chapter 30……………………………………
I leaned in close enough that our faces were nearly touching, but he still avoided my gaze. Just as I was thinking that class would be impossible like this, a loud crash echoed through the office.
Bang.
“Whoa! What’s wrong with you?”
Suddenly, he slammed his forehead hard against the desk. Only then did he seem to come back to his senses. His expression turned deadly serious, with not even a hint of a smile as he began to speak.
“I don’t think being drunk excuses what happened. Some people might say young folks these days take such things lightly, but I’m not one of them. I believe it’s wrong to do something like that without sharing feelings first—and especially since I acted without even knowing your intentions.”
His long, rambling sentences made no sense to me. He wasn’t even forming proper subjects or objects; it was just a jumble of words.
I was trying to piece together what he meant when he suddenly continued, giving me no time to think.
“Whatever I say will just sound like excuses to you. If you wish, I’ll accept any punishment you decide.”
“Punishment…? Why would you need to be punished?”
“You could sue me right now if you want. Or, if you’d rather, slap me—not just once, but until your anger is gone. Honestly, part of me wants to grab that sword on the wall and stab myself.”
“Stop! Why are you saying things like that? What on earth are you talking about?”
I couldn’t make sense of anything he was saying. Since I couldn’t decipher it, I finally decided to just ask him directly. His face turned beet red, as if about to explode.
“It’s because… because you and I kissed!”
Ah…! I’d been so focused on preparing for class that I completely forgot about the little lip bump that almost happened last night.
He must think we actually kissed while he was blackout drunk.
Watching him struggle with guilt all on his own, I suddenly thought—what a perfect opportunity.
“Even if I hit you, that won’t undo what’s already happened…”
“You’re right. I don’t have a single excuse!”
I quickly changed my tone, added a sorrowful look, and let my lips tremble as if on the verge of tears. He nodded earnestly, completely buying into it.
“But hurting you won’t make me feel any better, either.”
“I’m truly sorry. Then at least, let me kneel—”
A single tear rolled down my cheek. Seeing it, he immediately bent his knees, ready to drop to the floor.
“Please don’t! That’s not what I want.”
“Then… what do you want? Tell me.”
He looked at me with such desperate sincerity, as if begging for an answer.
“Will you… take responsibility for me?”
“Responsibility?”
I nodded silently, making sure to look wistful.
“Of course! Of course I will. I’ll take full responsibility for you from now on. Shall we go to Woodville right now?”
“No, my lord. Take responsibility for me… and bring me to Mathias.”
“Mathias?”
He tilted his head. “Mathias is under Seymour territory, isn’t it?”
Right. The place where the Woodville family was exiled, and where Luna and Peredil first met.
“Take responsibility and bring me there now. Just you and me—no one else.”
Now he was the one who looked lost, standing there with a blank expression.
“Don’t you want to?”
“No, I do! Let’s do that right away.”
He mounted the horse first, and I climbed on behind him. I wrapped my arms tightly around his waist—so tight I thought my spine might break—and felt him stiffen at my touch. Then I leaned against him. It was the closest our bodies had ever been.
***
“Why did you want to come to Mathias? Are you hoping I’ll never come back from here?”
He was short of breath, probably from the long ride.
“I heard there’s an orphanage here—one that Luna used to volunteer at.”
“If you mean the one Lady Luna volunteered for, it’s over this way.”
“As expected, you know quite a lot about her.”
He flinched as he walked ahead of me.
“It’s the only orphanage in this area. The Seymour family sponsors it. That’s all.”
I followed him quickly, and soon we arrived at the orphanage. Through the clear windows, I saw adorable children playing. Watching them run around so cheerfully brought an automatic motherly smile to my face.
“So why are we here? Are you saying I should volunteer too—to atone or something?”
While I was watching the children, he leaned in and whispered in my ear, still curious about the “punishment” I’d mentioned.
“That’s not it at all!”
He kept guessing wrong. I opened the orphanage door and went inside. I whispered to a few of the children, and before long, more and more gathered around until there was a whole crowd.
“Come in!”
Seeing me motion for him, he hesitantly stepped inside. All the children turned to look at him at once, and he immediately looked uncomfortable.
“All right, my lord, please stand up here on the stage. Everyone, let me introduce you! From now on, we will have a speech by His Grace, Duke Peredil Seymour, the diplomatic envoy of Coventin! Applause!!!”
“Yay!!!”
The children clapped enthusiastically, while he shot me a horrified look.
“What are you doing? A speech? Out of nowhere?”
“We can’t skip lessons, can we? Today we’ll practice standing in front of an audience instead of doing theory.”
Since the children didn’t know anything about him—and weren’t threatening at all—I thought he might actually be able to handle it. But contrary to my expectations, his breathing became quick and shallow, and his lips went dry.
“Mister! Hurry up and talk!”
“Start already!”
Some mischievous kids heckled him, and in the end, I had to grab his hand and pull him back outside for a moment.
“Look at those kids. They’ll barely understand half the words you say. Honestly, if they don’t fall asleep in the middle, that’ll be impressive. They have zero interest in you. So trust me—and just start reading.”
He held both my hands and slowly regained his rhythm, breathing more steadily. Then, we went back inside. He stood in front of the children and began reading hesitantly.
“Today, we are gathered here to explore new paths of cooperation between our kingdom and our neighboring nations. For many years, we have shared—”
The speech was filled with difficult political jargon and boring content. The kids who were excited at first started yawning and slouching. Some even lay flat on the floor and began snoring.
The audience lost all energy—but surprisingly, he seemed to gain confidence.
Good. Eye contact, pacing—perfect.
After what felt like a long five minutes for the children, he finally finished his speech with a bright smile. Sweat beaded on his forehead. I gave him two thumbs up.
Now, time to wake the sleepy audience.
“Everyone, attention! As promised, our kind gentleman here will treat you all to chocolate bread!”
“Yay!!!”
The children jumped up at the word chocolate bread and rushed toward Peredil. He flailed like a rugby player being tackled by a giant wave.
“Where did this chocolate bread come from all of a sudden?!”
“I’ll go buy some! You just play with them until I get back!”
“Miss Joyce! Hey!”
I left him shouting behind me as I dashed out of the orphanage alone.
***
“Ta-da! The long-awaited chocolate bread is here!”
Arms full of bread, I returned triumphantly—only to burst out laughing at the sight before me. His hair was tied up with a cute rubber band, and his face was covered in crayon doodles like a sketchbook. I didn’t even bother to hide my laughter.
If only I had a phone to take a picture—what a shame!
“Here’s a handkerchief.”
The moment the children saw the chocolate bread, they lost all interest in him and swarmed toward me. Finally free, he let out a deep sigh of relief. As he wiped his face with the handkerchief, he shot me a glare.
“You just left me behind.”
“It’s called dividing roles.”
I sat beside him, still smiling. Watching the children play so joyfully, I suddenly felt a twinge of envy.
How nice—to play freely without a care in the world. What a wonderful time in life.
While I looked on fondly, Peredil’s expression darkened. He stared at the children with a stiff, uneasy face.
“What’s with that expression? Are you feeling unwell?”
