"You’re here?"
Alicia, noticing Cabelenus entering the bedroom, hurriedly got up.
The moment Cabelenus stepped inside, he swiftly scanned her condition with his eyes.
She no longer spoke of wanting to die, but he couldn’t help being concerned.
After all, a woman who regarded nothing as her own always seemed like someone who could leave at any moment.
“What’s that wound?”
Cabelenus asked, his gaze landing on Alicia’s fingertips.
“Oh, this? I pricked myself on a thorn...”
Alicia trailed off, nervously gauging Cabelenus’s reaction.
She couldn’t help recalling his words about killing anyone who caused her to shed even a single drop of blood.
“A thorn?”
"I was touching the roses in the garden because they were blooming so beautifully, and well...”
"If it’s something like that, ask the servants to handle it next time."
Fortunately, Cabelenus didn’t seem to recall those particular words of his.
Alicia let out a quiet sigh of relief before cautiously approaching Cabelenus.
"I’m a slave. I shouldn’t be asking the servants for help."
"And where did you hear that nonsense?"
"Since there are no slaves in the kingdom, I looked into how slaves are treated in the Blanche Empire."
Alicia gave a faint smile. Though subtle, a hint of pride was visible on her face.
“You're doing something unnecessary. Who gave you that kind of information?"
Cabelenus frowned deeply.
"I-I learned it separately through a book..."
A lie.
Her faltering response drew a deeper crease on Cabelenus's brow.
It didn’t take much thought to figure it out.
There were limited sources from which Alicia could gather such information.
Clearly, the servants tasked with watching over her while Cabelenus was away had been the ones to share it.
"I’ll assign new servants starting tomorrow."
"B-but...!"
He’d seen through her lie, no doubt about it.
Alicia looked up at Cabelenus with an uneasy gaze.
She studied to avoid offending Cabellinus, not because she wanted others to be in trouble because of her.
"What? You don’t like that idea?"
"A-Ah, no."
A slave must never disobey their master.
Submission was the virtue of a slave.
Alicia lowered her head, recalling the virtues of a slave she had diligently memorised over the past few days.
“Haa...”
Cabelenus let out a heavy sigh as he looked at her bowed head.
A woman who adhered strictly to her role as a slave might be considered an exemplary one.
But that wasn’t what Cabelenus wanted from her.
"The servants will remain as they are."
"Really, ah... no, I mean, I wasn’t trying to question Your Grace’s decision..."
The more she spoke, the more awkward it became.
Alicia furrowed her brows and ended up lowering her head again in defeat.
Watching her, Cabelenus let out a quiet chuckle.
"You’re still a clumsy slave.”
"I'm sorry."
"No, it’s fine. That’s better, actually."
Alicia didn’t need to become accustomed to life as a slave.
Cabelenus had no intention of letting her remain one for long.
Right now, it couldn’t be helped since not much time had passed since the war ended, but with time, her position would be restored.
"But if I can’t even handle this much, I’d only be a burden to Your Grace after all you’ve done for me."
"All I’ve done for you?"
Cabelenus’s lips curved slightly in annoyance.
He felt too bitter to honestly tell her that she didn’t need to live as a slave.
It infuriated him that Alicia, who had never happily received anything he had given her, could nonchalantly say such things.
"Well, you avenged me and gave me clothes and jewellery..."
"I never avenged you. I merely had to conquer this land. Killing King Neustein was not for you but for my brother."
Even though Zerpenus had successfully taken the throne, his position was still unstable.
Being of mixed blood, Zerpenus was far from the flawless successor the nobles desired from birth.
To solidify his unstable standing, greater power and achievements were necessary.
For that purpose, Cabelenus was willing to take up his sword.
"Even so, I was happy."
"Happy?"
"If Your Grace hadn’t come that day, my fate would have been obvious."
Alicia’s smile was so forlorn that Cabelenus momentarily lost his words.
“...Do you really not resent me?"
No matter how much she hated King Neustein, he had been Alicia’s father.
Even if she did resent Cabelenus for killing her father and displaying his severed head outside the castle, Cabelenus would have no justification.
“Not all parents are good parents. That’s all there is to it.”
