🌷 🌷 🌷
THE members of the Vigatto ducal house were especially protective of Gian, but that didn’t mean that Julietta had been neglected growing up. She received a proper education befitting a daughter of noble lineage, and her parents doted on her in their own way. In fact, she leaned toward being a bit arrogant and selfish, typical for the daughter of a duke. Julietta was older than both of them, and whenever Claudio went to visit Gian, he did his best to avoid her because she would tease him about his hair color, which was more distinctly pink back then than its current strawberry-blond hue.
When he’d rushed over to pay his condolences to the family after hearing that Julietta had unexpectedly passed away, Claudio noticed that a strange silence had settled over the normally bustling manor. The number of servants had been dramatically reduced, and those who remained seemed antsy. The duke was irritable the entire time, and the duchess was indisposed and didn’t make an appearance. For some reason, they wouldn’t let him see Gian, so Claudio left the flowers he’d brought and was about to leave when he spotted a figure peeking out of a window on the second floor.
Their hairstyle was identical to Gian’s, but it couldn’t be him. Gian couldn’t get out of bed. Claudio recognized Julietta with just that single glimpse. And it took him only a moment to realize what must be going on in the Vigatto family. Claudio was still a young prince with no power of his own, so there was nothing he could do for Julietta. All he could do was keep his mouth shut.
A letter arrived from the Vigatto family, casually reporting that they’d held a private funeral for Julietta with only immediate family present.
Julietta—no, by this time, he’d thoroughly become Gian—would occasionally come to the Royal Palace to donate the stacks upon stacks of books he’d finished reading while holed up at home all the time. That was the only time Gian would appear in front of Claudio and tease him for his hair color, just like old times. During that period when Claudio was just going along with everything, not sure how he should handle “the Gian situation,” he abdicated from his place in the line of succession and moved out of the Royal Residence. After that, he and Gian rarely met, and all Claudio knew about him came from rumors being passed along the grapevine.
Considering how many years Gian had spent living all alone, probably desperately lonely, Claudio could understand why he latched on to a friendly person like Ophelia.
But, even so… Why did it have to be Ophelia…? If the real Gian truly arranged for them to meet from beyond the grave, Claudio would have to pay a visit to Gian’s grave in the near future because he had some choice words for his childhood friend.
When he spotted Claudio sporting the frown to top all frowns, Samael quickly averted his eyes.
Although Ophelia had been working through her remaining paid leave, she would be coming in to work today. Hopefully, once she arrived, Claudio’s mood would improve a bit… Although it seemed just as likely that his foul mood would only get worse. After all, Ophelia had gone to stay with the man who’d proposed to her. Frankly, it was a bit scandalous… But Samael was curious to see how it would all play out.
At the moment, Angelo was engrossed in fiddling with a puzzle ring during working hours, and for some reason, Bruno was making a face like he’d just taken a bite of something bitter. Samael was clutching his head when the door to the Director’s Office swung open.
“Good morning,” Ophelia’s familiar voice rang out.
Everyone looked up, and in unison, their eyes bugged out. Right beside Ophelia stood Gian with an arm snaked familiarly around her waist.
“This is where I leave you, Ophie. Have a good day at work.”
“Thank you, Lord Gian.”
“Wait just a minute.”
Claudio stopped Gian just as he was about to leave. The mushy smile melted off Gian’s face instantly when he turned to Claudio.
“What do you want, Claudio?”
“I believe I barred you from entering the building, interloper.”
“There’s not a receptionist alive who has the nerve to go against the Vigatto family.”
“Then I suppose I’ll have to adjust the magical item in the entryway to zap you the next time you try to enter.”
Gian folded his arms and leaned back, glaring petulantly at Claudio. “I’m just walking my dear Ophie to work. One never knows when or where an attack might occur, after all.” After spitting that out, Gian turned to Ophelia and drew her against his body. “We did positively unspeakable things together in bed, I’ll have you know. At this stage in our relationship, it doesn’t matter what anyone has to say. All right then, Ophie, I’ll be going now. If Claudio bullies you, you tell me right away, okay?”
Ophelia’s cheeks flushed a telling shade of deep crimson. Grinning like the cat who got the cream, Gian sauntered out of the room, closing the door sharply behind him.
“Ophelia! Unspeakable things?! Exactly what kind of unspeakable things are we not talking about?!” Angelo crowed.
“L-Lady Narve, this is…” Bruno stuttered.
“I don’t remember raising you like that, young lady!” Samael scolded.
Faced with her three coworkers’ relentless questioning, Ophelia’s blush only deepened. “I… I reserve the right to remain silent! If they knew what I’ve done, Father and Bernard would be so angry…”
Unable to lie, Ophelia’s only recourse was to remain silent. She clapped her hands over her ears and slid into her seat, where she remained slumped, face-down on the desk, until her burning cheeks returned to normal. That only sent the three men into a greater tizzy.
“I-I can’t believe Ophelia did something like that…”
“She couldn’t have really done something so drastic, could she?”
“That’s unacceptable for an unmarried lady! …Well, but I guess it’s actually not so uncommon for young folks these days…?”
Claudio stood abruptly, causing his chair to screech loudly as he pushed it back. His three flustered underlings snapped their gaping mouths closed in surprise at the unexpectedly calm expression on his face.
“Oi, Ophelia. Get ready to head out.”
“Y-Yes, sir! Where are we going?”
“To the Cathedral.”