Episode 9
His decision to sponsor Ariel was half impulse, half calculation.
He had been looking for a clever and attractive woman to attach to Louis, and Ariel had caught his eye.
So his sponsorship proposal to her was part of the plan. But the reason he made the offer today was pure impulse.
Today, she looked too beautiful, and the way she looked at him felt different from before. He grew restless.
“Restless? Over Ariel?”
Blake let out a bitter laugh inside. To think he would feel restless because of someone like Ariel.
His pride stung in several ways, but he quickly straightened his posture and adjusted his expression.
“Think carefully, Ariel. You won’t find a better opportunity than this.”
Ariel barely managed to suppress the corners of her lips from curling upward.
“I’m sorry, but even after reconsidering, my decision hasn’t changed. I’ll be taking my leave now.”
Without hesitation, Ariel turned to leave. Blake, unable to bear it, reached out and grabbed for her shoulder—
Smack!
Blake froze.
What just happened…?
“You… you hit me?”
He stared at his stinging hand, then at Ariel, completely dumbfounded.
“Me? That’s impossible. How could I ever strike a duke?”
“Just now—my hand, like this!”
Blake sliced his hand through the air.
“Like this, you hit it!”
“Your Grace, shhh.”
Ariel darted her eyes around.
“Someone might hear. Wouldn’t it be troublesome if people overheard what we were talking about?”
“Ha! So now you realize what you’ve done? How dare you lay hands on a duke’s body? Ariel, no matter how fond of you I am—”
“Your Grace, I don’t understand what you’ve been saying since earlier.”
Ariel shook her head and crossed her arms over her chest, lifting her chin slightly.
“You’ve trained with the sword since you were very young, haven’t you? I’ve heard you were called a prodigy.”
“…That’s right.”
Blake couldn’t help but feel proud of his childhood again. Overshadowed by Schmieren, perhaps, but his skill with a blade had been well-regarded too.
“And you’re tall, with a fine build as well.”
Ariel, who had seemed determined to reject him just moments before, now began showering him with compliments. Blake’s lips parted, grinning foolishly.
“Yes. I’ve never been lacking in stature.”
“But then.”
The smile faded completely from Ariel’s lips. Just then, the clouds shifted, and the moonlight poured down on her.
Unlike sunlight, the cold glow of the moon made Ariel look even more chilling.
“Would it really be wise for you to say so loudly that I struck you? Whether people believe it or not, wouldn’t the duke’s honor be ruined?”
Blake’s face stiffened. He sucked in a sharp breath. Too late, he realized he had fallen into Ariel’s trap.
Now, he could no longer express his anger at her “disrespect.”
“Ah…riel, you—”
“Don’t touch me without permission. Tonight it was only a brush, but next time… I can’t promise how I’ll react.”
Ariel had turned the tables, treating him like some lecher.
Depending on how she chose to tell the story, Blake could truly end up branded a molester.
Even the fact that he had followed her uninvited into a dark corridor could be incriminating.
Whether the police or a judge took her side wasn’t the real issue. The moment she reported it, Blake’s honor would be tarnished. And he, being the one with much to lose, would suffer the most. Of course, he could crush her thoroughly before then—but he couldn’t afford to break her. She was meant to be an offering for Louis.
“Do you have anything more to say?”
Blake clenched his jaw tight, glaring at her, but soon the strength left his eyes.
“So you want to play haughty, do you? Fine. You’ll be all the more satisfying to tame.”
A thought he normally would never entertain now took hold of him: to coax her gently.
“You’re upset because I suddenly brought up sponsorship, aren’t you? You feel abandoned by Count Bronte? I understand. You must be hurt and shocked, so let’s leave it at that for tonight. I’ll come again another time.”
Blake, lost in his own delusions, left her there and strode quickly out of the corridor. His hurried steps betrayed his unwillingness to hear her rejection again.
Ariel let out a deep sigh, rubbing her shoulder as she lingered in the empty hallway.
When the moon disappeared behind the clouds, she lifted her head, staring intently at a spot in the darkness as if something—or someone—was there.
“How long do you intend to stand there?”
She spoke to the shadows. Then, from the darkness, a long leg stepped forward.
Next came the powerful thighs, the broad torso, the ocean-wide shoulders, and finally, a strikingly handsome face.
His golden hair seemed to light up the darkness like a candle flame.
Or maybe it wasn’t the hair—maybe it was his face.
She found herself once again admiring his looks.
“They say you’ve got everything… except me.”
Once, among women, such a saying circulated about Schmieren.
Wealth, power, looks—even a pure heart—he possessed it all. Women grew desperate to claim him, though some voiced it as a bitter jest.
His reputation for clean, untainted relationships even sparked ridiculous rumors that he was impotent.
And when he heard that rumor, how did he respond again? With that innocent face of his, he had said something shockingly bold…
“Did you call me out here to say something?”
Ariel’s thoughts were broken by Schmieren’s voice.
“Not exactly. I was simply curious how long you would stand there.”
“I was about to leave. If I hadn’t seen you, that is.”
Schmieren’s encounter with Ariel and Blake had been pure coincidence.
He had come to Count Bronte’s estate to see a painting by one of his favorite artists, with her permission.
When he sensed someone following, he had hidden by reflex. That “someone” turned out to be Ariel and Blake.
“You must have heard everything then.”
“I heard. And I saw.”
Since his presence was exposed, Schmieren walked closer to Ariel without hesitation.
“Let me see.”
“See what?”
Ariel’s eyes widened, her expression innocent, so unlike the sharp woman who had just cornered Blake.
“Your hand.”
“Oh… it’s fine.”
She lifted her hand and turned it this way and that, then smiled faintly.
So his serious expression had been because of her hand?
As expected, Schmieren was a kind man.
But his eyes narrowed. The sound of their hands smacking had been sharp—surely the impact was harsh.
Yet since she had refused before, he couldn’t simply grab her hand to inspect it.
So he only looked as best he could before saying:
“It’s red. You should soak it in cold water.”
“…Are you worried about me?”
Ariel felt a strange tickle in her chest. Compared to what she had endured in the past, this was nothing.
On her path closer to Louis, she had been beaten, thrown around, made to suffer.
After such ordeals, Blake would sometimes visit her and say only, “You’ll get better soon.”
Never once had he looked at her with eyes like Schmieren’s.
Perhaps that was why…
She found herself wanting to lean on him.
But she couldn’t let that show.
Ariel covered her reddened right hand with her left. If she could hide her hand, maybe she could hide the feelings she didn’t want exposed.
“Anyone would be concerned if they heard that sound. It’s only natural I would be worried for you.”
His response was cool, but so like him that Ariel felt strangely pleased.
“Thank you for your concern. But it’s unnecessary. I’ll head inside first.”
Afraid she might end up begging him for sponsorship, Ariel bowed out quickly.
“Wait.”
Schmieren blocked her hurried path.
“Why did you refuse Blake’s sponsorship? He seemed rather desperate to grant it.”
At that, a glint appeared in Ariel’s eyes.
He was starting to take an interest in her.
