Chapter 57

Chapter 57

* * *

On the second day of the goodwill gathering not much changed for me. Since I was used to staying alone back home, I felt no particular discomfort in keeping to myself in my room for most of the day. I did eventually decide to go out on the terrace to have high tea that afternoon. Despite it being officially winter in Yggdrasil, the weather felt more like early spring compared to the snowy forests surrounding the Agrece compound.

“Lady Roxana, will you be staying in again? Quite a number of people are dying to catch so much as a glimpse of you.”

The attendant who had brought my tea was trying to appeal to my sense of formality, while the other attendants nodded in agreement as they waited for my response. They had been busy cleaning the room while I sat out on the terrace, then watching on as I slowly lifted my teacup to my lips.

“Is that so? I highly doubt that. I can’t say I recall anything like that happening last year.”

“But, my lady, I’m sure tha—” The attendant abruptly stopped herself. I assume she was worried she might offend me by pushing the subject, but I already knew what she wanted to say.

It wasn’t that the men weren’t interested in me. They were simply too afraid to approach such a nearly perfect creature. I allowed the attendants their prattling as I continued to take my tea.

Gasp!

I suddenly heard the collective sharp intake of breath from the crowd outside of my terrace, so I slowly turned my gaze toward them.

A group of people had stopped midway in their procession to gawk at me slack-jawed. They had caught sight of me by accident. Luzark Castro was once again amongst them. His auburn hair that was cut a bit shorter than the previous year tousled in the wind, while his almost grape-like purple eyes gave his stare a wicked impression since they were slightly raised at the corners.

I had heard that he had arrived later than the other members of his clan, and it seemed they were all just leaving from the luncheon. Similar to the previous year, Luzark alone gazed at me with a frightful frown. I really couldn’t fathom what I would have done to warrant such a scowl. He was indeed a rather testy “hero.”

“Who the hell do you think you are to glare up at my sister like that?!”

Jeremy seemed to appear out of nowhere in front of Luzark and had taken it upon himself to defend my honor unsolicited. He’d been hankering for some action ever since we arrived and seemed to have finally found his excuse to engage.

Luzark turned his gaze toward the young Agrece barking at him.

“Are you... talking to me? Who exactly are you?” After staring coolly at Jeremy, he continued his line of questioning. “Are you one of the Agreces as well? You’re a rather rude fellow, aren’t you?”

It was obvious Luzark had hit the nail right on the head since Jeremy was in fact picking a fight with him. I doubted, however, that one of the novel’s male leads would actually succumb to such a childish ploy.

“Me? Rude? Instead of worrying about me, why not worry about your own roaming eyeballs, huh?!”

“Perhaps I should snip out that tongue of yours to shut you up, young lad.”

So I was wrong... I couldn’t believe he of all people was also looking for a fight. And at the goodwill gathering of all places.

“Jeremy, stop that. Come join me on the terrace,” I said.

I had to nip things in the bud before they got out of hand. If it were possible, the crowd appeared to beam at me with even greater awe as they turned toward my voice.

Jeremy and Luzark were watching me as well. Luckily, my brother relented just in time and turned away from the crowd. Luzark stared at his departing back with a bemused look on his copper face.

“My apologies, sirs. My younger brother has a tendency to be a bit overprotective of me.”

Luzark squinted at me once more, then relaxed his frown.

“It must be a drain on you, Miss, having to keep tabs on a youngster like him.”

He spoke far more respectfully than I had expected.

“He only gets combative with those who disrespect or offend me,” I said. “Normally, he is fairly well-behaved.”

Luzark frowned once more, but he made no retort. I imagined he had recognized his own fault in the matter for glowering at me in the first place. In fact, he even seemed somewhat embarrassed.

I couldn’t help smirking at the sudden change. He must have noticed because his face suddenly hardened until he looked even more stoic than when he first caught sight of me. The crowd around him also became tense. Then I finally stood up to take my leave.

“If you’ll please excuse me. As the purpose of our being here is to encourage peace and harmony, I wish you all a very productive time.”

Luzark watched me with a tight-lipped expression as I made my exit by offering one of the platitudes that had become somewhat of a catchphrase among the event attendees.

Ignoring his searing gaze on my back, I strolled back inside.

* * *

A few hours before the second night’s banquet, the Vertium and Pedelian leaders arrived at the castle. As most had expected, Noel Vertium went straight to his room without bothering to exchange greetings with a single guest. Meanwhile, Roussel Pedelian and his daughter Sylvia did not make much ado as they headed toward their quarters. So with the exception of Orka the White Demon Tamer, all the novel’s main characters had finally gathered at Yggdrasil.

