A Lover's Resolve
The castle remained in an uproar for the entire day, all thanks to yet another commotion stirred up by Sylvia. Afterward, the three people gathered in Edgar's room could only steal glances at one another in an oddly tense atmosphere.
To be precise, it was Sylvia who kept reading the room, while Ariel stood with her arms crossed, watching to see how her friend would act. Edgar, caught between the two women with a wry smile on his face, simply sipped his black tea in silence.
“So? Your explanation?”
The moment Ariel broke the silence with those sharp words, Sylvia gave a small flinch. It was unlike her to be so defensive, but having committed the crime herself, she had no excuse to offer.
Even Edgar seemed unwilling to take Sylvia's side this time; he merely reached for the cookies on the table and nibbled on them. The one silver lining was that the cookies weren't overly sweet, which suited his palate perfectly.
“W-well… at first, I really thought it was the right candy, you know?”
“And then?”
Ariel's attitude made it clear that if Sylvia didn't continue her story immediately, sparks might literally fly from her fingertips. Sylvia had no choice but to tremble like a small animal cornered by its natural predator and press on.
“But yesterday your condition seemed a bit strange, so I tried one myself just to test it… and there was no effect at all…?”
“No effect?”
“Y-yeah. So later when I checked, the packaging on the bottle was slightly different. It looks like I accidentally brought the ordinary candies we keep at home.”
In other words, between the magical candies that only looked identical and the ordinary ones, she had grabbed the latter. Upon hearing this, Ariel let out a deep sigh and fixed her friend with a murderous glare. The look in her eyes clearly asked, Should I kill her or not? Sylvia let out a tiny shriek of “Hiiik!” and bolted behind Edgar to hide.
She didn't realize that this only fueled Ariel's anger even more.
“You… just where do you think you're putting your hands right now?”
Rather than exploding with rage at her friend's hasty action, Ariel spoke in a voice so cold it seemed all emotion had died within her.
“Where…? Ah.”
Sylvia, who had been at a loss wondering why her friend was getting even angrier, finally realized what she was holding and let out a quiet groan. She had grabbed Edgar's shoulder and waist. And right in front of her stood the man in question, along with her extremely possessive friend who had become his lover just yesterday, glaring daggers at her.
“T-this isn't what it looks like! Ariel! You know how I feel, right!?”
“I know you seem to have a death wish.”
“No! I already have him, don't I? Why on earth would I be interested in someone like Edgar…”
“What? Someone like Edgar?”
I'm going crazy, seriously! Sylvia screamed internally at the miserable reality where every answer she gave only led to another dead end. Even in this desperate situation, one thing was crystal clear: Ariel was completely and utterly smitten with Edgar.
“Alright, alright. Sylvia, go back to your seat. Ariel, calm down already.”
“Are you taking her side right now?”
“Th-that woman…”
The cold way her friend refused to even use her name made Sylvia feel like she might burst into tears. Meanwhile, a sharp flick to the forehead made Edgar flinch and tear up instead.
“Ow!?”
“She's not ‘that woman.’ She's your friend and mine too, isn't she? Enough of this. Sit down.”
“Hmph, would it kill you to be a little gentler!?”
“If I'm gentle with you, you'll just climb all over me. Still, I do feel a bit sorry, so come here.”
Despite pouting at Edgar's cheeky attitude, Ariel obediently stepped in front of him. He reached out with his large hand, gently stroked her hair, then playfully pinched her cheek.
His soft voice asking, Still mad? made Ariel suddenly feel embarrassed. She averted her gaze and mumbled, “Not really.”
Meanwhile, Sylvia watched the scene with burning admiration for Edgar.
As expected, childhood friends really are on another level.
Although Sylvia had grown quite close to Ariel over time, their respective circumstances meant they couldn't meet often. It was nowhere near the bond Edgar shared with her. In other words, when it came to handling Ariel, Edgar was several steps ahead.
Fundamentally different.
If Sylvia's approach was to subtly deflect and soothe Ariel's anger, Edgar's was to first calm her down completely, then properly sort out right and wrong to resolve the situation. It was an approach only possible if one was confident they could fully persuade Ariel. Truly the mark of a man who had shaken the heart of the Grand Duchess ever since their childhood days.
Sylvia almost thought she could see a halo glowing behind him.
“F-fine, I get it. I won't get angry anymore.”
“Really? If you do it again, I won't keep today's promise, you know?”
“Tsk, that's so unfair! You already promised to spend the whole day with me and now you're using it as a threat?”
He had said he would stay with her all day, yet here he was holding that very promise hostage. Even with him right in front of her, she still felt it wasn't enough. She couldn't possibly let that happen.
In the end, Ariel gave a small nod, as if she had no choice but to accept the negotiation.
“As long as you don't get any angrier, that won't happen. And since I'm sorry, I'll give you one more hug.”
“…But this time, hug me longer.”
“Alright.”
With those words, Edgar pulled her into his arms once more, this time with even more tender care. Yet he remained cautious, as if afraid her fragile body might break.
It feels a little different somehow.
Ariel suddenly noticed that the emotions she felt through his embrace were more affectionate than before. Even when they were just friends, he had hugged her from time to time, so the act itself wasn't new. But now that their relationship had changed, the warmth of his chest conveyed so many different feelings. It was fascinating.
“By the way, it's really surprising.”
“…What is?”
Just as she was savoring the warmth in his arms, a gentle voice suddenly brushed against her ear. Ariel lifted her face from his chest and looked up at him.
There she found Edgar gazing down at her with a mischievous smile spread across his face. A chill of ominous foreboding ran down her spine.
