CH 10

The news that the youngest son of Duke Matari was engaged to the daughter of Count Phlox shook the capital.

Naturally, people were curious about Count Phlox’s entry into politics and his position. In response, Count Phlox made it clear again that he had no interest in politics, and Duke Matari also said that the union between the two had nothing to do with political intentions. Of course, no one believed it to be true. The gossipers clashed over when Count Phlox would return to the capital.

Whether it was unfortunate or fortunate, the bustle of the capital did not reach the Phlox estate. The only thing that changed was that Count Phlox declared that he would no longer accept disciples, and other than Storoni, his current disciples had left one by one. But even that was an event that didn’t have a significant impact on the twins. In fact, the twins’ lives barely changed.

And so as a result, Kalmia lived a very peaceful and awkward life on the outskirts for three years.

“Mia, Mia!”

“My lady! The Young Duke sent you a letter!”

“Oh, really?”

Kalmia, who was thirteen, sat with a bored expression. Hechi, who looked more excited than her, placed the letter on the desk, but Kalmia’s gaze was cold.

The contents of the letter were obvious to her. ‘Are you doing well? I’m doing well.’ It was most likely formal and stereotyped sentences like those. As if doing homework, the letters sent every month didn’t contain even the slightest effort to change their greetings. At this point, it was questionable whether Rudbeckia really wrote this letter. No matter how much she looked at it, he seemed to have used a servant.

Kalmia, who had initially sent sincere replies with minimal courtesy, gave up after a year or so. Regardless of Kalmia’s reply, Rudbeckia’s letters were still sent regularly. It made her feel even worse, because it felt like he was making fun of her.

If Kalmia were to be honest, she couldn’t understand it at all. The reason why they continued their insincere relationship for three years. No matter how much she thought about it, Rudbeckia didn’t seem to have any regrets, not only for the Phlox family but also for Kalmia. Kalmia was confident that she wouldn’t be surprised at all even if he broke off their marriage tomorrow. But above that, there was a bigger problem. He didn’t even seem willing to keep his promise to help him become her family’s successor!

“… He opened it first this time too.”

The cross-section of the envelope was cut with a paper knife and didn’t hide the fact that it had been opened first. Kalmia pondered for a moment on whether or not she should give a better-edged letter opener for Count Phlox’s birthday present this year. Even her father, who had shown sincerity by resealing the envelope in the beginning, had now just ripped Rudbeckia’s letter open. It meant that the contents of the empty shell were lousy.

There was only one reason why the old-fashioned Count Phlox would be so rude. It was because he was afraid that the youngest son of the Duke’s family might instill a vain delusion in his daughter’s mind. Such as the dream of a glamorous social world or the longing for a wealthy life in the capital. Apart from the engagement, the Phlox family still wanted to stay away from politics. The Count was terrified of how Kalmia’s engagement would affect the family.

Kalmia recalled the look the Count had made when she asked to be engaged to Rudbeckia three years ago. He looked at his daughter with an expression like he had heard something absurd. In the end, he even ordered a doctor to call and diagnose Kalmia. Naturally, Kalmia was healthy and normal. At the time, she wasn’t confident she could act like she had suddenly fallen in love, but she accepted Rudbeckia’s advice. Only because she couldn’t think of any other excuses.

Thus, she suddenly became the daughter of Count Phlox, who had fallen in love at first sight with the youngest son of the Duke of Matari.

“Mia! Did it say that he’s coming down again this month?”

“Not at all.”

Kalmia shook her head as she skimmed through the short letter that took less than a few minutes to read. Elois, who had an excited expression on his face like Hechi, slumped his shoulders. It was Elois who had genuinely supported the engagement the most. Elois was overjoyed that he would have a wonderful brother, although he didn’t know what Kalmia was up to when she accepted the engagement. Even so, at the end of three years, his longing was slowly fading away.

“You should give up. He’s never going to come again.”

Elois pouted his lips and left the room. Kalmia, who had clicked her tongue while looking at Elois, sat down again with a blasé expression on her face. Soon it was time for the twins’ tutors to visit. Even if they were teachers, they were people who conducted classes with arrogant manners and common sense. This was especially the case for Kalmia’s tutor. Count Phlox did not allow them to go beyond Kalmia’s basic teachings.

As she was lying on her desk, immersed in her thoughts, Kalmia heard the door open. She groaned and got up.

“Kalmia.”

Kalmia, who was about to say hello as usual, paused. Standing in front of her was not her tutor, but a grown-up boy.

“Storoni.”

When Rudbeckia insisted on the engagement with his high status, Count Phlox was the most surprised, but the second most surprised person after him was Storoni. Storoni even seemed to show a sense of betrayal. Thanks to this, Kalmia couldn’t help but wonder whether he was actually secretly in love with her. Considering that he stayed by Kalmia’s side until the end, listened to her, and even developed a romantic relationship with her, it wasn’t a vain speculation.

Of course, whatever he had in mind would have been ruined when Kalmia’s engagement was determined.

“Busy?”

Storoni’s smile that Kalmia hadn’t seen in a while was still friendly. Kalmia couldn’t figure out what expression she was supposed to make, so she quietly rolled her eyes.

After Kalmia’s engagement was set, Storoni had strangely begun to avoid her, and didn’t approach her as easily as before. Kalmia was upset for a year or so, but after a while, she didn’t care about him anymore. From then on, Kalmia was more distracted by what Rudbeckia could’ve been planning. Storoni also rarely left Count Phlox’s side, so he slowly stopped paying attention to the twins.

“Is this for Father’s errand?”

“No.”

Since Kalmia was sitting in front of her desk, she had to tilt her head back as far as possible to see Storoni’s face approach her. In three years, his height had suddenly increased. The rumor that the maids who saw Storoni would often blush at his face was understandable, now that he was starting to look more mature.

Of course, if Kalmia had feelings for him, they weren’t romantic. Despite the fact that she had been obsessed with him in her previous life, the Storoni in front of her now still looked just like a child. Perhaps it was because the image of the thirty-four year old Storoni in her mind was too strong. Besides, Kalmia had no reason to be obsessed with Storoni now. This was because unlike in her previous life, no one visibly rejected Kalmia anymore.

“It’s been a while, but you don’t seem very happy.”

“I’m just surprised since it’s been so long.”

What she said wasn’t actually an excuse. She was first surprised at the sudden visit of him, whom she hadn’t been close to for three years, then again at his appearance, which had grown more than she had expected, and lastly at the fact that he still treated her with a friendly smile and gaze. 

“Were you upset?”

“… Not particularly?”

“Now that you have a fiance, I thought you should’ve been more careful. It seems that I was the one at fault.”

Storoni took a chair and sat down next to Kalmia. It was in a very friendly attitude. She didn’t know what was going on all of a sudden, but the timing sure was bad. Kalmia glanced at her watch and said.

“I have class soon.”

“They’re not coming today. I asked the Count.”

Kalmia frowned. As she stared at Storoni as if he were speaking another language, he looked at her with smiling eyes.

“Did you want to study?”

Of course not. Her tutor was only teaching her the very basics, and Kalmia already knew them. She couldn’t even say that she knew everything clearly, so she had to act like she enjoyed it while enduring it. When she was caught yawning occasionally, her tutor judged that she was not interested in studying and was doing something else. Perhaps they reported that to the Count.

“Actually, I’m here to ask you to give me some of your time today. Why don’t we go out for a walk? We could also have some tea in the garden.”

If he already asked the Count and her tutor wasn’t coming, maybe he had something serious to talk about, right? Kalmia, who had a mysterious expression on her face, nodded her head immediately.

“Sure.”