Chapter 105
Chapter 105
Eleanor and Ismel’s gazes met across the table. Green eyes, sparkling brightly without understanding the situation; red eyes, somehow heavy and sunken.
“Why do you think that is?”
Ismel asked casually, trying his best to maintain a composed expression. Eleanor, who had been blinking slowly, tilted her head. She answered in a hesitant voice.
“Because I don’t want to be misunderstood…?”
Ismel let out a low chuckle at her answer.
“Yes, of course.”
This clever fool of a lady truly seemed to know nothing.
‘I feel like I would know in an instant.’
Seeing that even her cluelessness felt like a lovely charm, his lovesickness had reached a critical stage. Ismel had realized which way Eleanor’s heart was leaning. He couldn’t resent his quick-wittedness more than at this moment.
In truth, he had suspected it for some time. The way Eleanor looked at Kaidel was always just a little bit different.
“What do you think?”
“What do I think?”
“Do you think I’m blowing something trivial out of proportion?”
Eleanor has feelings for Kaidel.
They were the only ones who didn’t know; to anyone watching from the side, it was completely obvious.
“Well…”
His throat felt completely dry. Ismel downed the rest of his wine in one go to quench the surging thirst. But his mouth dried up again in an instant, like pouring a single cup of water on land that had been in a drought for ages.
‘So what?’
Ismel threw a question at himself.
‘So what are you going to do now?’
Now that he had noticed Eleanor’s feelings, was it right to give up and put his own feelings aside? Or, since Eleanor hadn’t yet realized her own feelings, should he try to push forward?
“I was just…”
As he pondered, Ismel unconsciously tightened his grip.
Clink.
The paper-thin wine glass shattered in his hand in an instant. Startled, Ismel instinctively reached for the broken shards of glass.
“Don’t!”
Eleanor shot up from her seat and grabbed Ismel’s wrist. A line of red blood trickled down Ismel’s index finger.
“How could you touch broken glass with your bare hands?”
Eleanor strode over to Ismel and examined his hand. After confirming that no glass was embedded in it, she wrapped his hand tightly with a clean part of her skirt.
“You have to be careful. You’re not usually like this…”
“…”
“Does it hurt?”
“No.”
Ismel gazed blankly at Eleanor’s face. The soft hand holding his tightly, the eyes inspecting the wound from all angles, the mouth endlessly worrying about him.
“It doesn’t look like a deep cut, so that’s a relief. Is there a first-aid kit in the office? If not, I’ll call for someone.”
“Eleanor.”
“Yes?”
Eleanor lifted her head and met Ismel’s eyes. A faint furrow had formed between her brows, as if his injury was deeply bothering her.
Ismel was making an expression she had never seen before. Overwhelmed by it, Eleanor pressed her lips shut. Her heart, sensing something was about to happen, began to beat a little faster.
“Will you…”
Ismel parted his trembling lips. Looking straight at Eleanor, Ismel asked slowly.
“Will you, marry me?”
It was half impulse, and half putting into action something he had been thinking about for a long time. He wanted to hold on. He wanted Eleanor’s attention, her gaze, her touch—all of it to be his.
His head knew this wasn’t the right timing. It was far too rushed. It was unlike him. But it felt like if he didn’t say it now, he would never be able to, so Ismel held onto Eleanor and let the words out. Ismel’s voice came out in a slight tremor.
“If I just have you, I think everything will be okay.”
When he was with Eleanor, he could briefly forget the heavy workload that felt like the weight of a crown, the battles of will with snake-like ministers, and the taut tension between nations. It felt like he could finally breathe.
“I can give you anything you want. I will become whatever you want me to be.”
Ismel’s Adam’s apple bobbed heavily up and down. Feeling a tension so great his heart could burst at any moment, Ismel finished his words.
“Can’t you stop caring about other things, and just stay by my side?”
Eleanor’s eyes widened to their absolute limit. She was so shocked, it felt as if her heart had forgotten to beat for a moment.
Is he joking?
Is he being serious?
Eleanor tried to process the words she had just heard. But perhaps because she was so stunned, her mind wouldn’t work, as if it had broken down.
“Your Highness, that…”
“…”
“Thaaat…”
Eleanor’s lips quivered. She felt like she had to say something, but her mind had gone completely white and no words would come.
“I, I am…”
Eleanor’s green eyes darted about, unable to find a place to rest. It was unmistakably a troubled expression. Ismel, who was watching her intently, felt his mind slowly regain its composure.
‘It was impossible, after all.’
Ismel let out a deep sigh internally. He felt a sense of relief at having finally let out the emotions he had been suppressing for so long. But the regret of not waiting for a better time overshadowed all other feelings.
Ismel once again stood at a crossroads. Take back his words now and pass it off as a joke, or push forward more aggressively and see it to the end.
Ismel tilted his head and met Eleanor’s gaze. Eleanor was fidgeting, continuously glancing at his face.
‘So pointlessly cute.’
A faint smile appeared on Ismel’s lips. As Ismel suddenly chuckled, Eleanor’s eyes widened slightly.
“You really need to see the look on your face right now.”
“Pardon?”
“If I kept watching any longer, your face was going to get redder than the wine. Relax.”
