Chapter 63
Despite his determination, his pace just wouldn’t pick up. Each time he bent his waist, the wound split open with a sharp sting. Whenever he tried to adjust his posture, the horse, so attuned to its master’s will, would stop abruptly. The journey to Dearc was taking far longer than expected.
“At this rate, I’ll be arriving at night…”
From what Killian knew, tonight would be Tia’s last night in Dearc. Tomorrow morning, she was supposed to return to the capital.
His heart was in a hurry.
Adel and I stopped by a busy street and bought an orange tree, then spent the entire afternoon groaning and struggling to plant it.
It was more work than expected. The tree was quite heavy, and even fetching water from the villa was exhausting.
Somehow, pooling all our strength, we set the tree upright in the hole, buried the roots, packed down the soil, and gave it plenty of water. All that was left was to place the nameplate….
But Adel, cranky and sulky from all the effort, deliberately left out Killian’s name when writing on the sign.
I couldn’t just let that slide—it made me feel strangely upset.
“Adel, that’s too much. We should include Killian’s name, too.”
“That bastard didn’t do a single thing today. This is fair.”
“By that logic, up until last year we didn’t do a single thing either.”
I gestured to the line of orange trees. Every year, it was Killian who dug the soil, hauled and planted the trees, tamped down the earth, fetched water…. And we? We sat nearby, sipping drinks and tossing in the occasional smug comment. Annoyingly so.
Adel, unable to deny it, clicked her tongue and slumped her shoulders.
“Tia, you… you always take Killian’s side. Don’t tell me you…”
Her squinting eyes raked over me, sly and suspicious, and I could feel the heat rise in my face.
“W-what are you talking about! I’m just stating facts! Ugh, seriously. That’s so ridiculous I can’t even respond.”
I only ever acted as a bridge for my favorite couple. Since Adel pushed Killian away so much, I figured at least I should cover for him.
Not that I could actually say that out loud. Instead, I fanned my face with my hand to cool it down.
“But not this time! He didn’t even show up at all. Not being here is a whole different thing from being here and not working. And because of him, we couldn’t even open the time capsule this year!”
“Well, that’s true, but…”
“And this way, he won’t dare think about skipping again. ‘Ah! I shouldn’t miss it next time. Tia, I’ll never skip again. I’m sorry.’”
Adel even mimicked Killian’s lowered voice. She was so firm about it that I couldn’t help but nod.
With a wicked grin, she drew a heart between our two names on the sign, then stabbed it deep into the soil in front of the tree.
Fine. If it made her happy, that was enough.
After sprinkling the remaining water from the bucket, I walked back to the villa with Adel.
“Ahhh. That hit the spot. Nothing beats food after physical labor.”
Like some old man, Adel let out a satisfied groan and stuffed her cheeks nonstop.
Sliding a platter of her favorite poultry dish toward her, I asked,
“Adel, by the way…”
“Mhm. Nom nom.”
“About the debutante ball.”
“Mhm. Slurp.”
“Have you decided who your partner will be?”
“Mhm. Chomp chomp.”
“So you did? Who? Killian?”
“Bleh! Absolutely not! Ptooey!”
Why in the world was she spitting out perfectly good food?
I just watched as she wiped her mouth with a napkin and chugged down a glass of cold water. Then she turned the question on me.
“What about you? Who will you be entering with?”
“Me? Probably with my dad, I guess?”
“Ah… right. His Majesty.”
There it was—an obstacle Killian could never surpass. Adel chuckled to herself, resting her chin in her hands, and asked again.
“Then what about your first dance? With His Majesty too?”
“Most likely. Ugh. You should’ve seen how he acted. Like a tyrant.”
Ever since the debutante ball was mentioned, Dad had been pestering me nonstop. He even faked being sick just to secure his place as my partner.
“To think my little Tia is already fifteen and having her debutante. To me, you’re still just my tiny, precious little baby tomato… Of course you’ll make your entrance with your father, won’t you?”
“What? With you? When did I ever say that?”
“Then who else would you go in with?”
“I don’t know yet, but surely someone will ask me to be their partner.”
I still couldn’t forget the murderous look Dad gave Lord Ain at that moment.
“Ain, which noble families are eligible to request to be Tia’s partner?”
“One moment, Your Majesty. Let me check the list. There are 18 families with unmarried sons over fifteen. Of them, only 4 count as earls or higher, which is the customary minimum to apply to the Crown Princess. Ah, including the Duke of Märchen, that makes 5.”
