Ch.95To You (4)

After Evan visited the jewelry store and returned to his duties as a guard knight, quite some time had passed. However, he occasionally disappeared from his post.

At first, Aileen overlooked it, but she couldn’t help but grow suspicious of his absences. Her irritation was mounting, and seeing her like this, Chris eventually cleared his throat and spoke.

“You seem quite displeased.”

“…It’s nothing like that.”

She had been contemplating various charges—dereliction of duty, insubordination, and more—but Aileen chose not to voice these thoughts. She had tolerated his behavior thinking he might feel confined staying in the room all the time, but now he was leaving without even saying where he was going, so it was natural for her to feel anxious.

However, it felt awkward to question him about every little thing, so all Aileen could do was wait.

“Evan is probably just wandering around to clear his head.”

“I think so too.”

As Rofena added to Chris’s comment, Aileen looked at them with a strange expression before slowly nodding. After all, would Evan leave her to meet another woman? If he could have done that, he would have done so long ago. She didn’t need to worry about that now. Though she tried to calm herself, Aileen suddenly sighed deeply and lowered her head as she looked back at her documents.

She couldn’t concentrate. Realizing that the root of the problem was Evan’s absence, Aileen pressed her head in distress. Chris watched her and smiled bitterly. It was truly something to behold—the lady he served, fretting over a mere man.

But if there was one question that came to mind, it was why they hadn’t officially started dating yet.

With the core of the Roman ducal family destroyed and the Roman family itself effectively erased from imperial history, the engagement that had bound Aileen no longer had any effect. Both Adel Roman and Biltain, who had verbally arranged the engagement, were dead.

Even as an observer, it was frustrating to watch. The lack of progress in their relationship had become one of the most heart-wrenching matters in the ducal residence.

Obviously, because it was so frustrating.

“…So, you said you visited the imperial palace?”

“Yes. Though there wasn’t much to gain.”

Aileen tried to push away her distracting thoughts as she spoke. Her recent decision to send Sir Chris to the imperial palace was an attempt to learn something about why the Emperor wanted to meet Evan.

Though it would be difficult to discern the Emperor’s true intentions when even the Crown Prince didn’t know them, it was a method they could try because Yuris was the most trusted among the five great families.

The imperial palace… Chris quietly swallowed. Despite his decades of experience, including participation in the extermination campaign years ago, and his considerable reputation, he had learned almost nothing from this visit.

Recalling his distant memory of seeing the Emperor, Chris shook his head. It seemed that to understand the Emperor’s intentions, Evan would have to meet him directly.

“I only learned that the Emperor is quite lenient toward Evan. The Crown Prince said that Evan could come at his convenience.”

“Is that so? The Emperor is favorable toward Evan…”

It wasn’t incomprehensible, but the problem was that it was the Emperor. Why would the Emperor, who hadn’t moved even when Evan had defeated so many black magicians and even a true dragon, suddenly show interest in him? If pressed for a reason, it would be because Evan had reached Master rank and taken down one of the five great families.

“He’s not planning to interrogate him, is he?”

“If that were his intention, he would have acted more aggressively. He’s always been quite strict when it comes to black magicians.”

If that was the case, there shouldn’t be a problem. Aileen thought as she quietly stared into space. Though she couldn’t explain the strange feeling she had, she planned to thoroughly question Evan after he met with the Emperor. Would there be talk of the red moon and sacrifices that Biltain had mentioned?

“Thank you for your efforts, Sir Chris. That should be sufficient for now.”

“By the way, where might Evan be right now?”

As Aileen said this, an awkward silence fell over the room. Not understanding what was wrong, Aileen tilted her head in confusion. Chris glanced at Rofena briefly, then chuckled at Rofena’s exasperated expression as she looked at her lady. Even in this situation, she was still thinking about where her guard might be.

It didn’t take long for Aileen’s face to turn red as she understood the silence. As she buried her face in her documents, Rofena and Chris were busy laughing.

#

Snip-

Watching his hair being cut, he didn’t have many particular thoughts. He only wondered what he would look like after it was all cut, or what if it didn’t suit him, while the barber’s face in the mirror had long since turned red—something he had grown accustomed to.

He had thought his hair was getting too long for a while now and had been meaning to cut it. Though it felt a bit late to be doing it now.