In the end, Ismel chose to take a step back. An uncharacteristically impulsive advance, and a bland retreat. The possibility that he could lose Eleanor forever was what held him back. Eleanor was someone he did not want to lose. That was true as a woman, but also as a person. Eleanor was a good friend, a subject, and at times, a teacher.
“Was my proposal that shocking? So much that you couldn’t even answer?”
Ismel’s eyes curved into crescents. He had perfectly returned to his usual relaxed and playful self as he faced Eleanor. After blinking for a moment, Eleanor realized Ismel was joking and jumped, exclaiming.
“Ah, really! You scared me.”
Ismel saw the relief spreading across Eleanor’s face. There was a bitter taste in his mouth, but he forced himself to maintain an unnaturally bright expression.
Eleanor, clutching her chest, shot Ismel a light glare and said.
“I really thought my heart was going to drop. I mean, how can you make a joke with such a serious expression?”
“It wasn’t entirely a joke, though. Are you really not interested?”
“Your Highness!”
Eleanor let go of Ismel’s hand, which she had been holding so tightly, as if tossing it aside. Then, as if she had made a mistake, she glanced at him cautiously. Ismel smirked and added playfully.
“A failure today. I’ll have to aim for the next opportunity.”
“Never mind the next opportunity, just get some medicine on that. My heart is pounding in case it scars. Where is the first-aid box?”
Despite Ismel’s protests, Eleanor insisted on bringing the first-aid box. She only felt at ease after slathering a generous amount of ointment on the wound and wrapping it snugly with a bandage.
“Please be more careful, Your Highness. You must cherish your precious body.”
“If I get hurt, will you treat me?”
“Are the royal physicians there for nothing?”
“Let them play around a bit. Does the world need only people who work as hard as we do? Everything needs a balance to be healthy, doesn’t it?”
Eleanor let out a small laugh and changed the subject.
“So, what is it that’s weighing on Your Highness’s mind so much? It’s your turn to confide now.”
Now that she had shared her embarrassing worry, it was time to hear Ismel’s.
After a moment of silence with his lips pressed together, Ismel carefully began to speak.
“This is something only a very small number of people know. I didn’t intend to speak of it until things were more certain. So, I hope you’ll keep it a secret until an official announcement is made.”
Eleanor’s eyes widened at his words. Whatever it was, it didn’t seem like an ordinary concern.
“Is it really okay to tell me something like that?”
“Because I trust you.”
Ismel answered firmly.
“And… it seems my worry might, strangely enough, become the key to solving yours.”
“What do you mean by that?”
Ismel met Eleanor’s eyes and let out a long sigh. Leaning deep into the back of his chair, he carefully opened his mouth.
“Eleanor. Are you aware that the international political situation is extremely unstable these days?”
“I think I saw something about it in the newspapers.”
“The situation is more serious than you think.”
Ismel lowered his voice significantly.
“A war might even break out. We will prevent Bellium territory from becoming a battlefield, but it seems we won’t be able to avoid participating in the war.”
Thump.
Eleanor’s heart sank. A war. She had never imagined it, not even in her dreams. After a moment of collecting her thoughts, Eleanor furrowed her brow slightly.
“To proceed with a literacy education project in such a situation…”
“There was also the intention of diverting people’s attention to calm the wavering public sentiment. I’m sorry for not telling you sooner.”
Ismel continued in a subdued voice.
“It is highly probable that nothing will happen immediately. Winter is coming soon, so supplying army provisions won’t be easy for either side.”
“Ah…”
“But we must prepare for the worst-case scenario. Kaidel is the Commander-in-Chief of our army, Eleanor. He is in charge of military training at the fortress.”
Eleanor’s eyes grew wide at Ismel's words.
“I summoned him when we were in Deln. The situation suddenly worsened. The reason Kaidel hasn’t contacted you once is because of that. It’s an extremely critical matter and security is tight, so…”
“I understand.”
“It doesn’t mean a war will definitely break out, so don’t be scared in advance. There have been provocations like this several times before. This time it is more severe, but… it might just fizzle out like it always does.”
Ismel let out a deep sigh.
“I just wanted to tell you that he is not avoiding you.”
Eleanor nodded her head. It was a situation where she couldn't say she was relieved, not even by mistake, but the feeling of resentment that had been stuck in her throat like a fishbone had completely disappeared.
As if he knew exactly what was in her heart, Ismel slowly closed and opened his eyes.
“So, Eleanor. Don’t push yourself into your work anymore. And don’t be upset either.”
Ismel muttered in a voice so quiet it was barely audible.
“I don’t much like you being happy because of some other guy, but I hate it even more when you’re sullen because of some other guy.”
________________________________________
With the misunderstanding about Kaidel cleared up, Eleanor was able to focus on her work with a much lighter heart. Worries about the war occasionally surfaced, but she steeled her resolve each time, remembering Ismel’s words not to worry in advance.
‘I just have to do my best in what I can do.’
Eleanor poured her heart into creating the basic textbook for the imperial language. When Eleanor wrote the first draft, Adrian was in charge of arranging it neatly. The maids and the people from the printing press also constantly gave their opinions and helped Eleanor.
After a month of working day and night like that.
The result of Eleanor and Ismel’s collaboration was revealed to the world.