“I like pearls.”
At those words, Raymond was inwardly amazed.
Seiana and pearls—just imagining it, they seemed like a perfect match.
Come to think of it, wasn’t there a pearl tiara in the imperial palace?
It’s an heirloom, so technically it belonged to the Empress now, but she never wore it anyway.
He thought about bringing it to Seiana.
“It would suit Seiana much better.”
From that moment, Raymond decided he would only wear pearl accessories from now on.
Anything she liked was good in his eyes.
While pondering what kind of pearl accessory could be shared between a man and a woman, Seiana gave a weak smile and spoke.
She said pearls didn’t suit her.
Raymond’s eyes widened at the absurd claim.
Why would she think that?
When he asked, she explained it was because her natural coloring was too light.
Not just that it didn’t suit her—it looked strange.
“That can’t be.”
Pearls and Seiana’s hair were a similar color, but their textures were completely different.
Like how sunlight and moonlight are both light, but utterly different.
Raymond was glad that among the accessories he wore today, he had a pearl brooch.
He didn’t understand why Seiana had such a foolish notion, but if he showed her directly, she’d have to realize she was wrong.
Raymond took hold of Seiana’s hair, removed the brooch from his collar, and placed it against her hair.
The pearl matched well.
Just as he thought, it didn’t look at all like a tangled mess, as she had said.
Even so, her unsure expression showed that she still couldn’t quite believe it looked nice.
Raymond was puzzled.
He felt a strange familiarity in Seiana’s lack of confidence.
“It’s just like me.”
Like how he used to fear meeting people because no one would look at him no matter how much he cried, got angry, or begged.
In the same way, Seiana was trapped in the belief that pearls didn’t suit her.
Even when he told her she was pretty, it didn’t seem to reach her.
So Raymond took the brooch and pinned it to the head of a doll she was holding.
Of course, since the doll resembled Seiana, the pearl brooch matched it well too.
If the reason pearls didn’t suit her was her pale coloring, then it shouldn’t have matched the doll either.
Only after seeing this did Seiana seem to realize her thinking was wrong, as if the fog had lifted from her eyes.
“Why did she come to such a foolish conclusion?”
It didn’t seem like something she came up with on her own.
It must have been someone else whispering nonsense to her… but it couldn’t have been her family.
They were the type who would applaud her beauty even if she wore rags.
“That bastard dares to stay by her side?”
Unforgivable.
What on earth were her family doing, letting someone like that stay near her?
If they wouldn’t do something, Raymond would have to.
“So who’s the idiot that said that?”
“Uh…?”
As they were smiling at each other, Seiana lowered her eyes at his question.
She tried to brush it off, saying there was just someone like that.
Raymond pressed persistently, but she still wouldn’t answer.
Right at that moment, the refreshments they had ordered arrived.
“Huh? Why are you here, brother?”
The one who entered after knocking was none other than Sincere.
Normally a maid or servant would’ve brought the refreshments, but the young lord had come himself.
“He must care a lot about his staff.”
Sincere was probably just as wary of Raymond as the others, but likely came himself to avoid the risk of a frightened servant making a mistake.
It was an unusual situation, but since the guest was royalty, it didn’t seem too odd for the young lord to serve directly.
“Brother, get out. We’re going to talk alone.”
Surprised at Sincere’s entrance, Seiana soon shot him a suspicious look.
Once he set the items on a nearby table, she ordered him out.
Sincere seemed reluctant to leave them alone, but when she pushed him out the door, he left with a disappointed expression.
Raymond’s heart pounded.
He felt both fluttery and uneasy at Seiana sending Sincere away so they could be alone.
“Why did she send him out? Did she sense something strange?”
Maybe she noticed how people were afraid of him and sent Sincere out on purpose…
Raymond tensed, wondering if she had realized he wasn’t a harmless child.
But the reason Seiana sent her brother away was nothing serious.
“Isn’t my brother hilarious?”
“…Huh?”
“Look! What kind of young lord serves like a servant? He’s not even a staff member! This is it!”
“…What is?”
As Raymond nervously asked, Seiana leaned in seriously and lowered her voice like she was sharing a secret.
