CHAPTER 63…………………
“Yes?”
Rowell blinked at Leon, who opened the topic with words that had nothing to do with her previous question. What is it? He had looked strangely absent-minded for a while now.
“Are you feeling sick?”
The reason Rowell asked that was because she could see Leon’s face flushing red. It was so red that it almost felt as if this broken greenhouse had suddenly started working again.
So Rowell, after looking at Leon whose ears had turned red as well, turned her head to see if any of the greenhouse equipment was still running.
“…No.”
But Leon grabbed Rowell’s wrist. Heat could be felt through the wrist he held.
“Pardon?”
“I said no. I’m not sick.”
“Ah… okay.”
Rowell looked at Leon, who was now even covering his face with his other hand, and thought he didn’t look very convincing. But… since Leon said he was fine, she decided not to worry about it.
“Oh, right.”
After that, an awkward silence lingered.
Only when Rowell heard the wind from outside brushing past the plants in the greenhouse did she remember what she had meant to say once Leon came home.
“We’re going to sleep in separate rooms now.”
“What?”
At the sudden remark, Leon’s gaze snapped toward Rowell. His reaction startled her instead. Even though his face was still red, his eyes had begun to shine sharply.
“…There are a lot of empty bedrooms in this mansion. So I’m going to sleep in the room at the end of the second-floor hallway from now on.”
Rowell slowly spoke as she loosened the hand holding Leon’s wrist. At that moment, she wondered if she had said something wrong.
“You called me all the way here just to say that?”
“Huh? No. Well… kind of while we’re at it. I brought you here because seeing this unused greenhouse reminded me of you, but once we got here I remembered what I wanted to say.”
“……”
“And I thought it would be better to tell you in advance. Since it’s about using separate bedrooms, we should be careful about it.”
While Leon’s lips closed stiffly, Rowell deliberately added an explanation. It was her own form of consideration for Leon, who seemed unable to understand such a simple statement.
“Why?”
“Pardon?”
“Why do you suddenly want to sleep separately?”
“Huh? Well….”
Rowell flinched slightly, finally realizing that Leon had not welcomed her consideration. Suddenly the greenhouse, which had felt warm just moments ago, seemed to grow cold.
“Well, there aren’t any servants here who would spy on us and spread rumors. And there are so many rooms—it would be a waste to leave them empty… Most of all, unlike the previous mansion, the rooms here aren’t so damaged that they’re hard to use.”
“What if the servants working here start spreading rumors that the relationship between you and me has gone bad? We’d be using separate rooms right after moving in.”
“Don’t worry about that.”
Standing before Leon, whose face had completely crumpled now, Rowell suddenly spoke with confidence.
“I put some thought into it.”
A proud look appeared on Rowell’s sparkling face.
“This morning I gathered all the servants and explained it. I told them that my mana flow isn’t stable, so from now on I might have to sleep separately from my husband.”
“…What?”
“I mentioned that both you and I possess mana and acted like it was quite exhausting, and they all nodded like they understood. They really are kind people.”
Rowell said this with a confident smile, almost humming.
“So you don’t have to worry about that.”
“……”
Rowell gave a bright smile while holding up her thumb.
Leon had completely forgotten how to argue back. Whether it was because of the strange misunderstanding or because of emotions that had built up long before this—he couldn’t tell.
“This won’t harm your reputation.”
Leon looked down at Rowell, who covered the corner of her mouth with her hand and whispered like it was a secret. He felt like he finally understood exactly what the word absurd meant.
“Reputation, huh….”
It was obvious what kind of reputation Rowell was referring to. Apparently, she was still misunderstanding the reason why he had once said he had never dated anyone.
“Until the rooms were cleaned up, it couldn’t be helped, but starting today we’ll both be able to sleep comfortably!”
As Rowell spoke cheerfully and turned around, her black hair waved beautifully. The sight created such a beautiful glow that anyone watching would be left speechless.
“Shall we go?”
In the end, while following Rowell back into the mansion, Leon could only stare blankly at the wrist she was holding.
* * *
The next morning, Rowell was so excited that she hummed to herself all day long, which sharply contrasted with Leon, who walked around with a shadow cast over his face.
“Hm-hm.”
As Rowell hummed a tune she had heard somewhere before and walked toward the drawing room, Leon suddenly stepped in front of her.
“…You startled me.”
“You’re not reading today?”
