Chapter : 28
I muttered a quiet curse and steadied my voice.
“I’m hungry. Let’s talk outside.”
“Mm… sure. Anywhere’s fine with me.”
Blair softened her expression and stepped closer. A cool cologne scent, like freshly sprayed grass, brushed my nose.
“Let’s eat something sweet and delicious. That should help you feel better.”
As if telling me to relax, Blair gently ran her fingers through my hair.
Every time her hand touched me, my skin prickled as if sliced by a blade.
“Shall we go to my shop?”
“…Fine.”
Taking the opportunity, Blair even looped her arm through mine. Then she suddenly flinched and turned to look at me.
“Ren. Why are your hands so cold?”
“Because I don’t like touching you. It gives me the creeps, so back off.”
I spoke coldly, but Blair only grabbed my hand tighter, almost provocatively.
She clung to me so stubbornly that even when I swung my arm to shake her off, it was useless.
“Ren. I didn’t come here to fight. So lower your spikes a little. Really… you’re ruining my appetite before we’ve even eaten.”
“What?”
“Relax your face, too. Do you have any idea how many hours I spent getting dressed just to look good for you? I doubt you can even imagine.”
Good grief. Was I talking to a wall right now?
I gave up on conversing with Blair and fled the Cayenne Knight headquarters as if escaping.
Blair’s shop, Harnias, was about ten minutes away by carriage.
Being in the same space as Blair felt like torture, but in order to keep Hayden and Blair as far apart as possible, I willingly endured it.
After arriving, we settled into a quiet annex without anyone guiding us.
There was no need to call a server either—food always came out tailored to one’s taste without ordering.
“I made a new menu this time—something you might like. Will you try it and give me your opinion before I put it out in the shop?”
“……”
When I continued to stare out the window, refusing to engage, Blair shook her head.
“You never change. Still so immature.”
“What?”
“Nothing.”
When I glared at her, Blair raised her fan to hide her mouth.
Ugh. Even the way she covered her face with that fan annoyed me.
“Can’t you put that down while we’re eating? And immature? I’m better than someone like you who has so much free time that you wander around doing nonsense like this. Where did you even hear stories about me?”
“Hear stories—! Ren, honestly, why do you talk like that?”
“Like what?”
Just then, the food arrived, finally cutting off her one-sided conversation.
Blair waited until everyone had left before grumbling,
“I only heard what your family’s servants told me.”
“You believe them? Talking about me is their favorite pastime when they’re bored.”
I picked up a bland piece of bread with my bare hand and bit into it.
Blair tilted her head, openly showing her surprise.
“No, you really have changed.”
“How.”
“I didn’t believe them, but they were right. You really changed.”
“So what changed.”
“……”
A small twitch appeared at the corner of Blair’s mouth.
“Your attitude has become extremely rude.”
“Other than that, I don’t think much has changed.”
When I replied with indifferent sarcasm, Blair took a small breath, as if trying to calm herself.
Yes. That was the Blair I knew.
She didn’t lose her temper easily. She didn’t shout or laugh loudly.
Blair spoke calmly.
“I heard you skipped the graduation party and went to see Count Hayden. Isn’t that a huge change by itself?”
“Don’t talk about that day.”
“I’m just saying it’s surprising!”
Surprising? Was anyone more surprised than me, seeing how much you had changed?
She was like a chameleon—her personality flipped every time I saw her.
As I continued to act uncooperative, Blair’s face finally hardened.
Wearing her dining gloves, she lifted her bread, then brushed her hands off onto the plate.
“Ren. I think it’s time I knew why you’re acting this angry.”
“No. You don’t need to.”
“If you keep being rude, I’ll have no choice but to use my authority.”
I dipped my bread into the soup and let out a small laugh.
“What? Are you going to threaten me by bringing armed knights?”
“What? Honestly, the way you talk…”
Blair muttered under her breath as if that were absurd, then broke into a playful smile.
“But it’s not like I couldn’t.”
“…?”
“I’ll be Baron Blanchet soon, you know. So it’d be wise not to get on my bad side.”
“What?”
