Chapter 70
“Y-yes?”
Ailen’s heart skipped a beat, almost causing her to drop the vase. She was holding a vase worth 43,000 Sloans in her hands.
Of course, Ailen had saved up quite a bit of money herself, but she didn’t yet have the nerve to spend 43,000 Sloans so casually.
She clutched the case containing the vase tightly to her chest. Her determination not to let it fall was so palpable that Reinhardt couldn’t help but chuckle.
“It’s fine if it gets damaged. It’s yours now, Ailen.”
“B-but…! N-no, more importantly, such an expensive item…”
“Are you going to refuse it?”
Reinhardt lowered his head, looking a bit sulky.
“I bought it especially for you, you see.”
“Hmm…”
Watching him like that, Ailen found it hard to refuse. Reinhardt quietly laughed to himself as he watched her struggle.
‘How cute.’
A smile had unconsciously spread across his face, but Ailen didn’t notice, her eyes fixed on the vase. The bodyguards standing behind her, however, did notice.
They couldn’t erase the sulky expression they had just seen on their lord’s face from their minds.
‘His Highness… His Highness looks like that…’
‘…This is something I’ll have to keep to myself until the grave.’
Of course, Reinhardt didn’t care what they had seen or how shocked they were. His attention was solely on Ailen.
After a moment, Ailen, looking resolved, lifted her head.
“Then I will gratefully accept it.”
“A wise choice.”
When Reinhardt smiled, Ailen felt uneasy, as if she had been tricked.
“Madam.”
At that moment, someone approached, and Ailen turned her head to see two familiar faces.
“Miss Blaise! Did you come to see the exhibition too?”
“Yes. I came with my grandfather.”
Ailen glanced at Harry, who was standing beside Letie. Perhaps noticing her look, Harry met her eyes directly.
With a somewhat chilling smile, he said to Ailen:
“I didn’t know you had an appreciation for these things, Madam.”
Though his tone was neutral, the implication was clear—he wanted to tease her.
But Ailen smiled faintly, refusing to fall for his bait.
“Art is something anyone can create and anyone can view. Today, I just came to see if it might be helpful for my business.”
“I see.”
Seeing that things didn’t go as he intended, Harry looked a little displeased.
Ailen launched a subtle counterattack.
“By the way, Marquis Fredric, are you using the magical device well?”
Harry’s brows furrowed slightly, but when Letie looked at him, he relaxed immediately.
Ailen quietly chuckled at the two of them.
The “magical device” she mentioned was an air-purifying device Letie had purchased for her grandfather during the premium opening, just as Ailen had anticipated. Harry had complained about the smell of ink being troublesome.
As expected, Harry had reluctantly accepted the device, but he couldn’t just ignore a gift from his beloved granddaughter. Eventually, he placed it in his office. It made him uncomfortable enough that the device worked too well.
Ever since learning this through Letie, Ailen teased Harry about it every time she saw him.
“Yes. I’m using it well.”
Whenever she said that, Harry would put on a composed expression and respond just like that. Ailen, of course, didn’t fall for it.
“If there’s a problem with it, come by Premium anytime. We’ll fix it or replace it with a new one. You’re always welcome.”
Ailen said brightly, and Harry responded reluctantly:
“Th-thank you…”
“Cough…”
Reinhardt stifled a laugh at Harry’s expression. He had never seen Harry look like that in his life. Always, he had been the nagging old man.
Ailen truly was remarkable. There really was no one better suited to be the lady of Olden than her.
Harry then turned his gaze to Reinhardt. When their eyes met, Reinhardt suppressed the laugh that had almost escaped.
Harry approached, ready to scold as usual.
“Your Highness, I’ve been watching everything.”
“I don’t know what you mean.”
Reinhardt smiled nonchalantly, feigning ignorance, but Harry wasn’t letting it go.
“I mean the auction. You participated yourself, Your Highness. As the face representing this Empire, you shouldn’t appear in such places casually. Your actions alone could change the balance of power in this Empire.”
“I wore a mask.”
“It wasn’t enough.”
The scolding began as usual, and Reinhardt let out a deep sigh. Ailen looked at him sympathetically, then turned to Letie.
“Were the two of you on a date?”
“Huh?”
Though the question was whispered softly, Ailen reacted more loudly than intended.
A date… well, technically it was, but the question still made her feel embarrassed, as if she had been caught in a romantic moment.
She glanced at Reinhardt, who had been arguing with Harry, and saw him looking at her. Meeting his golden eyes filled with curiosity, her face flushed.
“…Yes. For now.”
“I see. Then I suppose we interrupted.”
