It would be a lie to say that, after returning from the palace, Rosenta slept well and ate every meal.
It had only been a day.
Nevertheless, he waited for Vivian to call on him.
"Enoch, was there no letter from Marquis Marigold?"
"No, there wasn’t."
Once again, Enoch's answer was the same.
Rosenta sighed deeply and slammed his head onto the desk in his office.
"Sigh."
Immediately, Enoch's big hand slid under his head.
Enoch slightly lifted his head so that his forehead was not hurt. Carefully wrapping his hand around Rosenta’s forehead.
Then he asked him,
"What's bothering you?"
He sounded normal, but there was an underlying tone that was anything but.
Rosenta raised his upper body.
He leaned back against the back of his chair and looked up and Enoch with a slightly askance posture.
He muttered,
"It's work...….”
Contrary to his complicated and dizzy mind, warm sunlight streamed in from behind.
He tilted his head back for a moment and then looked forward again, resting his chin on his arm resting on the armrest.
He quietly stared into light green eyes.
"But, as long as it's her, it should be okay."
He stood up from his seat.
He couldn't concentrate on the work in his office anyway, so he wanted to go out.
After roughly organizing the documents, he walked toward the door and made a quick detour.
It was to reassure Enoch so that he wouldn’t worry and feel the need to intervene in the situation.
"It's just a fight between friends, so don’t worry about it and just leave...….”
It was weird for some reason.
The word "leave" left a particularly bitter aftertaste...….
"Make sure you're well prepared."
***
Enoch tried to follow him.
However, it was the Estella Duchy’s castle, which was Rosenta’s territory.
So, he dissuaded Enoch several times, saying he didn't have to.
As a result, he was able to head to the garden near the entrance of the castle alone.
Sitting on the bench, he observed quietly whether there would be any visitors to the duchy.
But the only ones who came were the nervous guards.
"Greetings, Duke! Do you have anything to say to us...….”
"It's nothing."
"If you need anything, please feel free to call us!"
"That's right."
They kept glancing at him while standing guard.
Eventually, he realized his presence there wouldn’t help, so he stood up from the bench.
At that moment, he made eye contact with Aphra, who was coming into the castle.
"Oh? Duke!"
He, naturally, ended up chatting with Apra.
Then, unexpectedly, he heard Aphra talk about Vivian.
"Today is the day I go shopping with Vivian, so I stopped by the castle for a bit."
“……Did you say Vivian?"
"What? Oh, yes."
Rosenta was troubled for a moment.
Would it be better to meet Vivian through Aphra? If so, this frustration would be reduced.
But he quickly shook his head.
Vivian asked for time, so the answer would be to wait quietly for her to reach out.
‘I was the one who did the wrong thing.’
He couldn't make the other person feel more uncomfortable just to reduce his own discomfort.
‘But just this much should be fine...….’
"Before you go see Vivian, could you come with me for a moment?"
"With the Duke?"
"Yes, I'd like you to deliver something to Vivian for me."
Rosenta laughed bitterly straight away.
"If that's the case, the Duke himself...….”
When Aphra saw Rosenta laugh, he closed his mouth tightly without spitting out another word.
It seemed he read something from his speech and expression.
Soon, he spoke to him with a look full of determination.
"Yes, I will definitely go with the Duke."
***
In fact, Vivian hadn't remembered today's appointment.
She remembered the appointment only when she saw Aphra who’d come all the way to the Marquis residence.
"Let's go see some clothes!"
When she saw Aphra's face, which was smiling brightly while even wriggling his feet in excitement, she couldn’t send him back.
Eventually, Vivian forced her feet, which would not budge, to move.
"It must be a new product!"
“……It's pretty."
"What do you think about this? I think it'll look really good on Vivian."
"Uh, I agree...….”
No matter how much Aphra talked to her, Vivian's responses were consistent.
She murmured like a deflated balloon.
Even a chatty Aphra had no choice but to cool down when she reacted like this.
As it was, Aphra put back the clothes he was looking at.
Then he told the clerk.
"I'll come back again next time, so please leave the pink dress aside."
"Yes, sir. I'll reserve that dress."
This didn’t seem to be the time, so he decided to come back for it later.
The clerk understood his words perfectly and nodded quickly.
The clerk saw them off.
"Be careful."
In the meantime, Vivian remained still like someone who had been mesmerized.
It was an uncharacteristic reaction for Vivian.
Aphra pondered for a moment and recalled a note given to him by Rosenta before coming here.
He took it out in a hurry.
"If Vivian doesn't look happy, get her a bomb chocolate latte at Dawn's Cafe.
It's her favorite drink.
If she drinks it, she’ll feel a little better.
I look forward to your kind cooperation.