“He’s got ambitions.”
“…Huh?”
Out of nowhere?
What does ambition have to do with serving?
Raymond racked his brain to follow her logic.
“He’s trying to get noticed by a royal to become part of the inner circle! Otherwise, why would he do that?”
Saying she thought her brother was pure-hearted but now realized he was ambitious, Seiana was way off the mark.
Raymond relaxed and laughed.
When he laughed at her words, Seiana pouted and asked why he was laughing.
Her insistence that she was right was adorable.
As long as Seiana wasn’t afraid of him or suspicious of his oddness, Raymond didn’t care if Sincere was misunderstood.
But still…
“Should I make him owe me a favor?”
Instead of letting Seiana keep misunderstanding and wronging Sincere, maybe it would be better to help him now and earn a favor for the future.
That’s what Raymond thought.
“He probably didn’t do it out of ambition.”
“Then why?”
“Hmm… maybe he just didn’t like the idea of a man and woman alone in one room? Because he cares about you.”
After a short pause, he tried to defend Sincere.
But Seiana made a strange face at his explanation, then giggled.
“No way.”
At her denial, Raymond almost froze.
What exactly had she denied?
His mind became a whirlwind.
It couldn’t be that she denied Sincere caring about her.
Then was she denying the idea that he disliked the situation of a man and woman alone?
Or…
“Is she saying that Seiana and I aren’t even in a man-woman relationship?”
His chest turned cold.
Biologically, they were male and female, but they were still young—not old enough to be consciously aware of each other as the opposite sex.
If that was what her denial meant…
Raymund himself wasn’t sure whether the feelings he had for Seiana were merely obsession or something closer to love.
Because of that, it was uncertain whether the two of them would remain friends in the future, but it wasn’t a good thing to be completely ruled out as a possibility.
If the opportunity is taken away before even trying, that’s unfortunate.
It was in that moment, when Raymund was beginning to feel the seriousness of the situation.
“…I wouldn’t have minded sharing a room with Drolan. Maybe if it were my second brother, but never with a man.”
Lost in thought, Raymund hadn’t properly heard the earlier part of the conversation, but it seemed like Sincia hadn’t minded Seiana being in the same room with another boy.
Not because she wasn’t interested, but perhaps because she was confident that nothing inappropriate would happen to Seiana inside this mansion?
Raymund felt relieved realizing that Seiana saw him as a man.
Even though it was a brief moment, his heart had been tightly squeezed and it was hard to breathe.
‘But… who’s this Drolan guy?’
He hadn’t caught the name properly, but from context, it was definitely a man.
He didn’t know who he was, but he felt jealous.
Raymund considered asking who the guy was, but hesitated, worried Seiana might find his obsession creepy.
Unaware of Raymund’s inner thoughts, Seiana continued grumbling under the mistaken belief that her brother had grand ambitions.
Raymund knew that wasn’t what Sincia intended, so he didn’t think much of it—but as Seiana kept telling him not to fall for her brother’s schemes, he felt hurt.
It felt like she was drawing a line between them.
“Seiana, do you not want me to get close to the heir?”
Unable to hold back his disappointment, he asked, and Seiana fell silent.
She rolled her eyes slightly, as if carefully choosing her words, and then said:
“That’s not it… Hmm, if you want to make my brother your close aide because you need his abilities, then I don’t mind.”
Her expression turned serious.
“But if the reason you want to make him your aide is just because he’s my brother—then I don’t like it.
Of course, my eldest brother is smart and capable enough to handle anything he’s asked to do… but still, that’s not right.”
As she spoke, Seiana’s face turned stubborn and she shook her head.
Raymund understood what she was trying to say.
If you start appointing people based on personal ties, eventually things will fall apart somewhere.
She probably didn’t want him to appoint her brother and then end up in trouble because of it.
Still…
“I just want to do anything Seiana wants… because she’s a precious friend.
If she wanted, I’d even bring her the emperor’s crown.
Not right away, but if she truly wanted it—I could really make it happen.”
Because Seiana couldn’t read Raymund’s thoughts, she simply smiled and laughed, admiring his loyalty and friendship.