As his schedule had become quite free recently, and he had now received the completed rings, today seemed like the perfect day to get his hair trimmed. With his long hair now shortened, his forehead was completely exposed, making him feel a bit awkward. Of course, if he let his hair down, his forehead would be covered, but it was still much shorter than before.

“Is it alright?”

“Yes? Yes… it’s fine.”

After glancing at the flustered barber, he touched his hair a bit and felt better about it. This should be neat enough. He felt his appearance had become sharper, which was certainly better than his previously unkempt hair.

As he stepped outside, he gave a hollow laugh at the stares immediately directed at him. He should be used to it by now, but he could only nod and try to avoid the now more blatant gazes.

He knew that Aileen’s gaze toward him had grown colder lately. Though he had deliberately provoked this, he hadn’t been wandering outside for no reason. Touching the two ring boxes in his pocket, he slowly exhaled.

He had been trying to figure out how to present these rings. Fortunately, he had more or less finished contemplating what to do. The most important thing about giving a ring would probably be the atmosphere, but creating that atmosphere was the preliminary step. He had given it a lot of thought.

There was nothing more foolish than giving a ring without preparation. What needed to be done beforehand was most important.

“…When I think about it, it’s simple.”

The result of his deliberation seemed good to him personally. Though he still wondered if Aileen would like it, and if it would be something they would remember for the rest of their lives.

The reason he had gone out today was to spruce himself up a bit. Though it might seem excessive for just one day, this would be a day to remember for a lifetime, so such preparations were necessary. He had custom-tailored clothes, bought perfume, and even tidied up his hair.

That should be enough. He had invested all his unused salary into this and felt he had achieved satisfactory results. Looking in the mirror, he saw his somewhat neater appearance. Apart from the slight awkwardness of his short hair swept back, which was just a matter of time to get used to, he thought he looked fine.

His emerald green eyes shimmered unusually. They were more vivid than the emeralds he had seen at the jewelry store, and more profound than the garden he had glimpsed within them.

His straight nose stood out against his snow-white skin. Yet he didn’t appear gaunt, thanks to the firm muscles visible even beneath his shirt. The sharp jawline extending from his thick neck gave him a rather rugged impression. His slightly folded eyes added a somewhat haggard look, but when he smiled slightly, he thought he had quite a decent face.

Since he hadn’t paid much attention to his appearance when participating in competitions before, he felt a sense of pride in dressing up like this. Though he wanted to see Aileen’s reaction, he wondered if he should ask someone else first.

As he entered the ducal residence, the guard captain started in surprise before frowning.

“Where have you been?”

“Just stepped out for a bit. Got my hair tidied up.”

“…Hah, don’t run into the maids. I’m afraid they’ll get too friendly.”

Too friendly? At that absurd remark, he chuckled, and the guard captain seriously warned him once more. He told him to just go back to his room and sleep. But that wasn’t possible. He had to meet Aileen shortly, and regardless, he had duties as a guard knight.

So as he entered the mansion, a maid who caught his eye suddenly stopped and stared at his face.

“…Miss Lize?”

“Evan, did you cut your hair?”

As she pointed at him with trembling fingers, he nodded casually. Lize ran her hand over her face and approached him slightly, touching her lips. Her wavering eyes showed she was quite flustered.

At that moment, he recalled what the guard captain had said to him earlier. Getting too friendly, indeed. Though he knew the probability wasn’t high, it was certainly something to be careful about.

“Um… it suits you. Really. You should have cut it sooner.”

“That’s good to hear.”

As Lize looked at him, hiding her reddened cheeks and fanning herself, he already knew how she saw him. He simply smiled awkwardly and walked past her. At any rate, this reaction should be sufficient.

He hoped Aileen would react well to this, though it wouldn’t be bad if she reacted like Lize. His heart fluttered slightly. This was his way of giving a preview, and that preview would lead to a once-in-a-lifetime decision.

Could he do it well? To be honest, he felt more nervous now than when he was going to fight Biltain.

He took a deep breath to calm his pounding heart. After standing in front of Aileen’s door for a while, he raised his arm and knocked. Knock knock- A long silence followed, and though he was sure voices could be heard from inside, he felt anxious that there might be no answer.