Leon looked down at her with his arms crossed. For a moment, Rowell thought his crookedly raised eyebrow looked like an angry caterpillar.
“Today is the day Miss Aria is coming over. I’ve been preparing things to welcome a guest, so I didn’t have time to read.”
Anyway, Rowell hugged the dessert catalog she was holding and replied in a light tone.
“Huh. You’re putting in a lot of effort.”
“Yes. It’s the first time I’ve invited Miss over, so I want to prepare everything as carefully as possible.”
Although Leon’s words had been spoken with a sneer, Rowell answered brightly without paying much attention.
I get to personally treat Miss Aria to something!
Just thinking about it made Rowell smile. This was her home now, so she could prepare everything exactly for Aria.
“Huh? Where are you going?”
“The garden.”
However, Leon brushed past her before the conversation even ended, leaving Rowell—who had clasped her hands together with sparkling eyes—feeling a little embarrassed.
Hmm… Is he tired?
Watching Leon’s retreating back, Rowell briefly thought that.
* * *
“Miss!”
Rowell, who had been sitting in the drawing room, couldn’t hold herself back when Aria’s blonde hair appeared faintly in the window and ran outside.
“Rowell! Have you been well?”
Aria approached with a radiant smile. Watching Aria’s golden hair ripple in the winter wind, Rowell thought again that Aria resembled spring shining even in winter weather.
This bright look suits my lady best.
Seeing Aria again after so long made Rowell’s lips curl up happily.
“Rowell, but shouldn’t you change how you address me now?”
“Huh?”
While the two were climbing the stairs together, Aria suddenly stopped and looked up at Rowell.
“You’ve received a title now, haven’t you?”
“Ah….”
For a moment, Rowell remembered the title she had received for a reason that was far from pleasant. Yes, whether she wanted it or not, people would now call her Sir Auwora.
“……”
Aria pressed her lips together, waiting for Rowell’s answer. The lively expression Rowell liked so much had already disappeared from her face.
“Alright.”
So Rowell spoke like this. She disliked the fact that Aria’s expression had fallen over such a small matter.
“Then I’ll be careful about it in front of other people.”
“…Huh? In front of other people?”
“Yes. You’ll always be my lady, so when it’s just the two of us I’ll call you normally. But I’ll be careful with titles in front of others. Now, shall we go inside, Lady Heinstein?”
Rowell deliberately exaggerated her tone, raised one eyebrow playfully, and offered her hand with an overly polite bow.
Seeing that, Aria burst out laughing without realizing it.
She’s really impossible, Aria thought.
“It’s been a while, Lady.”
“Ah… yes.”
When Aria arrived at the drawing room and saw Leon standing up from his seat, she involuntarily flinched.
The Leon in her sight had deep shadows under his eyes, making him look as though he was suffering from some great misfortune.
“Miss, could you wait here for a moment? I have something to show you—I’ll go get it.”
As Aria hesitated slightly and sat down, Rowell said brightly. Her lively voice contrasted sharply with the somewhat gloomy atmosphere of the drawing room.
“……”
Before Aria could even answer, Rowell ran up to the second floor, leaving her alone with Leon in the drawing room.
“Are you getting along well with Rowell?”
Unable to endure the awkward silence, Aria spoke first. She tried to sound cheerful, hoping to lighten the mood.
“…Yes.”
The delayed response told her everything.
Something happened between him and Rowell.
“I brought it!”
However, when Rowell soon returned with a bright smile, Aria corrected her thought.
No—something happened, but only he knows about it.
Aria watched as Rowell placed a book titled “Chronicle of Time” on the table. The modest yet striking seal embossed on the cover matched Rowell’s proud smile perfectly.
“Master, I apologize for interrupting while you are receiving a guest, but there is something you must urgently check.”
At that moment, a servant entered the drawing room and spoke formally.
“Additional gifts sent from the Imperial Palace have arrived. They say the items must be personally verified and stamped.”
Until then Leon had been sitting absent-mindedly, but the servant standing beside him made him realize something.
This was exactly the moment Rowell had mentioned—the moment when the lady of the house’s support would be needed.
“…Alright. I’ll go now.”
Leon said with a sigh. The eyes that had been following Rowell’s every movement finally looked elsewhere.
“So what this book says is….”
Meanwhile, Rowell remained cheerful as ever.
Aria looked back and forth between Rowell’s sparkling face and Leon’s somehow pitiful-looking back, thinking to herself:
That man is a little pitiful.
