Chapter 41
Only a bleak future came to mind.
Feeling as though his cheek—which hadn’t even been struck—was burning, he absentmindedly rubbed his face before suddenly standing up with a scowl.
He had no idea what he was supposed to do to please the Archduchess.
‘Still, courting her outright is a bit…’
Wouldn’t that be unbearably awkward?
Just imagining it sent chills crawling up to his neck.
Shuddering, Yuri scrunched up his face.
If he suddenly started acting overly affectionate, the Archduchess might feel burdened by it. And on top of that, he himself would be mortified.
A scene played out in his head—an imaginary Archduchess looking regretful as she asked if he’d eaten something wrong….
Clenching his eyes shut, he folded up that lingering image in his mind and brushed it away.
So that idea was scrapped.
‘Being kind and courting someone aren’t exactly the same thing.’
His 고민 returned to square one.
‘Something the Archduchess likes…’
Animals?
Yuri tilted his head, recalling how she seemed oddly more lively when she was around bears.
But he couldn’t exactly make use of that.
‘She seems to like books, too.’
After all, they’d run into each other in the library a couple of times.
Granted, that had been to gather information—but still.
‘She checked out so many novels.’
She clearly enjoyed reading to begin with.
Still, their reading tastes didn’t seem to overlap much, so while it was worth keeping in mind, it might not be something he could directly use just yet.
So what on earth could he use to win her over?
As he paced the room, his gaze drifted toward the window.
The forest came into view—the place where Berry and Cecilia secretly met.
What mattered was that the Archduchess faithfully went there to meet him every time.
He’d assumed she would be bedridden all day or shut away due to her frail health, but contrary to expectations, she seemed to go on walks fairly often.
‘Hmm.’
Going out.
With his arms crossed, Yuri pondered for a moment, then turned his head in the opposite direction.
This actually seemed like a pretty decent idea. There was the problem of choosing a route, but that, too, felt solvable.
“Call Noah.”
“Yes, Your Highness.”
Two heads were better than one, after all.
At the short command, the servant hurried out. Yuri returned to his desk, picked up a pen, and lightly tapped it against the paper. Soon after, a neat knock sounded.
“Come in.”
Noah appeared through the crack in the door, wearing a suspicious expression.
Tilting his chin, he glanced down the hallway to check if anyone was passing by, then carefully shut the door and strode into the room.
“Why did you call for me?”
He jumped straight to the point—an attitude consistently insolent for an aide.
With no one watching, he seemed even more brazen.
Yuri twisted his eyebrows in displeasure, then rolled his eyes as if exercising patience. He didn’t have time to waste on petty squabbles. It would be better for his peace of mind to get to the point quickly and then kick Noah out.
Having reached that conclusion, Yuri cleared his throat and spoke.
“There’s something I want to ask you. Um… have you… met many women?”
“…What?”
At the rude question, faint shock crossed Noah’s face. He twitched his cheek as if questioning whether he’d heard correctly, then let out a brief hum.
After that, he made a serious suggestion.
“Shall I call a doctor?”
“Just answer the question.”
When Yuri bared his teeth and growled, Noah muttered, “So you were serious,” and stretched his lips into a grin.
This wasn’t the kind of question one would normally ask between lord and servant. Relaxing into a more familiar posture, as if dealing with a close friend, Noah shrugged.
“Well, I haven’t really had many opportunities.”
“You’ve reached this age without even dating a woman—what have you been doing all this time?”
“Thanks to someone who kept me running nonstop, I didn’t exactly have the luxury.”
Yuri’s mouth snapped shut.
It was true that after his parents passed away early, he had relied heavily on Noah. …And just as true that he’d worked Noah to the bone in return.
Avoiding the sharp glare, Yuri averted his eyes, his expression darkening slightly.
If that was the case, then he wouldn’t be getting any particularly helpful answers after all.
But it wasn’t as though he could summon all the servants and openly share his worries with them either.
“…So you don’t even know what women like, then.”
“No, I do know that much, at least.”
To his lamenting remark, Noah returned an unexpected answer.
Suspicion flickered in Yuri’s dark brown eyes, but Noah continued calmly.
“I’ve heard quite a bit. People sometimes come to me for advice.”
“To you? Who?”
“I’ve signed confidentiality agreements, so I can’t say.”
Cutting Yuri’s question off firmly, Noah raised an eyebrow slightly.
