Ch.266Chapter 266. Clashing Sincerity (2)

After hearing Serpina’s words, Irene couldn’t speak for a moment…

Then, barely collecting herself, she looked at Serpina’s face.

There was a smile on her lips, but she didn’t look like someone playing a prank.

Her golden eyes, sparkling brightly, conveyed more clearly than anything else that her words were 100% sincere.

“I, um…”

“I apologize if my sudden words startled you. But I am sincere. And, of course—”

Serpina extended her hand, pointing at Irene as she spoke.

“Irene, I consider you my rival in love.”

“What? R-rival in love… what do you…”

Rival in love?

Due to the overwhelming confusion of the situation, Irene could only stammer incoherently while Serpina observed her for a while…

“…Haha!”

Then she burst into laughter as if finding it amusing.

It was the first time. Seeing Serpina, who had been serious throughout, laughing so freely like this.

“I jest. To say I consider you a rival is absurd. How could I possibly compete with you, Irene?”

“A… a joke. I, I was just…”

“Of course, everything else I said was sincere, except for considering you a rival.”

“…”

So then…

Does my lord truly have feelings for Swen?

Seeing Irene still unable to speak, Serpina slowly began walking somewhere as she spoke.

“Irene. If you have no particular plans, could you spare me some time?”

“What? Ah… yes, that would be fine.”

“Follow me.”

…I don’t understand what’s happening or how things are unfolding… but I’ll follow her for now.

Irene slowly rose from her seat and followed behind Serpina.

* * *

As they walked to a secluded place while watching the evening sunset, an old building came into view.

“What is this place…?”

“It’s a kind of annex. No one uses it now. You’re only the second visitor.”

Though she said no one used it, the garden was quite well-maintained.

Yet there was something lonely about it that somehow made it endearing.

Irene, having experienced terrible loneliness herself, had a weakness for lonely things.

Following her into the building… a spacious, classical interior revealed itself.

Though older than the building where she currently resided, the furniture designs, despite their age, possessed an elegance of a different dimension.

“Sit here.”

The place they arrived at was a small room.

As Irene took the seat Serpina indicated, Serpina skillfully lit a fire in the hearth.

Then, after rummaging through a box… she brought out a bottle of wine and two glasses to the table.

“Are you alright with alcohol, Irene?”

“I don’t particularly enjoy it… but I can drink it.”

“Come to think of it, you have a deep appreciation for tea, don’t you?”

“You knew about that?”

“Swen told me.”

Irene’s body involuntarily flinched at the mention of Swen’s name, but she didn’t add any comment.

“Tea would be fine too… but I’d like you to join me for a drink right now.”

“How could I refuse, my lord?”

With a glug-glug sound, the empty glasses were filled with red wine.

Irene and Serpina naturally raised their glasses to each other and let the liquid flow down their throats.

Just as the dry, bitter taste passed over Irene’s tongue once, followed by a sweetness sufficient to cover it, Serpina’s voice reached her ears.

“What do you think?”

“About… what exactly?”

“About Swen.”

“…”

Was it because of the alcohol, or because she had time to organize her thoughts while following Serpina here?

She could certainly answer much more comfortably than when she had first heard the topic.

“Swen is… to me, the most precious person, someone I want to protect with my life.”

“Which means—”

“Yes. As I mentioned earlier, I have feelings for Swen.”

It wasn’t the first time she had realized her feelings… but saying it aloud made it even clearer.

I like Swen. To her, Swen was the most important, the most precious person in the world.

“You’re thinking of marriage?”

“…If possible, I would like that.”

“Isn’t marriage already decided?”

“But I think the future is uncertain…”

“Being cautious isn’t bad, but if you saw Swen’s expression when talking about you, you would understand what I mean.”

“Talking about… me?”

“When he shows his finest smile in the world is precisely when he talks about you, Irene.”

“Ah…”

Irene lowered her head, her face turning bright red.

Along with embarrassment, a sudden longing to see Swen welled up in her chest, threatening to burst forth.

Quietly observing Irene, Serpina took another sip of wine and spoke with a slightly flushed face.

“You truly are lovely.”

“Pardon…?”

“I can understand why Swen is so smitten with you.”

She said this with a soft chuckle.

Lovely… what an absurd statement.

Irene sincerely thought it would be difficult to find a woman who smiled more lovingly than the one before her.

As she momentarily felt captivated by Serpina’s overwhelming beauty despite being a woman herself…

“…How curious.”

