CH 23

“What did you say just now? A bet?”

Grandma let out a stunned laugh, and Father intervened between them.

“Stop it, Mother. Didn’t I make it clear? I would consider Liliana’s opinion first before making a decision.”

“If you have a brain, you would have allowed it!”

“Mother!”

Grandmother and Father raised their voices.

In the increasingly brutal atmosphere, Liliana stepped in and dissuaded Father.

“No, Father. I knew I’d have this conversation with Grandmother one day since the moment I turned down the engagement.”

“Liliana.”

Father called out to Liliana in a worried voice, but she responded more calmly than usual.

“I want to know what the hell you were thinking and why you turned it down.”

“I turned it down because I thought that even if I don’t have the position of an Imperial princess, I could be useful to the Imperial family with my abilities.”

“You?”

“Yes. Me.”

Despite Grandmother’s sarcastic voice, Liliana spoke calmly.

There was a long silence, and soon Grandmother opened her mouth.

“Yeah. Let’s make that bet. Whether or not you can have more influence than an Imperial princess. Let’s wait and see who’s right.”

“Yes. I’ll show it to you, so please look forward to it.”

At Liliana’s confident tone, Grandmother answered in a tired voice.

“A month. I can’t wait for more than that.”

Somehow, it felt like the conversation would end soon.

‘Wait. If I stay like this, she’ll get mad at me for overhearing it.’

It was a difficult situation to enter, so I hesitated for a while, but the conversation had ended before I knew it.

While I was perplexed about what to do, the butler who was waiting at the door knocked as if he saw my strange expression.

“Duchess, Miss Daisy is here.”

I smiled broadly as a token of gratitude at his thoughtful remark, and the butler also smiled softly in response.

“Come in, Daisy.”

In the quiet room, I finally heard Father’s voice.

I inhaled a breath of tension, exhaled it, passed through the door opened by the butler, and entered the living room.

“I came because I was so distracted that I couldn’t even greet Grandmother properly. Am I interrupting?”

“What do you mean interrupting? The urgent talk is over, so it’s fine.”

At Father’s words, I put my hands together and laughed, saying, “I’m glad.”

Then I turned around and greeted Grandmother, who was still looking at me with a disapproving look.

“It’s been a while, Grandmother.”

“I’m tired because I came up early in the morning. I’m going to stay here for a month, so prepare my room.”

However, Grandmother left the open door without even receiving my greeting.

I felt a different kind of cold treatment for the first time in a long time.

‘But I don’t think it hurts as much as it used to.’

I put my hand on my chest and was relieved that my heart was beating calmly.

‘I’m probably changing, too.’

I smiled a little proudly, but Liliana approached me with a slightly angry expression.

“Daisy, I told you to go back to your room, why did you come here?”

“I was worried that Sister would get in trouble. Sister hasn’t forgotten that I will be Sister’s strength, right?”

“You are so…”

At my words, Liliana hugged me with a softened expression, as if the remaining anger had melted away.

“I will do my best. I will do my best so that what you cheer for will not become powerless.”

✲ ✲ ✲

Rumors that Grandmother had come to the Capital spread quickly throughout the social world, and invitations poured in from numerous families, but the only one she responded to was the Empress’ invitation.

‘I’m tired because Grandmother’s been staying in the mansion too much.’

The answer was not to run into her as much as possible, but being alone in the room also had its limits.

However, if I went to the temple, I had to clarify my destination, and Grandmother really hated the temple, so I couldn’t go there.

As the frustration and tiredness piled up, Iris contacted me.

She said she had a place she wanted to go to together and asked if the timing was okay.

Although it was a sudden call that I received the day before the hangout, I left the mansion with a joyful heart at the thought of being able to go out confidently without drawing attention.

“Daisy. Here.”

As soon as I left the mansion, I saw a carriage with Iris in it.

“You said you’d only send a carriage. I didn’t know you’d come in person.”

As I was surprised, Iris let out a pleasant laugh.

“I wanted to come and see my friend. Were you surprised?”

“Yes. I was. Are you looking forward to today?”

“Huft. Listening to everyone praising that place, I really wanted to go there. I’d like to go with Daisy.”