P.S. The location of the cafe is shown below on a hand-drawn map.”
Aphra looked around.
The location of the cafe on the map seemed quite far from where he was.
Traveling a long distance when you were in a bad mood might make things worse...….
He agonized for a moment.
Then Aphra firmly called Vivian, as if determined.
"Vivian."
"Huh?"
"I'm going to buy something. Would you like to look around at Yulia's dress shop?"
"Oh...…. I'll do that."
Fortunately, the nearby Yulia's dress shop was one of the shops Vivian usually went to.
So, without hesitation, Vivian separated from Aphra and went into the shop.
With a rattle.
"Welcome."
When they heard the clear bell, the clerk quickly appeared.
The clerk followed Vivian and assisted her in shopping as if it was the norm.
"You look so good in it."
"Please give me this."
"Oh my! This outfit looks good on the Young Lady, too!"
"Then this too...….”
She shopped more than usual.
Since Aphra wasn’t there, she kept buying clothes as if she were trying to erase other thoughts.
It was when Vivian’s selected clothing was piled up like a mountain.
Rattle.
She heard a bell.
Soon, the door opened and Aphra appeared, sweating like it had rained.
"Vivian, Vivian...…. Drink this."
Vivian's eyes were fixed on the drink Aphra had in his hand.
A drink from Vivian's favorite cafe, which she’d never told anyone about but Rosenta.
By all appearances, it was the drink.
"Is there a lounge here?"
"Huh? Of course! I'll show you right away!"
It usually took a long time for the children of aristocrats to shop, so stores usually had a separate private lounge.
It was always especially open to big spenders such as Vivian.
As a result, the clerk whisked them to it without a hint of panic.
Of course, in the meantime, Vivian's eyes remained on the drink.
"I'll leave the clothes you said you were going to buy here, too. Please try them on and relax."
After hanging all the clothes on the rack, the clerk finally left the lounge.
Only the two of them were left.
Only then did Vivian open her mouth for the first time as if she had been waiting for this time.
"Aphra, where did you get this?"
"What? I just ordered the sweetest thing from a café I saw...….”
"You're lying."
The eyes of the two met.
Aphra saw her determined, tearful, bright red eyes.
At that moment, Afra realized he couldn't lie.
“……The Duke said that, if you didn’t seem to be feeling well, to make sure to buy this for you."
Vivian bowed her head.
Then she flopped down on the bright red sofa behind her.
"As expected...…. I knew it."
‘Why are you so sweet, even at times like this?’
‘This is why I have no choice but to like you, Rosenta.’
Vivian put her feet on the sofa and hugged her knees closely.
Then she murmured something and buried her face in her lap.
"Actually, I'm not mad...….”
"V-, Vivian?"
Aphra didn't really understand her murmur.
But he fully understood that Vivian was struggling.
He slowly reached out his hand.
"Vivian...….”
He carefully patted Vivian on the back, like when consoling his siblings.
He spoke in a very soft tone.
"Because I am beholden to the Duke...…. If you don't mind, you can tell me anything you want to say to the Duke."
“……To Rosen?"
Suddenly Vivian looked up.
Her face was full of tears she had shed in the meantime.
Aphra nodded, carefully wiping Vivian's bright red eyes.
"Yes."
Starting with that answer, Vivian exploded into tears very loudly.
"Ugh. You know...…. I-, I'm not angry. I'm actually just disappointed."
Vivian didn't get angry. Rather, she cried very sadly.
Even clinging to Aphra's neck.
"My first thought was, 'What am I going to do?' What am I going to do from now on?’"
"You must have had a hard time."
"I'm so sad. Ugh. I told you to find a wonderful woman, to meet someone nice, but...….”
"Yes, I see."
Aphra answered very kindly as he acted out the role of Rosenta.
Her tears intensified.
Vivian, in a voice full of nasally sounds, continued to speak her mind.
"I was secretly looking forward to it. You know, I was dumped without even being able to confess. Hahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh."
Aphra had a rough idea of what was going on.
‘Maybe she learned the Duke’s secret. I don't know how it happened, but...….’
"I see."
But he pretended not to know.
Pretending not to understand at all, he just patted Vivian’s back over and over again.
"You must be upset."
"I'd be lying if I said I wasn’t upset...…. but if you think about it carefully, you haven’t lied since meeting me."
Vivian slowly raised her head.
For a moment, he could see Vivian's face with its red eyes and a red nose.
Vivian tried to speak clearly with her awkward, nasally pronunciation.
"Sniff. There must be a reason."
But that made it even funnier.
Finally, Aphra couldn't hold back his laughter and burst into a big laugh.
"Puhahahahaha!"
"What? Why are you laughing? Sniffle."