Chapter 37: Chapter 37

* * *

“i’m rosemary from the vincent marquisate. nice to meet you.”

as soon as she arrived in the reception room, rosemary took the lead and introduced herself.

taken aback by the sudden introduction, laura’s mouth fell open, and luna froze, a tea cup halfway to her lips.

‘it felt like i saw her somewhere!’

she was antes’ younger sister.

luna, who was blinking in confusion without understanding the situation, was nonchalantly asked by rosemary:

“what is your name, young lady?”

pretending to know nothing, acting as if there was no ulterior motive. although she had an innocent face, luna answered slowly without removing her doubts:

“…i am luna from the peils barony.”

at this, rosemary seemed to recall something, speaking as if reciting a prepared line:

“ah! aren’t you the one who said you were close friends with young lord rodrian?”

“absolutely not!”

luna answered, her face flushing.

even in such a doubtful situation, one couldn’t help but get agitated when the topic of fersen was broached.

seeing luna’s intense reaction, a startled rosemary quickly apologized,

“i’m sorry. i must have misunderstood based on rumors.”

of course, she was only pretending to be apologetic. concealing her true feelings, when she apologized, luna, feeling more embarrassed, waved it off.

“it’s alright. i also apologize for raising my voice. before meeting someone in person, it’s natural to rely on rumors.”

it’s easy to correct a misunderstanding once you realize it, but unfortunately, not many did.

the exceptions were maybe people like antes. now, rosemary was added to the list.

it was quite an ironic situation that those who believed the truth were the man with the worst reputation in the original work and his sister.

“it’s even more overwhelming that you apologized.”

“…”

this… is genuine. she’s genuinely a good person. rosemary lost her words for a moment at luna’s sincere reply.

the image of rosemary, who had once stationed twenty knights out of fear, was nowhere in sight. it was as if luna radiated light in her eyes.

‘but, why? why would such a decent person date that idiot?’

no, she wasn’t just decent, she was kind, beautiful, considerate, pure, patient, lovely, and even had a touch of elegance.

rosemary recalled the sight of luna almost tripping over and rushing to her aid.

no matter how many times she replayed the scene in her head, it was incredibly admirable. more so than the pretentious knights or the young men who boasted without skill.

‘even if he’s an idiot, she has eyes. maybe he fell for her at first sight and pressured her into dating? asking her to be in a relationship?’

it was a plausible theory. a sane person wouldn’t date that guy.

while it wasn’t exactly blackmail, it was true that he had clung to her, asking to date.

with a somewhat sympathetic face, rosemary asked luna:

“have you had any difficulties recently?”

“…yes?”

suddenly difficulties? luna halted as she was about to drink her tea, thrown off by the unexpected sympathy.

realizing that her question was out of the blue, rosemary quickly tried to clarify.

“ah, by difficulties, i mean… things related to the mansion that might be hard to understand.”

“i see.”

rosemary’s desperate explanation worked. luna answered:

“actually, living in a small mansion all this time, there’s a lot i’m unfamiliar with. like how many servants are needed, who the capable gardener is, which room is best for a bedroom, etc. i’m quite clueless about many things.”

“then i should certainly help you with that.”

of course, she also had other things in mind. she couldn’t let a bad devil be with someone as kind, cool, beautiful, and wise as her.

rosemary baited her. to this, luna, thinking rosemary genuinely wanted to help, cautiously replied:

“you might find it bothersome. i’m quite ignorant about many things and i don’t want to be a burden.”

“don’t say that. in fact, i think you’re a wonderful person and i’d like to see you often and build a close relationship.”

“me?”

for the first time, luna, who had been called a ‘good person’, unknowingly blushed. when praised directly, she was at a loss. luna was surprisingly vulnerable to compliments from outsiders.

“yes. so please don’t hesitate and let me know if there’s anything you don’t know or find difficult, no matter how trivial.”

from that triviality, rosemary vowed to dig out the story about antes and catch luna in a compromising situation. she held out her small, pale hand:

“we have a special connection. we seem to be around the same age, so let’s be friends.”

of course, she had half ulterior motives. no, that was almost three-quarters of the reason.

luna, who was looking down at the extended hand, cautiously took rosemary’s hand.

although filled with ulterior motives, this was luna’s first true friend.

“i’ll be in your care.”

* * *

“she was incredibly kind and cool.”

luna muttered absentmindedly, leaning against the carriage wall as they headed back to the manor.

“you mean she was kind, but cool?”

“it’s about the contract. she agreed without any strange conditions. she even allowed me to continue employing the servants and gardeners. we haven’t signed yet, though.”

