CH 39

Two people talking in the office.

Yuren and Duke Gardenn.

“That’s all for the report.”

“Understood. I’ll leave the management of your territory to you.”

“Yes.”

After finishing the regular report, the conversation came to a natural end.

A few seconds passed, and the Duke tried to start the conversation.

“Your Highness.”

“Come to think of it, you had quite an interesting conversation earlier, didn’t you?”

“――! Did you hear it?”

“Well, yeah. But let me tell you that I wasn’t eavesdropping. I just happened to pass by. Can’t move forward if the road is blocked, right?”

Yuren spoke with a smirk on his face.

The Duke, who seemed to want to say “that’s called eavesdropping”, let out a sigh.

“How was Aria?”

“…Well, I’ll admit she was genuinely enthusiastic.”

“Is that all?”

“…I also felt the trust you have in her. I don’t intend to retract my earlier statement, but I realize it was hasty to draw a conclusion.”

Yuren breathed a sigh of relief, thinking that it was a typical response from the Duke.

However, they couldn’t end the conversation there.

He takes out a knife from the drawer and places it on the table.

“Do you recognize this knife?”

“Yes.”

The duke didn’t lie.

He intended to confess about this matter from the beginning.

He just missed the timing because Yuren brought it up first.

Even if he was not caught or asked, the Duke had already made up his mind to talk about it on his own.

“You went too far this time. The result could have been different with one misstep.”

“Yes. I’m sorry.”

He does not make excuses.

It is a fact that he did it wrong.

The Duke deeply bows his head precisely because he realizes it himself.

“Raise your head, Duke Garrden.”

“Yes.”

The Duke raises his head as ordered.

Although he was ready to face any punishment, he realizes that Yuren has no intention of doing so by looking at his expression.

“Hey, Duke Garrden, did you say that you were doing it for my sake? Was that really true?”

“Yes. For the sake of Your Highness’s future, I will stubbornly do what I feel is necessary.”

“I see. You are that kind of man. That’s why I trust you. I believe you had your own considerations in this matter as well.”

“Yes.”

Trust.

The two of them have known each other’s intentions and respected each other.

Therefore, Yuren knows that the Duke does not have malice.

Otherwise, he would never have entrusted his territory to him in the first place.

If it had been someone else, they would have immediately mobilized their troops for this incident.

But Yuren trusted Duke.

“I also want to respect your ideas. You have ideas that I could never come up with. Your opinions are necessary for me to become a true prince.”

“Please don’t be ridiculous. My ideas are lightweight compared to Your Highness’s.”

“That’s not the point. What I want to say is that one’s own opinion is not everything.”

As Yuren spoke, he turned his back and looked out the window slowly.

From his office, he could see Aria’s workshop, which was small.

“I want to associate with people who have ideas that I can’t come up with for myself, for my own sake. I want to have those people around me. Aria is the same. She has something that I don’t.”

“What is that exactly?”

“Who knows? If you want to know, you have to get involved. Are you also planning to observe her?”

“…Yes. I will do that.”

See for yourself.

Yuren conveyed this to the Duke, and the Duke agreed.

If you can confirm and understand it with your own eyes, not by asking others, you should be able to truly appreciate the person’s value.

Yuren and Aria have been deepening their bond in this way.

◇◇◇

The clock hands indicate 7 p.m.

It’s completely dark outside after the sun went down.

It seems like it’s already been an hour beyond 6 o’clock, which had been planned to be the end.

While in a rush to tidy up, the door suddenly swung open.

“You’re still as dedicated as ever to your work, Aria.”

“Yuren-kun? What brings you here at this time?”

It might be the first time he has visited at night.

I stopped cleaning.

“I thought I’d let you know, just in case.”

“Inform me of what?”

“Well, that matter has been resolved.”

Yuren-kun’s words make me pause.

I had a conversation with Duke-sama and felt relieved, but I hadn’t told Yuren-kun anything about it.

If he hadn’t mentioned it, I would have forgotten to report about it.

“But, wait, it’s resolved? Did you reach an agreement?”

“I guess you could say that. Actually, thanks to Aria telling him everything, there wasn’t much for me to say.”

“…Eh? You were listening by any chance?”

Yuren-kun nods.

Apparently, he overheard our conversation in the hallway.

“If you talk in a place like that, others might hear you. Fortunately, it seems like no one else was there at the time.”

“I-I see…”

He heard us.

Wait a minute.

Now that I think about it, I said some embarrassing stuff, didn’t I…?

“You looked cool, though. Standing proudly in front of Duke Garrden.”

“W-Well, I guess. I was caught up in the moment.”

“And that made me happy. Thank you.”

“U-Uh, yeah.”

He said with a smile that it made him happy.

I wonder which words he was referring to.