“My father loved another woman instead of my mother. And for the sake of the son he had with that woman he loved, he spared no means or methods. Even if it were his other son, you see."
"..."
"Even though he was such a father, when he died, I burst into tears."
Cabelenus's voice was calm, but he continuously watched Alicia's expression even as he spoke.
He knew nothing good could be gained from digging up the past.
Still, he wanted to confirm it, even if it meant doing so in this manner.
He would rather she felt some resentment towards him — at least it would mean she had some emotion towards him.
“Do you really, truly not resent me?”
“No. I don’t.”
Contrary to Cabelenus’s hopes, Alicia shook her head weakly.
For Alicia, the concept of a father was far from what most people imagined.
Even as she gazed upon King Neustein’s severed head displayed outside the castle, she hadn’t cried out of sorrow.
Her tears were born of relief, a feeling of finality that everything was over.
“...You’re always so unchanging.”
How could he tear it down?
Cabelenus reached out and cupped her cheek.
Her face was so small it fit entirely in one hand. She posed no threat whatsoever. Yet, those indifferent eyes of hers sent shivers down his spine.
“Is that really how Your Grace sees me?”
“Yes. That’s how you seem. You always look so calm.”
The one who was restless was always him.
Cabelenus leaned toward Alicia, closing the distance between them.
Kissing her would have been easy.
She would only blush and never refuse.
But that was exactly why he couldn’t bring himself to do it.
As Alicia quietly closed her eyes, waiting for his kiss, Cabelenus’s expression twisted.
He couldn’t fathom why the lips he had kissed countless times now seemed so unreachable.
Or perhaps, deep down, he didn’t want to know.
・・・・・
"What are you doing? Sit down."
Despite Cabelenus’s command, Alicia hesitated, lingering near the bench.
The only place to sit on the straight-backed bench was next to Cabelenus.
“Hurry up.”
At his urging, Alicia finally sat beside him, her movements stiff and awkward.
"..."
"..."
“The scent is lovely,”
Alicia said, at last, breaking the silence with a strained voice.
She had no idea what the man intended, but simply sitting quietly on a garden bench felt oddly out of place.
“Do you really like things like this?”
Cabelenus tilted his head slightly as he looked at the roses in full bloom.
The flowers swayed gently in the breeze, vibrant and beautiful, but they failed to leave any impression on him.
He didn’t like flowers.
Or rather, to be precise, he disliked anything fragile.
“Do you not like them, Your Grace?”
“They smell too strong.”
Cabelenus frowned, and Alicia responded with an awkward laugh.
The handsome man looked good no matter where he was, but sitting on a bench surrounded by flowers somehow seemed incongruous.
The scent that clung to Cabelenus was the cold, metallic smell of iron — not the overpowering fragrance of roses.
"Then shall we go somewhere else?"
Alicia carefully suggested, testing his mood.
It wasn’t a slave’s place to offer opinions, but she couldn’t help herself.
Watching the gradually deepening furrow on his face made her worry that something might go terribly wrong if they stayed.
“You said you liked it here.”
"Pardon?"
“Never mind. Don’t overthink it, just stay.”
Cabelenus leaned back against the bench, a frown etched on his face.
He knew full well how ridiculous he looked — so much so that if Zerpenus saw him now, he’d likely tease him for the next twenty years.
But if he didn’t resort to antics like this, he felt there was nothing left he could do.
No matter how valuable a gift was given to her, Alicia remained unshaken. If he wanted to break through her impenetrable calm, he was willing to try anything.
"..."
"..."
Silence settled over them again.
Alicia, after nervously observing Cabelenus for a long moment, found herself unable to look away.
Whatever was going on, it seemed the man truly intended to do nothing more than sit quietly.
‘What is he thinking?’
The Cabelenus she had come to know was someone who despised wasting time.
For him to sit idly on a bench without so much as a document in hand was entirely out of character.
“Um...”
Alicia, her face tense with nerves, finally spoke hesitantly.
She had planned to avoid asking questions at all costs, but today, something about him was undeniably strange.
“What is it?”
"By any chance, is something wrong?”
