A Direct Confession and an Awkward Reunion

Realizing the situation might be worse than she thought, Lily gave an awkward farewell to the still-frozen Lady Tigris and hurried out of the hall with Agniele.

To be precise, she gripped his forearm and practically dragged him out.

Lily’s head was spinning.

She was so anxious that she could not even wait patiently for the servant standing outside to call the family carriage.

Suppressing the urge to rush the servant and the desire to grab Agniele by the collar, Lily rejoiced when the carriage arrived and flung the door open.

“Where are we going?”

She tried to pull Agniele into the carriage immediately, but Agniele, who had followed obediently until now, planted his feet and asked.

“To see Ensi, obviously. If you caused a mess, you have to report it!”

Lily stopped and raised her eyebrows, her voice low but full of resentment.

She wanted to scream, but they were not in a place where she could act freely yet.

“To Ensius?”

“Yes. Why, are you going to run away alone this time too?”

“No, it is not that—.”

“Forget it! If I am the only one who gets scolded again, I will die of unfairness, so absolutely not. Just get in, hurry up.”

Lily cut him off and pushed Agniele’s back.

Her touch was infused with mana, making it difficult to shake off.

Agniele hesitated but found himself boarding the carriage unintentionally.

Something felt wrong about this.

Agniele tilted his head, feeling an inexplicable sense of unease.

However, he was in no position to ask questions to the fuming Lily, so he leaned back against the seat for now.

Whatever the case, he was happy at the thought of seeing Ensius after so long.

“So? You came to me the moment you left the banquet hall?”

A voice mixed with a hollow laugh drifted from behind the curtain.

Lily and Agniele both bowed their heads at the question, which was clearly laced with a headache.

“I wondered what was going on since you came without notice…….”

“Well, if I had not seen Dahlia, I would have sent word first. It just so happened that Dahlia was there.”

“Ah, Dahlia.”

As Ensi muttered his sister’s name, the sound of something dropping rang out.

It was followed by the sound of an annoyed click of the tongue.

Agniele felt frustrated by the curtain completely blocking Ensi from view, but he could not ask why it was down.

Aside from the heavy atmosphere, Lily was sitting on the opposite sofa, accepting the drawn curtain as something natural.

It seemed this was not an unusual occurrence in this mansion.

Agniele suppressed his curiosity and his desire to see Ensi.

“Are you sure you saw Dahlia?”

“To be honest, I did not see her face directly, so I cannot be certain. But you do not often see someone with hair the color of a clear sky in the capital. Except for those three.”

“……I thought she would be at the estate.”

“There has been no official announcement, but the Crown Prince’s appointment ceremony is soon.”

Ensi nodded at Lily’s argument that it was not strange for Dahlia to be in the capital.

Lily could not see the gesture through the curtain, but she understood by intuition.

“So what do we do?”

“What do you mean, what do we do? It already happened, and by bringing Agniele here, you gave certainty to his words.”

Ensi, who had been lying sideways on the couch, sat up.

A servant who had been standing back approached, draped a shawl over his shoulders, and handed him a new pipe.

The servant cleared away the pipe Ensi had accidentally dropped and stepped back again.

“……Is that how it works?”

“Yes. That is how it works. Agniele, you said you did not mention my name?”

“Right. I did not say your name.”

“But it is a transparent secret!”

Lily’s point was not wrong.

Nobles were not fools, and Utia disease was not common, so there was no way they could not identify the person.

“We could have bought some time. If you had not come here with Agniele.”

Ensi took a few puffs of smoke and put the pipe down.

He could not keep talking with the curtain drawn forever, so he decided to stop stalling and change his clothes.

As he rose from the couch and took off the shawl, the servants understood his intent and approached with clothes to help him change.

“Ah, sh*t…… Right, I get it now.”

Agniele, who had no previous connection to Ensi, made a shocking confession at a banquet and then headed straight for Ensi’s mansion.

Since it was a well-known fact that Ensi suffered from Utia disease, it was no different from Agniele publicly declaring who his beloved was.

Lily pressed her hand to her forehead, realizing her mistake.

Was this what Agniele tried to say before they got into the carriage?