The carriage, full of anticipation, soon set out for its destination.

✲ ✲ ✲

“This is…”

I got off the carriage and looked up at the place I had arrived at, blurting out.

It was a familiar place, so I blinked, flustered.

Iris smiled broadly as if she hadn’t noticed my expression.

“It’s the temple!”

How can I not know the place that brought me comfort and peace?

However, the temple was always quiet as its prestige declined, but it had a lot of visitors today.

“Oh, no. Since when have there been so many people in the temple?”

When I asked in a stuttering and embarrassed voice, she looked aghast.

“Oh. I forgot to explain.”

My eyes turned to Iris, who was heading to the nearby carriage.

“There is a famous figure in the temple these days, so the number of visitors has increased to meet him.”

“Famous?”

Iris quietly slipped her arms with mine and said.

“I’ll explain the details as we enter. Now, shall we go in?”

Arm in arm with Iris, I climbed the familiar stairs.

‘Who were you talking about when you said a famous person?’

As far as I know, there were no such figures in the temple, rather it was full of notorious priests.

‘And so was the person from that time.’

When I remembered the priest who threatened me, my eyebrows naturally furrowed.

However, as I recalled a face, I began to wonder.

‘Wait. No matter how much I think about it, isn’t it him?’

“I heard he’s a holy knight who came here a while ago. Everyone praised him for his beautiful appearance that looked as though created by God, a strong body that makes people want to be held in his arms, and his friendly and righteous personality.”

There was only one person Iris’s explanation could point to.

‘It’s Adelio.’

Iris continued in a slightly more excited voice than usual.

“There was a big accident at the Imperial Library recently, and he stepped up and said no one was injured.”

“Oh, I see.”

“Because there were no visitors before, no one knew that such a great person was here. Well, not anymore.”

At the end of Iris’ explanation, a loud noise came from nearby.

“He must be there.”

Iris’s steps accelerated, but we couldn’t get close.

Because there were a lot of people around him.

Adelio was responding with a friendly smile to the women who kept talking to him.

“Holy Knight! My brother who was in the library last time didn’t get injured because of your help. I’d like to thank you on his behalf!”

Their voices were so loud that we could hear the conversation from a long distance.

“I just did what I had to do. There’s no need for your gratitude.”

“Then can you just accept this?”

A woman of my age held out something to Adelio with a trembling hand.

“I-It’s a handkerchief that I embroidered myself. If you feel uncomfortable with my gratitude, please accept this.”

“It’s really beautiful. But as a holy knight, what I did was only natural. I’m sorry, but I’ll only accept your heartfelt gratitude.”

At the repeated refusal, the woman put on a sullen expression, but she was soon pushed out by the other women.

Seeing his popularity made me feel strange for some reason.

‘He said he would wait for me someday.’

I was annoyed for no reason when I thought that with so many people visiting him, he would soon forget me.

“I can’t see his face well because it’s so far away. Shall we get a little closer?”

Iris asked me, but I shook my head with an unhappy look.

Then another woman asked Adelio a new question.

“I heard that Holy Knight was in the central temple and applied for a dispatch directly here. Do you have any special reason?”

‘Aren’t you asking something too personal?’

I thought it was rude, but I was also curious, so I listened carefully and waited for his answer.

“I do.”

At Adelio’s words, all the women around him became quiet.

He smiled lightly at the women who instantly turned silent, then he slowly turned his head, and fixing his eyes in one place, he said.

“There’s someone I really want to meet in the Capital.”

“Oh, my.”

Adelio’s expression instantly changed.

He looked as if he was so happy imagining it to the point that he didn’t know what to do, it was the expression of a man in love.

“H-Have you meet that person?”

At someone’s question, He shook his head.

“No. Not yet, sadly.”

“Oh, what should I do?”

“Do you want us to help you find that person?”

At the women’s continued words, Adelio shook his head.

“It’s fine.”

A confident expression formed on Adelio’s lips.

“The longer I wait, the sweeter the reunion will be.”

I couldn’t hear the women’s sad sighs.

‘What?’

I froze in place for a while in bewilderment.

Adelio’s gaze hadn’t left me for a while.

As if he was talking to me.