HAPPILY EVER AFTER(7)
âOh my, Sir. Taran. How unexpected to see you here.â
Seeing the face of the middle-aged woman who was greeting him, Damian quickly plastered on the expression of a dignified and upright youngster.
âI hope youâve been well, Marchioness.â
Marchioness Philipâs eyes were filled with satisfaction as she looked at her sonâs reliable friend. If she had a daughter under her roof, she would definitely fight to have him as a son-in-law, and the fact that she couldnât, made her feel regretful. As Bruno approached and greeted her as well, the Marchioness felt like it was truly a pity as she looked at the two dignified young men before her. Her son should have also been beside them.
âOh, Chris. Iâm vexed because of this childish son of mine.â
What âtraveling around the worldâ. This wasnât the time to do something so useless. The Marchioness was more than a little worried that at this rate, Bruno would fully occupy the position of Damianâs closest aide.
As the Marchioness warmly discussed the current hottest topics in the social circle with them, the noblewomen who came with her covertly showed their interest and approached.
âMarchioness, you must have fate with these lovely gentlemen.â
âGoodness me, you didnât know? Marchionessâ son is close with Sir. Taran and Sir. Matin. Very close.â
Hearing the envious voices of the noblewomen, Marchioness Philipâs mood was greatly lifted. The two young men thought to themselves that if their friend, Chris were here, he probably wonât be able to stand it.
The Marchioness was a very typical noble madam. She liked gossiping, bluffing moderately and worldly things. Chris didnât like that side of his mother.
[It would be so good if my mom resembled half of the Duchess.]
Chris had once said lamentfully.
âWhat brings you gentlemen here?â
âI came to buy a cake for my mother.â
âOh my, as expected. The Duchess must be so happy to have such a reliable and filial son.â
Damian and Bruno were being courteous towards their friendâs mother, so they quietly went along with the Marchionessâ long chat.
After they managed to free themselves, Damian stood in front of the shopâs counter to buy the cake they came for.
âCan you please write down the name of the cake you would like to buy on the order sheet in front of you?â
Damian was very relieved to hear what the staff said. He was glad he didnât need to say the embarrassing name of the cake. As he positioned to write the cakeâs name on the slightly yellowish paper like the employee said, he glanced at the note his father gave him. Damian alternated glances between the note in his hand and the bakery order sheet, comparing them. Both papers had the same size and material. He put down the pen and handed the note he was given over to the employee.
âYour order has been received. Please wait while your product is packaged.â
Damian came to the conclusion that his father had come here at least once. He wasnât shifting the responsibility over to his son. It looks like as long as his mother was concerned, his father wouldnât care about entering a pink looking bakery to buy a cake for her.
Damian took in the entire view of the bakery and tried to imagine his father coming inside here, alone. But he couldnât imagine it at all. Damian really respected his father, in various ways.
In the carriage heading home, Bruno glanced at Damianâs expression. And as usual, Brunoâs eyes looked upset for some reason.
âWhy donât you just get people to go search?â(Bruno)
âAre we still talking about Chris?â(Damian)
âNot Chris. I mean, Ted. Although her real name is probably not Ted. Do you know her name?â
â...I do.â
âI said this before but, it is at times like this youâre supposed to use your power as heir to the Duke.â
â...â
âOur Ixiumâs youngest Shyta is really talented, huh. Even gets to date in the Academy teeming with dudes. Since weâre on this topic, when did you find out Ted was a girl?â
âAt the beginning of the school year.â
âWhat. So you knew not long after Ted came to school. That said, I donât think Ted went to you and told you she was a girl herself. How did you find out?â
Damian chuckled instead of answering. Who would have thought that a girl would dress up as a man and come to the Academy? If not for an unexpected event, Damian wouldnât have known, and he wouldnât have paid attention to the one girl among the numerous newly enrolled students.
âAnyways, when I think about that time, I really...When I thought you were romancing a man, I was unexpectedly scared. Chris, that guy didnât even give me a hint even though he knew.â
â...â
âLook for her. Instead of being heart-broken here.â
When they returned to the Academy after summer vacation, Ted had withdrawn from school and disappeared.
â...I only know her name.â
âYou donât know which familyâs daughter she is? Or her home country?â
âNo idea.â
Bruno looked at his book-smart friend and clicked his tongue.
âWell, since she enrolled into the Academy, there should be a clue there, somewhere. If you dig, itâll show up.â
Seeing that Damian wasnât replying, Bruno didnât say anything more.
Ted had disappeared after leaving one letter with Damian. Bruno didnât know what was written inside but his friend, who seems like he was going to toss everything aside and rush out to look for her, merely locked himself up inside his dorm room for one day, then
returned to his daily life like nothing had happened.
But sometimes, Bruno could sense it. Damian hadnât forgotten Ted, he was just pressing down his emotions and enduring for now.
* * *
Luciaâs face was full of smiles as she read the letter from Norman. She opened the book that was delivered alongside the letter and read the quote on the first page over and over.
>
It was a novel written by Norman, who had picked up her pen again after a long time. She hadnât been writing novels since she got married.
Norman had become the mother of two children, and she was enjoying a life of happiness with the little things. Normanâs letters were packed with events where she sometimes got annoyed with her husband, or whined about her two troublemaking sons, and she made little things sound extraordinary, so her letters were as interesting as novels. Her letters were one of the ones Lucia anticipated the most.
There was another letter Lucia was happy to see today. It was a letter from Kate in the north. Kate was also already married and the mother of two children.
Initially, Lucia only exchanged New Year greeting letters with Kate. But after she went to the north three years ago due to hearing the news of Madam Michelleâs passing, the both of them began to exchange letters more frequently. Kate was very grateful to Lucia for taking the lengthy carriage journey down to the north.
After she was done reading all her personal letters, Lucia began to organize the invitations. There was still an enormous amount of invitations sent to her, but there was a difference from the past. Majority of the invitations werenât aiming for Lucia but wanted to invite Damian and Bruno, so they intended to conquer Lucia.
There were also letters from girls who were inquiring after Luciaâs wellbeing, out of nowhere. It was very obvious to Lucia that the girls had a crush on either Damian or Bruno so they were asking even though they werenât curious at all and after reading such letters, she couldnât help but laugh for a while.
With the invitations organized, there were various other letters left. Among them was advertisement letters from designers. Although people thought Antoine was the Duchessâ exclusive designer, Lucia didnât have an exclusive contract with Antoine. She just couldnât find a design she liked better than Antoineâs. She had already thought about commissioning another designer if she found a better design. Hence why she was always interested in looking at the advertisement letters that designers constantly sent to her.
It wasnât only cloth designers that sent advertisements, jewelers did the same. As Lucia was looking through, she caught sight of a letter from some jeweler and her eyes open wide with surprise.