I froze mid-bite, mouth hanging open. Blair frowned, chewing her lips.
I hurriedly covered my mouth and forced the bread down.
A baron? Blair?
This must have been the reaction she wanted, because she smiled mischievously.
“That’s right. So if you keep avoiding me and hating me, I’ll build a small shrine in some remote corner of my territory and appoint you as its only holy knight. Forever.”
“…Hayden?”
“Who? No. I mean you.”
“Me? What kind of nonsense is that all of a sudden…?”
Then what about Hayden?
As I just stared at her, dumbfounded, Blair leisurely crossed her legs.
“Why is it nonsense? If I’m the baron and I give an order, a mere holy knight like you has to obey. I already got permission from the Marquis. He was delighted.”
‘…Something’s wrong.’
Very, very wrong.
When I narrowed my eyes and glared at her, Blair lifted a napkin and elegantly wiped her mouth.
“So, which do you like better—Kazarnya Plains, the Dial Mountains, or the Blanchet territory?”
“Wait. Why are you suddenly talking about inheriting the title?”
“What do you mean suddenly? Why are you acting so strange now? You know I’ve been receiving heir training since I was young.”
I shook my head sideways with a blank expression.
This was the first I’d ever heard of it. Inheritance? If she were managing a territory and preparing for the intermediate Seirus priest exam, she wouldn’t have nearly enough time.
Trying to serve as a mid-level priest while converting into a high priest too—wouldn’t she need two bodies for that…?
Seeing how dazed I looked, Blair waved her palm in front of my face.
“Ren?”
“You becoming a high priest—no, wait. What about the holy knight exam? You’re supposed to take the intermediate priest exam soon.”
“A holy knight? Me?”
Pointing at herself with a genuinely puzzled look, Blair squinted at me.
“Why would I become a priest?”
“Why not?”
“Because it’s exhausting and doesn’t pay. Ah, I get it—relax your face. Hmm. Yeah, I did admire Seirus’s holy knights when I was little. Maybe—when I was five?”
As I tried to say more, Blair gestured for me to stop, then asked seriously,
“Ren. Why are you really acting like this?”
“Because you said you’d manage a territory.”
I was so dumbfounded I could barely speak.
‘What on earth is going on?’
After a brief silence, Blair let out a short laugh.
“Pfft. Heh.”
But her gaze, fixed on me, was colder than ever.
In a voice as low as her eyes were cold, she murmured,
“Oh. So this is that prank you played on Amon? No wonder the kid was startled. Even I was shocked, so that’s enough now, Ren.”
I squeezed my trembling eyelids shut.
I could see Blair’s lips moving, but no sound reached my ears.
Through my bleached-white thoughts, the voice of a god drifted past.
< I will send you to another world. >
Good heavens. Don’t tell me this isn’t the world I used to live in?
“Oh, damn it… God.”
“Ren?”
“You… why are you becoming a baron…? You said you wouldn’t inherit, so you even brought an adopted daughter into the barony.”
Unable to let go, I asked again. Blair clicked her tongue sharply.
“Haah. I told you to stop, but you keep talking nonsense.”
With a cigarette holder between her lips, Blair lit a cigarette without asking.
I forgot to complain and just stared intently at her lips.
“Phew. So—into our family? When, and who exactly did we bring in?”
“Five years ago. You adopted Oman, the seven-year-old daughter of the Dial baron’s family.”
“…You know Oman?”
When I frowned, Blair took about three long drags from the holder, then irritably pulled out an ashtray.
She opened the window wide and nodded as if forcing herself to agree.
“Sure. I could know that. If you have memories like that, you must’ve had a very detailed dream.”
Waving away the smoke drifting toward me with her fan, Blair continued,
“Oman is still the youngest of the Dial baron’s family. And as I said, I’m the heir of the Blanchet family. That was decided about twenty-five years ago. So I’m the only legitimate heir Blanchet has ever had—at least as far as I know. Now, Lady Calcyren. If all your questions have been answered, shall we end this uncomfortable conversation here?”
Blair smiled gently—a warning wrapped in elegance.
But I simply propped my elbows on the table and buried my face in my arms.
