Chapter 16
When Hebe returned from the concert, Philia brought in the pressed flowers she had framed. The two women called for a servant to remove the old tapestry hanging in the reception room and replace it with the framed pressed flowers.
“It looks different now that it’s hanging here,” Philia said.
Hebe smiled faintly.
“Since this is the last one, it makes me feel a little sad.”
“I’ll miss you too, Hebe,” Philia replied.
“Me too. Ah… I can’t believe ten years have already passed.”
“Even after you return home, you should continue making pressed flowers. Iren has so many different kinds of flowers blooming there.”
Hearing the name of her homeland after so long stirred a strange feeling in Hebe’s chest. Even now, she could hardly believe that she had finally reached the end of those long years.
“When I go back, I’ll miss you, Philia.”
“I will too.”
Just then, the door suddenly opened.
“Lord Eres.”
As Eres entered the room, Philia stood and bowed politely. Eres barely spared her a glance, his gaze fixed entirely on Hebe. After a brief farewell, Philia excused herself and left.
“Did you enjoy the concert?” Eres asked.
“Yes, it was fun.”
Smiling, he approached and took Hebe’s hand.
“Where did you go earlier? I couldn’t find you.”
“I went to the snowy mountains for a while.”
“The snowy mountains? Why there?”
Hebe’s eyes widened. She had heard that the snowy mountains were notorious for monsters appearing there.
“I just felt a little suffocated.”
“That’s dangerous.”
“I went with a knight escort, so it was fine.”
“Even so, did it have to be the snowy mountains of all places?”
Eres’s brown hair was slightly disheveled. Hebe instinctively lifted her hand to smooth it, and Eres naturally lowered his head toward her.
“There wasn’t any danger, so don’t worry,” he said with a playful smile. “Ah, this came off.”
Grinning, Eres picked up the veil that had been precariously draped over Hebe’s shoulder.
Hebe touched her head in surprise. She had been so absorbed in looking at the pressed flowers with Philia that she hadn’t even noticed the veil slipping off.
“I’ll never get used to wearing that thing. Give it back.”
“I’ll wear it for you instead.”
Eres placed the veil over his own head. Unexpectedly, it suited him rather well, and Hebe found herself unable to say anything further. Whenever he behaved like this, she felt as though she were playing with a large dog.
“Come here, Hebe.”
Holding up the edge of the veil, Eres leaned his face closer to hers. His red eyes were clear and calm like mirrors.
For a moment, Hebe felt her earlobes grow warm.
“Stop fooling around and come sit.”
Chuckling softly, she pinched Eres’s nose lightly and led him toward the fireplace. As they sat down on the carpeted floor, Eres moved close beside her, his large, solid body wrapping comfortably around hers.
While smoothing out her clothes so they wouldn’t wrinkle, Hebe let out a small laugh.
“Why are you laughing?” Eres asked.
“I was just remembering when you were little. We used to sit like this every night.”
During Divenia’s long winter nights, Hebe sometimes suffered from insomnia and would sit by the fire until dawn. At some point, Eres would appear and lie down with his head on her lap while she read him a book.
Those winter nights, spent leaning on each other, remained fond memories for Hebe.
“It was really nice back then,” she said softly. “Though we can’t do that anymore.”
“Why not? We can still do it now.”
“Now?”
Without hesitation, Eres lay down with his head on Hebe’s lap.
Startled by his sudden action, Hebe widened her eyes. His weight was far heavier than when he had been a child.
“Are you teasing me again?”
She smiled awkwardly as she looked down at the man resting on her lap.
When Eres shifted slightly, his neatly shaped brow appeared through his hair. Hebe unconsciously reached out and traced the sharp bridge of his nose and the long eyes framed by faint double eyelids.
When he was young, he had simply been a small and pretty child. But as he grew, his features sharpened, and his face now held a distinctly masculine charm.
“We haven’t had much time together lately. I’m sorry,” Eres said.
“You’re busy with your duties. It can’t be helped.”
As Hebe’s fingers moved over his lips, Eres puckered them playfully.
Soon he would undergo the investiture ceremony to be formally recognized as the heir, yet his behavior remained childish.
Catching a strand of Hebe’s hair that brushed his forehead, Eres kissed its tip.
A peaceful atmosphere settled between them.
“Were there many people at the concert? Who did you meet?” he asked.
“Hmm… I don’t remember most of the people Lady Fausta introduced me to. Oh—and the Princess was there.”
“The Princess?”
“I spoke with her briefly. She said the Prince will be returning soon.”
It had been three years since the Prince joined the Magic Swordsman Corps and departed for the borderlands.
“Three years passed really quickly,” Eres murmured.
“For those stationed at the border, it must have felt like a long three years.”
“I might have to join the next Magic Swordsman Corps myself.”
Three years ago, Eres had been unable to join because he was not yet an adult. But things were different now. With Divenia’s climate worsening rapidly and monsters appearing more frequently, defending the border had become crucial.
“I heard that place is extremely dangerous,” Hebe said, looking at him with concern.
Even if he was technically an adult now, Eres still seemed young to her.
“Do you still think of me as a child, Hebe?”
