CHAPTER 15
It was an answer without the slightest hesitation.
The people around, who clearly heard her response, froze.
“Brother, have you chosen the gloves?”
Only Seraphine remained unfazed.
Erez, who had also stiffened at the strange question, ended up nodding absentmindedly.
“Then let’s go.”
Before Leonhardt could stop them, Seraphine took Erez and left the boutique.
After walking a few steps ahead of Erez, Seraphine suddenly stopped.
Then she asked the question she had been meaning to ask all along.
“Why did you take my side?”
Not long ago, he had told her to apologize to Leonhardt.
So she had expected Erez to say that Seraphine was clearly in the wrong and should follow Leonhardt’s wishes.
“You said it yourself.”
“…”
“Your honor is the honor of Rubia.”
“…That’s true.”
He was repeating the exact same words she had once said, and yet it felt awkward.
Seraphine turned to look at him.
She still had no idea what her expressionless brother was thinking.
But she did understand one thing.
“I didn’t expect you to actually listen to me.”
He felt a twinge of guilt toward the younger sister he had long neglected.
Erez hesitated, then opened the case with the boutique’s logo they had just visited.
“These are the gloves Grandmother requested.”
Even at a glance, the gloves suited Seraphine quite well. But there was one problem.
“They don’t match what I’m wearing right now.”
“I’ve also ordered a dress and shoes to match.”
Erez didn’t make the same mistake as their father.
He responded a bit quickly, then added,
“If you’d like, we can go to the jeweler right now and choose accessories to go with the gloves.”
“No, that won’t be necessary.”
She had a feeling that if she let this continue, she’d be dragged to the jeweler without a say.
Seraphine shook her head firmly.
“Grandmother said she would inspect them, so try them on.”
Sensing the urgency in his actions, Seraphine thought, ‘She said to show them off, not for an inspection…’
Right now, Erez looked like a top student nervously handing a test paper to his parents before seeing the score.
“Brother.”
Erez tried to remove her gloves.
Normally, that would be the boutique staff’s job, but they had left in a hurry due to Leonhardt, without checking anything properly.
As his fingertips touched her, Seraphine flinched and quietly called out to him.
Erez, who had been focused on the gloves, slowly lifted his head.
“I’d prefer if you didn’t touch me.”
“…I understand.”
Familiar with Seraphine’s near-obsessive cleanliness, Erez didn’t question her request.
Still, he looked slightly disappointed that he couldn’t see her wearing the gloves he had carefully chosen.
She couldn’t ignore that look.
After a moment of thought, Seraphine took the case from him.
“I like them.”
Even if it was under Grandmother’s orders, he had tried to find gloves that suited her—it was touching.
And he had sided with her in front of Leonhardt, clearly remembering their past conversation.
“When the dress you chose arrives, I’ll wear it with the gloves and show you.”
Seraphine smiled softly.
Erez stared at her face, then muttered without realizing it,
“I’ve never seen you smile like that before.”
“Really? I guess I don’t have much reason to smile.”
Unlike Seraphine, who answered casually, Erez thought this might truly be the first time he had seen her genuinely smile.
That was probably why he had been so startled when she laughed out loud in front of their grandmother—he hadn’t known she could smile like that.
It left him a little stunned.
“Why do you keep staring at me? Do I have something on my face?”
Seraphine widened her eyes and asked suspiciously as Erez kept staring in silence.
His sharp expression softened a bit.
Seeing her animated expression, Erez quickly turned his head.
‘Did I do something wrong?’
He lightly touched his face with a finger, but nothing came off.
He thought he should check the mirror as soon as they returned, but then Erez abruptly changed the subject.
“You seem to have grown quite close to Grandmother. Did she mention anything else?”
“Something else?”
“Like the real reason she came back after so long.”
“She didn’t say anything. I thought she just missed the family?”
“That’s the public reason.”
“If you’re curious, you should ask her directly. You’re her grandson too, after all.”
From their conversations, Seraphine hadn’t found her grandmother scary.
Thinking Erez was overthinking it, she tried to push him a little.
But it didn’t seem like advice he could really take to heart.
Erez just nodded once and said no more.
After finishing their errands, Seraphine returned to the mansion and was greeted by someone waiting for her.
“You were out, my lady! I scheduled an appointment at the Duke’s request, but it seems it wasn’t properly conveyed.”
It was a staff member from the boutique the Duke had chosen.
