A Shadow Cast in Paradise - Chapter 53

“Your Excellency. I came here to serve the High Priestess, and I am only doing my duty.”

Riana spoke to him in a calm voice, as if telling him to look around.

Who among these will clean up the tart fallen on the floor and wipe the shoes?

Would it be the great High Priestess Giselle Marlhein, called the Saint? Or Sched Lester, head of the Elector family and undefeated hero? Or Riana Serpens, the new maid who came to serve the two nobles?

It was a question anyone could answer without disagreement.

Riana couldn’t understand at all what Sched wanted.

It just seemed like he was being spiteful.

If he had left her alone, she would have cleaned up and withdrawn, but the reason he deliberately held her back and wasted time with the tart… Was it to make her more clearly aware of her position?

Sched felt more malicious than Giselle, who had deliberately spilled the tart.

Just then, an elegant voice was heard from behind.

“Riana. That’s enough, take the tart and go out. I have something to discuss with His Excellency in private.”

Giselle was staring intently at Sched and Riana with her arms folded.

“Something to discuss in private?”

As Sched furrowed his brow, Giselle opened her lips with a smile.

“We need to talk a bit about our marriage, don’t we?”

“Giselle…!”

“Your Excellency.”

At that moment, Riana removed Sched’s hand that was gripping her arm.

The large, firm hand fell away with a thud.

“I’ll take my leave now, High Priestess.”

Riana bowed her head, knelt once again to pick up the tray with the cleaned-up tart, and stood up.

“Riana.”

“Please call if you need anything.”

Riana quietly went out, ignoring Sched’s call.

With the sound of the door closing, a chuckle escaped from Giselle.

When Sched turned to look at her coldly, Giselle shook her head while sitting with her legs crossed.

“You know, you’re so pathetic right now that it’s a shame for that maid.”

Giselle mocked her fiancé who was easily swayed in front of that woman.

Unlike the maid who knew how to behave rationally and calmly, the Duke was easily shaken emotionally.

As if that woman was his weakness, when she was touched, his hidden emotions would burst out.

“At least you should have kept your mouth shut in front of me. For her sake too.”

Does he not know that showing interest in Riana only provokes his fiancée?

No, he’s not stupid enough not to know that.

It’s just that now, he has reached the point where he can’t hide those emotions.

He’s clumsy and awkward like a novice boy experiencing love for the first time.

“Do you love that woman?”

Giselle asked, resting her chin on her hand at an angle.

Her voice was mixed with anger and irritation.

She wasn’t a benevolent person who would forgive and understand her fiancé harboring feelings for another woman.

But she wasn’t vulgar enough to grab the maid’s hair and shake her either.

What fault does that maid have?

Giselle was wise enough to know that nothing would change by tormenting Riana.

Tormenting Riana would only provoke that man, as it just did.

She had no intention of engaging in low-class behavior driven by simple emotions and jealousy.

“Did you call Riana here to confirm this?”

Sched looked down at Giselle, seemingly with no intention of sitting down again.

Giselle’s eyes narrowed unpleasantly.

“Of course. I need to confirm. Marriage is one of the most important events in my life. It might even be the most important event in this empire. And it would be troublesome if my partner assigned to this crucial task does something stupid.”

“So what do you want?”

“What would I want? Just prepare for the wedding quietly and modestly.”

Giselle was irritated by Sched asking questions to which he already knew the answers.

“You know, if it weren’t for you, I would have cherished that child very much. Just looking at her, I quite like her. So I’d appreciate it if you didn’t make me hate that child because of you. I tend to do a proper job of hating people, you know.”

Giselle looked up at him with a beautiful but monotonous face.

[This is the timeline separator]

Riana stood in the narrow corridor lined with white pillars, waiting for Giselle to come out.

Beyond the corridor pillars, the lemon tree in the courtyard could be seen.

The white bell tower bathed in sunlight overlooked everything in the temple, and on the ceiling was painted the image of the ancient paradise she had read about since childhood.

The tranquil scenery of the temple, with sunlight pouring down and birds repeatedly landing and taking off, was peaceful unlike her.

The edge of her heart, which had been pretending to be calm in front of Sched, seemed to crumble a little.

Riana pressed her tight chest and exhaled slowly.

“We need to talk a bit about our marriage, don’t we?”

Unlike her complicated and stifling life, Sched’s life seemed to be flowing ordinarily and elegantly.

