Dinner Without a Host

Ensi toyed with the cufflinks on his wrists.

From the cravat constricting his throat to his hair tied back so neatly not a single strand was out of place—nothing about this was comfortable.

He couldn’t help but frown.

He wondered if he truly had to observe such formalities for a mere dinner.

However, Ensi knew all too well that if he didn’t, he would be met with eyes full of faint contempt.

Since he didn’t want to deal with a gaze that made his blood boil just by looking at it, he had no choice but to endure.

Even with the formalities, they would still look at him as if he were a fool… but he didn’t want to give them an easy excuse to find fault.

“Young Master, we will arrive shortly.”

Ensi, who had been leaning deep into the backrest with his eyes closed, slowly lifted his eyelids at Noah’s remark.

“The time?”

“We are not late, so you do not need to worry.”

They had left the mansion at a time that was neither too relaxed nor too rushed.

There was no way they would be late, but to reassure Ensi, Noah took out a pocket watch from his coat and checked the time.

Meanwhile, Emma reached out to straighten Ensi’s outfit, which had become slightly disheveled from sitting.

“You look truly wonderful today, Young Master.”

Noticing that Ensi was secretly tense, Emma spoke in a gentle, soothing voice.

She knew words alone were far from enough to ease his nerves, but she felt compelled to say something.

“I dressed up for nothing when there is no one to show it to.”

Ensi let out a dry chuckle at Emma’s soft words.

He almost reached up to sweep back his hair with a self-mocking smile, but he was stopped by Emma’s gentle intervention.

Only then did he remember he shouldn’t mess with his hair, and he let out a light sigh.

“How can you say there is no one to show it to? You can see yourself in the mirror, can’t you?”

“I don’t believe I have a habit of self-praise.”

“Of course you don’t, but doesn’t it make you feel better to see yourself looking more beautiful than usual?”

It certainly does for me.

Emma finally returned a half-turned cufflink to its original position.

A few small wrinkles remained on the fabric, but they couldn’t be considered flaws.

Checking that Ensi looked just as neat as when he left the mansion, Emma showed a satisfied smile.

In the meantime, the carriage traveled steadily, passing through the wide-open gates and across the garden.

Slowing down from its pace on the main road, the carriage soon arrived at the entrance of the mansion.

“Lady Dalia is out to greet you.”

Noah, seeing Dalia through the small carriage window, gave Ensi a heads-up.

Ensi’s brow, which had relaxed slightly while chatting with Emma, hardened into a stiff line again.

“Only her?”

“Yes. Only Lady Dalia is there.”

He didn’t know whether to call it a relief or just typical.

“I hope he hasn’t forgotten the appointment.”

Noah and Emma wore awkward smiles at Ensi’s muttered words.

They couldn’t deny it, because there was a past incident where the Count had set an appointment first and then “forgotten” it.

In truth, it would be more accurate to say he pretended to forget.

The record was so colorful that even these kind-hearted people couldn’t offer a defense.

By the time Ensi snorted in derision, the carriage had come to a complete stop.

“I will open the door, Young Master.”

“Go ahead.”

Ensi nodded and slowly composed his expression.

He only stood up and took a reluctant step once Noah had opened the door and stepped aside.

“It has been a long time, Ensius.”

As soon as his feet touched the ground, an awkward voice reached his ears.

Ensi looked up indifferently and met eyes that were as cold and clear as pale water.

A color that was similar yet different from his own.

“It has been a long time, Dalia.”

“Have you been well?”

“Yes.”

Dalia tried to steady her trembling voice and asked softly, but the only return was a stiff reply.

Dalia smiled as if she didn’t mind Ensi’s cold response.

However, the smile she could usually wear at any time became awkward only in front of Ensius, and her lips trembled today as well.

Glancing down, Ensi let out a deliberate sigh and walked past Dalia into the mansion first.

At that sigh, Dalia realized her face was overly stiff.

However, she couldn’t take any particular action to fix it.

“You didn’t need to come out.”

“How could I not? It has been a long time since you visited the town house.”

“That’s inevitable. There is someone here right now who wishes I wouldn’t come.”

“I…”

Ensi, not wanting to hear the excuses that would follow, lengthened his stride to get away.

It was obvious he would have to spend a lot of mental energy later, and he didn’t want to be held up by trivial matters already.

Dalia, left alone in an instant, tightly clenched the hand she had halfway reached out toward Ensius.

Wearing a bitter smile, she comforted her hollow heart and lowered her arm.

It was too late to hold him back; her brother had already drifted too far away.

“Lady Dalia.”

“Yes, I must go.”

The Count and Brother Enrique were already in the dining room.

