Chapter 10 : Freedom (7)
*****
Regina and Cyril, walking hand in hand along the road, looked like lovers at first glance. Even though it was done so as not to be separated because of the crowd.
"Oooh~ You two look so good."
So, when they looked around the store, they heard a lot of people say that. People whispered that they were lovers because they were holding hands.
Regina also appeared to be a more ordinary couple because she had taken off her cloak that she had been wearing so far.
Smiling awkwardly when she received people's pleased smiles and compliments, she left her seat and said to Cyril.
"It's funny. They say we're lovers."
It just sounded like a funny joke to her, knowing they weren't that kind of relationship.
"Why? Don't we look good together? I think so, too."
A mischievous smile appeared on Cyril's face, as he spoke playfully. Then he raised her hand and exaggeratedly pretended to kiss the back of her hand.
Having stayed with him and continued to see this kind of pranks, she was willing to respond to him. With her chin slightly raised and her hand out, she seemed to allow it with kindness.
Then, in the end, she finally burst out laughing.
After exchanging with each other as if they were playing a play, they eventually held hands again and moved.
When she entered the street where there were many restaurants, the road was quite crowded with people. It seemed that meal time was approaching. There's not much time left for them to return to their accommodation.
As Regina looked around the street for the last time, Cyril suddenly pulled her hand.
"Do you want some candy?"
As she turned her gaze to his words, Regina saw five-colored candies on display in the window.
"All right."
Regina expressed his positive intention without thinking and entered the candy store with Cyril.
When she went inside, the store was filled with more candy than what she saw from the outside. Not only candies, but chocolate and other sweet things were everywhere.
Regina looked around the store to see what to eat, then saw a round egg candy and stopped in front of it.
Regina suddenly remembered that when she was kidnapped by the Empress Dowager, she waited for Arsene to come rescue her and threw out random words to those who wanted to kill her. At that time, unexpectedly, a piece of candy bought her some time.
And just when she thought he wouldn't come and gave up, he magically appeared before her eyes.
Regina unconsciously thought of Arsene again and turned her head as if to shake off the face that came to mind.
"Is there anything you want to eat?"
Where the black hair fluttered and sank, there was Cyril looking at her. His hands were full of chocolate.
He seemed to really like chocolate and could often be seen eating it while traveling. He carried it around so often that it was so much so that it seemed like a quarter of his luggage was chocolate.
Even now, he seemed to be trying to buy everything, and the sight of him holding both hands full of snacks made him look like a fox greedily biting into a chicken leg.
As Regina was looking at it, for some reason, she suddenly started laughing. She could imagine Cyril coming alone to the candy store like this every time and seriously buying chocolate.
"What? Why are you laughing?"
He looked puzzled because she suddenly laughed. Then, as the saying goes, laughter spreads, he eventually laughed after her.
An untimely sound of laughter came and went between them. The corners of Cyril's mouth drew an arc as she watched Regina giggle. He doesn't know why, but it was good that she was enjoying herself.
She immediately shook her head as if it was nothing and pointed to a chocolate he was holding.
"Where was that? It looks delicious."
"This one over there."
He didn't ask any more questions about the reason for the laughter, but just followed along and answered as she changed the subject.
They spent the rest of their time in the candy store like that.
Having picked up everything they wanted to eat, they had a lot to eat in their hands, and they went back to their accommodation.
As they entered the building, a delicious smell wafted in the air. Since it was dinner time, the food from the restaurant filled the lobby.
"Where had you been?"
Duchess Haynes waited while drinking tea and stood up when she saw them coming in.
Regina approached the table and put down her shopping, feeling like she had completed a quest. When she thought about eating these later, she became happy again.
The Duchess, who saw that bundle of snacks, somehow felt like she could see their destination without having to hear it.
She sat down with them and asked.
“What do you think, the Ormos young lady saw?”
Regina was excited by her question and told her what she had seen. As she mixed in with the crowd, her slightly heightened mood was reflected in her tone of voice.
"It was so much fun."
Seeing her smile with a slightly flushed face, Iria smiled as well.
"I'm glad you had a good trip."
Iria was worried that Regina couldn't seem to get out of her nervous and depressed state, but now that she see it today, she thinks she can relieve her worries a little. Cyril, who was about the same age and was clumsy, seemed to be of great help to her.
As they began to pick up the prepared meal, they talked about the future.
The duchess would work here, and Regina is going to Anardal. Of these, Cyril was the only one whose destination was not clear.
Looking at the amount of work he did, she had some idea at first glance, but Iria decided to not bother to ask him.
"Now that you mention it, where are you going to Cyril?"
And it seemed as if he had been waiting for this question. While he was cutting meat, he answered her question as if it had been planned before.
"I'm thinking of going to Anardal."
She could not move further here because of her guild, but since he was wandering alone, so he had no difficulty following Regina.
"Then I guess you can go with Regina."
It seemed like he could take good care of her safety. And she didn't seem to mind going with him either.
