Chapter : 26
14. Have We Met Before?
On a bench in the garden prepared for visitors to rest, Chester handed Lucien an envelope.
“Athen, the dean, told me to pass this on to you.”
“Thank you. Did you come all this way and wait here just to give me this?”
“He said you would absolutely need it.”
“……”
Lucien’s fingers, about to open the envelope, slipped slightly.
Because of me?
Among the nobles, it was common knowledge that the Duchy of Rosanacht was not on good terms with the imperial family.
Perhaps because of that, Chester Rosanacht rarely appeared in the capital compared to the other two dukes, and he was seldom seen even at regular council meetings.
And yet, he had come all the way to the imperial palace just to deliver this single envelope to her.
He could have given it to her if they met in Noctua. Or sent someone else.
For no reason, her mood became strange.
She hastily tore open the envelope, which didn’t open easily.
Rattle— a small glass vial containing several pill capsules rolled out.
“Are you in pain anywhere?” Chester asked immediately, his face turning serious.
Lucien rolled her eyes.
He looks more sick than I do.
Judging by his complexion, Chester looked worse. As if he hadn’t slept at all since the last time they’d met a week ago.
Dean, how could you send this like this?!
When in trouble, smiling works best. Lucien put on the smile she’d used countless times in life: the “I don’t know anything” smile.
“It’s just a nutritional supplement. As you know, I’m physically a bit weak.”
Now that she’d said it, the excuse sounded far too flimsy.
What kind of urgent nutritional supplement would require someone like Chester Rosanacht to deliver it personally?
Lucien bit her tongue.
It was an excuse that sounded strange to anyone, but Chester quietly looked at the vial in her hand and nodded.
“I see. It seems the rumor that Dean Athen favors you is not false.”
“What? Who’s saying what now?!”
Who was spreading such instigation and fabrication?!
Lucien sprang to her feet.
“……!”
Wobble — in that instant, her legs gave out and her right ankle bent sharply.
Fortunately, thanks to Chester catching her, she didn’t fall, but a bad pain flared in her twisted ankle.
“Are you alri— wait, may I take a look at your ankle?”
Chester, who had been about to ask if she was okay, changed his words after seeing the expression on her face that looked like she already knew she was doomed.
When Lucien nodded, he sat her back down and knelt on one knee in front of her.
“Please excuse me.”
He carefully removed her shoe and examined her ankle, which had already begun to swell.
Feeling oddly guilty, Lucien muttered an excuse.
“I don’t usually trip like this. I really don’t.”
This was all because of the parent-teacher consultation that had drained all her stamina today, and because of the dean who made her meet the emperor as a parent.
Anyway, it was all Noctua’s fault.
Noctua, go bankrupt.
She abandoned a vow she’d made just an hour or two ago.
The hand that had been carefully pressing around the injury as if palpating it suddenly wrapped fully around her ankle.
Chester swallowed dryly.
Her slender ankle fit easily in one hand, with room to spare.
“Be care—”
Lucien’s eyes widened.
“Huh?”
The mana that had been rampaging along with the pain suddenly went quiet, as if it had lost all strength. Almost immediately, the sharp pain in her ankle began to fade.
“It doesn’t hurt anymore!”
“…….”
No — it wasn’t just less painful. It felt perfectly fine.
“Really, seriously. Maybe it wasn’t that badly hurt compared to how it looked.”
“……Do not make your own judgment. You must show it to a physician immediately.”
As if he didn’t believe in her innocence, the hand that had lingered, gripping her ankle, finally let go.
Then he pulled out a bandage — heaven knew why he carried one — and skillfully wrapped it around her ankle.
“Don’t worry. The carriage is waiting right in front.”
“I’ll escort you to the carriage. You won’t be able to walk on that ankle.”
It didn’t hurt at all, though. What was he talking about? Lucien pouted.
“You could try believing what people say.”
“It’s not that I don’t believe you, Lucien. I don’t believe in your body’s durability.”
“……”
The sorrow of someone with a fragile body.
With no choice, Lucien held out her hand. It meant she would accept support.
“Please forgive my rudeness.”
But what came back was an arm that slid under her knees and behind her back.
“Wait a second!”
“To avoid further injury, it would be better not to step on the ground.”
