“Wait, wait a moment.”

Raoul seemed just as taken aback by Cassel’s intensity, as he raised both hands.

“Why don’t we calm down first? There’s no way I would threaten Ria.”

“……Ria?”

Cassel’s demeanor became even more menacing. Raoul retorted as if there was nothing wrong with it.

“Yes, Ria. What’s wrong with using a nickname for an old friend? If we’re being precise, I was the one who first called Riena ‘Ria’. It sounds a bit petty to say it like this, though.”

Having regained some composure, Raoul shrugged his shoulders. Then he extended his right hand towards Cassel.

“We already know each other, but since it’s been a while, how about introducing ourselves again? I’m Raoul Berna. I’ve been friends with Ria since we were very young, and now I’m part of the Imperial Knights.”

“……”

Cassel neither shook his hand nor introduced himself. Raoul smirked.

“Does the great Duke Winckler not deign to deal with a mere knight? Or should I greet you formally according to etiquette?”

“Raoul, you too?”

“When the Duke greets me so intensely, isn’t it the duty of a noble to respond in kind?”

“Raoul, please.”

As Riena put her hand to her forehead, he sighed deeply and spoke in a somewhat calmer voice.

“It’s certainly my fault for coming suddenly without notice. It was rude. But is that reason enough to be this angry?”

“……”

“I had my reasons. I was terribly worried for days when Ria disappeared, and then to suddenly hear she was at the Winckler house, which she had no connection to – you can imagine how surprised I was. So I rushed here as soon as I got the letter.”

Raoul shrugged his shoulders again.

Cassel, who had been silent until now, spoke in a low voice.

“Now that you’ve confirmed she’s safe, why don’t you head back? As part of the Imperial Knights, you must be very busy preparing for the Founding Day celebrations.”

“Am I being turned away at the door? I haven’t even finished talking properly with Ria yet.”

“It seems to me you’ve said plenty. Stop spouting nonsense and leave.”

Spouting nonsense. It wasn’t the kind of word one would expect from Cassel’s mouth.

Now Raoul seemed to have his pride wounded as well, and he sneered.

“Even if I go, I should at least know why I’m being treated this way. What exactly did I do wrong?”

“The fact that you can’t realize it yourself is already wrong, don’t you think?”

“I’m saying this because there was absolutely nothing of the sort. Don’t you think you’re being unreasonably stubborn?”

Raoul scoffed.

“Or could it be jealousy? Are you afraid Ria might choose to go with me, so you came running? If you trust Ria so little, why did you propose, and how did you plan to marry?”

“Please stop!”

Riena stepped between the two men, pushing their chests with both hands as she cried out.

“I thought it would be good for the three of us to meet again. We were friends. Why are you acting like this, if you can’t even be happy to see each other?”

Raoul muttered coldly.

“Ria, I didn’t want to say this, but I never once thought of that man as a friend. I just went along a few times because you insisted we all play together.”

“……”

Cassel didn’t say anything, but Riena could tell that he felt the same way as Raoul.

Seeing Riena on the verge of tears, Raoul’s expression softened and he sighed.

“You’re right, we might have gone too far. It seems I’m an unwelcome guest here, so I’ll take my leave. Let’s talk again later.”

Raoul glared at Cassel before leaving the reception room. Only after the door closed did Cassel’s demeanor soften a bit.

He calmly asked Riena, who was barely holding back her tears.

“Are you alright?”

“Do I look alright to you?”

Riena answered sharply without realizing it.

“Did that man do anything to you?”

“What on earth could Raoul have done to me? He didn’t do anything.”

However, that answer didn’t seem to reassure him, as Cassel grabbed her shoulders and looked her up and down.

A fresh yet somewhat heavy scent wafted from him as he drew close. It was the fragrance of the forest path leading from the Dyke mansion after a light summer rain.

It had the characteristic freshness of coniferous trees, along with a subtle scent of aged wood.

Even though she was quite angry with Cassel, Riena couldn’t help but think that the scent was pleasant.

