“Is Miss Gilette really at an age where you can still call her young?”
Viscount Merdi’s face flushed.
“Please… please…”
Gilette could not bring herself to believe the reality of her father kneeling and begging before Lisi. Who was that woman? She’d simply married well and won the honor of the Green Count House. She’d lived wantonly, and by marrying well had reduced me to this. But Gilette could not move. Any action would only make things worse. Besides, Viscountess Merdi had grabbed Gilette’s wrist as if to break it. Only then did Gilette realize what she had done. There were families you did not touch. The Green Count House, blessed by the Holy Kingdom, was one such family. The Green Count House was a house even the emperor could not recklessly offend. Gilette knew that. She had only been unable to accept that Lisi had become part of the Green Count House the moment she married Kay. Gilette squeezed her eyes shut and opened them again. She hated it, but she could do nothing. At this moment, what Lisi wanted was clear: Gilette’s apology. Gilette moved toward Lisi. Viscountess Merdi glared at her as if to say, don’t do anything unnecessary. Gilette whispered, “It’s all right,” and stepped forward. All eyes followed her. When Gilette reached Lisi, she calmly knelt down beside Viscount Merdi.
“I spread a false rumor.”
It had actually been Alford who started the tale. But Alford would never admit the truth, and the maids present would not confess it either.
“I was wrong, Countess Green. I have committed a grave sin. Please punish me.”
Everyone’s gaze turned to Lisi’s lips. Fabricating a noblewoman’s scandal and spreading it to other countries was a grave crime. And not just any noblewoman — it was the Countess of the Green family, formerly the Whitlow Ducal House’s flower. Everyone wondered what terrifying punishment Lisi would inflict.
‘At least banishment, I suppose.’
But Lisi spoke in a way that surprised everyone.
“There will be no punishment.”
Lisi said calmly.
“You spoke honestly and apologized, so I will forgive you. Let this matter end here.”
Most of the commoners and nobles present thought, ‘How magnanimous. They say she’s the Whitlow Ducal House’s flower — she was raised too delicately,’ while a few nobles thought, ‘I thought the Whitlow flower was naive, but she is not. We must be careful.’ The reporters present would write and spread the story: the merciful Countess Green who forgave the viscountess’s daughter who fabricated a scandal. But some present knew it was not forgiveness. If she truly intended to forgive, she would not have exposed the truth here. She would have quietly found out and forgiven in private. Now that everything had been revealed publicly, neither Gilette nor the Merdi family could escape the fact that they had tried to sully the Green Count House’s name with false rumors. The Merdi family would be ostracized among the nobility, pointed at and ridiculed wherever they went. This incident would follow every Merdi family enterprise, and soon their ventures under the Merdi name would surely fail. But Lisi had forgiven Gilette, and whatever treatment the Merdi family received afterward would be no concern of Lisi’s. No one would say Lisi had gone too far. Even Whitingk of Ellerbo noticed the reason Lisi forgave Gilette. Normally he would have led his article with “The Whitlow Ducal House’s flower hides sharp thorns,” but this time he did not.
“The Countess of the Green family — an interesting woman.”
A priest who had come to see Kay watched the whole scene, his face growing paler as events unfolded. When Gilette knelt before Lisi, the priest most of all felt like kneeling.
‘God. What am I to do?’
Lisi was soaking in a bath of warm, fragrant water and reading the morning paper — the Ellerbo that had just been published. The front page carried an article about Lisi. Whitingk’s piece was favorable.
‘If it’s Whitingk, he must have guessed why I forgave Gilette. But he didn’t mention that part.’
That meant Whitingk felt some goodwill toward Lisi. In this age, when noble power was not absolute as before, currying a reporter’s favor was important.
‘However…’
[The Whitlow Ducal House’s flower still bore bright petals.] Lisi glared at the article’s last line. The Whitlow Ducal House’s flower — the title that always followed Lisi. She wanted to escape that title.
‘It won’t be easy.’
In her past life the title had followed her until death. The bathroom door clicked open and she looked up reflexively — Kay entered carrying a tray. Lisi reflexively looked down. The tub was strewn with crimson rose petals. Between the countless rose petals, flashes of Lisi’s pale skin peeked through. She felt embarrassed to be seen by Kay like this, but she did not want him to know that such things embarrassed her. She wanted to be the composed Iris who never flustered. Lisi lifted her chin slightly with pride, though her body sank deeper into the bath.
“What is it?”