“If what Sylvia said is true, then everything you did yesterday—clinging to me and acting all spoiled—was completely genuine, right?”
“……!”
“Did you like me that much?”
Her lover (the scoundrel) kindly reminded her of the very fact she had been desperately trying to forget. Ariel frantically tried to pull away from his embrace.
But of course, Edgar wasn't about to let her go so easily. He wrapped his arms around her from behind and pulled her down onto the sofa with him.
“L-let go…! You idiot! Weren't you the one telling me not to get angry…!”
“I'm not trying to make you angry. I'm just curious, that's all. So? Did you really like me that much?”
“How should I know!”
At the time, the moment Sylvia had explained the candy's effects, Ariel's consciousness had grown hazy as if under a spell. She remembered rubbing her face against his arm and resting her head on his thigh like a pillow, but if asked whether she had done it while fully conscious, even she couldn't say for sure.
No, there must have been a reason. I wouldn't have done that unless I was out of my mind.
Ariel began rationalizing that her wicked friend must have been lying to her, or that the candy really had been magical after all, and that none of it was her fault.
Edgar, sensing that if he teased her any further her face might literally explode, decided to stop there. He released the arms that had been holding her.
“It's hard to believe you two really became lovers yesterday.”
Sylvia let out a small gasp, astonished by how freely they touched each other—hugging, stroking cheeks and hands without any hesitation.
“Really? Doesn't seem all that different to me.”
“Not at all. Before we started dating, I was the one who aggressively pursued him. But once we actually began our relationship, I could barely even hold his hand properly.”
The way she waved her hand dismissively made her look like a middle-aged aunt well into her forties. Edgar and Ariel exchanged surprised glances, blinking at each other, then began earnestly digging into Sylvia's love life.
“It's not like that now, is it?”
“Well, now it's… hehe.”
The way she trailed off, as if it was too embarrassing to continue, made Edgar quickly shake his head to banish the inappropriate images forming in his mind. Meanwhile, Ariel—who was utterly hopeless when it came to this subject—could only tilt her head in confusion, looking back and forth between them.
“Actually, I was more aggressive before we started dating. But once I realized he knew how I felt about him, I somehow couldn't bring myself to touch him carelessly anymore.”
“You're quite peculiar. With your usual personality, I would've expected you to grab him by the tie and kiss him without warning.”
“Huh?”
Sylvia tilted her head slightly at Edgar's oddly detailed description. Come to think of it, ever since this topic had come up, Ariel had grown noticeably quieter. Right now she was hanging her head, looking completely flustered.
Sylvia felt a strange sense of dissonance at that moment.
“…Did Ariel actually kiss you like that?”
“!?”
“Ah.”
The two of them flinched as they realized she had unintentionally spilled the events of yesterday. Sylvia's lips curved into a wide, wicked grin as she looked at her newly coupled friends with the expression of someone ready to devour them whole.
Ariel immediately shot Edgar a glare that clearly asked what they were going to do about this situation, while he could only burst into hearty laughter and try to smooth things over as best he could.
“So it really happened? That's so like you, Ariel.”
She had already suspected something was off when Ariel had clung to Edgar on the sofa yesterday, but it seemed her imagination had fallen short. As Sylvia dramatically covered her mouth in mock surprise, Ariel's face—which had only just begun to cool down—flushed bright red again.
“Y-you idiot! If you hadn't said that, no one would've found out! What are you going to do about this!?”
“It's nothing to be ashamed of. Why does it matter? Are you embarrassed that you kissed me?”
“……”
She never expected him to respond like that in this situation. Ariel stood frozen in place, mouth agape at his completely unexpected reply. After he had said all that, stubbornly insisting she was embarrassed would only create a rift in their newly formed relationship. Yet staying silent felt like admitting her shame, and she couldn't calm the burning heat in her cheeks.
In the end, the conclusion Ariel reached was this:
“I'm going to go see Mother.”
It was an escape from the situation.
Creak.Thud.
“She ran away.”
“She did.”
The two of them stared at the drawing room door through which she had disappeared, then looked at each other and let out soft chuckles. Her reactions were just too adorable to stop teasing her. Perhaps it was because they knew that to outsiders, she only appeared as the cold heir to the Grand Duchy. Thinking that they alone knew this side of Ariel made them smile without even realizing it.
The moment they both sensed that the air had grown somewhat heavier, Sylvia—who had kept her mouth firmly shut until now—finally spoke.
“Edgar, since Ariel isn't here… can I ask you something? Are you really okay with this?”
“…It'll be difficult, of course. But I'll try to endure it.”
Edgar already knew what Sylvia wanted to ask. It was the part that worried him the most, and even when he had confessed his true feelings to Ariel yesterday, it had been the issue he kept most firmly in mind.
On the surface, the two families were bound by a master-servant relationship. If he had been the son of some unrelated minor noble house, there might have been less noise. But this was an entirely different matter. There would surely be those who would find fault and try to create problems in any way they could. In times like these, the enemies within were the most terrifying.
“If you need help, just say the word. Of course, there's only so much I can do.”
“I wouldn't ask for it anyway. Since I chose this path, I have to find a way through it myself.”
With a bitter smile, Edgar gently declined and carefully ran his fingers along the rim of his teacup. This choice might bring harm not only to Helena, who had cared for him all this time, but also to Yulken, the head of the family, and even to the woman he loved. No—it wasn't a possibility. It would definitely happen.
When that time came, what he had to do was already decided. Rather than running away like the protagonist of some tragic romance story, claiming he was only causing her pain, he would hold the hand of the woman he loved and fight alongside her. Ariel would surely want that more than anything.
That was what Edgar believed.