Chapter 83
When I returned to the Dawn Mansion, Baratheon and Siche were waiting for me with worried expressions.
The moment Siche saw me, he immediately checked the ring I had received from him.
“There’s no sign the magic was triggered. Looks like there weren’t any problems.”
Of course.
I had taken the ring off in the carriage and put it in my bag, so even if something had happened, the magic wouldn’t have activated.
But I absolutely had to keep this a secret from Siche—who knows what mischief he might cause if he knew.
A little white lie, perhaps?
“I went to meet His Majesty the Emperor. There shouldn’t have been any particular problem.”
It was true that nothing had gone wrong.
‘Then that’s settled.’
“Since it was the Emperor, there’s naturally some suspicion, right?”
Siche lightly tapped my cheek with his finger, urging me to be cautious.
“How was it? Did he pick a fight under the pretense of granting approval?”
“No. He did talk a lot… but he didn’t really pick a fight.”
It had left my head spinning, but he hadn’t confronted me. In fact, the Emperor seemed to like me.
Otherwise, he wouldn’t have tried so hard to connect me with his son.
‘Well, technically, it’s probably not me he likes but the granddaughter of Duke Ashinov.’
I confessed the truth to the two of them.
“It seems His Majesty wants Roaz and me to marry. He even deliberately called Roaz to that meeting.”
“What? Marriage? You and the second prince?”
Baratheon raised his voice, his eyebrows twitching in anger.
“That Emperor is ridiculous! How could he even consider that weakling? Just a little poke from me and he’d collapse!”
“Most people would give in if Teon poked them… It’s not just Roaz.”
“Really?”
“Of course. He’s a Sword Master!”
Baratheon quickly conceded at my comment, though he didn’t back down easily.
“But that one is especially weak! He can’t even use his strength properly.”
Having seen Roaz’s clumsy archery at the lake, I couldn’t exactly argue with that.
“If he’s my opponent, he should at least be able to fight on equal terms. Roaz? Ridiculous.”
“Finally, Teon says something sensible. Roaz, really, where did that guy come from?”
Siche seemed just as displeased with Roaz as Baratheon.
“Why Roaz?”
He was the second prince, handsome, kind, mature for his age—a suitable groom candidate. Many noble ladies admired him after meeting him at Eela’s tea party.
“Objectively, Roaz is an excellent groom candidate.”
But Siche scoffed as if my evaluation was ridiculous.
“I don’t care for him.”
“Why?”
“He’s ugly.”
“…Excuse me?”
It was the kind of statement that would make any young lady who admired Roaz stomp in anger—but coming from Siche, it carried a very different weight.
‘You see his perfect face every day, so someone like Roaz doesn’t even look handsome to you?’
If Roaz was handsome, Siche was stunningly handsome. People could only smile wryly and not argue with him.
‘So what does that leave me?’
“Are you saying my partner has to be better-looking than Siche, stronger than Teon?”
That was basically telling me to live alone forever.
Seeing my jaw drop in disbelief, Siche chuckled and shrugged.
“Consider yourself lucky. If my brother were here, he’d insist you bring someone smarter than himself.”
Someone smarter than Lucas, stronger than Teon, and better-looking than Siche?
“Is that even possible in the human world…? Maybe I’d have to search among the gods…”
As I frowned, Baratheon tilted his head at the doll I was holding.
“What’s that? It feels like a strangely ominous doll.”
“Yeah, there’s definitely a weird energy coming off this one.”
Siche also crossed his arms, glaring at the doll in agreement.
‘I guess he senses the doll’s ominous nature because he’s perceptive?’
But if I spoke the truth, he would take it away.
‘I can’t let them take my precious cursed doll.’
“I received it as a gift from the princess.”
“The princess? Princess Eela? Why would she suddenly give you a gift?”
“Although it’s late, she wanted to give me a birthday gift. It’s a doll that fulfills my dreams. I’ll keep it by my bedside and pray every day.”
Technically, it wasn’t a lie—more like selectively hiding the full truth.
“Fulfills your dreams? No matter how you look at it, it seems really ominous…”
“I’d probably have nightmares if I slept next to it.”
Ignoring Baratheon and Siche’s rightful suspicions, I turned my gaze out the window.
A commotion was happening somewhere far below.
‘What’s going on?’
Peering down, I saw a man struggling noisily with the servants.
‘Hmm. That head looks familiar…’
Before I could think further, the man raised his head, and our eyes met.
His face, as familiar as his head, was instantly recognizable.
‘Belois!’
“Angel!”
As I shouted his name in my heart, he called me with an embarrassingly formal title.
A tense silence fell behind me.
“…Angel?”
“…Angel? You?”
“Angel!”
When I stepped outside, Belois waved enthusiastically.
“You’ve come, Belois.”
“Yes! I confirmed the crest on your bag. Recognizing a family crest is basic knowledge for an artist.”
Artists usually sold their works to nobles or created pieces on commission. Recognizing a client’s crest was indeed basic knowledge, and the Ashinov family’s crest was well-known enough that not knowing it would be strange.
‘Besides, I asked Belois to meet me in the capital.’
Although the Ashinovs had multiple residences, the only one in the capital was the Dawn Mansion.
“I didn’t know that the person before me was the rumored Miss Ashinov.”
“Rumor? What kind of rumor?”
“You’re known for your artistic insight!”
“…Excuse me?”
‘How did such a rumor even start?’
Belois’s eyes sparkled as he watched my confusion.
“At the northern auction, you recognized the true value of artwork that no one else noticed and invested boldly. It became quite famous.”
‘Ah, that.’
“It wasn’t because I had exceptional artistic insight.”
I had recognized the ancient script on the tapestry, not the artistic value itself.
But Belois didn’t take my words at face value.
“Wow, Angel, you’re humble as well!”
His eyes were filled with admiration.
“No, it’s not like that…”
I started to explain, but seeing Belois’s even brighter eyes, I shut my mouth.
‘He’s not someone who’ll understand anyway.’
I had already lost the last time we argued over proper titles. Explaining now would just waste time.
Better to pay the scroll fee quickly and send Belois back.
“Anyway, you’re here safely.”
“It’s an honor to be welcomed like this. The servants initially tried to keep me out, which was a bit troublesome.”
“Ah, now that you mention it…”
Before I came out, the entrance had been very noisy.
‘I told them to notify me if someone came with the bag for a reward.’
The excellent servants of Dawn Mansion wouldn’t have forgotten that. But why did they try to stop Belois? Looking at the butler, he sighed in exasperation.
“When we asked who they came for, they said outright that they came to see Angel. Naturally, we thought they were crazy and tried to chase them out. No one could have imagined this was the famous Belois.”
“…I see.”
Given the situation, anyone would assume a madman had arrived.
Looking at Belois, I wondered why he made things complicated by speaking the truth. He tilted his head as if puzzled.
“I came to see Angel, so I had to say I came to see Angel. Isn’t that right, Angel?”
He extended the handbag I had entrusted to him.
“Beautiful Angel, I’ve brought your lost item. Please accept it.”
‘Okay, that’s enough already…’
Feeling the temperature drop around me from his embarrassing words, I quickly snatched the bag from his hands.