“oh, so that’s what you mean by ‘cool’?”

laura, learning a new term, nodded her head. luna, noticing that royer had been silent for some time, called out to him.

“royer, are you okay?”

“yes?”

“you’ve been silent. did you get hurt when you fell earlier?”

luna, who would usually chit-chat without restraint, held back her words and asked with deep concern. royer felt a twinge of guilt looking at her expression.

however, what was done was done, and it was crucial to keep up the facade until the end.

it was better to keep it a secret than to reveal it and make her feel bad.

“…yes, i’m fine. i was just a bit taken aback seeing the marquis’ family after so long. but more importantly, luna.”

“yes?”

“i believe you should make good friends.”

“yes…?”

“just saying.”

royer, who spoke words that made no sense, nodded as if he had made a point. beyond this, there was nothing he could do. he just had to let things take their natural course. luna and lora exchanged glances, not understanding royer’s sudden change in demeanor.

* * *

that evening, a banquet was held at the manor. it was a feast for the baron, tein, and henry, who were to leave for vincent’s territory early the next morning.

everyone sat down at the dining table, enjoying the meal that emma had prepared with great care.

the conversation naturally turned to the mansion luna had visited earlier. luna detailed to the baron how wonderful the mansion was.

“oh, is it that wonderful?”

“yes. despite the chilly weather, the roses were in full bloom. it’s famous as the ‘mansion of roses’. i think you would like it too, father.”

she left out the fact that the mansion owner was antes’ younger sister, rosemary.

it wasn’t that she disliked her, but she didn’t want to unnecessarily link this incident to antes.

‘he will find out eventually. maybe much later. perhaps never.’

she was already tired of such complications. the baron chuckled at luna’s description.

“i knew you would make a good choice, luna.”

while he only studied for a few days, unfortunately, the steak in front of the baron looked healthier than he did.

luna, who stopped eating, addressed tein.

“if you only study, your health will deteriorate. you need to get some sunlight too.”

not getting sunlight can lead to a deficiency in vitamin d, causing fatigue, early aging, and possibly a shorter lifespan.

though she jumped to an extreme conclusion, sunlight is essential for health. tein, understanding luna’s point, nodded in agreement.

“i understand. i’ll set aside time for exercise every morning.”

“thank you.”

the baron turned pale at the mention of adding exercise to his study routine. he missed the days working at the duke’s mansion.

“…luna, sometimes you scare me.”

“i feel the same. sometimes, father scares me.”

technically, the baron occasionally caused trouble, and luna was helping him stay healthy. ultimately, the baron was the first to concede.

“have you finished preparing? you mentioned leaving tomorrow morning, right?”

“yes, everything’s packed. all we need to do is move. we plan to get help from young lord antes once we arrive, so there’s not much else to prepare.”

“you haven’t forgotten about the personal mercenary, have you?”

even though luna planned to move with the others, she urged the baron to hire a personal mercenary as she was worried about him. yet, he himself went down alone.

the baron nodded with a face suggesting that she might be overly concerned.

“it seems excessive, but i can’t ignore your advice. we’re meeting tomorrow, so don’t worry.”

there was a brief silence after the baron’s casual response, as if he was just leaving for a brief journey. luna felt unnecessarily lonely.

luna broke the silence.

“please be careful when you go down. don’t forget your meals, and make sure to exercise. i’m not saying this to bother you. you’re getting older, so you need to take care of your health.”

“right, luna. when have you ever bothered me? you always give helpful advice.”

“i’ll be visiting the mines soon, so i’ll check if you’re staying healthy. i won’t be lenient if you get sick.”

“don’t worry about it.”

“if antes ever causes trouble, let me know. i’ll come down immediately and scold him.”

“haha! i doubt it’ll come to that, but i’ll keep that in mind.”

luna was sincere, but the baron chuckled, thinking she was jesting. only royer nodded with a serious face.

meanwhile, laura set down her dishes and shed tears. luna wasn’t the only one who felt saddened by their parting.

“my lord, please stay healthy.”

“laura, take care of luna and stay well. emma, please look after luna.”

“don’t worry and have a safe journey.”

emma felt the same. having been called by the baron, she wiped her tears with a napkin.

though they only ever faced hardships due to poverty, they lived by helping each other and being grateful for the little things.

in the somber mood, royer stepped in.

“baron, shouldn’t we enjoy a glass of wine on a day like this?”

“of course, everyone should have a drink!”

thanks to this, the mood lightened a bit as everyone shared wine.

though it was the unpalatable wine the viscount had invested in, somehow it didn’t feel that bad today.