“I’m glad you’re alright, then.”

“I told you, I’m not alright. Why did you treat Raoul like that?”

“……”

“Why were you so angry?”

Again, there was no answer from Cassel. Riena spoke faster than usual, feeling frustrated.

“It’s Raoul. Raoul, who’s my friend and your friend too. Don’t you remember playing together when we were young?”

“……I remember.”

“Then why are you acting like this?”

Riena had thought that Cassel and Raoul might not be too pleased to see each other when they met again.

The two weren’t particularly close even as children. Perhaps if it wasn’t for Riena’s active efforts to have the three of them play together, the two boys might not have associated with each other at all.

It had been ten years. Even close friends could become awkward after ten years without contact, so it was understandable if they had a lukewarm reunion, given their already tepid relationship.

She had secretly hoped the two would become close again, but that was just a hope.

But this was beyond mere lukewarmness – why was he so angry?

Moreover, while Raoul seemed to have considered their old memories, Cassel unilaterally showed hostility towards him.

Yes, the emotion he showed towards Raoul was clearly antagonistic.

It didn’t seem like Cassel would act this way without reason. But not knowing the reason was frustrating.

If he would just explain clearly, she could try to mediate between them, but Cassel kept his mouth shut even about that.

“Do you intend not to speak to me anymore?”

At this, Cassel, who had been silent until now, asked a somewhat unexpected question.

“Do you trust that man?”

“You mean Raoul?”

“Yes. Do you still trust him?”

“That’s a strange question. I have no reason not to trust Raoul. Raoul is……”

Riena was too flustered to notice the subtle nuance in Cassel’s words.

“A friend I trust enough to ask for help immediately when I’m in a difficult situation.”

Then Cassel muttered in a low voice, clenching his teeth.

“Are you saying this knowing what that bastard did to you?”

“What did Raoul do to me?”

Riena asked reflexively. It wasn’t a confrontational question, but one asked out of genuine ignorance.

Raoul had always been kind and gentlemanly to Riena. If anything, he was overly considerate of her, never doing anything harmful.

‘He was a bit different today, but……’

Still, that wasn’t reason enough to distance herself from him.

At Riena’s question, Cassel seemed to realize what he had said and closed his mouth. Riena moved a little closer to him and asked again.

“Tell me. What did Raoul do to me? I really don’t know.”

“……I misspoke.”

“I know better than anyone that you’re not the type to make such slip-ups.”

“……”

“So will you tell me? What exactly happened between you two? Did Raoul do something without my knowledge?”

Cassel closed his mouth again. Usually, she didn’t think much of his silence, but this time it really made her blood boil.

Riena spoke without controlling her excitement, saying whatever came to mind.

“We agreed to tell each other when there were difficult things. I don’t know what happened with Raoul, but I’ll listen to everything. I’ll help if I can too.”

“……I cannot say.”

“You’ve been good about telling me everything else. So why can’t you talk about this? Besides, this is related to me.”

“There are reasons for it.”

“Is it perhaps because you still don’t trust me enough?”

“That’s absolutely not the case.”

“Then why?”

Looking back, there had been a few times when Cassel didn’t explain things in detail like this.

When she first came to the mansion, he left a meaningful warning not to go to the west tower, and he remained silent when asked why he wanted to bring Noah.

Each time, Riena didn’t press him and let it go. There was clearly a line drawn between them, and Riena didn’t want to cross it.

She had no desire to pry into Cassel’s personal matters. She felt she didn’t have the right to interfere that much, and it was also her own way of being considerate.

But this was different. Raoul was her longtime friend. A friend she continued to interact with even when she lost contact with Cass.

She couldn’t stand by and watch Cassel insult Raoul like this, no matter who he was. She didn’t expect them to be close friends, but she couldn’t accept this discord, especially when it was caused by Cassel’s one-sided hostility.

Moreover, hadn’t Cassel implied that the reason for his anger towards Raoul was because of Riena?

As the person involved, she absolutely couldn’t let this slide.