Ch.60Reclaimed Spring Day (2)

“The moment Rahilt was dancing with Serin.

Rodrick was sipping wine in a suitable corner, far away from everyone else.

‘This is quite awkward.’

Tsk.

He clicked his tongue quietly enough that it wouldn’t reach others’ ears. It was no small challenge to readily accept such suddenly changing circumstances.

‘What on earth happened to cause all this?’

Rahilt didn’t seem like the Rahilt he knew.

After experiencing the great commotion in Carnar Kingdom, he suddenly started calling him father. And that bizarre statement was so pitiful it was difficult to dismiss, as it seemed to choke up his words. Moreover, he had thrown away his mask, and his emotional expressions had become much more abundant than when he stayed in the Empire.

They say it’s hard to gauge how quickly children grow, but there should be limits. The changes Rahilt was showing only confused him.

‘Well, I suppose it’s positive if anything.’

The problem was that Rahilt had changed too much, making things awkward. As a result, he could count on one hand the number of times he’d initiated conversation lately.

And that wasn’t his only concern.

Currently, Rodrick felt like he might suffocate under excessive weight.

‘Father… father, he says. I don’t know if the kid is teasing me or being sincere… but if it’s the latter, then as of today, I’ve become a parent to the Grand Duke.’

Since Rahilt considered Eshtiel his younger sister, if they were to create a family tree, Rodrick would be the father of both the Grand Duke and the Count.

And he was just a commoner with a criminal background, without any title.

‘I was planning to live as a retainer of Count Elenot’s family, but this is too much success.’

At this point, he felt guilty.

Especially since Rahilt had been treating him with unusual reverence lately, his burden only continued to grow.

“Ah, damn. To waste mental energy on such undeserved worries.”

“Undeserved worries?”

“Ah.”

As Rodrick was scratching his head and expressing his distress, a woman approached and asked him warmly.

He was so deep in thought that he hadn’t noticed someone approaching.

He felt he was truly getting far from his active days.

‘I guess I really couldn’t pick up a blade even if my life depended on it now.’

Swallowing his lament, Rodrick responded as casually as possible.

“It’s been a while, Baroness Raden.”

“I’m glad to see you too, Mr. Rodrick.”

Baroness Raden.

One of the wealthiest individuals in the Empire and among the very few women with a title. Currently, she was also a major patron maintaining a friendly partnership by dispatching knights at a low cost at Rahilt’s request.

“Do you have business with me?”

“Business, you say. If simply wanting to chat counts as business, then I suppose so.”

“Chat? Suddenly?”

“What’s strange about that? The purpose of a banquet is originally to enjoy socializing, after all.”

“That’s… not wrong.”

Why are you talking to me, is what he meant. We just discussed business not too long ago.

Come to think of it, he had been conversing with the Baroness frequently lately.

All of it was under the guise of business, but the substance felt lacking, which left him uneasy.

Could she really be trying to make small talk?

With him, a commoner who officially only had connections with the Grand Duke and Count? With her, one of the most famous women in the Empire?

Something was off.

‘I need to stay alert.’

Rodrick raised his guard while giving the Baroness a warm smile.

“I’m listening, Baroness.”

“Thank you. Then, with your kindness, there’s something I’d like to ask…”

“What is it?”

Dozens of questions and appropriate answers were mechanically calculated in Rodrick’s mind.

Despite Rodrick’s calculations, the Baroness’s question hit him hard from behind.

“How old are you, Mr. Rodrick?”

“…Pardon?”

“I’m asking how old you are.”

“Age… my age.”

He was confused.

He couldn’t find any reason why the Baroness would be curious about that, making it difficult to control the trembling of his pupils.

Finding it extremely difficult to guess her intentions, Rodrick answered honestly. In fact, he couldn’t think of any other way to respond.

“I’ll be forty-six in the new year.”

“I see. I’ll be thirty-six in the new year.”

“Haha, are you sure you didn’t mean twenty-six?”

“Oh my.”

The Baroness chuckled at Rodrick’s flattery. As if wanting to hide the embarrassment showing on her face, she opened her folding fan and covered the lower half of her face.

“You’re quite the smooth talker.”

Hoho.

She let out a soft laugh.

At this point.

The Baroness Raden’s mind was incredibly complicated. If someone could look into her thoughts, they would faint from the chaos residing there.

