Shadowless Night

Leticia turned her head again to look at the man. The costumes that a theater actor or singer would wear were not flashy but rather raucous. His singing skills were also quite good, so Leticia mistakenly thought he was a hired singer for this welcome event.

But that man was Arendt, the eldest son of Marquis Cimmaron. Leticia was speechless. What’s wrong with this family’s successor…?

Arendt found Leticia and caught the flower that fell from the air. Then, step by step, he approached her. Shit. I don’t like this. Leticia slipped away with an awkward smile but was quickly overrun by him. Arendt put the flower in Leticia’s ear and closed one eye before opening it.

Rosaline, who had been blinking until just now, was also clapping her hands and enjoying herself. Her adaptability was phenomenal. Leticia looked at her teacher with eyes of reverence. Singing with Arendt, the women who came down the stairs danced surrounding Rosaline. The jingling of the ornaments melted into a chord. Rosaline laughed and danced with them.

“Sir Rosaline…!”

Truly martial arts material! She had memorized the repeated dance moves and danced them perfectly. If Hessa had seen it, he would’ve cried and stored it in his heart. The strange stage at the entrance of the mansion ran towards the end.

Raymond got on his knees and played the mandolin in high spirits. It was even more ridiculous because he was so good at it. The song ended with the sound of metal instruments clanging.

“Welcome, guests!”

Everyone was flushed red. Rosaline clapped with petals on her head.

“Thank you. It was a great performance.”

Everyone laughed happily. Except for Leticia. Arendt smiled and approached them again.

“Come on in, come on in! It’s been a long time since we’ve had a guest, so everyone is excited!”

“Thank you for welcoming us on our sudden visit.”

“What are you saying? Guests are always welcome. It’s been a while, Sir Rosaline. I think I saw you when you were this small,” Arendt said while drawing an imaginary line on his chest. It was about a hand span shorter than the current Rosaline. He must have seen her when she was Raymond’s apprentice knight.

What Raymond told them later was that they met quite often because they were both under Ricardis. He even met Rosaline just before she had an accident at the hunting competition. It’s only been a few months, and growth stopped in the late teens, so Arendt’s “this small” couldn’t have been the last.

Raymond guessed that perhaps the image of a short girl by his standards walking around swinging a sword diligently was impressive. So, whenever he met Rosaline, he always said, “Sir Rosaline. You’ve grown a lot. You were this small.” He acted like a grandfather looking at his granddaughter.

Not knowing that, Rosaline received Arendt’s greeting, thinking he would’ve met Rosaline when she was “this small”. There was a light of goodwill in his dark wood-colored eyes. Arendt asked Leticia about his agility earlier.

“I didn’t know another guest was coming, so I prepared only one flower crown! When I caught the falling flower in mid-air, guuhh… Wasn’t it a little cool?”

“… Yes.”

“What a friend you are! Ha!”

Arendt once again winked at her. Leticia smiled even with an upset look on her face.

It was only then that Leticia remembered. She hadn’t thought of it because her family, the Frosthornfal, had no contact with others since it was a small territory on the outskirts. The extraordinary family customs of the Cimmaron March were famous. It was normal for the family to perform regularly as they were a fun-loving family that loved music.

Leticia was grateful that this place was not the castle in the Cimmaron territory. If they had visited there, it wouldn’t have ended so easily. She’d heard that they once held a three-hour celebration performance for a guest who had been on a trip for a month. It gave her the creeps.

He finally found out why Raymond actively sang whenever he had a drink within the Knights of the White Night.

Arendt, who had disappeared for a while, took off his fancy stage outfit and came out in a neat suit.

“Brother, where are you going?”

“To the imperial city. Father waited for me to have lunch together, but I let him wait because there were guests coming. Hahaha!”

“Hahahaha, you’re completely late now!”

They were very similar from inside to outside. The two were truly brothers. Servants and maids removed scraps of paper and flowers from the floor. Because they were small pieces, one could see them getting stuck in every nook and cranny.

‘I mean, if you’re going to do this, you shouldn’t have sprayed it in the first place.’

