Chapter 5
“Dia, I will go see His Majesty and come back, so wait here for a while.”
“Yes, please take your time.”
While the Duke handled his business, I decided to look around the garden inside the Imperial Palace and wait for him.
“Stay here and do not wander off.”
“I understand, so please go.”
The Duke kept emphasizing it repeatedly. He looked worried about leaving me alone. Since I needed the Duke in order to meet that man anyway, I had planned to stay quietly. But seeing him worry this much made me strangely want to leave this place just to rebel against him.
It was a useless act of defiance.
Suppressing that feeling, I walked toward the area where the central fountain was located.
Warm sunlight poured down between the thick trees. Even the sound of birds singing felt like a pleasant melody.
As I continued walking, I suddenly heard a rustling sound coming from the dense bushes.
Then something large and black suddenly jumped out.
“Ah!”
The situation happened too suddenly for me to avoid it. I collided directly with the thing that came rushing out and fell to the ground.
“Are you alright?”
A familiar voice.
The man stood up, brushing off his clothes, and reached out his hand toward me.
I looked up to see his face, but the sunlight was too bright, making it difficult to see him clearly.
Then a cloud passed by and covered the sun.
His face slowly came into view.
‘Found him.’
I grabbed the hand he offered and stood up. His face became clear.
It was the man I had met at the restaurant.
“You are……”
The man recognized my face and pulled his hand away, brushing it off as he let out a sigh.
“Huh? You’re the person from yesterday?”
“……”
Even after my question, the man only frowned and looked down at me with cold eyes.
“We meet even in the Imperial Palace.”
“……”
“What a coincidence……”
“Ha…… Is this really a coincidence?”
“Excuse me?”
Did he think I had followed him here?
Of course, I came because the Duke said I could meet him if I went to the Imperial Palace, but this situation was truly just a coincidence.
“There seems to be some misunderstanding……”
Just as I was about to clear up his misunderstanding, I sensed someone approaching from afar.
Then I heard a familiar voice.
“Duke! Where are you?”
I turned my gaze toward the direction of the voice.
There, I saw the Crown Prince of this country, Daimon.
The person who had become the cause of my death.
“Damn it.”
The man looked flustered. He glanced around as if he was searching for somewhere to hide.
Without thinking, I grabbed the man’s wrist and pulled him toward one of the many statues placed in the garden.
As we moved, the sound of our footsteps caught Daimon’s attention, and he changed direction toward us.
One step.
Two steps.
Daimon slowly approached closer and closer to where we were hiding.
At the same time, I pressed myself closer toward the man standing behind the statue so that we would not be discovered.
We hid silently, holding our breaths, waiting for Daimon to pass.
“What is this…… ngh.”
“Shh. You don’t want us to get caught, right?”
I covered his mouth with my small hand and looked at him with my eyes telling him not to make a sound.
When he nodded as if he understood, I removed my hand from his mouth.
As Daimon came closer to where we were, I pressed myself even more against the statue.
There was no longer any space between him and me.
Maybe it was because a handsome stranger was standing so close to me.
Or maybe it was because I was nervous about being discovered.
Either way, my heart was pounding loudly.
“What? It’s just a squirrel.”
At that moment, a squirrel jumped out from the bushes and ran in front of Daimon.
Daimon, who had approached near our statue, seemed to think the source of the sound was the squirrel.
He slowly walked away from us.
“Ha……”
Only after Daimon had disappeared far away did the man finally let out a sigh of relief.
“Ugh, that tickles……”
I turned my head toward the place where I heard his sigh.
Of all places, why did he have to sigh right next to my ear?
We were so close that I could hear each other’s breathing.
When our eyes met at such a close distance, he did not say anything.
He simply stared into my eyes.
For a moment, it felt like time had stopped.
The large garden became completely silent.
Because of that, the sound of birds singing and the refreshing sound of water from the fountain seemed even louder.
A gentle breeze blew.
His black hair swayed softly in the wind.
Perhaps because I had been tense while hiding, my heart had still not calmed down.
“Please move away now.”
“Ah……”
The loud sound of birds flying away brought me back to reality.
I looked up at him.
The purple circle above his head was still shining.
I had been thinking about it ever since I first saw it, but I still could not tell whether that color was good or bad.
I felt like I needed to meet more people to understand what it meant.
“Thank you for helping me earlier.”
“It was nothing. That crazy guy must have bothered you again.”
I already knew.
Daimon was the type of person who would relentlessly torment someone once he became interested in them.
I had experienced it more than once myself.
“That’s right……”
“Hmm?”
“I accidentally said what I was thinking out loud.”
The man looked at me in surprise and quickly glanced around, checking if anyone had heard.