“Start digging into them all. Best if they’re completely ruined before the ball.”
“Yes, sire. Understood. I’ll dig thoroughly. There’s no such thing as a spotless house.”
And Ain actually jotted it all down seriously, like he was making a Death Note.
“What the hell!!! You’d better not! Ain!!! Hand me that notebook! I swear I’ll burn it to ashes this time!”
“Not this notebook, Your Highness. Anything but this one.”
That only made me angrier.
“Tia… are you really not going to enter with your father? I… I can’t handle it. I can’t bear the thought of seeing you walk in holding some other man’s hand! No, I can’t promise I wouldn’t draw my sword right then and there! How could I possibly not stand by my daughter on such a day? Argh, my heart…”
“Again? You’re faking again?! Fine, fine! I’ll go in with you!”
“And the first dance… with me too. Promise!”
He even stuck out his pinky finger, groaning dramatically. He was so infuriating.
“Fine, I get it already. Ugh, this is exhausting.”
“Oh no… already tired of your father? How can love fade so quickly, Tia? You used to— sniffle…”
“I’m leaving.”
I was so sick of it. Absolutely sick of it.
Adel, clutching her stomach, burst into laughter at my story.
“His Majesty really hasn’t changed a bit.”
“I wish he would. What about you? If I remember right, the Marquess of Lewendif wasn’t exactly easy to deal with either.”
“Ah… well, my father is…”
Truthfully, she still exchanged letters with the Marquess of Lewendif. I’d even heard she’d gotten over ten tearful letters from him lately about the debutante. Complaining that she was a tomboy, uninterested in etiquette, stepped on toes while dancing, swore when she messed up—and what if all this ruined her chances of marriage?
But I asked anyway, because Adel was my friend.
“He nags more these days, that’s all. Honestly, I really don’t want to do the debutante. I don’t care about it.”
“What do you mean, Adel? As a Salian—mmph!”
She cut me off by covering my mouth, then shrugged.
“Still, since I’ll be doing it with you, I’ll give it my best. Practicing dancing, choosing a dress, growing my hair out. Ah, but a partner…”
“Yeah? A partner?”
“Do I really need one? Ahem.”
“Of course you do! Obviously!”
Choose Killian. Choose Killian. Choose Killian.
I sent the thought as hard as I could, but it didn’t seem to reach. In times like this, bluntness was the way.
“What about Killian?”
“Why would I ever pick him!”
“Because… he’s your closest male friend?”
“Ugh, no way.”
If she asked him, her head might roll. No—better to hang herself first.
Mouth full of food, Adel muttered something incoherent.
“What are you even saying? Don’t talk with your mouth full, Adel. You know that, right?”
“Mhm, I doh. I doh.”
Ah, really… how did things end up like this? The road ahead was so long.
Killian tied up his horse at the edge of the forest near the villa.
“Good work, Selly. Wait here.”
He set down water and carrots for Selly, then slipped into the woods. Branches brushing against his head irritated him, so he pulled up his hood.
The forest was already blanketed in darkness, but he knew the path by heart—he could walk it blindfolded.
Every summer, even if he only stayed a week or two, the place was filled with traces of Tia.
Killian inhaled deeply, filling his lungs with the salty scent of the sea breeze.
Finally, he could breathe again.
The thought that he’d soon see Tia quickened his steps.
But when the villa came into view, it was completely dark.
“Already asleep?”
He looked up at the sky. The moon was high—it seemed he had arrived very late.
“I can’t wake her.”
Disappointing, yes, but he couldn’t disturb her sleep. Brushing his hand over the swing’s pillar, feeling the trace of Tia there, Killian moved on quietly.
At least he wanted to see the orange tree—since she loved them.
He remembered a quiz contest years ago, when he’d correctly answered that Tia’s favorite fruit wasn’t strawberries, and won first place.
She hadn’t said so at the time, but since the following year orange trees had been planted in Dearc, his answer must have been right.
Smiling to himself, Killian walked on—when suddenly, he felt killing intent at his back. Instinctively, he bent his knees, twisted his body, and intercepted the wooden sword that came slashing for his shoulder.
Who would dare?! His heart pounded at the thought that Tia might be in danger.
“Urgh.”
But the face before him was…
“T… Tia?”
It was Tia, frowning fiercely at him.
