Raphael walked out of the Prince's office with a cool, refreshing gait.
Alfonso, who had been waiting impatiently outside, raised his head as soon as he saw the silhouette of a slender man and let out a slight sigh as soon as he realized that it was Raphael.
Raphael also saw Alfonso making a fuss. He silently walked up to Alfonso and patted his shoulder with his hand.
“I’m sorry for the misunderstanding.”
It was a simple apology. Raphael thought about what else he could say, such as, “Do better from now on,” or “I’ll stop here,” or “I’m sorry I fell in love with her,” but he had nothing more to say.
The first was presumptuous, the second was something he had to say, and the third was something he didn't think he needed to apologize for.
So he just nodded and gave a quick greeting.
“Here we go.”
Alfonso, who had been waiting impatiently outside, raised his head as soon as he saw the silhouette of a slender man and let out a slight sigh as soon as he realized that it was Raphael.
Raphael also saw Alfonso making a fuss. He silently walked up to Alfonso and patted his shoulder with his hand.
“I’m sorry for the misunderstanding.”
It was a simple apology. Raphael thought about what else he could say, such as, “Do better from now on,” or “I’ll stop here,” or “I’m sorry I fell in love with her,” but he had nothing more to say.
The first was presumptuous, the second was something he had to say, and the third was something he didn't think he needed to apologize for.
So he just nodded and gave a quick greeting.
“Here we go.”
Alfonso felt something unusual about the back of Raphael, who was walking lightly. He grabbed his childhood friend.
“Where are you going?”
Raphael smiled as if he felt relieved.
"Far away."
“Are you coming back?”
“Well...”
It depends on what you mean by 'return'. He might return to San Carlo someday.
But fully, as Raphael de Baldessar? That would be difficult.
Because a person who has entrusted himself to the bosom of God is essentially different from a person of this world, tomorrow, he will inevitably be a very different person from the person he is today.
“Let’s just wait and see.”
Raphael tapped Alfonso on the shoulder again. Alfonso hesitated and said.
“...Thank you.”
It was a statement that contained many implications.
There were layers of regret that Raphael's love for Ariadne did not work out, gratitude for Raphael helping her and coming to Yesak, and gratitude for him staying by Ariadne's side while he was away.
Hearing this, Raphael simply chuckled.
“You did well.”
And that was the end. He left the palace with a steady pace. His gait seemed as if he had a definite destination in mind.
Alfonso looked at his study, leaving Raphael behind.
Ariadne would be left alone in there. He swallowed his saliva through his dry mouth.
A moment passed, and the sound of leaves rustling could be heard. Alfonso, who had been lost in thought for a moment, suddenly raised his head.
It is not the season for falling leaves now. It was the sound of a woman's dress.
As expected, Ariadne, in a rose-colored dress, appeared, walking lightly into Alfonso's sight.
“Ari...”
“Alfonso, have you been waiting the whole time?”
She tucked her lovely black hair behind her ears and looked at him with suspicious eyes.
“We talked for a long time.”
Alfonso instinctively looked around.
“Oh no, I was walking and by chance...”
As he was talking up to this point, he realized that this was making him look even more stupid.
There was nowhere to walk around here, and he didn't even run into her while walking.
He was standing in front of the office doorway when he was caught. Alfonso sighed and said,
“...I’ve been waiting. Let’s talk.”
Ariadne nodded silently. They walked through the halls of the Prince's palace and down the marble stairs to the garden.
Unlike the main garden of the King's residence, which was decorated with tall trees and colorful flowers, the garden of the Prince's Palace was small and cute.
And now, it was the season when the flowers on the planted forsythia hedge were beginning to fall, and lilacs were starting to emerge in their place.
With every step she took in the deepening night, the scent of newly blooming lilacs tickled her nose.
But, unlike this romantic atmosphere, an awkward silence flowed between Alfonso and Ariadne as they walked side by side.
“...Shoes, aren’t they uncomfortable?”
“It’s walkable.”
After the awkward question and short answer, only an embarrassed silence remained.
“Aren’t you hungry?”
"Very."
It wasn't just Alfonso who was nervous. Ariadne felt the tension building up in her stomach, too.
Where was his usual smooth speaking ability? Every time he spoke, it sounded like rusty parts were clinking.
In the end, it was Alfonso who spoke first.
“...What did you talk about with Raphael?”
What was meant to happen has come.
“...Just.”
Ariadne did not want to tell Alfonso directly about Raphael's confession and rejection.
It's rude to Raphael, and it's not a topic she wants to discuss with Alfonso. She answered roundaboutly.
“Let’s continue to be good friends.”
Alfonso let out a sigh of relief without realizing it.