If she were late, the atmosphere would surely turn from cold to frozen, so Dalia moved her heavy feet at her maid’s urging.

By the time she followed Ensi into the dining room, the doors were already open.

And at the center sat the Count, his mood clearly twisted.

“You are late.”

“The appointed time has not yet arrived. Or is this simply because I arrived later than you?”

Still as arrogant as ever.

Ensi handed his outer coat to Emma and let the Count’s reproach drift past him.

Sitting in the chair pulled out by Noah, he tilted his head to signal the two of them to leave.

The two hesitated for a moment, worried about leaving Ensi alone in the dining room, but they soon bowed deeply and hurried out, following his wishes.

“It seems you have forgotten the duty of a subordinate.”

“Dear me, I forgot that you treat your children as possessions. It seems your mood is quite sour because a possession arrived later than you.”

But what should I do? I don’t particularly feel like apologizing.

Ensi tilted his head, his lips curling into a loose smile.

He met the gaze that sat heavy with quietly burning rage and drew his smile even deeper.

“You—.”

“Father, there is still plenty of time.”

“Brother Enrique is right, Father. We have plenty of time, so why don’t we eat first?”

Just before the thunderous roar could fall, Enrique and Dalia spoke up in haste.

At his two children’s urgent intervention, the Count clicked his tongue in dissatisfaction, but that was all.

He did not ignore his children’s advice.

He picked up his utensils with elegant, restrained movements to enjoy the meal that a servant, sensing the mood, had quickly brought out.

However, he seemed determined to thoroughly ignore Ensius, not even sparing him a glance.

He only looked at Enrique and Dalia seated to his left, continuing the meal while occasionally asking about their well-being.

As always, everything proceeded under the Count’s lead today.

The conversation, the timing of the next course, even the speed at which his children ate—everything revolved around the Count.

Ensi, watching this absurd farce, leaned back in his chair with a crooked posture.

Resting his elbow on the armrest and leaning his chin on his hand, he paid no attention to the food placed before him.

In truth, it was more amazing that anything could be swallowed in such a stiff and suffocating atmosphere.

The Count’s ignoring him wasn’t something new, so it didn’t cause him any particular pain, but enduring this boring time itself was an ordeal.

Thus, Ensi took out the pipe he had tucked away.

Since the warmth at his fingertips touching his cheek had just turned cold, he intended to kill time by burning some Sun Herb.

Above all, the air in this dining room was exceptionally cold because it was tailored solely to the Count, with no consideration for him.

Perhaps because of that, sitting here felt to Ensi like inhaling poison.

“I do not know why Rascius would want someone as ignorant as you.”

Around the time Ensi opened the case containing the dried Sun Herb to fill the pipe, the Count, who had been acting as if Ensi were invisible, suddenly spoke.

He clearly found the act of taking out a pipe in the dining room displeasing.

It was a criticism made solely based on his own feelings, without considering his child’s physical condition.

Even though he himself habitually smoked a cigar after finishing his own meal.

At the great Count’s criticism, Ensi put the pipe to his lips and took a deep breath.

The heat, which had changed to an appropriate temperature while flowing through the long tube, traveled down his windpipe and filled his lungs deep.

Phew. Ensi exhaled the remaining smoke and flicked his languid eyes.

“It is not your concern. Since when have you been so interested in me?”

“Do you think a union between families is such an easy thing?”

Did I think it was an easy thing?

Those weren’t words to be spoken by the man who had personally taught him that fact.

Ensi did not hold back the laugh leaking from his lips.

“I suppose I actually was an Alemir to you?”

More than that, what union between families? I wonder if you’ll even provide a proper dowry.

Ensi had no expectations of the Count, and therefore, this very summons was unpleasant.

He could handle things perfectly well on his own, yet he kept being called like this.

Even though there had never been a single good moment when they met, the Count’s persistence in trying to make him submit was truly admirable.

“You also carry my blood. If you know that, shouldn’t you have proper pride?”

“Ha—.”

Pride? Ensi exhaled an exasperated breath at the nonsense that made him laugh.

They hadn’t even shared many words, yet irritation was already surging.

As the pipe held between his slender fingers trembled, the trail of smoke rising from the bowl became distorted.

“Oh dear, Father.”

His voice sank low, filled with pity for an opponent holding such arrogant delusions.

Ensi, who had been buried in the backrest, straightened his upper body and leaned his crossed arms against the table.

“If you want me to have the pride of an Alemir, try making it so I can enjoy the proper rights first.”

Where on earth is the pride to be found in a place where one must shoulder only duties without gaining a single thing?

Ensi’s smile deepened at the absurd bullsh*t.