They had been waiting for some time due to a missed encounter and went pale when they saw the logo on the case Seraphine held—from a rival boutique.
“Did you just come from Christine Boutique, by any chance?”
“Oh… uh, yes.”
Seraphine hadn’t looked too closely at the name, so she vaguely confirmed it.
She figured someone in the industry wouldn’t mistake such things.
But their expressions were terrible.
“His Highness the Crown Prince often visits that boutique—was there an issue?”
“The Crown Prince visited Christine Boutique?!”
“I just bumped into him on the way out…”
Crack.
Someone clenched their teeth so hard it sounded like molars might break.
Startled, Seraphine looked at the staff again.
They had returned to a professional smile as if nothing had happened.
“You ordered clothes to match the diamond earrings, correct? We brought some samples. Would you like to check other options? We’ll do our best to craft a perfect outfit for you.”
Then came an enthusiastic presentation from the staff.
So intense, there was no escape.
Erez, awkwardly lingering nearby, tried to sneak away.
Seraphine quickly caught him.
At this point, she had something to entrust to him.
“Go show Grandmother the gloves. Not for inspection—show them off.”
The man who seemed like he’d live off his own brilliance forever seemed to struggle immensely with the concept of bragging.
As she handed over the glove case, a troubled look appeared on his normally stoic face.
Afraid he might end up trying on the women’s gloves himself, Seraphine hurriedly added,
“Tell her I liked them. And that when the dress and shoes you ordered arrive, I’ll show her how I look wearing them all.”
Erez silently stared at her and gave a delayed nod.
She watched his hesitant retreat with a worried expression.
But the staff, asking, “What about this, my lady? Or this one?” pulled her attention back.
Later, through a maid, she heard that Erez had been scolded by their grandmother: “Why are you back so early?!”
Apparently, he didn’t even get to say what he prepared, just lowered his head like a guilty child.
When Seraphine heard this, she burst into laughter.
But later, when the dress and shoes arrived, and she had to do a spin in front of Erez and Grandmother fully dressed up, she flushed with embarrassment.
‘Why did I say I’d show it off?’ she thought regretfully.
***
The day to wear the dress, crafted with utmost passion by the boutique staff, came sooner than expected.
It was because she had the chance to meet the Emperor in person.
Sensing that it would be about the broken engagement, Seraphine pulled out the diamond earrings she had stowed away.
The outfit wasn’t too much or too plain for meeting the Emperor—it fit her perfectly, as if it had been made just for her.
After spending more time than usual getting ready, Seraphine boarded the carriage with the Duke of Rubia.
“You look beautiful.”
He hadn’t expected her to wear the dress he gave her. He was surprised at first sight.
Then, once they were alone in the carriage, he awkwardly offered the compliment.
“Thank you. It’s thanks to your taste, Father.”
A textbook response.
The Duke looked at his calm daughter with a complicated expression and spoke.
“You seem to be getting along well with Mother these days.”
“I suppose it seems that way, since we spend a lot of time alone in the mansion.”
The Duke found his recently brightened daughter unfamiliar.
He hadn’t had time to watch her closely and assumed the change came with his mother’s arrival.
It was a positive shift.
But seeing his daughter genuinely smiling while alone with her grandmother had unexpectedly made him feel left out.
It was a face she had never shown him.
“I’ve been busy lately, but I’ll be able to make more time for you now.”
“I see.”
Her reply was indifferent.
“That red diamond you wanted is going up for auction soon. If you still want it, you should try. It’ll draw attention at your debutante ball.”
Again, Seraphine simply nodded, uninterested.
The Duke grew impatient.
He began rambling about trivial things.
Noticing something odd about his behavior, Seraphine asked directly,
“Father, is there something you want to say to me?”
As expected, the Duke hesitated before finally getting to the point.
“You’ve been speaking rather formally to me lately.”
“Is that a problem?”
Watching his daughter feign ignorance, the Duke looked flustered.
“N-no…”
Considering her age, calling him “Father” instead of “Daddy” was appropriate.
But Seraphine had always called him “Daddy.”
Now, he had no idea how to respond to his daughter, who had suddenly matured.
“Father.”
Seraphine deliberately used the more distant term again.
Watching the Duke flinch, she seemed to realize what he truly wanted to say.
With a calm, emotionless tone, she dropped a bomb.
“If you want to remarry, just do it.”
