CH 10

Chapter 10: Confectionery Duke’s luscious offer

“Ah…”

(Oh, what an unexpected thing)

I was about to say that and then I closed my mouth.

I never expected Duke Svald, who had seen the scene, to cheerfully call out to me.

After all, the other nobles should have blamed me as the villain after I left.

A person who doesn’t even care for the young lady (servant) beside her, and has no compassion.

If that’s all, maybe Count Elvasti’s daughter did something and the servant fell down and they’re blaming me for it all.

That’s how everything has been so far.

After seeing that scene, I thought Duke Svald would definitely not approach me if he heard bad things about me.

For nobles, reputation is very important.

Although there are some small conflicts with other countries, those nobles who can’t gain fame from that try to exclude unwanted people using their connections and protect their position.

That’s why they don’t want to have anything to do with the Count Elvasti house.

If they reach out to me, they might create a bad reputation such as [Is that house doing something suspicious as well]?

In this situation.

Does Duke Svald not care at all about his reputation falling?

It is strange, but Duke Svald said cheerfully to me.

“I finally found you, Lady Linea. By the way, how did it go with the thing I mentioned yesterday? Can you tell me?”

(Is he more interested in the effect of the sweets than his reputation?)

As expected of the Confectionary Duke… I think to myself as I answer.

“Yes, Duke-sama. Actually… I had a nightmare again.”

“I see… That’s a problem.”

Duke Svald makes a difficult expression.

“Excuse me, Duke. May I ask what is troubling you?”

When I ask, Duke Svald gives a bitter smile.

“No, it’s not something so difficult. It’s just that I didn’t see any dreams that seemed like nightmares on my side. I thought it might be something that shouldn’t be passed on to others.”

“Th-that’s not true. I love flower sweets, so I feel joy when I can enjoy their taste rather than nightmares…”

Duke Svald shows a weak smile.

“I am grateful that you said that. However, there is also someone else who received sweets made with the same sacred flower…”

“There is someone else?”

I am surprised.

For a moment, I wondered if that person didn’t see any strange nightmares…

There are two things I’m worried about: whether or not they have a strange special ability like mine.

(If it has manifested, I’d like to know what kind of ability it has…)

But in that case, I would have to reveal my own skill, which I want to avoid. 

(If a normal person had a skill, it wouldn’t be a problem, but if it became known that I, who am always viewed as a villain no matter what I do due to my father’s affair, had a skill, it’s certain that I’d “harmed someone” or strange rumors would start) 

In the end, I’ll probably be isolated as a person who has a dangerous skill, sooner than I face that nightmare. 

(…hmm?) 

When I start to imagine that, I feel like I realize something, but the words that came to my throat disappear halfway… I’ll think about it again later.

“It was a somewhat unusual sacred flower. It’s not quite the same as the original because it was used in a flower confectionery, but even so, “she” still wanted it…”

Seeing Duke’s distressed expression, I can’t help but try to comfort him.

“Lord Duke was not affected by it at all. It’s not a problem if you don’t notice it. Maybe I have a disposition that causes me to see nightmares or something.”

Surely it’s just my special case, I say, and Duke Svald apologizes as if it’s his fault.

“I hope it’s okay… I’m sorry for causing you trouble, even though it was my mistake. By the way, please call me Lars. We’re both students, so I hope we can continue to be friendly in the future.”

“Th… thank you. If it’s not inconvenient, I would be happy if you called me Linea.”

I reluctantly agreed, even though I was feeling uneasy.

Suddenly, my heart was lifted.

I, who was disliked, had never been spoken to in such a friendly manner, as if to say “let’s be friends.” And this was after the situation where it couldn’t be helped if I was thought of as an heartless person.

I was afraid to ask what Lars was thinking at that time, but if he said it like that… at least it seems that I am not disliked for simply having a conversation about the confectionery.

“Well then, Miss Linea, I have a request.”

“What is it?”

Asking for a favor is also evidence that Lars is interested in me. But I wonder what it could be.

“I would like you to try some other sweets as well. If it is really true that you have a unique constitution, you can be relieved about this sweets as well… and as an apology for the nightmare, I would like to offer you some sweets.”

“I would love to, Lars-sama.”

I replied immediately.

If I can eat sweets other than on my birthday, it would be a welcome gift.

There was already an advantage to that alone, but there was another reason.

(If the cause of my special ability is sweets, what will happen if I eat other sweets? I might be able to find out if only the ones I received this time were special. And I am also curious about the nightmare, so if I have the same kind of dreams with non-special sweets…)

I still don’t know for sure if that will become a realistic nightmare.

To verify it, I might need even more sweets. It is difficult to obtain such rare items on my own, so Lars’s offer is welcome.

Lars was a little surprised and opened his eyes wide.

“Are you really okay? Are the nightmares not painful?”

“There is no need to endure.”

Even the knight Asher, who had been silent until now, says this to me, and I realize that I have done something a little strange.

If I were a normal lady, I would probably find it painful to have nightmares and even hate sleeping. But I jumped into the conversation because I wanted some sweets.

(But even if I act normally, no one will praise me. If something like a dream were to happen by any chance, I want to keep the connection with the Duke.)

So I decided not to worry about it.

“Please don’t worry. If you eat something delicious, you can forget about nightmares.”

When I smiled and replied like that, both of them looked even more strange… Is it okay?