“Are my legs made of paper or something?!”
“They seem to be.”
Chester answered without hesitation. Not just her durability — judging by her weight, even more so.
Seeing his serious expression, Lucien lost the will to argue and relaxed her body.
No matter how much bigger Chester was than her, and how wide and solid his chest was, being carried by another person couldn’t possibly be comfortable—
It is?
Surprisingly, it was comfortable.
For a moment, she lost her identity as a two-legged human and sank into the comfortable role of cargo being transported.
Strangely, it doesn’t hurt even without taking the medicine.
As Lucien unconsciously leaned into him as her tension faded, Chester clenched his jaw and silenced his breathing.
After lightly wiggling her bandaged ankle, Lucien suddenly asked,
“Duke, I have something I’m curious about.”
Startled by her voice coming from so close, Chester only looked down at her instead of answering.
The afternoon sunlight shattered and poured down, dyeing her hair gold.
Her eyes, lowered as if she were lost in thought, appeared between her delicate eyelashes.
“By chance, a long time ago… I mean, when I was attending Noctua… have you ever met me?”
It was an unexpected question.
Chester shook his head.
“No. I don’t remember.”
“What about the possibility that you just forgot because it was so long ago?”
He denied it firmly.
“If I had met someone like you, I would not have been able to forget.”
“That’s true.”
Lucien agreed.
Even just thinking about the black history she’d accumulated from a few meetings, she agreed it would’ve been hard to forget someone like that.
Then what was it that Felix said?
But that wasn’t the only thing bothering her.
Lucien stared thinly at her ankle, which had been magically healed.
There’s definitely something going on.
In the meantime, they arrived at Lucien’s carriage.
The attendants who’d been guarding it separately because their mistress had said, “I feel awkward traveling with attendants when this is a work trip,” widened their eyes.
From beneath their hastily lowered heads, the maid and the escort knight locked eyes.
Isn’t that… him? Didn’t she say she’d moved on already?!
What’s with her ankle, and why is she being carried?!
As they desperately tried to come up with excuses to give their employer — more precisely, their employer’s sons — Lucien cleanly completed her role as delivered cargo and was placed into the carriage.
“Thank you. You didn’t have to be this considerate.”
Backlit by the light, Chester’s expression wasn’t easy to see.
“……Do you think it was consideration?”
“Of course?”
She had twisted her own ankle. He’d given first aid. He’d taken her to the carriage. If that wasn’t consideration, what was?
Lucien looked confused, but instead of explaining, Chester repeated what he’d said before.
“I have committed a rudeness. I apologize once again.”
“What on earth—”
“And this — you dropped it.”
He held out the medicine bottle. It seemed he’d picked it up when she almost fell.
“Thank you. I’ll be sure to repay the help I received today.”
While closing the door, Chester shook his head and added,
“If that is the case, then please grant me one request next time.”
After Lucien’s carriage left, instead of heading for his own carriage, he retraced the road he’d come.
I shouldn’t have acted on impulse.
His right ankle throbbed. As if it had borne not only its own strain, but also the weight of another person.
But for a duke who had come all the way to the imperial palace, leaving without even seeing the emperor was not a sufficient excuse.
Chester turned his heavy steps toward the imperial palace.
The emperor, whom he was audience with after a long time, greeted him with an unusually bright face, as if something good had happened.
“Today is a very happy day. I get to welcome two pleasant guests.”
The other one must be Lucien.
“Well then, Duke Rosanacht. What brings you all the way here? Surely a magical beast hasn’t appeared in the imperial palace.”
It was clearly sarcasm, aimed at how he often refused summons while using monster subjugation as an excuse.
Chester silently lowered his head.
“That is my duty, and I am doing my utmost to fulfill it.”
“Well, that’s why I returned that crest to you in the first place. I think very highly of that faithful side of you.”
He could feel the emperor’s red gaze slowly sweeping him from head to toe.
Wariness.
Distrust.
He tightened the hands clasped behind his back.
“Truly impressive. From that day ten years ago until this very moment, you’ve remained remarkably unchanged.”
Here we go again.
Chester lowered his eyes and turned his consciousness elsewhere.
For example, to the carriage he had just sent away — or rather, to the safety of the person riding in it.
