Chapter 22…
“Fresh news?”
“Yeah. I also heard for the first time that the young master of Count Lavend and the young lady of Marquis Lizette are extremely close. You really do know a lot.”
“R-Really?”
“Mm.”
Clarissa was certainly smiling, but she couldn’t quite hide the dark aura seeping out from behind it.
Only then did Delphi seem to realize what mistake she had made, but by then it was far too late.
The bright smile on Clarissa’s face stiffened in an instant.
Her head tilted slightly, as if she had heard someone calling her.
Forcing her gaze to meet Marie’s—who was crouched behind the bushes—Clarissa finally spoke with a faint smile.
“Oh dear, it seems Madam Aronde is looking for me.”
“We must have been too loud. We should get going now. You should go too.”
“Mm, thank you for today, Delphi.”
As she said her farewell, Clarissa’s eyes curved into a clear, graceful arc.
While Delphi turned away without a hint of suspicion until the very end, Kara hurried after her.
Kara glanced back, and her eyes landed on Clarissa’s face, now gone cold.
Clarissa merely shaped words silently with her lips.
‘You too, Kara.’
Recognizing the familiar shape as it slowly formed, Kara grabbed the hem of Delphi’s skirt and ran off as if fleeing.
Only after confirming that the two maids had become tiny dots in the distance did Clarissa finally approach Marie.
Marie, her face drained white, slowly called her name.
“C-Clarissa, my lady.”
“Yes.”
Clarissa smiled innocently, as if nothing at all had happened.
Why was that shadowless face so frightening?
Trembling with a fear she couldn’t explain, Marie forced herself to voice the one thing she couldn’t understand, separate from that fear.
“……Are you just going to let them go?”
“Why not?”
Clarissa’s voice was unbelievably light.
Normally, Clarissa would have flown into a rage at such words, threatening beatings or even cutting out tongues.
“But still…”
Marie swallowed most of her complaint, yet couldn’t help muttering under her breath while constantly reading Clarissa’s mood.
Even to Marie’s gentle eyes, those two had spoken carelessly enough to deserve an immediate beating.
Clarissa stared at her for a moment, then replied with a faint pff sound, like air leaking out.
“Marie, you really don’t know, do you?”
“Pardon?”
Marie widened her eyes and waited for Clarissa to continue.
Clarissa looked rather amused.
“Alright. Let’s say you committed a sin.”
“I didn’t do anything!”
“I know. Let’s assume you didn’t, for now.”
Marie still looked wronged, but Clarissa calmly went on.
“But no one knows you committed a sin. Then does it become a ‘sin’?”
“Doesn’t it?”
“No, it is a sin. But you wouldn’t feel any guilt, would you? Right?”
Marie nodded, though she didn’t fully understand.
Ever since that blasted ‘adolescence’ began, Clarissa had been saying all sorts of things that were hard to grasp.
“But what if it were the opposite?”
A chill ran down Marie’s spine, and she shuddered.
Only when Marie’s teeth began to chatter did Clarissa finally speak again.
“People, you see, aren’t as afraid of committing sins as you might think. What they fear is being caught by someone.”
Clarissa smiled with a cruel edge.
“And so… sometimes, silence hurts more than a beating.”
A strange madness gleamed in her shimmering golden eyes.
“When you don’t know when the sin you committed might come to cut your throat—that’s when you truly go mad.”
A cooler breeze now brushed through Clarissa’s deep chestnut hair.
Her long lashes fluttered, hiding beautiful golden jewels, and her ivory cheeks moved gently with each soft breath.
Toddga, who had come running in a half-sleeping daze, felt the last of his drowsiness vanish at the sight before him.
He stopped short, holding his breath, and stared blankly at the girl who had stolen his heart once again.
Under the waning summer, the girl was growing ever more beautiful as a woman.
“Lady Clarissa!”
Overwhelmed with emotion, Toddga called her name with all the strength he had.
Golden eyes turned toward the boy who so clearly held her name within them.
Her lips—looking redder than usual today—curved slightly upward.
Seeing the faint chill in her expression, Toddga suddenly recalled the last moment they had faced each other, and his voice wavered.
“W-What brings you here…?”
“Have I come somewhere I shouldn’t?”
Clarissa smiled neatly, as though she remembered nothing of that day.
“N-No, not at all. But…”
As joy welled up inside him, Toddga glanced around with a touch of unease.
What happened that day had to remain unknown to everyone.
If anyone found out that he’d been beaten like hunted prey by a girl younger than himself, it would disgrace his family—he might even be dragged off to some monastery.
“About what happened last time…”
Carefully, Toddga opened his mouth, trying to clear up the ‘misunderstanding’ from that day.
Clarissa’s golden eyes moved quietly.
Without rushing him, Clarissa picked up the refreshments Lavend House had prepared with care.
Crunch.
With a rather harsh sound, the waist of an almond cookie snapped in two.
After slowly savoring the taste, her red lips curved in satisfaction.
The half-eaten cookie was set back on the table.
That was when her canary-like voice filled the space.
“Well, when people who are close play around, things like that can happen.”
The words Clarissa chose were rather bold.
Toddga felt happy that she seemed to understand him at last, yet her sudden change in attitude unsettled him.
As if she knew all of his unease, Clarissa added,
“I heard we’re very close.”
We. Toddga’s eyes widened.
Unlike him, who looked ready to flip over at any moment, Clarissa remained perfectly calm.
Tilting her head slightly, she asked in an innocent voice,
“Aren’t we?”
“W-We are!”
“Right? I thought I might be mistaken.”
Toddga’s brown eyes sparkled.
Filled with joy, they reflected nothing but the beautiful Clarissa.
“Then… shall we play again, like we did that time?”
Clarissa even smiled back at him—then suddenly clapped her hands as if something had just occurred to her.
“That—!”
“Don’t you want to?”
At Toddga’s raised voice, the eyes of the Lavend household servants briefly gathered on his face.
Despite Clarissa’s continued prompting, Toddga couldn’t bring himself to answer easily.
It felt as though one could hear his eyes rolling about between them.
“Haha, I’m just joking.”
Only after a long moment did Clarissa laugh as if nothing had happened, putting Toddga at ease.
“Don’t be so tense, Viscount. I heard we’re close, after all, but it seemed like we knew too little about each other. I just came to talk.”
Toddga let out a sigh of relief, failing to notice the subtle discord hidden in her words.
Nodding slightly, Clarissa added, as he stared only at her lips,
“And to drive a nail in, while I was at it.”
“A nail…?”
“Yes!”
Into your chest.
Swallowing her dark, heavy thoughts, Clarissa spoke out loud in a bright, energetic voice.
Then she gestured to a seat for the man who was still standing there, looking down at her.
“Are you going to keep standing? My neck’s starting to hurt.”
Whether or not he realized he’d lost the authority of the host, Toddga plopped down where Clarissa indicated, still wearing a foolish expression as he waited for her to speak.
“Viscount, I like money. I like jewels, and of course, the latest dresses from the Tria boutique.”
Her peach-ripe cheeks glowed with freshness, and her excited, smiling voice was sweeter than any music.
Without even pausing to breathe, Clarissa poured out everything she loved.
Toddga watched her intently, determined not to miss a single word.
“…Ah, and the person who will become my partner—”
At the very end of that long cascade of words, the sentence Toddga had been desperately waiting for followed.
