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“Lord Leeuwenhoek! Yes, I would like to be your friend too!” Lady Lucille Gustelanola had declared confidently with a wide smile.
No, that’s not what I meant.
I was proud of myself for not sinking my head into my hands in exasperation.
My intent had been to tell her that if she found it acceptable, I would respect her as my fiancée and engage in proper interaction with her. But the misunderstanding hadn’t been important enough to bother correcting, so I hadn’t said anything further.
“Lady Lucille seemed like a really nice girl,” Kain, my close aide and childhood friend, remarked as soon as we were alone in my office.
Indeed, after finally having a proper conversation with Lucille Gustelanola, I now knew that she was far from the evil woman I’d heard about.
For some reason, Lady Gustelanola had become very enthusiastic after our exchange, suddenly standing up and rushing around to serve us tea and unfamiliar pastries. She’d mentioned the name of the baked goods several times, but because it had sounded so foreign, I couldn’t remember what they were.
At any rate, she’d brought those unusual pastries out with a beaming smile, saying, “I made these myself. They came out very nicely, so please try them!”
Those words had been so unexpected; I’d found myself suspecting that she’d put a new type of poison in the pastries and her naivete had all been an act.
She baked pastries? The foolish and notorious Lady Gustelanola baked pastries? What kind of noble lady would casually enter the kitchen to show off her skills in the first place?
I knew there were noble ladies who were good at such things, but how much of it did they do by themselves? Many of them would claim to have baked something with their own hands, when in reality, they contributed little to their chef’s work.
But in that detached house, there was not a single servant to help her, let alone a chef.
Lucille Gustelanola had been engaged to the second prince for many years, and she must have been very busy during that time. Additionally, her father was a prideful noble who hated wasting time and expending effort. He was the kind of person who hadn’t defended his daughter when her engagement had been broken; instead, in his rage, he’d sent her to Leeuwenhoek all by herself.
I highly doubted that Lady Gustelanola would’ve been allowed into the kitchen at her family’s house. She probably wouldn’t have had the time, anyway, considering her busy life. So where had she learned to cook? Where could she have gone to learn how to bake those bizarre pastries?
Unlike me, Kain was familiar with everything that noble ladies were fond of, and even he hadn’t recognized her baked goods.
“I learned how to make these from Hinako...a person who was very kind to me a long time ago,” the girl had murmured.
When exactly was “a long time ago”? She’d looked somewhat melancholic when she’d said that, but perhaps it had just been my imagination.
“Man, those pastries were really good,” Kain said. “Cheerful, brave, and she can cook. Seems like a great girl to me, don’t you agree?”
Kain didn’t even like sweet things normally. But those unfamiliar sweet treats had been unbelievably delicious. And of course, they hadn’t been poisoned.
That day I’d returned home after leading thirty or so elite knights on a multiday extermination mission, I’d gone to visit Lucille Gustelanola for the first time at the detached house, and the sight of her had given me pause.
Her original appearance on arrival had likely been artificially crafted. Meanwhile, our unannounced visit had given her no time to prepare, nor had there been any servants to help her do so. As a result, the girl who appeared before us that day could have been mistaken for a fairy with her breathtakingly clear skin and air of sweet innocence. The knights had also been rendered speechless by her mysterious aura that was somehow both bewitching and pure.
Why in the world would she wear such thick, gaudy makeup when her face is already so beautiful without it?
When I’d first listened to Sarah’s report, I’d thought it was a joke. However, it seemed that Lady Gustelanola really had been living comfortably in her servant-less environment. Additionally, she hadn’t voiced a single complaint to either me or Sarah when we apologized. She hadn’t blamed us for anything.
Her appearance and disposition hadn’t been the only baffling things. The miraculous sight of tomatoes growing still made me doubt my memory and wonder if it had all been a dream. And according to Sarah, she even had the ability to communicate with animals.
The stray cats that lived in the area were known to never approach humans. They had fierce temperaments and would even fight off monsters that weren’t too strong. But apparently, they had been behaving as if they could truly understand what Lady Gustelanola was saying. Randolph, too, testified that she had been buried in cats when he’d first met her.
It made no sense. Those cats were far from peaceful creatures. Even the knights of Leeuwenhoek were instructed not to recklessly approach them.
I can’t even imagine what it looks like to be buried in cats to begin with.
“Lady Lucille seems like such a nice girl,” Kain said, interrupting my thoughts. “If she really is as evil as they say, I’m willing to be deceived.”
He keeps insisting that she’s a nice girl. Is he trying to tell me something?
I had deliberately been pretending not to hear his comments, but it seemed he wasn’t going to leave me alone.
“Well?” he continued. “She doesn’t seem interested in you. Are you okay with that?”
I raised an eyebrow. What exactly is he getting at?
“I already apologized,” I replied. “I also told her that I hoped to make amends. Is there still something wrong?”
“Oh, no. Nothing’s wrong at all. I mean, it’s a forced engagement, and you never wanted to get married anyway ’cause you’re worried about your curse. For a stubborn guy like you, I think you did pretty well with that interaction. So yeah, nothing’s wrong.”
“What’s your point, then?”
“Nothing’s wrong, but there’s no hope either! No bright future to look forward to! I know you always distance yourself from people, but still!”
I’m supposed to understand this man like the back of my hand, and yet sometimes I have no idea what he’s trying to say.
Up until now, most of the incomprehensible things Kain had said involved women. He often shared insubstantial stories describing the enjoyment he derived from fooling around with noble ladies, the allure of women, and which girls he found attractive. All of which he spoke about with a silly grin on his face.
This was likely another one of those cases.
“You know, Lady Lucille is really kindhearted,” he continued. “She didn’t show it, but she probably still thinks you don’t like her. And you’re fine with that?”
“I have no opinion on the matter.”
“I mean, apologies usually don’t come across half as well as you think. You probably should’ve been more specific and said, ‘It was wrong of me to say that I hate you.’”
“I disagree. Not only would it have been unnecessary, it wouldn’t have been accurate, because my feelings toward her are not strong enough to say for sure that the statement was incorrect.”
I was simply intrigued by her mysterious powers and the fact that she differed so much from the rumors surrounding her.
Come to think of it, the reason I had made up my mind to pay Lady Gustelanola a visit was because I’d heard that Alice had barged into her detached house. I’d expected her to be in a bad mood as a result, but much to my surprise, she had been in good spirits. And so I’d completely forgotten about the matter with Alice until now.
“Uh-oh,” Kain said, making an obvious show of looking up at the ceiling.
I swear, this man is being uncharacteristically persistent and annoying.
“Maybe you’re fine with how today went, but I’ve got a bad feeling about this,” he continued. “I just know you’re gonna regret it someday.”
“Regret? Regret what?”
Why does it even matter when I already feel regret every day? It’s been this way ever since I was born in this cursed body.