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After preparing a tray with two sweet chocolate drinks and several slices of cake and pie, Damon headed to Kaiston’s bedroom with him.
“Don’t be too surprised.”
“Haha, is she that beautiful?”
“She’s not even human.”
Kaiston answered playfully, told him to wait at the door for a moment, and entered the room first.
The ‘lady’ in the white dress was sitting against the headboard, reading a book.
Kaiston stared at her quietly, with her being engrossed and unaware that the door had opened.
She looked like she could be very studious, but he was more aware than anyone of what that book actually was.
“Liris.”
“Ah! Master!”
Liris hurried down from the bed and ran into his arms, and he embraced her in return.
“Studying even here?”
At his words, Liris’s face flushed bright red.
“I-it’s just… because it’s interesting.”
Kaiston snorted and gently stroked her platinum, curly hair.
“Yes. Study hard. You should try everything you want to do.”
“Yes, Master.”
Liris’s eyes flashed dangerously for an instant in his embrace, but fortunately he did not see it.
“More importantly… there’s someone I want to introduce you to.”
“Ah, now? Should I cover myself with a cloak?”
“No. You can just be seen.”
Saying that, Kaiston took her arm to pull her from his chest and scanned her from head to toe.
“Pretty.”
Liris’s face grew rosy.
It was something she had surely heard so often it was tiresome, but hearing it from him felt special.
She had once thought her appearance a curse, but at this moment she was deeply grateful to the gods who had formed her so beautifully and allowed her to win his heart.
Kaiston opened the door and invited Damon to enter.
“Then, excuse me.”
Damon, entering his bedroom, cast his gaze toward the ‘lady’ in the white dress standing near the bed.
For a moment, Damon almost dropped the tray he was carrying.
Seeing his hands tremble, Kaiston took the tray from him and set it on a table in the corner.
“Hello.”
Even as Liris politely greeted him, Damon couldn’t utter a single word.
Kaiston, puzzled, took him by the arm.
“Damon?”
“Ah…”
Only then did Damon seem to come to his senses and bowed toward her.
“Pardon my rudeness. I am Head Butler Damon.”
“I’m Liris.”
Damon, who had been staring intently at Liris, now looked at Kaiston.
He stared for a long time at Kaiston’s pure, untroubled violet eyes and let out a small groan.
‘…You don’t know.’
A frown formed between Damon’s brows.
His gaze returned to Liris.
“Please take good care of our lord.”
“Ah…”
Liris, who had looked at Damon with surprised, round amber eyes, laughed brightly.
“Yes, Damon.”
“If you feel uncomfortable at any time while staying here, please tell me.”
“I will. Thank you for your consideration.”
Watching the two converse, Kaiston felt something odd about Damon’s expression, but he dismissed it as a reaction to how striking Liris’s appearance was.
Only after Damon left did Kaiston speak to Liris.
“Damon reminds me of my parents.”
Kaiston picked up a mug and handed one to her.
“There’s nothing he doesn’t know about me.”
Sipping the chocolate drink Kaiston had given her, Liris asked cautiously, “What kind of people are Master’s parents?”
“Well…”
He thought for a moment and spoke.
“They were very soft-hearted. They couldn’t scold me properly even when I caused trouble. I hated that, so there was a time I put all my effort into causing as much trouble as I could.”
Liris’s eyes sparkled as she listened. His childhood stories were amusing.
“I once got mixed up with a gang and worked as a collector for a month, and I also entered the imperial palace’s forbidden area that you’re never supposed to enter and ended up unable to get out for two years.”
Just hearing it made Liris imagine how much stress his parents must have suffered, and she shook her head.
“You weren’t a good son, Master.”
“That’s right. I was awful.”
A bitter smile tugged at Kaiston’s lips.
“I wish I’d been a more dependable son. They’re probably still worrying about me every day.”
Liris wanted to tell him how his parents were doing.
But she couldn’t find the courage, so she simply said, “Master’s renown is so great across the Empire. They are surely proud and living at ease.”
She ended it there.
“Liris, are your parents still alive?”
He asked suddenly.
“Um… my mother passed away early, and my father is alive.”
