Chapter: 61
‘Could it be that the Young Lady wants to join the conversation too?’
I cautiously gauged the Young Lady’s reaction before casually speaking to her.
“Um, Young Lady. Isn’t High Priest Evans also related to you?”
At my question, the Young Lady immediately cut me off.
“Even if we’re relatives, I only saw his face a few times when I was little.”
“……”
“……”
Her reaction was far more sensitive than usual.
An awkward silence followed.
‘Why is the Young Lady acting like this?’
‘Did something upset her?’
‘E-even so, I didn’t expect her to speak so sharply….’
The ladies cautiously glanced at one another.
Perhaps realizing a little too late that she had gone too far, the Young Lady hurriedly offered an excuse.
“I-I’m sorry. I guess I’m just a little tired today.”
“Of course. That happens.”
“I get irritable when I’m sleepy too!”
The other ladies quickly chimed in with the Young Lady.
“Then, since this is our first time meeting like this, why don’t we go visit the Grand Temple?”
Lady Sanchez clapped her hands and spoke with a sly smile.
The suggestion of going to the Grand Temple at the next gathering had somehow turned into a proposal to go there today.
“It’s boring to read books every day, isn’t it? Sometimes we should go outside and get a change of scenery.”
“What? Today?”
“Isn’t that a little sudden…?”
The other ladies spoke timidly, clearly flustered, but Lady Sanchez was relentless.
“I mean, today is my first time attending the gathering. I think visiting the Grand Temple together would help me get used to the book club….”
She acted as though the other members of the book club naturally ought to welcome her and accommodate her.
Lady Sanchez lowered her eyes with a sweet smile.
“Besides, there’s a chance we might happen to run into High Priest Evans. Don’t you think?”
“……”
Lady Sherwood, the host of the gathering, looked extremely displeased.
She had every reason to be.
Wasn’t this completely contrary to the purpose of the book club?
But perhaps she was reluctant to say anything unpleasant, because Lady Sherwood quietly glanced sideways at the Young Lady.
“Um, Young Lady, what do you think?”
The Young Lady honestly looked quite uncomfortable with it as well.
But then.
Lady Sanchez suddenly butted into the conversation.
“I’m sure the Young Lady wants to go too! It would be nice if we could all get along harmoniously, wouldn’t it?”
…Just look at her.
In an instant, I sharpened my gaze.
It was a very crafty way of speaking.
She had deliberately brought up the Young Lady’s somewhat sensitive reaction to High Priest Evans from earlier.
Since the Young Lady’s refusal had made the atmosphere chilly, Lady Sanchez must have thought that this time, she wouldn’t refuse for the sake of everyone else.
That way of speaking was remarkably similar to Seraphina’s, wasn’t it?
I quickly turned toward the Young Lady.
“Young Lady, you can refuse if you don’t want to….”
But the Young Lady had already nodded.
“Alright.”
“……”
Although her expression remained indifferent on the surface,
I saw it.
I saw the Young Lady quietly checking the other ladies’ reactions.
And that was exactly what Lady Sanchez had intended.
‘Ugh, Lady Sanchez… She’s really getting on my nerves.’
I felt my insides begin to boil.
“Since we’ve already brought it up, let’s go quickly! Okay?!”
Unable to withstand Lady Sanchez’s urging, the members of the book club each climbed into their respective carriages.
The Young Lady, sitting across from me, had a strangely complicated expression.
“Young Lady, if you didn’t like Lady Sanchez’s suggestion, you could have refused.”
I carefully spoke up.
The Young Lady pressed her lips together and shook her head.
“It’s fine. I don’t want to make things awkward because of me.”
“But….”
I trailed off.
The Young Lady seemed unwilling to discuss the subject any further.
“Um, Young Lady.”
In the end, I swallowed my sigh and changed the subject.
“Do you happen to know what kind of person the High Priest is?”
Isaac Evans, the second male lead of this world.
In the original novel, he had been portrayed as a man with hardly anything to criticize.
Well, considering he was supposed to form a romantic relationship with the female protagonist, Seraphina, it would have been troublesome if he had any flaws….
‘But the Young Lady seems to be rather uncomfortable around High Priest Evans.’
It seemed there would be no harm in finding out beforehand.
Of course, it probably wouldn’t happen, but if I really did happen to encounter High Priest Evans someday,
it would be better if I knew enough to be careful around him first, right?
At my question, the Young Lady hesitated.
“Ah.”
Then she answered in a somewhat reluctant voice.
“Um, he is my cousin older brother, but… well, he’s a good person.”
Young Lady.
Aren’t you saying that with absolutely no soul in your voice?
I looked at her, slightly bewildered.
A moment later,
as though she had remembered something, the Young Lady hesitantly continued.
“To be honest, I find High Priest Evans a little uncomfortable.”
“Uncomfortable?”
“It’s just….”
The Young Lady trailed off for a moment before adding vaguely,
“He’s extremely kind, but somehow it doesn’t feel like he’s being kind, if that makes sense?”
What on earth did that mean?
“He definitely gives me advice for my sake, and it seems like he acts for my sake too… but once everything is over, somehow I end up becoming the bad person.”
The Young Lady subtly furrowed her brows.
“If I had to compare it to something… Ah, yes. It feels like the way I feel when dealing with Lady Lopez.”
…That was certainly a comparison I could understand.
The moment I understood exactly how the Young Lady felt, I let out a deep sigh inwardly.
Good grief, a person who resembles Seraphina.
Was my fantasy about the second male lead really going to shatter this spectacularly?!
“But what’s even more annoying is that, although I do feel uneasy about it….”
The Young Lady trailed off before finishing with a complicated expression.
“I sometimes wonder if there’s something strange about me for feeling that way.”
“Hmm, I think I understand what you mean… sort of.”
“You have to experience it yourself to understand.”
The Young Lady let out a soft sigh and muttered,
“Well, it’s true that he’s handsome and exceptionally capable. I can understand why the ladies are so popular with him, but….”
Then, suddenly, she turned toward me with a sharp glare.
“Anyway, High Priest Evans is off-limits. I won’t allow it.”
Good grief.
What on earth was the Young Lady thinking?
I couldn’t help but chuckle.
“Don’t worry. After meeting the Duke, my standards have become way too high.”
“Hm?”
The Young Lady’s eyes suddenly gleamed like a hawk’s.
“Lady Ancy, what did you mean by that just now?”
“What?”
The Young Lady’s eyes widened as she even pointed a finger at me.
“That sounded like Lady Ancy is interested in my brother…!”
“No, I’m not!”
Honestly, what was the Young Lady talking about?!
I hurriedly put on a serious expression.
But the Young Lady’s suspicious gaze didn’t subside easily.
“You really aren’t interested?”
“……”
“My brother is at least reasonably good-looking, isn’t he?”
“……”
“Oh, come on. Answer me, will you?”
I had no choice but to remain trapped in the Young Lady’s endless interrogation the entire way to the Grand Temple….
‘Well, the Duke is an exceptionally handsome man, after all.’
While exercising my right to remain silent in response to the Young Lady’s persistent questions,
I comforted myself as I usually did.
‘It’s only natural that I feel some human affection toward him.’
But deep within my heart, a quiet voice asked me in return.
‘Really? Is that really all it is?’
……
And I never managed to answer that question, even by the time we arrived at the Grand Temple.