“Pardon…?”

Serpina spoke as if she were a girl in a confessional, revealing her inner thoughts.

“Despite not having known each other long, I feel a tremendous bond with you, Irene. Do you know that?”

Though no answer came, Serpina continued as if unconcerned.

“In truth, I… don’t trust even those who have served the imperial family for over a decade. No, perhaps it’s more accurate to say I cannot trust them. …No matter how long they’ve served, what military achievements they’ve accomplished… they might still betray me.”

When had it started?

Serpina had become utterly unable to trust others.

The tutor who taught her betrayed her, the reliable female general who always handled various tasks cursed her. On top of that, she nearly got killed by the knight who was supposed to protect her life.

Besides that… time and again, the ghosts of her brothers tormented her. It felt as if everything in the world was aiming for her neck.

Irene vaguely understood her circumstances.

After all, she too… had witnessed with her own eyes a knight drawing a sword against Serpina.

“…Yes. I cannot trust anyone. Not even Jenna, who should be my closest state advisor.”

“My lord…”

“But, Irene. For some reason, I feel I can trust you.”

Serpina gazed into those intensely loyal purple eyes.

“Perhaps I simply want to trust someone. But when I look into your eyes… I feel a sense of security, as if you would never betray others even if you were abandoned yourself.”

“…”

Irene didn’t carelessly say things like “Thank you for trusting me.”

She had no intention of betraying Serpina… but she was someone who needed to stay by Swen’s side.

If Swen ever went to the Lunarian army, she would naturally follow him.

So she couldn’t answer carelessly. She didn’t want to give irresponsible replies to such sincere feelings.

Serpina seemed to notice Irene’s complex emotions and nodded with a smile.

“Of course, I don’t intend to burden you, so feel free to let it pass. You’ve already saved my life, haven’t you? I sincerely believe you’ve done more than enough.”

“No, my lord. Rather, I was able to preserve my life thanks to you. I truly mean it.”

“Then, let’s consider us even, each having saved the other’s life once.”

Serpina said this and took another drink of wine.

Irene followed suit and took a few sips. And once again, she realized why she wasn’t good with alcohol.

‘My head is getting hot…’

Irene was extremely weak to alcohol.

She was born with a body that didn’t handle alcohol well, something she couldn’t help but acknowledge.

Serpina noticed this too and said in a serious tone:

“Your face is already flushed. It’s fine to stop now, don’t push yourself.”

“No, I’m fine.”

“No. If I trouble you, Swen will surely resent me. If you care for me at all, I’d sincerely appreciate it if you stopped.”

“…”

Swen… is it?

Is my lord not simply testing me but truly has feelings for Swen?

“Um… my lord.”

“My feelings are sincere, Irene.”

Before she could even ask, the answer came as if reading her thoughts, startling Irene.

Swen had said it before. That lying in front of Serpina was truly difficult. She could somewhat understand that feeling now.

“So, I want to get along well with you too. I don’t know what kind of relationship you and I will have in the future… but if possible, I want to become Swen’s wife. Whether I’m the first or second doesn’t matter to me at all. In a way, you’re the person most likely to become family to me.”

“…”

“So today’s meeting… I’d appreciate if you could think of it as just women who wish to serve the same husband coming to an understanding. It’s quite a brazen thing to say, I know.”

Irene silently looked at Serpina’s face.

Irene also knew that a man could have four wives.

In fact, when Reika had said, “If I were to marry, wouldn’t I naturally become the second wife?” she had been surprised by the mention of marriage, but hadn’t questioned the point about both of them becoming wives.

She had simply thought that if it really happened, they would just have to get along well.

Serpina was, for now, the lord of both herself and Swen. She was someone of vastly different status… but even so, if Swen said he wanted to make Serpina his wife, Irene wouldn’t particularly object.

For Irene, being able to be with Swen in any form was what mattered most.

So there was no need for Irene to oppose Serpina, who was sharing her deep thoughts.

She didn’t want to, either.

After all, wasn’t she her lifesaver and the first lord to recognize her worth?

“…My lord.”

Irene smiled gently—

Speaking as if addressing a friend rather than a lord, just for now.

“Next time, when the opportunity arises, I would like to serve you tea.”

“That is something I very much look forward to. I shall eagerly await that day.”

Neither Serpina nor Irene could define in a single word what they shared as they drank together now—

But both could be certain of one thing.

At this moment—they were connected.

* * *

In their respective places…

Even at this moment, time was flowing equally for everyone.