“Where do they live?”
“On the Isles.”
Kaiston nodded at Liris’s answer and patted her head.
“My parents are on the Isles too. We’ll definitely go see them together later.”
His words made her chest ache somehow, and Liris bowed her head deeply.
“Yes… thank you, Master.”
He pulled her into his arms and patted her comfortingly.
“You must miss them a lot.”
“……”
“It’s because I have the core role, otherwise I’d let you see them more often.”
‘That’s not it.’
She felt increasingly sorry for him as he blamed himself.
“I’m a bad daughter… being by Master’s side is enough for me.”
Kaiston snorted at her words.
“Alright. I’ll believe that too.”
Kaiston had to return to the meeting room, so he had to leave her side again.
“Rest a bit. Don’t overdo the studying.”
Kaiston glanced at the erotic novel on the bed, and Liris blushed bright red once more.
“I must work hard to make Master happy.”
With that innocent face, she set his heart aflame again.
Kaiston lightly mussed her hair and said, “Just being here is enough.”
His lips, brushing her forehead lightly, were warm.
“I’ll be back.”
“Yes, Master.”
Liris watched Kaiston leave the room and only sighed after a long moment.
Her master struck suddenly and often. He was terribly bad for her heart.
She patted her own chest several times before she could calm down.
As she turned to climb back into bed—
Knock, knock.
She heard knocking. Who could it be?
“Damon.”
Hearing the voice beyond the door, her expression stiffened slightly.
She approached the door and opened it; he bowed his head in greeting and then spoke.
“May I speak with you for a moment?”
“Yes, come in.”
It seemed he had waited for Kaiston to be away, and Liris tensed slightly.
What did he want to say? She had a bad feeling. And as expected—
“Crown Princess.”
The moment he uttered his first words, Liris froze.
Newton recounted to Kaiston the matters discussed so far as Kaiston entered the meeting room.
It was proposed to use the merits Liris had earned by using sacred power in the Red Moon to free her from slave status and, by agreement with the temple, grant her a new status.
If that happened, regardless of her former status, she would be given the special designation of “a woman loved by the gods,” and her becoming the Duchess would be a glorious thing for Sinal, which borders the Demon King’s territory.
“I’m not sure it’d be all right if it became public that she used sacred power.”
After all, sacred power is something given only to special individuals even among the Crown Princesses of the Aikadum Empire, so if it became known that a woman from the borderlands who had been a slave possessed it, the imperial family family might be displeased.
“They knew she used sacred power and still sent her to Your Grace. Shouldn’t it be fine?”
“Hmm…”
Kaiston recalled once more the letter he had received when Liris was sent.
Aside from O’Neil’s advice that “It’s better to not remove the restraints,” there was no other mention of that matter.
“All right. It seems there is no problem. Do that.”
The retainers’ expressions brightened at Kaiston’s response.
“Yes, Your Grace. We will proceed promptly.”
“Then, Your Grace, how about presenting her publicly at this banquet?”
“Liris?”
‘To present her before the countless nobles of the Empire…’
His brow creased slightly.
“Must we do that?”
“Is there something you are concerned about?”
Kaiston nodded at Newton’s cautious question.
“She…”
His expression darkened.
“She’s excessively beautiful.”
“Yes?”
Newton asked back with a puzzled look, and the other retainers’ expressions were much the same.
“I’m worried she’ll attract too much attention.”
“Ah, is that so?”
Kaiston nodded with a serious expression.
“If we present her at the banquet, we must finalize the marriage papers beforehand. Otherwise, there may be those who covet her.”
“……”
The retainers didn’t know how to respond to the Duke’s earnest words.
They exchanged glances, deciding not to offend the Duke and to agree with his suggestion.
“Do not worry, Your Grace. We will have the paperwork perfectly arranged before the banquet.”
“Also, we can veil her during the banquet. Wouldn’t that be great?”
Kaiston smiled, finding their suggestions better than he had expected.
“Good idea. I’ll trust you with it.”
“Yes, Your Grace!”
“We will do our best.”
The retainers, caught by a sight of his rare smile, all bowed their heads in unison.
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