Princess Shu

Schuden and Leo happened to enter the greenhouse. It was much better than the strangely leery yard. The owner, the former Marquess Garth, did not come there often, and due to that, the greenhouse was more of a reflection of the gardeners’ preferences rather than the Marquess’.

The gardeners decorated the glass greenhouse like a cozy fairy tale. The glass cut at a mysterious angle garnered delicate light, and the chair with a slanted back stimulated the boys’ curiosity.

As they had nowhere to go, Schuden and Leo sat there. Naturally, they happened to look at the sky.

The sun was setting.

The light honestly shed more than darkness. Schuden glanced at Leo, he knew of the shadow that remained on his younger brother’s face.

But it was a little different then. After having been silent the whole time, Leo became slightly excited. The room that the former Marquess Garth had given Leo did not even have a window, and so he could not take his eyes off the red sunset that had filled the greenhouse.

The two brothers have been talking less and less to each other after being brought to the castle. As they looked up and gazed at the sky above their heads, they stayed silent, barring from having any conversation until dusk was over.

Only catching the sunset in their eyes. Leo’s eyes were still red at that time.

[Shall we go now?]

[…Sure.]

Schuden and Leo, who sat staring at the sunset, rose from their seats only after the sun had completely set. Leo murmured in passing.

[The sunset is the same as the one we used to see in the past.]

The sunset that they often saw in the poor village. 

Schuden smiled a little. It was his first smile since he came to the castle.

[That’s true.]

Not long after that, the former Marquess Garth force-fed the potion into Leo’s mouth, and Schuden and Leo could not visit the glass greenhouse again.

Still, as surprising as it was, and despite it being the last decent experience he had, there was at least one good thing in this terrible place.

Schuden was not obsessed with the memory of that pleasant day. However, he could not deny that the reason he left the glass greenhouse intact was because of the scenery of that day.

The only decent memory that Schuden had in this castle; perhaps that was the reason why he asked Valia to meet there.

When he thought of her, only good memories come to mind. Just as flowers would bloom when spring came.

Schuden fiddled with the box he had brought. The wooden box was engraved with the name of the artisan Hubert. He received it not long ago and kept it well in his office.

He was pathetically a little nervous.

In Gel’s noble society, it did not mean much for a man to present jewelry to a woman. It was just a sign of courtship or goodwill.

However, when a bouquet of flowers was added, the meaning would change a little. It could be seen as a marriage proposal. Of course, most nobles were put into an arranged marriage, in that case, it was usually given as a gift on their first wedding anniversary for mere formality.

If it was put that way, a gift consisting of jewelry and a bouquet of flowers would be considered trivial. Schuden did not have much to say when asked if there was a man who had made a bouquet of jewels.

The price of the jewelry in the box was enough to buy several decent noble manors in the capital. However, it was not a worrying amount to the Garth name.

After Hubert filled the box according to the order, he said.

“This is not a jewelry box. It’s a treasure box.”

That was news to him, and even if it wasn’t, he would not have been too interested anyway.

It was not difficult to present jewelry to a woman, Schuden had never had a hard time with such a thing. It was different only when it came to Valia. He did not know what to say when he would hand over the box. He wondered if it would be too childish a gesture, or if she would like it. The presence and stiffness of the woman he loved were so great.

‘I don’t know.’

Moreover, Schuden could not easily guess Valia’s mind. Emotions that were visible to outside parties were different for the parties involved. Even though their feelings were so obvious it looked like they could be caught if they just stretched out their hands, they looked cloudy as they loved each other.

Had Schuden taken a step back, he would have easily noticed Valia’s feelings. But he could not do that, for he loved her a great deal.

Schuden put the wooden box on the chair. He did not put it on the table just in case Valia came first and opened it. After somewhat hiding the box, Schuden rose from his seat. As he went out of the glass greenhouse, three servants guarding the door bowed their heads.

“Keep up the good work. No one is allowed in except for the lady.”

“Yes, Your Grace.”

The ones protecting the glass greenhouse were not soldiers, but three ordinary servants. There were also separate guards guarding the main gate and patrolling the yard periodically, so security was not insufficient.

Only nobles with absolute status were invited to the ball, so just having one servant was enough. There would be no rude noble who would dare to crawl into the restricted area.

Schuden put on his mask again.

If he could do as he pleased, he wanted to wait for Valia until the promised time, but a ball that his wife had been working hard to prepare for the past few weeks was being held in the annex today. If Schuden told Valia which part of the ball was wonderful later on, she would be happy. 

Desiring to be called a decent husband, Schuden headed to the annex.

∘₊✧──────✧₊∘

“Wow, milady. It’s very crowded.”

Robin said with sparkling eyes. Valia smiled and looked around the hall, it was full of noblewomen and noblemen dressed in fancy dresses and expensive suits.

Almost all the nobles in the south seemed to be present, and it was so noisy that the music was drowned out.

