Except for when the Duke of Periot said this, Cassian generally maintained his composure.
Deviron calmly observed his son’s demeanor.
While maintaining a polite attitude, his son’s face openly revealed his indifference, causing the Viscount of Westernroad Periot, who had been boasting about his daughter’s beauty, to turn red and blue as if insulted.
Deviron, true to his usual gentle nature, broke quite a sweat trying to neutralize Westernroad’s anger.
The return journey was filled with the usual tedious silence.
It was naturally troublesome for an unaffectionate father and son to spend a long time together in one carriage.
The carriage interior was filled with the affectionate father’s questions contrasted with the son’s stiff responses.
Hearing his son’s dry answers like “Yes” or “I see,” devoid of any emotion, Deviron suddenly felt fear.
The indifference so resembling his grandfather that it was hard to believe this was his son.
Every action, posture, and even tone of his son carried an indescribable lack of feeling.
Duke Deviron quietly observed his son’s indifferent profile, as incomprehensible as ever.
It was no different from his demeanor at the Periot family’s table.
“Is there someone else you have in mind?”
The cool eyes slowly turned towards Deviron.
“Does that matter?”
“I’m asking if you’re going to marry Lady Fiocel Periot.”
“A noble family’s marriage is a duty, not love. If that’s what you want to say, there’s no need to worry.”
A haughty smile befitting the heir of Blanchet settled on Cassian’s face.
“I’ve learned from you, so I won’t neglect my duty. Even if it causes wounds.”
Blanchet maintains an outwardly noble appearance while being secretly scarred countless times. As is the reality for most noble couples.
Something like a sneer appeared at the corners of Cassian’s mouth.
“There won’t be any harm to Blanchet, so you don’t need to worry.”
The tone, so stiff it was suffocating, instantly froze the space.
If the other party hadn’t been Duke Deviron, anyone would have immediately jumped out of this carriage.
“I’m telling you to be honest with your feelings. Whichever way, if you don’t sort it out properly, you’ll regret it.”
“It seems you’ve had regrets.”
Something like mockery flashed in the sharp red eyes.
Cassian found it ridiculous that his father would say such things in front of him.
Whether he embraced another woman or whatever, shouldn’t he at least hide his emotions in front of his son? If he had even the slightest conscience.
But once again, the man who was his father showed intense wavering in his eyes, letting his emotions flow.
How impressive the presence of that woman who has been deep in his heart for decades, even though he’s never even seen her.
What’s more ridiculous is that at this moment, for some reason, a woman was seeping into his own mind.
As if that dog-like nature inherited through blood simply cannot be erased.
On the road tinged red by the sunlight, it’s as if the thousands of strands of that woman’s hair are rippling.
The lush forest situated on that road resembles that woman’s emerald eyes.
The white foam on the blue sea beyond resembles that woman’s clear skin.
That wench was pretty enough to be cursed, making him recall her even at the sight of such common roadside nature.
Unable to push away the thoughts as they arise. Damn it.
He almost got persuaded, didn’t he, by such nonsense.
“We must live while hiding. As if it doesn’t exist even if it does. Isn’t that the virtue of nobility?”
The day he received a clean bill of health.
It had been long since he’d thrown away the armor of nobility and the name Blanchet, and the terminal life where he could abandon them in far-off Alphonse.
“It’s the weight of this position.”
Deviron, about to say something else, simply nodded in agreement.
“If that’s your will, then so be it.”
After uttering these kind words, his father gazed out the carriage window with benevolent eyes.
The carriage, filled only with silence, boasted a comfortable atmosphere as it ran and stopped at the entrance of a village.
It was common to stop and rest during long journeys.
The problem was… of all places, it had to be Rapianre village.
Whenever his father returned from travels abroad, he always stopped at this place, Rapianre Island.
He habitually said there was no better place for rest, but there was something that could be roughly guessed.
On this island he always visited, there must be something shiny he had hidden away.
His behavior of heading to an island in the sea, rather than stopping in the village, was so obvious that there was no room for other interpretation.
It was clear to guess what that shiny thing might be without even seeing it.
Nevertheless, the reason for not looking into it…
It’s simply because I don’t want to know, so I’m turning a blind eye.
Passing through the familiar path to the island he had visited many times, Cassian recalled the report that came up through Tiobe this morning.
[Lady Fiocel Periot went to see Yuriel, that person.]How diligently his supposed fiancée moves about.
The woman claiming to be his fiancée and that woman who would have been trembling before her are vivid in his mind.
Even so, it would have more clearly imprinted her situation of being unable to leave.
As long as he has that woman’s mother’s medicine, she can never leave his side.
Suddenly, he becomes curious about such things.
Was it because of her shattered conscience that that woman crumpled upon hearing that story?
Or was it because of fear?
This coming weekend, will that woman babble about loving him again?
