Chapter 30
Marien tried not to let Baileon’s piercing gaze shake her. She forced herself to put on a bright, cheerful face.
“Sir Beers, the young lady and I found it together! It’s in this envelope—please check!”
“…Deputy Didi, this is—”
“Just check the earrings first!”
Marien thrust the envelope toward him. Baileon hesitated for a moment, then opened it. A single earring, dazzling with radiant light, fell onto his white-gloved palm.
“It’s Her Highness the Princess’s earring.”
“Thank goodness!”
“…Thank you,” Baileon said quietly, his worried eyes sweeping over Marien again.
“But the aide’s condition is—”
“Totally a mess, right?”
Marien quickly cut him off. There was no time to linger here. She could listen to his kind concern later—once she was back home.
Right now was the time to win Odette’s heart!
“I’m not hurt anywhere, so don’t worry. Sir Beers, please hurry and take it to Her Highness. Say that you found it!”
“What do you mean? Just look at you—you’re in no state—wait, hold on…”
Baileon said something outrageous.
“The guard captain is in the next room. I’ll tell him to deliver the earring.”
Marien and Chloise shouted at the same time.
“No!”
“Are you crazy?”
Marien all but threw herself in front of him.
“Sir Beers has to deliver it himself! What if it gets lost again passing through someone else’s hands?”
“But… it’s the guard captain.”
“No! I mean, I did all this because I wanted to see you personally hand it to Her Highness!”
Her words stumbled over themselves from how flustered she was.
“Is it because you feel bad that I found it but said it was you? But if you think about it, I’m part of your team, right?”
“…”
“What I find is basically what you find. So yes, I really want you to be the one to go to Her Highness!”
Marien had momentarily forgotten Baileon’s nature. Unlike that northern brute, he didn’t see this incident as a political opportunity.
Now that the item was found, the matter was over in his mind. His priority had already shifted to the aide before him—disheveled and clearly exhausted, someone he felt obligated to look after.
She could feel her frustration burning.
“I—I found this in the basement. I crawled through dust for more than two hours. I just wanted to help you this time!”
“Marien…”
“I didn’t suffer for someone else’s sake! So please, Sir Beers, deliver it yourself—okay?”
Marien, gripping Baileon’s arm, nearly sobbed as she pleaded. He was visibly flustered.
“All right. I’ll go myself. So please, don’t cry.”
“Snff… okay…”
“I’m sorry. I didn’t think it through.”
“Right now, please—snff—go right now!”
“I’m going right now.”
Baileon gently patted her shoulder, trying to comfort her. But Marien jumped back in alarm, quickly releasing his arm.
“I’m filthy right now. I’ll get your gloves dirty.”
Baileon froze mid-motion, his hand hanging awkwardly in the air. He looked as if he’d been suddenly abandoned.
“You said you were down there for over two hours…”
His green eyes darkened as they shifted toward Chloise.
“When we met earlier, you already knew where the aide was, didn’t you?”
“I didn’t lie! I said she was searching too.”
“Don’t play dumb, Chloise Beers.”
“I helped a little, that’s all.”
Was that the look of an elder brother holding his sister accountable?
Marien glanced at Baileon quietly—he had gone from someone ready to carry her to someone scolding his sibling.
Still, Chloise was loyal. Being scolded for keeping her promise to Marien seemed unfair.
Marien sniffled softly to draw attention away. Baileon looked back at her, then left the room.
He instructed the guard captain in the next room to stop the search. The captain’s face lit up when he heard the earring had been found.
He also told them that Odette had moved from her box seat to her private lounge. Marien followed Baileon up the red-carpeted stairs.
Chloise followed at a slight distance, muttering to herself. Marien strained to hear.
“No wonder nothing works out. Some girls go this far just to win a man’s heart, and my brother—he’s the kind who’d spit out even if love were spoon-fed to him. He’ll probably spend his life taking care of others and die old and alone.”
What an astute “romance expert” take.
Not wrong… but hearing it out loud made Marien oddly want to defend Baileon.
She murmured inwardly,
“My lady, there will be someone who falls for that part of Sir Beers too.”
Even if his path seemed slow and indirect, Baileon always walked the right one. He cared more for others’ well-being than his own emotions.
So while he might not be the hero of a sweeping romance, he was the kind of person who could offer peace and lasting happiness.
Marien hoped Odette would come to realize that after today.
“A composed, kind man like him is far better than some arrogant storm of a man!”
After all, Odette had started this revenge story, and only she could end it. The alliance with Kain might seem essential, but ultimately, this was Odette Rose’s story.
It was the reason Marien loved Alliance Marriage so much.
