“Sir Aiden?”
I pulled away from him, but Sir Aiden was still standing there blankly.
His arms were stiff and frozen at an odd angle, and his face was flushed bright red.
“Sir… Aiden?”
Contrary to his usual brash demeanor, seeing him so out of sorts made me more flustered.
“I’m sorry. If I made you uncomfortable—”
“N-No! It’s not that I was uncomfortable…”
He cut me off and hurriedly confessed his thoughts. His face turned red again.
“I was just… surprised.”
Sir Aiden crushed the sand under his feet with the toe of his boot.
“What kind of crazy woman would do that to a lowly slave like me? Whether it’s comfort, or a hug… No one expects things like that from someone like me.”
There, deep in his pitch-black eyes, lay a wounded past.
So many sorrows he had to endure just because he was born a slave, through no fault of his own.
But it seemed he had no intention of dwelling on those emotions for long. He quickly changed the subject.
“Your face doesn’t look good. I don’t know the details, but let’s go inside for now.”
Perhaps because the sunset was shining directly on him, the scar on his face stood out more clearly.
Suddenly, I wondered if the person he had tried to protect—at the cost of that scar—was a woman named Enette.
“Do I have something on my face?”
“No. Not at all. I was just thinking… Sir Aiden, you’re such a strong person.”
“Me?”
“You tend to underestimate yourself, but up close, I can see you’re a resilient and admirable man.”
Listening to Sir Aiden speak, I could feel how fiercely he had fought to survive.
Despite his hard-earned rise in status, he never clung to power or flaunted it.
Instead, he used what he had to give a proper funeral for a deceased servant and even supported a child who shared no blood with him.
Maintaining such kindness, even when one’s circumstances have changed, is no easy feat.
“So please don’t say you’re lowly or call yourself things like ‘bastard.’”
Sir Aiden’s gaze fixed on me. His unwavering black eyes were entirely focused on me alone.
I liked the firmness in his expression, so I met his eyes head-on.
At that, he blushed and turned away.
Was he shy? If so, that was truly unexpected.
Feeling more composed, I confessed to him honestly.
“I was expelled because I went to the Inquisition.”
“What?!”
Sir Aiden sprang up in outrage. I quickly grabbed his sleeve to stop him.
I didn’t even use much force, but he followed my pull as if bewitched.
“It’s fine. I’ll get my revenge.”
I smiled gently at his confused face.
There was no need to show him the pettier sides of me.
Just because I was cast out of the Estarion family didn’t mean I had lost everything.
I left behind everything that bore the Estarion name, but the things I had achieved wouldn’t disappear just because I now bore the name Selene Raion.
For example, the hidden research lab in the South, or the stocks I owned under an alias.
“I’ve never seen you make that face before, Teacher.”
“Me? What kind of face did I make?”
“A very wicked expression.”
“Well, if you keep getting distracted and talking like this, I have to make a witch-like face.”
“Sigh… Got it.”
Sir Aiden returned to burying his nose in the book, and I resumed checking the letters.
A few days ago, I had sent a letter to a shipping company that was supposed to transport raw materials to the perfume workshop.
The contents were simple—don’t load the expected materials.
In reality, it’s hard to block raw materials entirely.
If one production site is blocked, they can just source it from somewhere else.
But ships are different. There are only so many ships crossing the sea, and the owners don’t lose money if they skip a few items. They simply replace them with something else.
And I could make this decision because I held shares in that shipping company.
‘Good thing I invested in multiple places.’
Whenever I received an allowance at the Estarion house, I saved it all and grew it through various investments.
With the profits from one investment, I made others, steadily growing my personal wealth.
It was originally to prepare for having personal funds after marriage—but I never imagined it would be used like this.
‘This is mine. I made the call. It was my decision that led to a successful investment.’
Pleased by the reply that they wouldn’t be loading the raw materials, I folded the letter with satisfaction.
Sir Aiden was frowning slightly and tapping his book with his fingertips.
“Are there any words you don’t understand?”
“No. I just… can’t focus today.”
“Really? Then maybe we should take a break?”
He had learned proper table manners, his posture had greatly improved, too.
Only the occasional crude language or sharp tone remained to be refined.