Or will she demand answers like in some melodrama, asking what she is to him and what his fiancée is?
You should get angry and question, like in any typical love story.
If you’re a woman who babbled about loving me.
Quite interesting situations unfold in his mind.
Over that, the image of that woman turning pale is overlaid.
An inexplicable slight discomfort ripples.
Why… After crushing that woman dozens of times and seeing such expressions, how does it make sense to be uncomfortable about it now?
Ah. It does make sense. Because it’s not me standing before her, but someone else.
Because such a face from that woman should only be shown in front of me.
[After that, she submitted a leave request and moved to Rapianre Island with her mother.]That woman is here.
At a close distance where we might even run into each other.
This island isn’t very large, so I thought we might encounter each other.
Even so, I didn’t expect to meet so quickly.
Far from the capital, not in a hotel but in this clear season, that woman is smiling.
More luxuriantly than any blooming flower around.
So dazzling and beautiful that it makes me forget how she was on the verge of tears in front of me.
It’s a piercingly white smile.
The complex sounds of chatter around the woman aren’t even audible.
She stands out so much that the numerous people surrounding her aren’t even visible.
For a moment, everything in the world seemed to flow slowly.
Her smile that blooms only towards her mother, as if she likes her so much, is like a flower.
The sight of the woman chattering away captivates the gaze and doesn’t let go for a long time.
The woman who was always so terribly quiet in front of me, except when questioning.
The woman who stubbornly maintained silence as if unable to speak unless on the bed, only letting out moans.
She keeps talking about something.
It’s quite mysterious, a rare sight that makes me wish everything around would tactfully shut up.
Now I think I understand.
That woman hasn’t lost her smile, she just lost her smile in front of me.
Of course. It’s not surprising anymore at this point.
Seeing that pure white smile like a wedding dress, suddenly that woman’s distant past when she smiled overlaps.
I had seen her smile once, long ago in Alphonse.
In front of that silver-haired man.
I hear she still hangs around with him sometimes these days.
For some reason, as if playing hide and seek, that guy chases after the woman and she moves quickly as if running away.
Just recalling it deepens my displeasure, but again that woman’s smile covers over it.
Come to think of it, the woman now and then are different.
No, to be precise, the woman’s smile is different.
If back then it resembled a flower bud just about to bloom with hesitation, her current appearance is like a flower in full bloom at the height of spring.
For some reason, that’s satisfying and a smile spreads across my lips.
Something like lava boils up from deep in my heart, unable to burst.
As if an intense desire is welling up.
Yes. I’ve been desiring.
At some point, I’ve been desiring that woman.
It makes sense, since she’s a woman I’ve tried to possess in any way, whether crying or begging in front of me.
Would it be ridiculous if I now want something even more than that?
I’ve come to want that woman’s smile.
Ridiculously so.
Of course, whether it’s ridiculous or not, as always, it’s not something to care about.
If I want it, I just need to take it as always.
I’m reminded of Alphonse, where I went with that woman not long ago.
That day, the woman showed several expressions I’d never seen before.
She was provocative, then resolute, then seemed nervous, then smiled slightly at the scenery.
There wasn’t a smile like this among them, was there?
If I were to be the first man to possess such a smile, it would be quite an interesting scene to engrave in life.
It was just as I finished such fantasy-like resolve that the woman slowly raised her head and looked at me.
At that moment, what filled the woman’s eyes was fear.
Fear spread like ripples across the emerald eyes brimming with tears.
Her flustered hands firmly grasped her mother.
Nevertheless, she doesn’t forget to greet.
I suppose it’s somewhat better than when we first met.
It’s certainly different from our first meeting in the capital, when she clung to her mother and fled as if escaping, only to be caught in my eyes.
Should I catch her, or just let her be?
As Cassian gazed at the woman with interest, an urgent voice reached his ears.
“I-I’ll be back shortly.”
His father, stumbling over his words without even finishing properly, hastily flung open the carriage door.
Through the door that opened with a click, the sight of him running out as if escaping comes into view.
Soon, his dash extends far along the carriage window.
His hasty movements, as if he had left all sense of propriety behind, blend into the crowd.
His luxurious suit, utterly mismatched with the greasy commoners of the marketplace, fluttered over the space.
To think that he, Duke Deviron, who always wore a kind smile valuing decorum, would run like that.
What did he see?
Has father’s treasure hunt come to an end?
A faint sneer clearly spread across Cassian’s lips.
Until Deviron’s sprint came to a stop in an unexpected place.
Turns Out He’s Been Secretly in Love with Me
One-line summary: He acts like he doesn’t like her but is actually playing hard to get.
Synopsis:
Xu Muzhou like her. He has liked her for a very long time, and through repeated schemes, he finally closed the distance with her.
But this is still far from enough.
He wants to be the one who stands out among her many suitors, to fight for her attention, and to make her take the initiative to pursue him.
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