“To serve my wife at her bath. And to offer a toast at the same time.”
On the tray Kay placed fresh green grapes, cheese, wine, and glasses. He set the tray on the side table and perched on the tub’s rim. He drew his fingertip through the water and longingly touched a rose petal; several petals clung to his elegant fingers. Lisi watched dazed as he slowly plucked each petal off his fingers and let it fall back into the tub. He moved like an actor on stage, and the motion was so intense she could not look away. After removing the last petal, he ran his wet hand through his hair and smiled at Lisi.
“My face will split, Lisi.”
“Ah…”
Lisi flushed and slid her eyes to the wine bottle.
“You act like an actor to be noticed, hoping I will indulge you.”
“I’ve never acted like an actor, but I’m glad you see me that way.”
“Not particularly…”
“Shh.”
His index finger pressed gently to Lisi’s lips. The wet touch against her mouth was hot. He looked at her with his blue-gray eyes and said softly,
“Don’t say more, Lisi. Even if it’s a misunderstanding, let me be a little happier.”
When Lisi nodded, he withdrew his finger. Kay poured the wine with practiced ease and handed a glass to Lisi. As she lifted her submerged arm to take it, the water made a soft splash. The rose petals that had covered her torso rippled and settled back into place. His eyes lingered momentarily on the revealed skin and then dropped away. Lisi wanted to sink her face into the water rather than savor the wine, but she accepted the glass with graceful composure.
“To what shall we toast?”
Lisi swirled the glass and inhaled the wine’s aroma.
“To your cleared reputation. To our extraordinarily splendid wedding. To having won the favor of Whitingk of Ellerbo. Which shall it be?”
Kay was perceptive. From the article alone he had deduced Whitingk’s favorable leanings.
“All three.”
Lisi answered and extended her glass; Kay lightly tapped his own to hers. The clear clink sounded through the bathroom. Lisi enjoyed the wine’s sweetness spreading across her tongue. The warm bath, the surrounding rose scent, and the wine delighting her mouth — she felt as if she had already achieved everything. Kay picked up a small piece of cheese and fed it to her.
“Have you ever been to a wedding, Lisi?”
She had attended a few in her past life, but not in this one, so she shook her head. Kay plucked a grape and fed it to her.
“It will be tiring. For guests and hosts alike, it is exhausting.”
“You don’t like parties.”
“Very much. I’d rather go out and search for relics and subdue barbarians; that is more useful.”
“I wanted to attend parties with you often.”
“Then you must learn to enjoy them.”
Kay replied evenly and fed her another grape. As she accepted the fruit without thought, Lisi realized it was the first time someone had fed her like this. Was this what being loved felt like? Even if Kay did not love her, his care for her was unmistakable.
‘In my past life… it was like this too. If only briefly.’
Lisi recalled the brief meeting with Kay in her previous life and watched him quietly. Feeling her gaze, he narrowed his eyes, leaned forward, and pressed his lips to hers. Lisi’s mouth opened naturally to receive him. His hand tangled in her hair and his breath set her aflame. His lips were so hot she felt the warm water chill.
“I don’t know what to do when you look at me like that, Lisi.”
He whispered low while their lips remained joined.
“You do it very well for someone who says they don’t know how.”
He chuckled.
“You taste like grapes.”
“So do you.”
“Did you know, Lisi? Among the noblewomen these days—”
He tilted the wine bottle toward the tub. Expensive wine gushed, staining the bath a deep red.
“Wine baths are fashionable.”
The splashed wine dotted Lisi’s nape and collarbone like blood. Was it the strong wine scent? Or his steady, unwavering blue-gray eyes fixed on her? Lisi grew drowsy as if intoxicated. As he came forward to kiss her again, she lifted her head to meet him, but he bypassed her face and buried his mouth against her throat.
His lips traced along her neckline. His wet mouth climbed along her nape and over her lips. This time Lisi tasted grapes from him as well. The thought of sharing the same flavor made her dizzy. Reason drifted far away, and desire filled the gap — she wanted to melt into him. His hand slid down her neck to cup her rounded shoulder. Suddenly his grip tightened. Kay clenched her shoulder then, with a soft groan, pulled his face away. Lisi looked up at him with wet eyes. He brushed his thumb lightly across her eye and said,
“The wedding invitations have come out, Lisi.”
Was it her imagination? Lisi thought she heard Kay’s voice tremble slightly. The King of the Beastmen, the Guardian of the Relic, Kayvrant Green — he would not normally tremble.