the distortion on my face or maybe realizing she was joking, she quickly followed up.
Then she pointed toward the vast garden that stretched beyond the castle gates and said,
“To come all this way just to see the garden, really, you have nothing better to do.”
Even though recently, traveling between distant places had become easier with the dimensional stones, getting into a carriage and traveling still seemed like a tiring task.
“So, with that said, would you mind showing me around the garden yourself?”
Just as I had been wondering, the very request I had feared came out.
Of course, when visiting another family’s castle, it is common sense that the family members show you around the garden and main facilities.
But since I wanted to escape this situation as much as possible, I decided to quickly create an escape route.
“It shouldn’t be too difficult. But I don’t know much about landscaping or flowers, so I’m not sure how helpful I’ll be…”
“It’s okay. I’m quite knowledgeable about landscaping and flowers, so I’ll teach you a lot.”
“…Alright.”
We call that meaningless resistance.
By the way, if she’s that knowledgeable, wouldn’t she not need someone like me as a guide?
If she wanted to keep me around like an accessory, I might understand, though.
In the end, my plan to spend a peaceful day was shattered, and I found myself reluctantly serving as a guide all day, lamenting my situation as an unexpected guest clung to me while we walked through the garden.
“Oh, I just remembered. I owe you an apology. I’m sorry for lying earlier, Lord Lyard.”
“Huh? Lying?”
I furrowed my brows at her sudden apology, wondering what nonsense she was about to say now. My heart sank with anticipation.
“I lied when I said I came to see you, Lord Lyard. The truth is, I just wanted to see the garden again. Do you remember?”
“I remember that much.”
I was a bit annoyed seeing her worry as though I’d forget something she said less than three minutes ago.
But then her next words made me feel like a bucket of cold water had been thrown on me.
“Actually, it wasn’t true. Of course, this garden is beautiful, but what was more important to me was meeting Lord Lyard again.”
“So the first thing you said was true?”
“It seems so. Oh, and there’s one more lie.”
“That’s enough.”
At this point, she was almost becoming a professional liar, and I felt a half-amused, half-exasperated laugh building inside me.
But then, for the first time, she gently and shyly took my hand, speaking softly.
Her hand was so warm compared to mine, which felt like ice, and I flinched without meaning to.
“Actually, I don’t know much about landscaping or flowers.”
“But that’s because you, Lord Lyard, were being so rude. You were trying to escape so obviously, so I had no choice but to grab hold of you like this.”
“…You let the pickpocket go when we encountered him on the street, but you’re being so strict with me.”
As I muttered, a bit of frustration rising, I recalled a recent event when we were walking through the streets and a pickpocket had stolen her bag.
It wasn’t anything particularly valuable, but since I couldn’t let the thief go, I immediately tried to catch him.
She stopped me, though, telling me it wasn’t a big deal and to not worry about it, saying she hadn’t noticed.
Where did the saintly demeanor from that day go? Why is she acting like this only in front of me?
It seems that this question wasn’t just in my mind.
“Right? I also find it a bit strange.”
“What is it?”
“I don’t really know. It’s just…”
She gripped my hand a little tighter, looking up at me with her red eyes that had earned her the nickname “the witch” in society.
Her gaze was sharp, yet it wasn’t uncomfortable, unlike the way my family might appraise me.
I found that quite strange, and just as I was thinking that, her lips parted again.
“…I’ve never felt like this before. I don’t want to give up on something for the first time. For some reason, I want to be a little mean to you.”
At that moment, I felt a faint pulse deep within my chest.
My gaze instinctively fell down, noticing her delicate hand gripping mine like it was the most precious thing in the world.
Seeing that, my eyes narrowed.
There was no clear reason, but I suddenly felt certain that I had to sever the connection between her hand and mine as soon as possible.