Marriage. Right. There were such things in life.

It was normal to live talking about the future with lovers and family.

The ordinary and normal aspects of life felt particularly unfamiliar.

She wanted to leave Eclas and this place soon.

Just then, the sound of Giselle’s office door opening was heard.

Riana straightened her posture again.

“Riana.”

A baritone voice shortly uttered her name.

It was Sched Lester alone who came out of the office.

“…Please return safely, Your Excellency.”

Riana bowed her head, neatly folding her hands over her lower abdomen.

However, Sched walked steadily towards her and stopped.

“Why on earth are you here?”

“Because I was ordered to.”

Riana reminded him of the situation again, looking at Sched who was pouring out his anger coldly.

Sched’s black shoe tip pressed firmly on the white marble floor.

He knew better than anyone why Riana had no choice but to be like this.

Because she was once a slave, she knew too well the freedom that the lowly had been deprived of.

But apart from that, he felt like going crazy because of the rising emotions.

What angered him more was Riana’s eyes, which bore an infinitely calm and quiet light.

His head heated up at the sight of her standing there pretending to be unbothered.

“I just can’t understand you…!”

Sched roughly ran his hand through his hair.

His black hair disheveled between his long fingers.

Even that small movement stirred Riana’s heart, but it was too late to be shaken by just that stirring after facing such a stark reality.

Riana lowered her gaze.

Under Sched’s black shoe, a small dandelion that had bloomed between the stones was crushed and broken.

“If you have no other orders, I will take my leave now, Your Excellency.”

Sched’s blood boiled in front of her, who was obediently bowing her head.

That day, the day he had shown all his barbaric desires, she had cooled down as coldly as he had boiled up hotly.

If only she had gotten angry. If only she had poured out her resentment.

If only she had expressed what she was thinking and feeling.

Sched clenched his fist, which he dared not extend to her.

“If it’s because of what happened that day…”

“I know. I heard from Viscount Eclas.”

Riana spoke first as Sched parted his trembling lips.

“You know…?”

“It was because of the heat, wasn’t it?”

Riana whispered softly with the tip of her lips, as if being cautious lest this conversation be overheard by others.

At that moment, Sched froze in place.

“It was just an accident.”

Riana said dryly.

“So, I don’t want to talk about it anymore. It’s not a good memory for Your Excellency who is about to get married, and the same goes for me…”

Bitterness lingered on Riana’s lips as she continued speaking.

It was ridiculous that she had to speak up to this extent.

Why deliberately bring up memories and poke at unhealed wounds?

Rather let the incident be weathered by time and forgotten.

“You said you had nothing more to regret.”

Riana spoke again, pretending to be calm.

Sched saw the sunlight reflected in her eyes.

The white light was beautiful… and sad as if tinged with tears.

“…I still have many things to regret.”

The calm voice that flowed in helplessly stabbed his heart like a dagger.

“So I’d like you to stop now.”

[This is the timeline separator]

Eclas closed and opened his dry eyes, rubbing away his fatigue with a dry hand wash.

Books he had read all night were piled up next to his desk.

Not just books, but scrolled documents and unbound files were scattered messily.

Half were related to Bitel Trading Company, and half were about Ideana business, but some were very personal materials.

And the book in his hand now, with messy handwriting that was uncomfortable to read, was about Lupus.

‘To think I’m looking into Lupus heat cycles now of all things.’

He felt a bit of self-loathing, to be honest.

He was neither a Lupus, nor did he like such embarrassing topics as heat cycles.

For most people, the Lupus heat cycle issue was ‘not my business.’

The Lupus heat issue was generally thought of as a vulgar, dirty, and barbaric habit that threatened society, and people didn’t go beyond hating it.

That’s why even Eclas didn’t know anything beyond the common sense level that Lupus people talked about.

But to continue doing business with Sched Lester in the future, he had to know about Lupus and heat cycles.

Shouldn’t he be able to control, or at least predict, the variables of his business partner?

Moreover.

‘Louise Ideana. Her matter also concerns me.’

He intended to take her away, but the timing was uncertain.

If by any chance Sched’s heat cycle came first, it would be troublesome.

Thinking this, Eclas took out the lucky gold coin from his pocket and smiled wryly.

‘…Am I making excuses?’

To be honest, he hoped Riana would never be involved with Sched in this way again.

If he knew a bit more about heat cycles, he might be able to drive Sched and Riana further apart by bringing it up.