CH 1.13

CHAPTER 1: THE SUPPORTING ROLE IS ALSO QUITE DIFFICULT (XIII)

Part 014

Ethan brushed his red hair and put the black beaded box down on the desk in Adrian’s office with a snap. Adrian, who had been concentrating on the paperwork for a while, raised his head and looked at the face that was elated. As Adrian just looked at his face, Ethan, impatient, pushed the box he put down in front of Adrian and urged him.

“Open it. This time, I’ve got the perfect one.”

Adrian put down the pen he was holding and opened the box. It was a moderately sized brooch with a sky-blue jewel the size of a thumbnail set in the center, wrapped in platinum and decorated with a blue ribbon.

Adrian looked down at the jewel for a long time. It resembled the clear blue sky that he saw that day. It wasn’t as deep and light blue as the eyes that curved finely as she looked up at him, but he thought it would be worth seeing, and he made a satisfied face. Ethan noticed at once the slight change in Adrian’s expression and clenched his fists.

In order to find that jewel, he searched all the shops called jewelers in Midok. Recalling the past, Ethan was thrilled. At first, it was Adrian who shook his head when he had been looking for jade-colored jewels because it was the color of the clear summer sky. Next, he spent quite a lot of money to find blue diamonds, but Adrian opened the box and glanced at them, then closed the lid. Colored gemstones were originally dark in color and have no blemishes. It wasn’t easy to find light blue jewels, but Adrian just said again that it was a clear summer sky blue to his subordinate, who tilted his head as he had no idea what color the clear sky was.

Even though he thought it’s unusual for Adrian, who usually behaves calmly, the master’s heart to give a gift to a woman for the first time was just admirable. With a special mission to check the eye color of Lady Ethart, who rarely goes out of the house and never leaves it, George, the best agent of ‘Moon’, was dispatched to the Etihad family.

He wondered how he managed to approach her, but Lady Ethart didn’t come out of the study all day, so with the outsider status he created, he couldn’t even look at it from a distance. In the end, George, who had even worked undercover as a new attendant, returned after seeing Lady Ethart’s face passing the hallway for the first time in a week. After that, he went on a pilgrimage to Midok’s jewelry store again with Ethan.

With the jewel that was so hard to find, all the designers in the world put in orders to tear their hair out, and it was not too burdensome yet luxurious, suitable for a young lady just coming of age. Ethan asked in a playful voice as Adrian looked with satisfaction at the brooch he held out, thinking that if he shook his head again this time, he would fold it.

“Are you sure you want to go?”

“I think you were the one who told me to go if I was concerned.”

“That’s because you care.”

“I didn’t care.”

“’Is there a banquet in the Ethart family, when is Lady Etihart’s coming-of-age ceremony?’ Didn’t anyone ask questions full of determination to find an excuse to meet the lady again?”

Adrian, at a loss for words, glanced at Ethan, who was smiling, and closed the lid. Ethan opened his mouth again excitedly at the appearance that was hard to see usually. Opportunities to make fun of the lord, who behaves coldly as if no needle would go in, do not come often.

“George saw her eyes up close and he said it was the color of a clear summer sky. I wondered what color it was, but looking at the gems I picked out on my chin, I thought I could only say that.”

“It’s a much clearer color.”

Adrian, who had put the box away with a nonchalant face and had his eyes on the papers again, interrupted. Ethan smiled with the corner of his mouth and pretended not to know what he was saying.

“I wish I could see her too. It’s hard to see her even in the mansion. I heard that she studies all day. What kind of aristocratic lady would study so militantly?” George asked.

“Is she taking the Administrative exam?”

Kahen Adrian raised his head again and looked at Ethan, he asked, and Ethan laughed inwardly and answered casually.

“Yes, I thought she was going to take the test this summer?”

Adrian tried to think of Damian with a bright smile. It’s an administrative exam, so it seemed like a good fit. Adrian had difficulty remembering the few female administrators who moved to and from the military. He looked at Damian often in the street, dressed similarly, carrying a bundle of papers.

She seemed to fit too. Ethan was troubled as he looked at Adrian, who was thinking of Damian, while maintaining an expressionless expression. Unaware of Adrian’s delusions, Ethan was wondering if he didn’t like the lady becoming an administrator, when he heard a knock.

“It’s Kale.”

“Come in.”

Kale opened the door and entered, pretending not to see Ethan and bowing his head in greeting, placing a stack of the papers on Adrian’s desk. Kale was Adrian’s colleague who he met when he graduated early from the academy and entered the military as soon as he reached adulthood and snatched the position as the youngest commander. He was thirteen years older than Adrian, but he was a freshman in command of the same rider who had been commissioned as a latecomer.

Kale and Adrian spent their military life together, receiving commander training. Then he was delighted with Adrian and was the person who was by his side when he stopped the rebellion of the former Duke of Bigor. When Adrian was driven to the border area, he insisted on going down with him, but Kale remained with the military at the persuasion of Adrian, who needed an eye to look at the situation in Midoc.