Valia was more interested in the banquet’s maintenance than to enjoy the ball. She checked several times while preparing but she still wanted to check again.

Valia walked lightly through the crowd. When she was looking at the flower decorations placed all over the hall and grasping the atmosphere of the guests who attended, there was a voice calling for her.

“Hmm, lady?”

Valia turned her head. She secretly expected it to be Schuden, but standing in front of her was an ordinary nobleman. His hair and eyes exposed behind the mask were a cocoa-like brown.

Valia hid her disappointment and asked.

“What’s the matter?”

“I have been seeing you for a while and your smile looks very pretty, so I thought maybe we could dance together…”

The nobleman, who was presumed to be about Valia’s age, sounded nervous. He seemed to have plucked up some courage to speak to her. Valia smiled faintly, refusing to accept the hand that was extended to her.

“I’m sorry. I want to see the hall more.”

“Oh, it’s definitely a beautiful hall! Well, maybe we could look around and have a conver… Huh?”

There was a hand gently rising about the nobleman’s hand. Valia and the nobleman looked to the right. The nobleman’s eyes were stained with dumbfoundedness.

“…What are you?”

“This lady already has a partner, why don’t you dance with me instead?”

Robin said with a smile. His firm hands had been trained with a sword since the age of five, and so there was a sudden disconnect when his hand was raised beautifully like a lady. The nobleman was both flustered and astonished. He asked.

“Are you this lady’s partner? But you didn’t even dance for three hours.”

He seemed to have been watching them for a long time. Robin said without blinking.

“I’m going to dance from now on. With you.”

“…”

“Shall we go to the lounge?”

“What a load of nonsense…”

The nobleman looked petrified. Regardless of what happened, Robin was still smiling. His lips seen below the blue mask had a bright smile.

‘What a crazy man.’

Thinking he was a crazy guy, the nobleman could not easily ignore him. Even though Robin was treated like a baby by the Knights of the Garth due to him being the youngest, he was tall and in good shape, like any knight should.

Being a member of the Knights of Garth itself meant that he was more than an ace in most knightages in the first place. It was only natural that his body was strong and looked good even at first glance.

‘Damn it.’

The nobleman, who had been reading the room, eventually stepped back. He did not want to have a fight with a well-built weirdo. Robin looked proud as he watched the nobleman slowly disappear through the crowd.

‘If the commander saw me just now, he would have complimented me, right?’

Shaun taught Robin that throwing gauntlets at a banquet was the last bastion. Before that, Shaun said that he had to resolve the matter as peacefully as possible so that it would not trouble the madam.

Robin followed Shaun’s words, as Shaun was his second most respected person in the world. The person he respected most in the world was, of course, his liege, Schuden.

‘Handling the affairs of high society is easier than I thought. I was nervous for no reason.’

Robin gained more confidence as he got rid of the flies a few more times. There were no more people approaching Valia to hit on her. Thanks to him, Valia was able to roam the hall comfortably.

Though Valia did not dance with Robin, it was fun to chat with him about this and that. After a couple of glasses of champagne, the time had gone by.

Valia got up after seeing the wall clock in the hall.

“Ma… I mean, lady. Are you going back already? Are you tired?”

“No, I have something to do in the yard.”

“Oh, then, I will escort you there.”

“Sure, sir.”

Valia went to the yard with Robin as her escort. Unlike the hall, where there was no room to step, the yard did not have as big of a crowd, though there were still quite a few people.

In addition to the generous lighting of the magic crystal ball, the gardeners also decorated the yard with care so there were many nobles sightseeing in the yard.

“There will be more people in the yard soon. The housekeeper said there will be fireworks today.”

Robin looked excited. Valia made a similar expression when she heard the word ‘fireworks’ for the first time. The festival was being held at the same time as the masquerade today. The feudal lord even had provided several large and colorful fireworks.

The time when Valia was supposed to meet with Schuden was near.

‘It’s a little early, but I suppose it’ll be alright.’

Despite coming a little earlier than the promised time, Valia was nervous and thought to go ahead and calm down first. Valia tried to slow down her impatience steps. She was headed for the greenhouse.

Valia had been to the glass greenhouse before. It was when Schuden was still on the battlefield. She was surprised to see such a large glass greenhouse for the first time. And she was even more surprised when she saw the interior, where all the plants were dry and dead. 

It was a waste to leave it unattended, so she asked the gardeners to rebuild the greenhouse. She did not interfere much after that. Valia was good at following the expert’s opinion.

Garth’s gardeners decorated the glass greenhouse with all their skills to meet the madam’s expectations. Valia did not interfere at all. When it was completed, she went and took a look. It was a beautiful greenhouse with an open glass ceiling.

‘I’m nervous.’

She could not help her feelings and wondered if there would be anyone else who would prepare so thoroughly to confess like this