‘Twenty-six, he says, twenty-six, he says, twenty-six, he says, twenty-six, he says, twenty-six, he says. See? I told you I still have it. I’ve been spending precious money on my skin lately too. Yes, I’m still a woman who has it in many ways. So age isn’t a flaw after all, right?’

Her spinning thoughts didn’t stop there.

‘My goodness, what an age. I’m thirty-six and Mr. Rodrick is forty-six. A 10-year difference is just right, isn’t it? He must still be young. Yes, he works diligently and his body is so firm. He’s definitely young. A ten-year difference… a ten-year difference that doesn’t even need compatibility checking!’

The Baroness was rationalizing an obvious fact with strange logic, since couples with a ten-year age gap rarely check their compatibility.

‘So it should be fine to get closer to him, right?’

A murky desire surged within Baroness Raden.

Anyone would find it strange that Baroness Raden had such burdensome goodwill toward Rodrick.

This was close to a monstrous ideology created by two factors.

The first was what Rahilt had told the Baroness, and the second was the old maid complex that had developed from the gossip she constantly heard in social circles.

[Even if a jewel is scratched, it remains a jewel. So a small flaw doesn’t matter for a good woman.]

This was what Rahilt had told her, standing up against women who openly insulted the Baroness as an old maid.

[…Rodrick. That is, it was something our staff member mentioned in passing.]

He later revealed that these were all words that Rodrick had taught him.

It was from that moment that Baroness Raden began imagining herself in a wedding dress.

Even if flawed, a jewel is still a jewel. That meant he could accept her even as a 36-year-old spinster with scandals attached to her name.

He was handsome too. Incomparably better than that damn mercenary Rude who had deceived her. Moreover, the traces of self-care visible through his clothes were truly satisfying.

She had seen him before, but she hadn’t paid much attention then, just noting his presence.

At least until she became fixated.

‘This is the one!’

Social status wasn’t an issue. If she had considered status, she wouldn’t have given Rude a second glance.

Rather, as Rahilt, who had saved her, became the Grand Duke, Rodrick’s position could only rise. In that sense, status became even more meaningless.

‘Besides, if he becomes my husband, he’ll gain noble status, so wouldn’t he be pleased?’

Baroness Raden approached Rodrick while making various excuses to herself.

She was well past marriageable age. She couldn’t simply brush off the numerous insults she received as an old maid. And her own desire for marriage had grown more bloated with each passing year. She had long since transformed into a splendid monster maiden.

Therefore, the deranged Baroness Raden desperately hid her true feelings and extended her hand.

“Shall we dance to one song while continuing our conversation?”

“Y-yes, well…”

Rodrick took the Baroness’s hand in a daze.

Yet he couldn’t shake off the uneasy feeling that he was walking into an ant lion’s pit of his own accord.

His counterpart was Baroness Raden, whom even considerable power players would yield to.

What emotions such a billionaire woman might harbor while approaching him, a mere ordinary man…

Rodrick couldn’t even begin to guess a fragment of the truth.

◇

It was just as I finished dancing with Serin.

I let out a low exclamation when I spotted Rodrick taking Baroness Raden’s hand and entering the ballroom to the next song. I never imagined Rodrick would dance in a place like this.

I wanted to watch Rodrick and Baroness Raden dance a bit more, but it wasn’t easy to resist Serin’s hand pulling me away.

Moreover, it was even harder to shake off a hand bearing the imperial command.

“Rian? What’s wrong?”

“Nothing. I just witnessed a rare sight.”

“Would you like to keep watching?”

“No. I’ll come right away.”

I followed Serin up the stairs and soon reached the place where the Emperor and Empress were positioned.

Eshtiel was already waiting there, escorted by Serin’s younger brother, Tesser.

This too was an unfamiliar sight, so I harbored many questions in my features.

“We meet again so soon. I sent you down first since the banquet needed to start, but it must have been troublesome.”

“It wasn’t troublesome at all. Rather, I enjoyed your consideration.”

“That saves face. Please sit down there first.”

We sat down as the Emperor directed. Eshtiel was sitting right to my left, and she was gazing at the Emperor with sparkling eyes.

‘Come to think of it, Eshtiel used to admire the Northern Grand Duke.’

It must be fascinating to see him in person.

I was proud of Eshtiel for maintaining the most dignified posture possible in front of her idol.

When we were ready to listen, the Emperor cleared his throat and introduced the topic.

“What I’m about to say is a kind of proposal…”

Then he gently curved his eyes.

“I want you to grasp the spring you’ve lost.”