If so, she had done something truly stupid.

“Your vision has narrowed again, Lily.”

A low laugh and the sound of rustling fabric came from the other side.

Agniele, who could not guess what was happening because he could only hear sounds, stared intently at the space hidden by the curtain.

“I am sorry. I thought I could buy about a week of time. Because of me, even that is gone.”

“It is fine. I secretly thought it would turn out like this.”

Thinking of Agniele’s straightforward nature since the academy, perhaps they had lasted a long time already.

Of course, with the Crown Prince’s appointment ceremony coming up, he thought they might have been able to drag it out longer, but such assumptions were meaningless now.

“Above all, you said Dahlia was there. Then it will reach Count Alemir’s ears late.”

“Is that so?”

“That is Dahlia’s way.”

The relationship between Ensi and Count Alemir was not good.

No, it was the worst, to the point where an argument would inevitably break out whenever they met.

Dahlia was the type of person who tried to cover up potential problems as much as possible.

She used to wear a sorrowful expression every time she witnessed a fight between Ensi and the Count.

Since their meetings always ended in a fight, she often acted as a mediator to ensure her father and Ensi did not cross paths.

When Ensi secretly started a merchant group, when he found a separate residence because the mansion felt suffocating, and even when he entered the academy.

Dahlia would hide the truth from their father for a while and push Ensi forward so he could finish his work.

She did it so there would be fewer shouting matches at the mansion.

“Should I consider that a relief? I was worried about what would happen when it reached Count Alemir’s ears…….”

“I suppose.”

Ensi replied half-heartedly and raised his hand to dismiss a servant who brought a cravat.

He had changed his clothes because he could not be seen in pajamas, but he had no desire to be that formal.

“By the way, Ensi, are you changing clothes right now?”

Lily, who had been hearing the rustling sounds like Agniele but ignored them, finally realized the source of the noise.

“What, such an impertinent question—.”

“Which side was it that came without notice? I cannot face you in my pajamas.”

Agniele, who had gasped at Lily’s sudden question, tried to scold her in a low voice.

However, Ensi beat him to it, pointing out their fault to dismiss the complaint.

It was general practice for a noble to be dressed at all times to receive guests.

Even so, Ensi did not deny Lily’s words.

Instead, he simply added words as if her question was correct.

The servant who had been neatly combing his disheveled hair stepped back.

After a final check in the mirror held by the servant, Ensi took a step forward, and the firmly closed curtain was suddenly pulled back.

“What noble would stay in comfortable clothes just because they are at home? It is not that I am blameless, but do you not think you are too relaxed, Ensi?”

“I wonder.”

How many people would actually visit for him to stay fully dressed every day?

Ensi brushed off Lily’s remark and naturally took his seat at the head of the table.

“It has been a while, Agniele.”

“Mm. I missed you.”

As their eyes met, Ensi smiled and offered a late greeting.

Agniele nodded slowly and conveyed his feelings straightforwardly again today.

At the academy, they met almost every day, so these words were full of sincerity after not seeing him for four long days since entering the capital.

Lily, who suddenly had to witness someone else’s public display of affection, made a gagging motion and rubbed her arms.

“Next time, I will contact you before coming.”

“I do not mind, so do as you wish.”

“—You told me to contact you first? Is this treatment not a bit too much?”

As Lily grumbled, Ensi’s gaze fell on her.

She subtly turned her head away from his somewhat cold eyes.

Right, how could I expect the same treatment as Agniele? I was being tactless.

While she quickly reflected and shut her mouth, Agniele spoke once more.

“It is good to see your face.”

“Is it?”

It was good just to hear his voice, but it was nothing compared to facing him.

At the sight of Agniele revealing his joy without hiding it, Ensi touched his cheek as if embarrassed.

“Hey, I am really sorry to interrupt the conversation. Can I leave now?”

She was glad she did not get scolded by Ensi for this incident, but she felt it would have been better to be scolded than to face this scene.

Lily, feeling nauseous and placing a hand on her chest, expressed her strong desire to escape this place, and Ensi let out a light cough.

It was not intentional, but whenever he talked to Agniele, the surroundings seemed to turn white.