"As I mentioned before, I seem to have mistakenly thought I had become close to you because I heard so much from the Viscount. That is why I keep committing such breaches of etiquette."
Then, she remembered Count Noah, who had asked at the ball if she could be called by her name.
"....Ah."
She thought he was a bit rude, but to think he actually felt close to her.
'What's wrong? I feel a little strange.'
Such a wonderful gentleman thought of Shioana in Highbell.
"So, I even sent you a small gift before the ball. I didn't dare to write your name, though."
"...The person who sent the lilies at that time."
To think the person who sent the gift she thought my father sent was Count Noah.
Shioana cleared her throat, feeling her flushed cheeks.
The two of them silently sipped their cold tea for a long time. How much time had passed like that?
"If you don't mind, could I ask you to show me around the garden?"
It was clearly a gesture of consideration for Shioana, who found it difficult to go out without Eli's permission. After all, she, too, felt it was a shame that Count Noah was returning just like this.
'...Are you disappointed?'
She opened her eyes wide at a thought that crossed her mind as she was walking out to the garden. Although she had met Count Noah often lately, she never imagined she would feel this way.
"It is a garden with not much to see."
The pavilion, whose installation date was unknown, was covered in thick moss due to the humidity, and old trees bent haphazardly by the wind, along with a bridge that looked severely corroded, caught her eye.
"It's amazing that there are flowers."
Count Noah probably thought that flowers didn't bloom at all in Regbell.
"There aren't many types, though."
Among the wildflowers, cyclamen, clematis, cineraria, and crocuses were emitting a strong honey scent.
Count Noah, who was walking ahead with his tailcoat fluttering, stopped in his tracks.
"The red cyclamen looks just like you."
"...That is."
She couldn't even begin to guess what it meant.
As Shioana looked puzzled, he stared straight at her and slowly parted his lips.
"How beautiful are the flowers in the field untouched by anyone's hands."
Perhaps because the scent of honey was even stronger than usual today, the air was terribly sweet.
'Are you telling me I'm as pretty as a flower?'
Siona's ears flushed bright red at his praise. Breaking the awkward atmosphere, the Count quickly changed the subject.
"Highbell is much warmer than here."
"I suppose so."
"If you allow me, I would like to invite you to my territory next time."
At Count Noah's proposal, she felt her already flushed ears grow even hotter.
Shioana, covering her cheeks with both hands, made eye contact with someone standing among the bushes.
A burly man clearing weeds from the ground with a long hook was glaring at them.
'...Etienne.'
Her face must look unsightly to anyone looking at it right now.
So she didn't want to show it to anyone.
Even more so if that is Etienne.
***
Etienne could not be seen for a few days after Count Noah visited.
He conveyed her orders to Martha, but he did not come to see Shioana. Just as Eli said, Etienne was truly too arrogant.
Strangely, the fact that she had shown Etienne the sight of her with the Count that day weighed on her mind the whole time.
"...Why me?"
He and Shioana were not, and could not be. Etienne was nothing but a slave, and she was a noble. Even a snot-nosed child knew this.
However, the expression on his face she saw back then continued to torment Siona.
He didn't seem angry.
Occasionally, while out hunting, she saw a dog whimpering after being bitten by a wild animal. The eyes of the bleeding dog resembled Etienne's from that time.
However, Shioana had never hurt him.
"I treated you so well."
So, his attitude was not right at all.
While she was still burning with passion, the sun was already setting. Distracted by the aging glow reflected on the lake, she ran her hand over her shoulder. Only then did she realize she hadn't brought the brush.
'I'm telling you, young lady, you're really famous for being clumsy.'
If Martha had seen this, she would have nagged her again.
Then she started to worry that Etienne might be sick.
"What do I care if a slave is sick or not?"
The moment she turned around, thinking she was going back, someone wrapped their arms around her.
"...Put this down!”
There was no need to check who the other person was.
Because a familiar scent filled the air around her.
Despite her resistance, Etienne held Shioana even tighter. In his arms, she squirmed, feeling as though her heart were about to burst.
"Can't you hear me?"
"Please. Just stay like this for a moment."
Shioana's body froze at the mournful voice.
"Are you, are you crying right now?"
Shioana's neck became slightly damp. She released Etienne's arm with force and turned her body.
"...Ah."
She couldn't believe it, but he was really crying.
The color of his red eyes had deepened, and glass-like tears continued to fall from them.
It was a sorrowful sob, enough to break the heart of the onlooker. Flustered, Shioana was at a loss for what to do. It was the first time she had ever seen another man cry. Moreover, she had never comforted anyone who was crying.
"S, Stop crying."
Reached out and stole Etienne's cheek. His shoulders trembled slightly.
Etienne snatched her wrist, lowered his head, and pressed his lips against it. His lips touched the back of Shioana's hand like a brand.
"I know it very well. However..."
Even though it was rambling, he felt like he understood what Siona was like and what she meant.
“Are you jealous?”
Shioana lifted her head straight.
“Yes, I understand.”
“What do you understand?”
Etienne, with bloodshot eyes, spoke in a hushed voice.
He was really curious.
'She knows this feeling that even I can't understand?'
He heard the story that she danced with several gentlemen at the ball.
'I wonder when the young lady grew up so much; they say she was more beautiful than anyone at the ball.'
Martha's voice trembled as she wiped away tears, as if deeply moved.
'It's a shame you couldn't see the young lady that day.'
Etienne knew everything.
Shioana's daily life has changed, and she might soon leave Regbell and his side.
However, just because he knew it didn't mean he could accept everything.
'The red cyclamen is just like you.'
A tall, platinum-blonde man was hitting on Shioana.
And in such a cliche way, too.
Angry, Etienne clenched his fist so tightly that the veins bulged.
The red cyclamen was quite flashy in Regbell. However, it was a stretch to simply compare her to a flower.
'Shioana is everything to Regbell.'
The bright sunlight shining on Regbell, the cool north wind, and the dry scent of grass brushing against the tip of the nose.
However, a man spouting such nonsense couldn't possibly know that properly.
Because what he wants must be a pretty woman who is well-dressed and stays by his side.
So, he is not the right man for her.
Etienne disliked the man at first sight, but now he could give specific reasons.
He felt a terrible sense of revulsion at the appearance of the man, dressed in wrinkle-free trousers and shoes without a speck of dust. The sight of him running his hand through his hair with fingers that were free of calluses was also an eyesore.
'...It looks like someone.'
His keen senses easily brought to mind a man similar to Count Noah. Eli Evgenia. The two were clearly of the same kind.
While Etienne was lost in thought, Shioana stomped her feet.
"Do you think there is something I don't know? How arrogant!"
Seeing Shioana's face contorted in a deep frown, the anger he had felt because of Count Noah instantly subsided.
Etienne silently surveyed his surroundings and plucked a golden crocus.
"Why the sudden flowers?"
Shioana could not hide her bewildered expression as she accepted the flower he suddenly offered her.
"This suits you better, young lady."
Not the kind of fancy flower Count Noah gave.
"...What?"
He had a lot to say, but there was nothing he could do.
For nothing was allowed to him at that moment.
'My Smilax.'
Etienne smiled faintly at Shioana as he recalled the story behind the crocus flower.
The love story of a human and the forest fairy Smilax was contained in this flower.
He thought that if Shioana ever thought of him in the future, he hoped she would remember him by this flower.
It's funny.
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