“No! It’s not an interruption. It’s rather nice to see you, Miss.”
Letie smiled faintly. It was a subtle smile, but not so subtle that Ailen didn’t notice.
Over the past year, Letie had become able to show emotions on her face. Though slight, it was a significant change for her.
It was all thanks to Ailen and Adrian. Especially Adrian, with whom she had become close enough to speak comfortably.
Seeing Letie smile, Harry approached. She looked up at her grandfather.
“Grandfather, shall we go now?”
“Yes, let’s. Well then, Your Highness, Madam, we’ll be going.”
They bowed politely and walked on.
Reinhardt sighed as he watched their retreating figures.
“I didn’t expect to meet the Marquis here.”
“Indeed.”
“It took some time, but let’s head to the tea house now.”
Ailen nodded. She didn’t show it to Letie, but she was glad to have time alone with Reinhardt again.
However, that expectation was shattered the moment they entered a nearby tea shop.
“Oh? Sister!”
“What? Madam, are you here for juice too?”
Adrian and Hainel, who were ordering drinks at the counter, brightened at seeing them.
Normally, she would have greeted them warmly, but at this moment, she somehow resented them.
Reinhardt felt similarly, wearing an awkward smile. Ailen glanced at him, then asked Adrian as he approached.
“Adrian, why are you here?”
“After morning class, the teacher said we’d get juice, so I came out!”
Adrian smiled brightly. Right, Hainel had been their morning teacher.
Hainel, clutching his wallet tightly, exclaimed:
“I don’t have money to buy yours too, Madam!”
“…I’ll buy my own, so don’t worry.”
Suppressing a sigh, she forced a smile. Why this shop, at this time?
She half-hoped the two would return to the mansion, but Adrian wanted to stay close, as his next class was far off. Hainel subtly joined them.
In the end, the four of them had to sit at the same table, two per side. Naturally, Adrian sat next to Ailen.
Yet, she didn’t feel any resentment toward him. He was still her beloved younger brother.
Seeing Adrian sit beside her, acting cute, Ailen couldn’t help but smile and pat his head. He happily sipped his orange juice.
She then asked Hainel, who was stirring his iced chocolate:
“Why did you come to buy something for Adrian?”
“Don’t ask. That little brat is so sly.”
“Eh?”
Ailen looked at him incredulously. This time, Adrian answered.
“I won in rock-paper-scissors to get a drink!”
“…A drink challenge? You were going to let a child win to get a free drink?”
Ailen looked stunned. Reinhardt let out a dry chuckle at Hainel.
Hainel shifted his gaze awkwardly.
“Of course, even if I won, I would’ve bought it myself.”
Sure. Ailen gave him a suspicious look. The more skeptical she looked, the more nervous Hainel became.
“By the way, why are the two of you here?”
Adrian asked innocently. Ailen couldn’t exactly admit it was a date like with Letie, so she improvised.
“There’s an arts and crafts exhibition nearby, so we just came to take a look.”
“Oh, a date, huh?”
Hainel squinted and grinned. Ailen shot him a warning look, and he averted his gaze.
“A date…”
Adrian muttered reluctantly. Ailen lightly kicked Hainel’s leg under the table.
A soft groan escaped, but she ignored it:
“We just came to see if it might help with work.”
“That’s right. Thanks to Ailen, we got a lot of ideas.”
Reinhardt agreed with her, but Adrian still looked sulky. She was about to kick Hainel again when Adrian straightened up and said:
“It’s fine. I’ll have more dates with my sister than Your Highness anyway. Right, sister?”
“Of course.”
Ailen lowered her leg, happy that he seemed satisfied.
After chatting for a while, Adrian stood up, saying his afternoon class was approaching, with Hainel following to escort him back to the mansion.
Ailen waved at them, letting out a deep sigh.
“Time really got away from us.”
“Indeed.”
Reinhardt forced a smile over his own regretful expression. Ailen glanced at him and gently took his hand.
“Ailen?”
“It’s late, but shall we head to the last stop?”
Reinhardt blinked, then chuckled and nodded.
“Let’s.”
Ailen didn’t let go of his hand as they walked. Reinhardt followed, watching their joined hands.
A bodyguard accompanying them paused mid-step and looked back.
“Sir Cain, aren’t you coming?”
Cain, turning his back, stared intently at something—the direction where Adrian and Hainel had disappeared.
“Sir Cain?”
“…It’s nothing.”
After standing still for a moment, Cain finally moved. His fellow guard tilted his head, following Cain’s gaze.
Adrian and Hainel were already gone.
