Chapter 4:
The Cowardly Young Master (1)
“Then, Countess Alua—and Sister Angela—I’ll be back shortly.”
“Alright, go on. Call if you need anything.”
Angela replied, still looking uneasy. As soon as Jeremy and I moved away, the Countess began speaking to her.
“I knew I had a good eye! A kind girl like Lady Rosalie would surely get along well with my son.”
“I-is that so? That’s… a relief…”
Leaving the hall filled with soft music behind us, Jeremy and I quietly stepped out into the garden.
The moment we left the warmth inside, the cold air struck us sharply.
Shivering slightly, I looked at Jeremy.
“We probably can’t stay out here for long, right?”
“Ah… y-yes…”
Twenty-seven-year-old Jeremy Alua looked as though he might burst into tears at any moment.
How could a grown man be this shy and stutter so much? He never spoke to me first.
In fact, he seemed to be trying his best not to even look at me.
With him clearly this uncomfortable, it didn’t feel right to force a conversation.
As I rubbed my chilled arms and looked around the garden—
Whooosh—
A sharp early spring wind swept through like shards of glass, shaking the trees and tossing my long red hair.
“Oh? Wait a moment—”
“H-hic… I-I’m scared.”
“…Excuse me? Scared of what…?”
Was there a mountain nearby? Had a wild animal come down?
Or… was he afraid of me?
I quickly fixed my hair that had fallen over my eyes and looked at him.
His large, slightly drooping eyes were already filled with tears.
What was I even supposed to say in a situation like this?
“L-let’s go home! I want to go home!!”
Suddenly screaming, Jeremy forcefully pulled his arm away from mine and limped off toward the villa on his own.
“…Huh.”
What was that?
What just happened?
A hollow laugh escaped me.
Should I chase after him? Or just stay here?
I had no idea what to do.
Honestly, I just wanted to stay and get some fresh air alone.
But I couldn’t simply ruin the occasion the Countess had carefully arranged, so I reluctantly began to walk.
“Ah!”
As luck would have it, my high heel twisted sharply, and I collapsed onto the ground.
My ankle throbbed immediately—perhaps I had sprained it.
Suppressing a bitter laugh, I tried to stand, only to collapse again.
“…Seriously… nothing is going right today…”
Maybe it was because of the heavy dress, but I couldn’t get up on my own.
I stared blankly toward the villa, hoping someone might come if I waited.
After a while—
I heard a sigh behind me.
“Are you alright?”
A familiar voice.
“…Duke Vallière.”
My heart clenched as if I’d been caught doing something wrong.
When I turned my stiff neck, I saw a man in formal attire.
Since when had he been watching?
What should I do… this is so embarrassing. I want to hide.
“I’ll lift your dress slightly.”
Though I was visibly shaken, he acted as if nothing was wrong.
With neatly combed hair, a dark suit, and cold, sharp eyes—he felt like a completely different person from the man I once knew.
…He was unfamiliar.
Ten years ago, he had always worn worn-out shirts stained with paint and suspenders.
“Why are you staring like that?”
Kneeling on one knee as he examined my ankle, he suddenly looked up with his emerald eyes and asked.
His large hand gripping my ankle was cold as ice.
“I-it’s nothing…”
I stammered and shook my head.
If I spoke any more, I felt like I would burst into tears.
I should have expected it—
The Countess was the niece of the former king. Of course, someone of the Duke’s status would attend.
But I had deliberately erased his existence from my thoughts, focusing only on meeting Jeremy.
How foolish… how utterly foolish of me.
“Your ankle looks a bit swollen. I’ll call someone—please wait here.”
“Ah—!”
He released my ankle and stood up.
Normally, a gentleman would never leave a lady alone in a cold, dark place like this.
If he were someone else, he would have helped me walk—or even carried me.
But we had a past.
And as if painfully aware of that, the Duke turned to leave.
“Um… Duke Vallière. Could you take me with you?”
“That would be difficult.”
I knew instinctively—
If I let him go now, I might never get another chance to speak with him.
So I tried to stop him.
But he rejected me without hesitation.
“…Then… could you at least stay with me until someone arrives?”
“That’s a ridiculous thing to ask, Lady Rosalie Malev.”
“….”
“If we were seen together, do you know what would happen to my reputation? Ah—though you don’t seem to have much left to lose.”
He spoke mockingly, his gaze sharp as arrows under the dim light, with the bright ballroom behind him.
…It seemed I was the only one who still wanted to talk about the past.
My first love clearly wanted nothing to do with me anymore.
“Those words are… rather harsh. They’re quite insulting.”
I forced the words out, holding back tears.
Yes… perhaps to me, our past was a bittersweet memory.
But to him, it might be something he never wanted to recall.
He had been brutally beaten by the Malev knights… and left with scars that would never fade.
“…Is that so? Then it would be better for me to leave, since staying would only upset you further.”
He turned away, as if cutting off any chance of further conversation.
No. No—please don’t go.
Before I realized it, I reached out toward him.
“Are you going to keep doing this? …His!”
“Don’t call my name so casually.”
My hand froze midair.
He looked down at me, expressionless, his pale face cold.
“Don’t misunderstand. To me, you are nothing more… and nothing less… than a past I wish to hide.”
“…Does it hurt a lot, Rosalie? I should have stayed by your side.”
I didn’t even know how I made it back.
Lowering my gaze, I nodded at Gérard’s question.
A little while ago, the Duke had turned away coldly. Still, it seemed he had at least informed the servants, because members of the Alua household soon came running.
They carried me to a resting area, where a resident physician examined my ankle.
Soon after, Gérard and Angela arrived.
“How did this happen? Did Jeremy Alua do something—?”
“No. It’s not that. I just… stepped on my own dress.”
“You should be more careful. But where is Jeremy?”
Gérard looked around, but Jeremy was nowhere to be seen.
“He said he had something to do, so I let him go. More importantly… with my ankle like this, I don’t think I can dance. Can I go home early?”
There was so much I wanted to say about Jeremy abandoning me alone in the dark.
But I couldn’t ignore the eyes of others.
Pretending to have a headache, I pressed my temple as I spoke.
This ball had only been an excuse for Jeremy and me to meet.
There was no need to go to such lengths—but it had been entirely the Countess’s decision.
Though others didn’t know, I was the main focus of tonight.
And now that I was trying to leave due to my injury, Gérard spoke anxiously:
“It would take too long for the carriage to go to Rodin and come back. It would be better to ask the Countess for a room.”
“I just want to go home and rest comfortably.”
“Our dear little sister—why are you being so stubborn today? You know it’s not proper to leave so early, don’t you?”