"No. Nothing like that."
"Is that so..."
Alicia’s shoulders slumped, visibly deflated.
Although she heard Cabelenus's response, it still wasn’t enough to resolve her doubts.
"Don't you like it?"
"Pardon?"
"You're always sitting here. I thought you liked it since you kept sitting here every time."
'Was this not it either?'
Cabelenus clicked his tongue softly as he looked at Alicia's slumped shoulders.
He was starting to realise that matching someone's preferences was a rather tricky task.
“Ah, it's just that this spot gets the most sunlight.”
“Sunlight? What does that matter?”
“It's warm, isn't it?”
Alicia's gaze fell on her hands, where the sunlight poured down.
Her hands softened and tender from the daily care she received, still bore scars.
"Ah?"
"On sunny days, sitting here and soaking in the sunlight makes me feel good. The sunlight is so cosy and warm that it feels like I don’t have to think about anything."
"..."
The basement where Alicia spent most of her time didn’t receive sunlight.
In the dark, only the faint light of a candle was visible, and that wasn’t even given all the time.
Her family, stingy with their resources, even hesitated to spare a single candle for her.
So, she had to spend her time huddled up, trapped by the suffocating humidity and the cold stone floor.
Even as she tried to forget, the melancholic thoughts kept resurfacing, and she struggled desperately to push them away.
"Um, is this strange after all?"
Alicia awkwardly smiled at the intense gaze directed at her.
Having lived a life so far from the ordinary, it was inevitable that her thoughts and actions wouldn’t be typical.
Even if her differences irritated Cavellinus, she couldn’t tell if it was wrong, so she constantly had to observe his reactions, wondering if she had made a mistake.
"...Smile again."
"Pardon?"
"Smile like you did just now."
Cabelenus urged Alicia impatiently.
The smile that appeared on Alicia's face was brief, but Cabelenus couldn’t forget that moment.
"Ah, like this?"
Alicia forced a smile, lifting her mouth corners at the sudden request.
"That’s not it."
Cabelenus shook his head firmly.
The smile just now wasn’t something made like that.
It was more natural and gentle.
Just like her red hair shining like a sunset under the pouring sunlight.
Cabelenus reached out and grabbed Alicia’s hair.
The hair, now well-cared for, was so soft that it didn’t remind him of its previous state, but it still couldn’t be compared to the glow of a sunset.
"How about like this?"
"No."
"Ah, is it not right?"
She had tried her best.
Alicia's smile, which had risen with all her strength, drooped again, losing its energy.
Cabelenus watched her silently and then sighed deeply.
The red hair that had been caught slipped smoothly from his hand.
"Don't worry about what others think."
"Pardon?"
"Don’t react so nervously to every word I say."
She had repeatedly and rudely asked him to kill her, but now, every word he said made her eyes widen in surprise, causing him to feel overly cautious with his own words.
Cabelenus pressed his fingers to his furrowed brow.
"I'm sorry. I'll try harder."
Alicia muttered, looking down.
She had tried so hard not to fall out of favour, but it seemed that it had been in vain.
"Stop with that nonsense."
"I did something wrong, so it’s natural to apologise."
"What did you do wrong?"
"Regardless of what happened, it's the slave's fault for upsetting the master's mood."
"...If you mention that nonsensical slave code one more time, you'd better be ready to face punishment."
In hindsight, Cabelenus regretted not firing the servant who had taught Alicia the slave code.
He cursed the unknown servant and grabbed Alicia’s shoulders.
The limp, defeated shoulders that seemed to advertise her fear had been bothering him ever since earlier.
"Then please teach me something else. If you tell me, I’ll do whatever Your Grace asks."
"You don’t need to do anything. Have I ever asked you to do something like that?"
"But if I don't do anything, I will have no value."
Alicia’s body trembled faintly.
At some point, Cabelenus stopped embracing her.
He was gradually losing interest in her.
⋆｡˚ ☁︎ ˚｡ ⋆｡˚☽˚｡⋆
If you notice any errors or broken links, please let me know and I will get that fixed~ Additionally, if you would like to support me, I have a Ko-fi ~ Thank you! 💖