Chapter 41……………………..
‘Oh no.’
Earlier, while walking, I had briefly taken off my hat because I felt stifled, removing the pin that held it in place. And of all times, the wind had to blow now. Thanks to that, my hat freely soared into the air.
I was about to head back to the carriage, but I turned around instead.
“Elroa?”
“I’ll go pick up my hat.”
“My lady, if it’s something like that, I can—”
“It’s fine. It won’t take long.”
But perhaps it was about to rain, because the wind was stronger than expected, and the hat flew farther than I thought.
Only after drifting for quite a while did it finally fall to the ground.
“Whew… I finally caught up.”
Without meaning to, I was sweating. Just as I barely reached the spot where the hat had landed, a loud shout suddenly rang out.
“Is this bastard crazy?! Where are you throwing that?!”
“I’d rather give it to some stray dog than to you!”
“What did you say?! Do you even know what that is?!”
So the commotion nearby was happening around here.
‘They’re still fighting. I should just grab my hat and go back quickly.’
Thinking that, I bent down to pick up the hat—
Then.
‘Huh? What’s this?’
Something had fallen beside it.
‘A stone?’
It was strangely blood-red and transparent. It looked like a rough, unpolished gemstone, about the size of a small pebble.
Even under the faint glow of the streetlamp, the stone shimmered as if it could enchant someone. The sounds around me seemed to fade away.
‘It’s beautiful…’
Without realizing it, I reached out toward it.
“Die!”
“Hah! Try throwing properly! You think something like that could hit me?”
“Oh no!”
“Watch out!”
The sudden rise in noise snapped me back to my senses, and I turned my head.
Something unknown was flying straight toward me. It seemed whatever the fighting men had thrown had missed its target. By the time I noticed, it was already too late to dodge.
‘I’m going to get hit!’
“Elroa!”
At the duke’s shout, I squeezed my eyes shut.
Bang! Crack!
But instead of pain, I heard something collide and shatter. When no pain followed, I cautiously opened my eyes.
A barrier made of wind surrounded me.
“Huh…?”
It must have been a wooden stick that had flown at me. On the ground, fragments lay scattered in pieces.
The red stone had also crumbled into powder—caught up in the wind magic.
“A cute young lady almost got into big trouble.”
At that moment, sky-blue hair spilled down like a curtain before my eyes. It was such an unreal color, like Beric’s hair.
The owner of the hair turned to me with a bright smile. Perhaps because of her pale coloring—or her ethereal beauty—she didn’t seem human.
“A fairy…?”
At my words, the woman’s eyes widened, then curved into a pleased smile.
“Oh my. What a lovely thing to say. Is that your way of thanking me for saving you?”
The sky-colored woman gently cupped my cheek with her slender hand. The coolness snapped me fully awake.
Only then did I realize she was human.
And that she was a mage—one who had cast the protective spell.
“Elroa!”
The duke rushed toward me. The woman immediately stepped back, and the duke pulled me close as soon as he arrived.
“Are you alright?”
“Yes… I’m fine.”
Lately, it felt like he asked me that every single day.
The duke let out a sigh of relief, brushing back his hair.
“I truly cannot take my eyes off you for even a moment.”
I couldn’t shake the feeling that I was becoming some frail patient—or a walking disaster.
This was already the third time I’d nearly been hurt.
And earlier, I’d even burst into tears in the street.
‘If I keep this up, he might lock me away somewhere out of annoyance…’
I laughed awkwardly and quickly changed the subject.
“She saved me.”
“She…? Ah, you are…”
At my gesture, the duke turned his head—
And his lips twisted into a crooked smile.
‘Oh?’
There were only two reasons the duke ever smiled like that.
One: when I was acting foolishly in front of him.
Two: when he wanted to kill the person standing before him.
And this was clearly the second.
“Oh my… goodness.”
The blue-haired woman’s eyes narrowed. She looked utterly amused.
“How surprising. The man who would change his path even from a hundred meters away to avoid me… didn’t even notice me standing right beside him.”
Someone the duke would go out of his way to avoid?
Only one person came to mind.
‘No way…’
The duke asked with a sigh.