“Lady Odette, you can have confidence in your own strength—and when you do, please take the hand of your gentle ally!”
Baileon knocked on the door of Odette’s private lounge. A voice inside told him to come in.
Marien stepped aside, watching as the Beers siblings entered. Since Chloise didn’t close the door, Marien could peek inside.
Odette was sitting with her back to the door. Come to think of it, Marien had never seen her face directly before.
“Your Highness, we found your earring.”
“You did?”
“Yes, here it is.”
Baileon handed it to her. Odette sighed in relief as she confirmed it with her own eyes.
“Thank goodness. Where did you find it?”
“In the basement. It seems someone who picked it up first hid it there.”
And of course, that damned Kain was also in the room. Even as Baileon explained, Kain coolly examined his pocket watch as if nothing concerned him.
“The basement… I never would’ve guessed. No wonder it took so long.”
Odette passed the earring to her attendant. The attendant disinfected it carefully and handed it back.
Odette was about to put it on absentmindedly when she looked up and asked,
“Would you help me, Sir Beers?”
Marien slowly raised her hands to cover her mouth. Before her eyes, Baileon was gently fastening the earring onto Odette’s ear.
Her eyes welled up on their own. The side profile of Baileon, fully focused, looked breathtakingly beautiful.
His soft brown hair, slightly tousled, framed his face; his lashes—of the same color—cast delicate shadows over his leaf-green eyes.
“Is it not going in?”
“It’s just… I don’t want to accidentally poke the wrong spot.”
“You wouldn’t make such a mistake.”
Odette chuckled lightly.
“Even if you did, I’d forgive you tonight. You’ve already done me such a great favor.”
Because of you!
Because of you!
I’d forgive you tonight!
Marien let out a silent cheer behind her hands. To hear those words from the normally stoic heroine—it was overwhelming. Tears welled up again.
“I did it! Finally!”
Baileon didn’t even blink. He was completely focused on the small task of attaching the earring.
“Sir Beers, did you hear that? Isn’t your heart racing just like mine?”
So close together—they could probably even smell each other’s scent.
Marien recalled the faint mint soap fragrance Baileon always carried. Suddenly, tears streamed down her cheek.
“Honestly, I’m so silly. They’ve only just begun, and here I am acting like I’ve married them off already.”
She turned away, wiping her eyes with her sleeve. Her pounding heart refused to calm down for a long time after.
◇ ◆ ◇
The moment Baileon stepped out of the lounge, he began looking for Marien. Just then, a familiar voice rang from across the hall.
“I told you I’m not suspicious!”
He skipped knocking and opened the door. Three large guards were surrounding Marien.
“How many times do I have to say it? I’m Sir Beers’s aide! I just changed clothes to help with the search—”
“Then why were you loitering near the door?”
“What, you expect me to meet Her Highness looking like this?”
“Maybe you were eavesdropping because you didn’t want anyone to find out you hid the earring yourself.”
One of the guards stepped closer, his tone menacing.
“Stand down.”
At Baileon’s voice, the guards straightened and saluted instantly. Marien’s face lit up.
“Sir Beers!”
She tried to run to him, but one of the guards grabbed her by the collar. She staggered under the pull—almost like an assassin being restrained.
Baileon’s brows furrowed. Why did everyone—like that Duke of Blackwood—keep manhandling her so roughly?
“Release my subordinate. I’ll vouch for her identity.”
“…Sir?”
“The person you detained is Marien Didi, Third Aide to the Chancellor’s Office—and currently a guest of House Beers.”
“Ah—!”
“Hands off, yes?”
The guards immediately let her go and bowed repeatedly in apology before fleeing the room.
“Wow, can you believe the discrimination? I told them to wait for you, and they just scoffed at me!”
Marien brushed off her worn vest and smiled at him.
“As always, you saved me again, Sir Beers.”
“You’re not hurt?”
“I’m fine.”
Marien glanced toward the open doorway.
“What about Her Highness?”
“She’s gone back to her box seat with the Duke—to greet the guests who’ve been waiting.”
“That damned Duke… ugh.”
Marien grimaced and started toward the door. Baileon quietly studied her.
She said she wasn’t hurt, but he could see scratches all over her. And each time she took a step, her left leg limped ever so slightly.
Did she not even realize she was limping?
“Where exactly were you in the basement? The guards searched it but didn’t see you.”
“Sublevel 2,” Marien replied brightly.
“Oh, you have no idea how awful it was. Just one floor deeper, and it’s pitch-dark—you have to feel your way around everywhere—kyaa!”
Her left foot caught on a slightly lifted part of the red carpet.