He had a rough idea from his conversation with Raphael that his confession wasn't going well, but it was different from hearing it clearly from Ariadne herself.
Only after hearing this story did he feel relieved and able to tell the other story he had prepared.
“First of all... I’ll apologize for what happened to my subordinate. You must have been very surprised.”
Ariadne rolled her head. He was talking about Elko's business.
Is this referring to the slander Elko committed? Or is it referring to the fact that Elko's head was cut off in front of her?
Ariadne remained silent for a moment, not knowing how to respond.
Since when did Alfonso start treating her like an unripe child?
The moment she saw him, her limbs would stiffen reflexively, and she would blurt out things she normally wouldn't. She chose her words carefully so as not to make a slip of the tongue.
“...No. It’s not your fault.”
He was about to say, 'It's not like it's the first time I've seen someone die,' but she barely managed to change her answer at the last minute.
Fortunately, Alfonso didn't seem to notice. He shook his head firmly.
“The subordinate’s fault is the master’s fault. It’s my fault for not recognizing it sooner. In the end, it was my fault.”
“If you really want to apologize, I’ll accept it.”
Ariadne bit the tip of her tongue as she said this.
Ah, I didn't mean to say that. Didn't it sound too unlucky? Did it sound like someone who had been entrusted with apples?
A soft, pleasant, low voice reached Ariadne's ears as she trembled.
“You know, Ari.”
She quickly answered, glad for the remark that broke the awkward moment.
"Yes."
Alfonso stood in the middle of the lilac garden for a moment in silence. Then he asked.
“Are you and I good friends too?”
“...”
Ariadne had a hard time answering the question that suddenly came to her.
Why are you asking this question? If I say we're not friends here, will you think I'm saying we shouldn't see each other again since we're not even friends?
Now that he apologized for Elko's incident, is this about Ariadne telling him not to act friendly with her anymore in the 'Room of the Stars' and being friends again?
Or maybe, is this a proposal to date? An extension of the kiss from earlier? Oh, no.
And even if that were the case, how funny would it be if Ariadne suddenly said, "Yes, let's go out," when Alfonso didn't mean it that way?
Ariadne chose, with difficulty, the answer that sounded reasonable.
“...If that’s what you want, then you can do that.”
"I am."
Alfonso went straight ahead without looking left or right.
“I don’t want to be good friends with you.”
He declared in a voice full of determination.
“I can’t just be friends with you.”
The two of them had stopped walking. Ariadne, who had heard Alfonso’s declaration, froze like a pillar of salt and stared at Alfonso.
“Just seeing you standing next to my friend makes my eyes sparkle with a thousand fires. How can we be friends?”
Alfonso was standing less than two-thirds of a piedi (about 30 centimeters) from Ariadne. It was as close as it was far.
The hairs on Ariadne's body stood on end. She could feel his breath.
It was the perfect moment to kiss. Their hearts were beating in perfect harmony. They could almost touch if they just reached out.
Hot skin would touch skin, and mucous membrane would talk to mucous membrane. Her breathing became ragged.
But Alfonso continued speaking, maintaining that exact distance.
“I thought I was a responsible person, but I wasn’t.”
If he were thinking about the future of the Etruscan kingdom, it would be right to accept the marriage with Princess Lariessa without question. But he could not do that.
“I thought I was a person without greed, but that wasn’t the case."
He couldn't stop his obsession with the woman in front of him.
He knew in his head that clearing his mind was the right thing to do for everyone, but he just couldn't seem to get rid of that compulsive feeling.
Even if he had to cut off an arm or a leg, it wouldn't have been this difficult.
For Alfonso de Carlo, forgetting Ariadne de Mare was like cutting off something essential to his own existence.
But to him, she was a luxury forbidden to him alone in this world.
If greed is the endless desire for something that is not permitted to oneself, then Alfonso was the greediest man in the world.
“You always bring out a side of me that I didn’t know existed.”
He looked at her indifferently. It wasn't the fifteen-year-old girl he'd first met, but a beautifully grown woman in her twenties looking at him.
She was the same as before, yet different.
Some things were still the same, like the plump cherry lips and rabbit front teeth that made him fall in love with her, and there were also some things that were very different from then, like the breathtaking body that continued from her slender neckline and delicate collarbone.
But Alfonso did not look at Ariadne in detail.
He looked at Ariadne, who had grown up to be dazzlingly beautiful, and he had the ironic conviction that he would still be able to love her when she became a white-haired old lady.
Whether her lips were thin or thick, her hair was long or short, her age was young or old, Ariadne was Ariadne.
What he loved was not her beautiful appearance but Ariadne herself.
Alfonso confessed to her in a soft voice.
“Be my woman.”
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