I had already heard that Sylvia would be attending that year, so her arrival had come as no surprise. I had even thought it intriguing that the story’s heroine had finally made her appearance. Later that night I accompanied Father to pay his greetings to Roussel.

As we arrived on the first floor, I caught a glimpse of a girl disappearing up a flight of stairs opposite us. Her fluttering silver locks reminded me of someone else’s I had known.

“So you finally made it, Roussel.” Lante’s voice reverberated loudly off the castle walls.

To my ears, his greeting sounded more sarcastic than cordial. Much like the year before, there was nothing but derision in his voice. It was painfully obvious that it wasn’t love that had led Lante to seek out the Pedelian leader.

“Well, if it isn’t Lante Agrece, the devil himself.”

A middle-aged man who resembled a solid boulder seemed to be taking both myself and my father in with his every step toward us. All I could think was that the apple truly had not fallen far from the tree as the resemblance to Cassis was all too obvious. The greatest difference was that one might describe Cassis as having been painted with a fine brush, while his father was nothing but broad strokes. Unlike the cool gaze Cassis had given him while being held prisoner at the Agrece mansion, Lante now faced one that even took on a different shade.

“Greetings to the master Pedelian.”

I had decided to chime in with my greeting to which Roussel only glanced at me before refocusing his gaze on his rival. Since Sylvia was nowhere in sight, I felt certain that the silver-haired girl I had seen retreat up the stairs upon our arrival was her.

Just like the year before, Roussel bore down on Lante with a glare so cold that I imagined it could freeze a flame. Other guests who had been making their way over to greet Roussel had stopped mid-step upon sensing the hostile air between the two men. Some of them watched the tense exchange with a sort of “they’re at it again” look in their eyes. Then in keeping with tradition, Lante scowled and grumbled an unfriendly remark at his rival.

“What a face on this one. It practically begs to get slapped.”

“It still doesn’t come close to yours, Lante. I can’t help but wonder when you last looked in a mirror.”

I have to admit I was somewhat surprised at how ready Roussel had been with his retort. I often imagined that if Lante were described as a raging fire, Roussel served as an icy blast of water. And if Lante were to become roaming lava, Roussel would be the patiently waiting frozen sea.

But Lante’s frown quickly turned into a wicked grin as he continued to speak.

“By the way, I heard your daughter joined you this time. What happened to your protective mentality? You never let her leave your compound before.”

Ugh! Ever the louse that man. It was all too clear what Lante was hinting at. He just couldn’t resist needling the head Pedelian about his overprotective treatment of his only daughter in the aftermath of his son’s disappearance. Even at the last gathering, he had gone out of his way to get his rival riled up by pointedly asking about Cassis’ well-being. Of course, it was unlikely that Lante reserved bringing up Cassis in order to enrage Roussel for the annual goodwill events alone. If I had to guess, I’d wager that he probably mentioned the Blue Heir’s name whenever the two clan leaders met.

As far as the Agreces knew, Lante had been his abductor and I the executioner. Regardless of the fact that the entire ordeal was still unknown to most outside of the Blue clan, Lante showed zero compunction when it came to the tragic subject.

Of course, contrary to his belief, Cassis was alive and well. Though I doubt knowing that fact made Father’s incessant goading any less infuriating to Roussel. After all, Lante had tried to kill his son and there was no forgetting that.

At that moment, I decided to coyly attempt to defuse the situation.

“It appears the Blue Heir is not in attendance again this year.”

My arguably friendly comment was met with a stone-cold stare, while Lante became even more giddy with joy as he stood next to me.

“He... He said he would be arriving late due to some clan business.”

As he addressed me, I noticed something in Roussel’s gaze that I couldn’t for the life of me describe.

Without warning, Lante let out a rather boisterous guffaw.

“Isn’t that exactly what you said last year?! Come to think of it, it’s been what? Three years since we all had the pleasure of seeing your handsome boy. That must be some terribly important clan business for him to miss the gathering each and every year...”

Instead of responding to Lante’s heartless banter, Roussel continued to observe me in silence. For some reason, I felt the need to take a step back, but retained my smile.

“I see. So he will be arriving eventually. Then I shall wait in anticipation,” I said.

“Oh, yes. Me too. I really do hope we’ll finally get another look at your outstanding progeny this year.”

There was truly no limit to Lante’s viciousness. With that final remark, we left as others gathered around Roussel.

“What a moron pretending his dead son is going to magically appear somehow.”

“Still, it was rather amusing to watch him put up such a gallant front. Don’t you think, Father?”

“Too true.”

Lante’s eyes seemed to glitter, and I imagined he was likely recalling the fun he had enjoyed at Roussel’s expense only moments ago.

Likewise, I pretended to laugh along with him.