“Princess Cecilia… why are you here?”
She gracefully swept her flowing hair over her shoulder.
“It’s been a while, Duke.”
Then she smiled sweetly at me.
“And you must be the adorable Duchess. Nice to meet you.”
The very woman involved in the marriage proposal that had nearly turned the Duke of Northdian into a rebel had appeared.
Later…
“We’re back, Aubrian.”
We had left as two people.
We returned as three.
Aubrian’s expression was… complicated.
“Welcome home, Master. My lady. And…”
This guest was clearly unexpected.
Still, the seasoned head butler quickly put on a professional smile and bowed politely.
“Welcome to House Northdian, Your Highness Princess Cecilia Roynen Speridia.”
All the servants followed and bowed in unison. Cecilia waved her hand, satisfied.
“At ease. I’m the one who came without notice.”
“Thank you, Your Highness.”
At least she knew barging in unannounced was rude.
The princess placed her hands on her hips and looked up at the mansion.
“Hm… so this is…”
“Your Highness, it’s late, so perhaps you should rest tonight and tomorrow—”
The duke spoke with visible irritation.
But suddenly—
She stretched her hand forward.
“[Vila Hru Kasha Torre.]”
A spell.
In an instant, the mansion’s garden lit up as bright as midday. Dozens of glowing orbs appeared in the air, illuminating the estate from every direction.
“W-What is this…?”
“What’s happening?!”
Knights and servants came rushing out in alarm.
Meanwhile, the princess was casually flying around the night sky, sightseeing as if it were perfectly normal.
“So this is Northdian Estate! Incredible! Truly worthy of an imperial gift from the First Emperor!”
“Haa…”
The duke pressed a hand to his forehead, clearly in pain.
Then he waved at the gathered staff.
“It’s nothing. Everyone return inside. Her Highness simply wished to see the estate.”
“O-Oh, I see…”
“We apologize for the disturbance!”
Everyone awkwardly withdrew.
I couldn’t help but stare at the princess in awe.
“She’s… amazing in many ways. Haha…”
She was far more carefree than I expected.
After causing quite a scene, the princess finally descended, seemingly satisfied.
“It really is beautiful, just like in the books.”
“You could have toured it during the day.”
“So what? Even you don’t know if I’ll still be here by tomorrow morning.”
She shrugged shamelessly.
Eventually, the duke gave a crooked smile.
“Until you leave, please refrain from using magic inside my home. It gives me a headache.”
“Oh, right. You were always sensitive to mana. My apologies.”
I blinked in shock.
‘That much?’
I’d been with him every day and never noticed.
Suddenly, all my recent mistakes flashed through my mind—my mana control failures, the duke personally blocking my magic every night…
And now that I looked closely—
His complexion was paler than usual.
My chest tightened.
“Duke, please go rest first. I’ll guide Her Highness.”
I wasn’t perfect, but I had studied etiquette and social skills like my life depended on it for moments like this.
If not now, then when?
“It’s alright. You must be tired after today.”
He meant… after I cried so much earlier.
But there was no teasing in his voice.
Only concern.
“I have enough energy to guide a guest. I just need to show her to her room. Aubrian will help too.”
When I looked back, Aubrian nodded.
The duke hesitated briefly—
Then smiled softly, the way he had been doing more often lately.
“Then… may I ask you to do so?”
“Of course.”
He turned to the princess.
“Your Highness, please rest for tonight. We will hear your business tomorrow.”
“Very well. I’m tired too. I used short-distance teleportation spells repeatedly… and at the end I even failed to set my coordinates properly and dropped into the middle of the city.”
She winked at me.
“But thanks to that, I was able to save the Duchess. Lucky for me.”
It wasn’t unpleasant, coming from someone so beautiful…
But it was definitely awkward.
Then suddenly—
The duke pulled me into his arms.
“Do not flirt with my wife.”
“How cruel. Anyone would think I’m some kind of pervert.”
“It seems you wish to sleep outside.”
Their bickering continued endlessly…
Until I finally said I was hungry.
‘They said their personalities didn’t match… but was it really this bad?’
That night, more than ever, I understood why the Duke of Northdian had nearly become a rebel.