“You really are younger than me.”
Their eyes met.
Eres gazed at her silently before smiling.
His quiet expression looked so picturesque that Hebe held her breath.
It was Eres who finally broke the silence.
“That one is finished now, isn’t it?”
He nodded toward the pressed flowers on the wall.
“It’s quite large, so Philia helped a little.”
“I heard the Princess is the best at making pressed flowers. But now it seems she’ll have to give up that title to you.”
“That’s going too far.”
“I’m serious. Hebe’s pressed flowers would probably sell for a higher price. Of course, you wouldn’t sell them.”
Looking at the framed flowers, Hebe murmured regretfully.
“I probably won’t be able to make another one here.”
Eres glanced at her.
Creating a pressed flower piece large enough to hang on a wall usually took around six months. Hebe imagined the scenery of her homeland overlapping with the landscape captured in the pressed flowers she had spent half a year making.
At last, she was going back.
Excitement flushed her cheeks.
Life here had been good, but she still missed Iren.
“Are you really planning to return to Iren?” Eres asked quietly.
“I’ll stay here until your investiture ceremony. We also need to annul our marriage.”
There were many things she needed to prepare for.
As Hebe mentally listed them, she noticed that Eres had fallen silent.
“Eres?”
“Do you dislike me, Hebe?”
“Why would I dislike you?”
“Then why are you trying to annul our marriage?”
His voice sounded slightly dejected.
Had he been upset by the idea of her leaving?
“…You know our marriage isn’t real,” Hebe replied gently.
“No matter what anyone thinks, you are my wife. Your name is beside mine.”
“That was only meant to last ten years.”
Patting his cheek, Hebe smiled kindly.
“What I wanted to tell you was—”
“If we annul the marriage record, you’ll be able to marry someone properly. There are already many beautiful girls who like you.”
“I’m already married. Why would I need another woman?”
Eres gripped her hand tightly and looked straight at her.
His eyes were slightly darker than usual, capturing Hebe’s gaze.
Whenever his emotions stirred, the color of his eyes sometimes changed under the influence of his magic.
“You’re just confused because you’re going through changes right now,” Hebe said softly.
“My wife is only Hebe.”
“I’m not your real wife. I have to return to my own life.”
“You’ve lived here for ten years, Hebe.”
Hebe felt as if the two of them were speaking entirely different languages.
He had never been this stubborn as a child. Now that he was grown, he had developed quite the will.
With a sigh, she decided to change the subject.
“Let’s talk about this later. It’s already getting late. Don’t you have somewhere to go today?”
“I have to attend the council of elders this afternoon.”
Since Eres turned nineteen, Castrie had begun taking him to public meetings. Recently, Castrie had stopped attending altogether and sent Eres in his place. Castrie’s magical power had begun to decline.
Though still young to perform the full duties of a priest, Eres carried out his father’s role exceptionally well.
“Then you should go before you’re late.”
“What will you do, Hebe?”
“I’m going to write a letter.”
“A letter? To whom?”
Eres frowned slightly.
Walking to the table, Hebe picked up the letter she had received that morning.
“I was worried because I hadn’t gotten a reply for so long, but I finally got a letter from Anke.”
Eres kept his brow furrowed for a moment before speaking again.
“You two must be really close. You keep writing to each other.”
“We grew up together.”
Hebe touched the letter with anticipation.
“I’ll be going now. See you this evening.”
“Alright.”
Eres quickly pressed a kiss to her cheek before leaving.
For a moment, Hebe thought his body temperature felt unusually warm. But she soon forgot about it and focused on Anke’s letter.
* * *
After leaving the reception room, Eres strode down the corridor with a fierce expression. A passing servant caught sight of his face and hurriedly pressed himself against the wall.
“You’ve returned, young master.”
When he entered his room, Panu greeted him. As the servant approached to assist him, Eres suddenly kicked him.
Panu collapsed backward without even managing to cry out.
“Y-Young master…?”
“Didn’t I tell you to bring any letters immediately to me?”
All letters addressed to Hebe were first brought to Eres.
Whenever he found a letter from Anke, he separated it and burned it without exception.
But today Panu had made a mistake, and Anke’s letter had reached Hebe’s hands.
“You can’t even handle a simple task like delivering a letter, yet you dare call yourself a servant?”
Panu had once been a slave belonging to the Grakous family. Several years earlier, Eres had shown mercy and promoted him to a servant.
Clutching his stomach as he writhed on the floor, Panu was kicked again by Eres.
“Do you want to go back to being a slave? Shall I send you somewhere you’ll never step foot in the temple again—cleaning livestock dung?”
“I’m terribly sorry, Lord Eres! I—I made a mistake!”
Seeing the flames flickering at Eres’s fingertips, Panu trembled like a leaf and begged for forgiveness.
Returning to slavery would have been bearable.
But that fire terrified him.
Unlike ordinary flames that left ashes behind, magical fire could burn any living being without leaving a single trace.
“Useless.”
Eres swallowed his anger and extinguished the flames.
“Please forgive me…”
“Get out. If I see you again today, you’re dead.”
At his command, Panu scrambled to his feet and fled.