“Anyway, if I had to sum it up—there’s only one thing that really matters. Whatever you do, you must not be someone the other person dislikes.”
He added that if someone already disliked you, the more time you spent together, the more their aversion would grow rather than affection.
It wasn’t exactly a hopeful thought for Yuri.
With his arms crossed, he tapped his forearm anxiously and asked, pretending not to care,
“Can’t feelings improve just by spending time together?”
“If someone already has a bad impression of you, everything you do will look bad. Talk too much, and you’re annoying. Say too little, and you’re passive and unappealing.”
…How had I acted in front of the Archduchess again?
Lost in thought, Yuri’s face grew increasingly gloomy.
No matter how he recalled it, he didn’t think he’d treated her particularly well.
Hadn’t he been sarcastic and suspicious at every turn, regardless of how much or how little he spoke?
If the Archduchess declared that she disliked him, he wouldn’t even have the right to object.
“On the other hand,” Noah continued, “if someone already has a favorable impression of you, everything you do will look good. If you talk a lot, they’ll think you’re good at conversation. If you speak little, they’ll think you’re thoughtful and serious.”
The more he listened, the more it sounded undeniably true.
Hadn’t Yuri himself once viewed everything the Archduchess said with suspicion?
As his thoughts continued down that path, it felt as though there was less and less reason for the Archduchess to like him at all, and his mood soured.
Just as Yuri’s face was sinking into utter darkness, Noah gently lowered a rope of salvation.
“Showing an unexpected side of yourself can also help. Enough to make them think, ‘Huh? You’re different from what I thought.’”
And what would that be…?
Still, the fact that there was a method at all was somewhat encouraging.
Raising a hand, Yuri roughly wiped his face and let out a weary sigh.
“…Yeah. Well. Thanks.”
“Hang in there. It didn’t seem like the Archduchess disliked you, at least. You even go out to eat together.”
“…No? That’s not it. Why are you so sure I’d care about the Archduchess?”
“Wouldn’t it be a bigger problem if you didn’t?”
That… was true.
Clenching his jaw, Yuri subtly averted his gaze. Noah, wearing a firm expression, continued offering advice.
“Many women like flowers, so you could give the Archduchess some from time to time. She’s from the south, so she probably wouldn’t dislike them.”
“Where are there any flowers blooming in Lotreven?”
“Then tie a ribbon around a tree branch or something.”
Isn’t that a bit halfhearted? Just as Yuri was about to bristle, Noah quickly added an excuse.
“What matters is the sentiment, isn’t it?”
Annoyingly enough, that didn’t sound entirely wrong.
Letting out a groan, Yuri rolled his eyes. In Lotreven, where it was difficult to obtain fresh flowers, artificial flowers or branches decorated with ribbons were commonly used instead.
Seen that way, giving a branch instead of flowers didn’t seem that strange…
So deeply absorbed in his thoughts that he failed to notice how his focus was drifting further and further from his original goal, Yuri sank into contemplation.
That was when Noah drove the final nail.
“And how about going together to see one of Lotreven’s scenic views? I imagine Your Highness knows a few good spots.”
‘Scenic views…’
There were places he’d admired while roaming around in his altered state.
But whether the Archduchess would like such places was another matter entirely.
His face flickered with uncertainty. Shaking off the thoughts, Yuri gave a short shake of his head. Toward him came a quiet, conspiratorial whisper.
“Or shall I investigate separately?”
“Weren’t you the one who said you were too busy working to have time for romance?”
“Even so, my network is wider than Yours, Your Highness’s.”
“Your arrogance truly knows no bounds.”
Eyes flashing, Yuri turned his head slightly away, pretending not to care, then tossed out casually,
“…Investigate as you see fit.”
“Thank you. I’ll make sure to escort you only along a thoroughly scouted, reliable route.”
With that answer, Noah bowed confidently, a self-assured smile on his face.
Even his steps as he left the room were brimming with confidence.
Which naturally led to a question.
“But who on earth are you planning to ask?”
Just as the faint trace of doubt that had crossed Yuri’s mind was about to fade away—
“Huh? Me?”
Noah was secretly meeting with a maid who wore a puzzled expression.
“Yes. Miss Russell. You’re the one I had in mind.”
He gave a confident reply, looking straight into the maid’s coral-colored eyes, then smiled faintly.
“Or would it be more comfortable if I called you Ellie?”
She was none other than the Archduchess’s closest attendant.