‘Though, even those traits feel true to who Sir Aiden is…’
Personally, I didn’t mind, but it’s wise to avoid giving others reasons to nitpick.
The air was much warmer now at the tail end of winter, and the sunlight filtering through the windows was gentle.
Sitting across from me, Sir Aiden rubbed his eyes with the book closed.
Unlike how awkward it had felt at first, I had grown used to being around him.
That might be why this moment felt so peaceful.
Cut off from the world’s talk of heresy and social status, it felt like a perfect space where only the sunlight, the books, and Sir Aiden existed.
Then, I noticed the name written on the cover of the closed book:
[Aiden Calypso.]
The word Calypso was messy, but the word Aiden was relatively neat.
The direction of the strokes, the angle, the slant—none of it matched Sir Aiden’s original handwriting.
He had memorized how to write, including the very habit of forming letters, not from knowledge, but from imitation.
That’s why his surname, written in his natural style, looked far messier.
I was curious about this strange mix of handwriting styles.
“I have a question.”
Sir Aiden leaned toward me and rested his chin on his hand.
“It’s rare for you to be curious about me, Teacher. What do you want to know?”
“How did you learn to write your name? Who taught you?”
“Huh? Uh… someone taught me.”
He averted his eyes. He didn’t seem to realize how suspicious that made him look.
“Was it someone named Enette?”
At my question, shock rippled across his face.
He realized I had guessed correctly.
“What do you mean the shipping company won’t take the goods?!”
Amelia was in a frenzy upon hearing the unexpected news.
The perfume ingredients that were supposed to be shipped in a week were essential.
Without them, they wouldn’t be able to produce the pre-ordered perfumes, which meant they’d have to send out awkward letters of apology to everyone.
The perfumes she had developed over the years with Selene were highly popular for their long-lasting scent, far superior to what was sold in the market.
But since they weren’t made in an official workshop, there were limits to how they could be sold. That’s what gave Amelia influence in high society—people desperately wanted to buy them.
“This can’t happen. No matter what, the goods must be shipped this Thursday.”
Only then could they meet the spring ball deadline and distribute the perfumes.
‘Without the perfumes, I’ll be invisible again.’
Amelia had an incredibly plain appearance. She wasn’t brilliant like Selene or cheerful like Siena.
So the only way to stand out even slightly was to cling to the perfume business.
‘Besides… Siena is going to appear at the ball this time.’
The Estarion family was currently the hottest topic in society.
Siena, Selene’s hidden twin sister, was drawing a lot of attention.
A count’s daughter with the same looks as Selene, but a social charm Selene had never shown?
Thanks to Selene’s disgrace, Siena was bound to become the center of the social storm.
Amelia hated that. She didn’t want to be Siena’s background decoration.
If she couldn’t be the most eye-catching rose, she at least wanted to be the second most striking violet.
“Did the shipping company say anything else? It’s outrageous to break a contract like this!”
“But the space contract was made in Miss Selene’s name… They somehow found out she’s gone, and said they’re worried about payment, so they’re canceling.”
Amelia’s face twisted with frustration.
It had been two months since Selene was expelled, and yet her shadow was everywhere.
In Siena’s face, in her family’s conversations, among the gossiping noblewomen—and even in paperwork like this.
‘I shouldn’t have let Selene handle it.’
In truth, Selene had managed all aspects of raw material procurement, manufacturing, and distribution.
Amelia had just gone around promoting the perfumes in Selene’s place.
Still, she was listed as a partner in the perfume business because she was Selene’s friend.
After Selene’s fall, Amelia had struggled to take over the paperwork from the Estarion house. She couldn’t make sense of it on her own and had to hire help in the end.
“They said the vacated shipping space was claimed by someone named Selene Raion. The shipowner suggests we try persuading her to make room for our goods…”
“Selene Raion? Do we have her address?”
“They said we can contact her through the shipowner.”
“Good. Bring me stationery immediately!”
Amelia hastily began writing a letter to the woman named Selene Raion.
It explained that this was the last ship sailing this month, and the next one wouldn’t depart for another month—so she begged her to yield the space.
Such pleading wasn’t proper for a noblewoman, but Amelia was desperate.
So desperate, she didn’t even question the name Selene Raion.
She simply assumed it was someone with the same name.