“Don’t worry. There is no one here except us.”
I looked at him calmly.
The man’s wandering gaze returned to me, and he stared at me with an unreadable expression.
“Wipe yourself.”
“Excuse me?”
“Your clothes got dirty when you fell earlier.”
“Thank you.”
It seemed I had gotten dirt on my dress when I fell.
I accepted the handkerchief he gave me and lightly cleaned my dress.
It was fine anyway.
There were plenty of clothes at the Duke’s residence.
After brushing off the dirt, I looked at him again.
Looking carefully, I noticed a lion embroidered on the left side of the chest of his black uniform.
The lion symbol represented the Crown Prince’s direct knight order among the Imperial Knights.
“Are you part of the Imperial Knights?”
“That is correct.”
Perhaps because of what happened earlier, his guarded attitude had relaxed slightly.
“I think I misunderstood something.”
“What?”
“I thought you came all the way here because you had fallen for me.”
Where did that confidence come from?
It must have come from that face.
“Does this happen often?”
“Ha…… Yes……”
Just thinking about it seemed to disgust him. His expression slowly twisted.
“Um…… I am half right and half wrong.”
“What do you mean?”
“I entered the palace today following my father.”
Of course, I came to meet you.
“……”
“And although I did not fall for you, I wanted to repay you if I met you.”
Of course, I did not fall for him.
I was just using repayment as an excuse to make him fall for me.
“Understood.”
He nodded toward me, as I answered him confidently without backing down.
“Dia, there you are.”
I wanted to talk with him a little longer, but the Duke had already finished his work and was approaching us.
What terrible timing.
“Duke Pomerne, it has been a while.”
“Yes.”
“You are here?”
I thought they only knew each other by face, but it seemed the Duke and this man were acquainted.
They seemed to have quite a close relationship.
“Do you know him?”
The man asked while glancing at me.
The Duke and I looked at him with confused expressions.
Where did my beauty come from, after all?
The Duke and I looked exactly alike.
Anyone could tell we were father and daughter just by looking at us.
“Ha…… She is my daughter.”
“I see.”
The Duke shook his head while looking at him as if he had not changed at all.
“Have you introduced yourselves?”
“Not yet.”
Nice, Duke.
I take back saying you had no sense.
I will call you father properly from now on.
I also had many things I wanted to know.
“I am Diana Pomerne.”
“Lisian Summernet.”
The moment I heard his name, I stared at him in surprise.
Lisian Summernet.
I had heard of his reputation many times before.
The youngest Duke who inherited the ducal family at the young age of sixteen after the previous Duke passed away two years ago.
A Sword Master who became the commander of the Imperial Knights.
A genius magic swordsman who could even use magic, one of the few in the Empire.
Because he disliked appearing at official events, I had only heard rumors about him until now.
This was the first time I had actually seen his face and spoken with him during all my playthroughs.
“Duke, about repaying you for yesterday……”
“It is fine, Lady Pomerne.”
Before I could finish speaking, Lisian answered firmly.
“I am not fine with it.”
“No.”
“Repayment……”
“No.”
His continuous refusal slowly started frustrating me.
“I want to do it!”
“……”
Because the iron wall called Lisian kept refusing, I unconsciously raised my voice.
My voice echoed through the garden.
The Duke, Lisian, and even the people passing nearby all turned to look at me.
‘Ah…… This is embarrassing.’
The situation was so embarrassing, but what could I do?
The person who needs something has to dig the well.
And right now, I was the one who needed something.
I had to capture Lisian’s favor if I wanted to survive.
“Duke, you will accept my repayment, right?”
“Ha…… Fine.”
Perhaps because the Duke stood beside him with his arms crossed and glared at Lisian fiercely, Lisian finally sighed.
He slightly frowned and reluctantly accepted.
“Lisi……”
The Duke seemed dissatisfied with Lisian’s reaction and was about to say something.
“Father! Let’s go home now!”
I quickly linked my arm with the Duke’s and dragged him toward the carriage.
That would not do.
What if Lisian changed his mind because of the Duke?
The Duke’s expression softened because of my affectionate action.
“Duke, then I will see you next time.”
“Lisian, see you next time.”
“Understood.”
With the promise of meeting Lisian again, I boarded the carriage and headed back to the Duke’s residence.
I looked up at the clear blue sky outside the carriage window.
Like the clouds floating in the sky, my heart felt slightly excited.
While touching Lisian’s handkerchief that I had forgotten to return, I thought that I needed to hurry and meet him again.
Yes.
At that time, I thought I would be able to meet him again soon.
After all, I had already met him by chance twice.
But I had forgotten one important thing.
Lisian was a Duke of the Empire.
And he was also the commander of the Imperial Knights.