For the next four years, he waited with all his heart for Adrian to return. And at the beginning of the year, when Adrian was appointed commander, he was promoted to his lieutenant, helping Adrian by his side. Kale, who recognized Adrian before anyone else and was proud of being with him, and Ethan, who has followed Adrian ever since he came to the border as a member of the National Guard, sometimes had a subtle war of nerves. Kale was a typical soldier with dark hair and eyes and a serious look. On the other hand, Ethan was the type of schemer who had a lot of skill in coming up with clever tricks rather than discipline while he was in extreme condition with flying red hair. At first glance, the two seemed difficult to get along with.

“I’ve been suffering from the military all day, and I’m just about to leave work. Did I have to bring another job?”

Seeing Adrian still piled up with papers even after leaving work late at night, Ethan chimed in.

“I only brought it because I was told to bring it as soon as it was reported.”

Kale said plainly without looking at the other side.

“If you’re not flexible enough, I’ll pick one up and show you tomorrow.”

“I don’t know how to live in moderation like that.”

“You don’t know? Who do you think is the one who perfectly finishes the work that Mr. Who-you-know drags into the mess?”

“I don’t even know how to be condescending like that after doing what I have to do.”

“What? I was going to hold back because I was in front of the lord, but did you finish what you said?”

When Ethan pushed his red hair in front of Kale, who was standing in a relaxed posture, arguing, Kale glanced down at Ethan and smiled. Adrian, who quickly flipped through the papers handed them to Kale, and smiled as he looked at the two subordinates squatting in front of him.

Seeing Adrian’s smiling face made Ethan feel better for no reason, cleared his throat and asked.

“Why are you laughing?”

“I thought you became quite close. It’s like seeing a teenage son and his father.”

Ethan’s face was colored with surprise, and Kale was unusually hot.

“Son and father! I’m only a year older than this monster?”

“My lord, I don’t like a father like this! My father looks a lot younger than this guy! Someone that called me a monster. The guy who faced all the storms of life on his face.”

Ethan, who looked like a playful boy, glanced at Kale, sulking his eyes. Kale, who seemed to be in his mid-40s, looked down at Ethan with a disapproving face, probably because he had suffered for a long time as a training commander in the military even at the age of 37. When their eyes met, the two made similar expressions and turned their heads away. While watching the subordinates in their late 30s playing cutely in front of their 24-year-old lord, Adrian picked one more time and laughed.

“So, what is Dozern doing?

“We haven’t been able to find the whereabouts of the missing young lady yet, but since the 2nd prince is emptying the palace for two or three days, I guess they hid it from there. George is after him, so his whereabouts will be out soon. The reaction of Hubei and the Luther family is really surprising. Nodovan and the ‘King’s Eye’ kids are so loud, what’s the secret behind being quiet?”

“Isn’t this a ploy to lure the lady into the aristocratic faction?”

“The Duke of Nodovan is not a person to be easily seduced by. He is strict with principles and rules, so he is not one to be shaken by the issue of his daughter’s marriage.”

“I’m not trying to appease the Nodovan, but it’s more strange. How could the second prince be blinded by love and do something like that?”

“I don’t know. First love at that age is quite intense.”

“Ugh, Kale, with that face, you’re a romantic, what the hell? Ugh, disgusting.”

He playfully poked Kale’s side with his finger, and Kale slapped his hand away with a disapproving look on his face. Adrian narrowed his brows, lost himself in thought for a moment, then folded the papers.

“Let’s see for now.”

Ethan and Kale bowed their heads and left the office. In the empty office, Adrian, who was about to lower his head to the paperwork again, opened the black box he had pushed to the side of the desk. He looked at the jewel resembling a pupil of the denominator, and then covered it again.

* * *

On the evening of Damian’s coming-of-age ceremony, Ethan pushed a large tray in front of Adrian, who was about to leave the door with a box for a present. Ethan let out a deep sigh as Adrian looked down at the tray with several different types of flowers placed side by side and asked with his eyes what it was.

“I thought you wouldn’t know. For the coming-of-age ceremony, the custom is to bring two flowers. Really, what would you do without me?”

At Ethan’s bruise, Adrian looked down at the flowers again. He stretched out his hand toward the bland rose, then moved on to the white daffodil. He thought that it matched Damian’s fresh smile, like yellow stamens blooming and bursting out.

Taking two daffodils, Adrian got into a carriage and arrived at Ethard House, where many carriages were forming a long line. Unable to enter the mansion, the carriages lined up along the walls of the mansion quickly opened the entrance upon discovering a carriage with the big design of the Duke of Bigor engraved on it. Adrian, who had walked through the crowds splitting from the entrance of the mansion, found Damian as soon as he entered the ushered banquet hall. It was Adrian who thought that he had taken a useless step in front of a larger number of people than he had expected, but when he faced Damian’s surprised face, everything else became irrelevant.