Leticia pondered for a while, but she didn’t want to think deeply, so she let it go. A flower stuck in her ear was put in the chest pocket of her uniform coat after thinking hard.

There was already someone waiting for the party in the large drawing room. It was Chloe Golgarten, a small woman with dark blue hair. Raymond put one arm around her waist and kissed her on the cheek. Chloe fell into the arms of Raymond, who was considered tall even within the Order of the Knights.

“My soft milk pudding.”

“My sweet honey butter candy.”

“…”

Leticia’s expression was twisted. A boss’ love affair wasn’t the kind of thing you wanted to see in front of your eyes. Rosaline’s eyes widened at the intense expression of affection she had never seen before. She stared so intently that Leticia had to cover her eyes. Chloe greeted the guests half-embraced by Raymond.

“Welcome. The house was messy, so I couldn’t greet the guests properly. Please forgive the rudeness.”

Leticia was horrified. She couldn’t believe that the great hospitality performance was considered not proper enough. Rosaline ignored it with a light reply.

“No. Thank you for inviting me, Miss Chloe.”

“Thank you, young lady.”

Chloe smiled as she closed her eyes. She just stared at Rosaline with a smile on her face. When the silence was questioned, Chloe spoke again.

“Are you not sick anymore?”

“Yes. I’m fine. Thank you for your concern.”

I’m so glad to hear that. From Chloe’s smiling face, which was brighter than before, Rosaline could read the worries she had accumulated about herself.

Come to think of it, all the precious herbs that were used for treatment at the Countess’ castle were sent by Chloe. Rosaline had wanted to throw them away because they were bitter and tasteless, but she had to swallow them after reading the letter enclosed with the medicine. Beautiful and neat handwriting. It was because she could tell how much she thought of her in the casual conversation asking her how she was doing. Even though she had almost no memory of Chloe.

Not that figure was in front of her eyes. It was as if the handwriting and contents of the letter were embodied as they were. Friendly, tender.

While greeting each other, a generous amount of refreshments that looked good and tasted good were placed on the table. Raymond had to leave because of the wedding arrangements. Even though the wedding was just around the corner, it was clear that he didn’t want to part with his fiancee, whom he saw once a week. Raymond kept looking back like a downcast puppy. In the end, Chloe had to stand up and give him a kiss and a pat on his butt. Only then did Raymond leave the room with light steps.

Rosaline watched with interest the conversation of love between the two. Leticia broke out in a cold sweat. Is it okay to look at this?

Chloe sent Raymond and sat down. Rosaline didn’t eat the cookies. She just held them because she had something on her mind. However, the number of cookies in her hand gradually increased even though she didn’t want to eat.

“Miss Chloe, can I ask you one question?”

“Oh, yes.”

“Why did you kiss Sir Raymond just now?”

Chloe asked again, “Yes?” before replying with a gentle smile, “Because I love him.”

“Do you kiss like that when you are in love?”

I shouldn’t have let you see it! Leticia looked back and forth between Rosaline and Chloe. Chloe’s eyes widened, and she nodded.

“Of course. It’s natural. A kiss is another way to say I love you,” knowing that Rosaline had amnesia, Chloe responded smoothly. She radiated the kindness of teaching a child to walk. Rosaline nodded in great shock.

“Then is a kiss on the forehead similar?”

Chloe bent her upper body slightly, her eyes shining. She didn’t get much closer in terms of distance, but it became a better audience attitude in terms of feel.

“Doing it on the forehead has many meanings. Who kissed you on the forehead?”

Leticia turned her head to Rosaline. Her eyes were quivering.

“S-Sir Rosaline… W-Who the hell…”

Chloe quieted Leticia with a meaningful glance. 

Rosaline caught a glimpse of the atmosphere in the room. Didn’t everyone get very angry when Prince Haqab kissed them on the cheek? Maybe it’s still a bit like that? If I say it openly, I may get scolded or into big trouble. As Rosaline hesitated, Chloe put a benevolent smile on her face. Little by little, Rosaline’s mind was loosened by the urging or lack of reaction. Even though it was her first time seeing her, Chloe was strangely familiar and welcoming. She felt like she wanted to talk about all her worries.