“Come in.”

At that voice, he exhaled heavily again. Thinking he should just act as usual, he turned the doorknob, and the interior came into view. A checkered carpet, a small table on it, sofas surrounding the table. And turning from there, a woman sitting at a large desk.

As he met her blue eyes, his tense expression seemed to relax a bit, and he slightly curled the corners of his lips.

“……”

Aileen, holding a teacup and staring blankly at him, looked as if time had stopped in that space. Her slightly dilated pupils trembled, and then she quietly asked with her lips slightly parted.

“Evan?”

“Yes, it’s me.”

“You cut your hair… right? If my eyes aren’t deceiving me.”

“Does it look strange? It got too long, so I trimmed it a bit, but I feel a bit awkward with it.”

After fiddling with her teacup for a moment, Aileen stared at him and moved her lips. Her cheeks gradually reddened, and her delicately trembling eyelashes clearly showed that she too was flustered. It wasn’t a bad reaction, so he slowly approached Aileen while touching his hair.

“From your lack of response, I guess it doesn’t suit me.”

“No- that’s not it…”

He knew it suited him. The hairdresser, Lize, and Aileen all showed consistent reactions. He just wanted to tease her. As he got closer, he wanted to see, feel, and capture her reddening cheeks, her quickening breath, her warming exhalations.

As the gap between them narrowed, Aileen’s wavering eyes came into his view. When he placed his hand on the desk, Aileen, who had been fiddling with documents, pulled her hands to her chest and looked up at him. He tilted his head slightly as he looked at her.

“You’re not answering.”

“…You’re wearing perfume?”

He nodded readily at her words. He had deliberately applied it. Though it was a subtle fragrance that wasn’t too strong, Aileen, who noticed this slight difference, frowned slightly.

“Do you have someone you want to impress?”

“Of course I do.”

Seeing exactly what she was thinking, he tried to hold back his smile as he smoothed his collar. He deliberately patted his shoulders to show that he had bought new clothes, and the perfume from his fluttering garments began to fill the room.

Since he had never done this when he was with her, she probably thought he was meeting someone else.

However, he didn’t bother to clarify the misunderstanding. He just smiled leisurely as he watched Aileen’s mood sour. Though Aileen’s eyes gradually narrowed, he merely shrugged once. If she thought about it a little more, she would reach the conclusion on her own. There was no need for him to speak first.

“Who do you think I want to impress?”

“…I don’t know. But you don’t usually go to such lengths.”

“My lady.”

He spoke with a somewhat serious expression.

“There’s only one person I want to impress.”

“I’m curious who that might be.”

Seeing Aileen’s curt response, he felt like he might burst into laughter. He sat in the chair in front of Aileen and met her eyes. If she asked who it was…

Well, she didn’t seem to have the best personality. She was often jealous, suspicious, disliked him being with other women, and sometimes her mood would sour from her own strange delusions.

But saying that would hurt her feelings. She was surprisingly sensitive. She paid a lot of attention to what others said and tried to correct her behavior. That’s probably why Aileen was so sharp when he first met her. Because she hadn’t heard anyone ask if she was okay, because no one had cared about her.

But now he was there, and that alone had changed Aileen in many ways. She would occasionally show this sulky side, sometimes smile, sometimes be embarrassed. For someone who had been the furthest from being “like others,” wasn’t it a significant change that she now acted like other people?

“If you ask who, it’s the person in front of me.”

And so he wanted to watch over her more. No, to be precise, he wanted to be by her side until she closed her eyes for the last time. That’s why he had made these preparations, why he had fought all this time. Though his heart raced at the thought of the ring boxes in his pocket being discovered, he forced a smile as he looked at Aileen. With a casual smile, he made a most uncommon request.

“May I borrow a day of your time, my lady?”

“…What do you mean?”

If she asked what he meant, wasn’t it obvious?

“I’m asking you on a date. Me, to you, my lady.”

This was probably the first time he had spoken so boldly, and perhaps because of that, Aileen’s eyes widened in surprise. Her blue eyes trembled, and her bright red lips, in stark contrast to her eyes, moved slightly.

But instead of an answer, she awkwardly nodded her head. I could only smile brightly at the embarrassed Aileen.