“Then shall we leave tomorrow?”
When she first met Cyril, Regina was very wary and behaved like a thorny hedgehog, but after spending time with him and getting help from him, they became closer than ever before.
It was thanks to several factors, including the fact that he was not on Arsene's side and the fact that he had never appeared in the original work, that gradually relaxed her guard.
“I heard that the the people at the guild are going to Nishia Street at lunchtime tomorrow..."
They had their last dinner together and made a quick plan. Misbrunn wasn't that far away, so it was embarrassing to even call it a plan.
Regina listened to Cyril as she took a bite of steaming food.
The warm food, the comfortable atmosphere, and even the sound of people chatting. It was even more disappointing because it was the last night.
That evening, Regina fell asleep early, probably because she was tired. Even though she said it was early, she tended to sleep late, so it wasn't much different from sleeping when other people slept.
In contrast, Cyril turned off the lights except for one candle, but did not sleep.
Dark shadows flickered on his face as the lights flickered in the darkness.
After a moment of silence, he heard a sign of appearance that seemed to have been made on purpose. Looking out of the window frame, Cyril turned to the person who entered the room.
"This is a letter from the Chief."
When he reached out his hand, the visitor put the letter he had brought down on it.
Cyril opened the envelope and scanned the contents right there without turning on the light. Nevertheless, he was able to see the letters without much trouble.
After reading the last sentence, he expressed his dissatisfaction by narrowing his eyebrows.
“There’s not much left, but it’s already.”
He thought he could hold him back until Regina left Misbrunn, but his reaction was more extreme than he expected.
Cyril was troubled.
Of course, he knew that she was Duke Greroy's fiancée and that she was running away from him.
Some of themselves heard it directly, but most of all, it was because her name had spread to this place as well.
At first, she was just a unique person he met on the street, but he recognized her the moment he heard her name.
She was the fiancee of 'That Arsene Greroy'. Although she is not married yet, it was not difficult to hear the news of the engagement because the Misbrunn side was always paying attention to him.
And what happened was that she was now in Misbrunn and asked to prevent him from entering the country.
He didn't know the details, but he wanted to help her.
He was impressed from their first meeting, and they became attached as they traveled together to Ormos. Before she knew it, his interest, which had been just curiosity, had grown tremendously.
'But how?'
He couldn't think of a way to help her get out of Misbrunn safely.
At that time, he felt like they were looking at this place from somewhere far away.
To be exact, it wasn't where he was, but Regina's room next to him.
Come to think of it, he doesn't know who they were, but there were people who were keeping an eye on her. Just in case, he ordered an investigation and was continuing to be on alert...
A plan suddenly popped into Cyril's mind.
"This is good."
Folding the letter and putting it back in the envelope, he looked out at the moonlit landscape.
His eyes turned to the exact place, where the suspicious man was hiding.
*****
Arsene was lost in thought in the moving carriage.
He contacted Misbrunn again, so he would probably hear back from them sooner or later. This time, they will definitely say yes. Then he had something to do before that.
It was to find Regina's whereabouts.
When she was in Yurdenian, it was easy to find out that she was heading to Entanto through various evidence, such as the gate through which she left the capital and the direction she ran. It was all because Yurdenian was in his hands.
However, Misbrunn was different. Not only was there no war, but it was a hostile country. A country where we are on guard and always keep an eye on each other. It was not a place he could visit and wander around in the name of Duke Arsene Greroy.
Therefore, he needed to obtain as much information as possible from this place.
But how can he find her whereabouts in Misbrunn as a foreigner?
The answer was here where he arrived now.
Arsene raised his head and looked at the mansion of Marquis Rose in front of him.
If it were like usual, he wouldn't have visited this place that could create unnecessary rumors. As Regina felt in the past, the reason he was able to avoid being caught up in any gossip as he grew older was because he paid attention to his every action and every word he said.
But there was no time to think about that now.
No matter what scandal followed him, finding out Regina's whereabouts and getting her back in his hands was his top priority.
As he entered the mansion, the users were confused by the unexpected visit of someone, and an experienced butler led him to the drawing room.
Arsene arrived at the drawing room and waited leisurely, drinking the tea brought by the servant. Pretending to be completely calm on the outside no matter how boiling he was inside was one of the things he was best at.
As he was spending time sipping tea like that, it wasn't long before a useless guy appeared instead of the person he was looking for.
“No, why did Your Highness visit our mansion?”
The one who appeared before him with an excited face was Giles Rose, the eldest son of the Marquis Rose whom he had seen last time. He was an unremarkable guy who had nothing special about him and wasn't very good as a human being.
Arsene felt a little irritation as he stared at the person entering the room.
"It's not like I came to meet you today."
There was a smile on his handsome face, but what he meant was clear. It meant that he had no business with him.
He was already wasting every minute of his time trying to find Regina, but I didn't have time to spend on trivial things like Giles.
Arsene's eyes turned towards the drawing room door. It was a look to gauge when the person he wait for would arrive. He had already stopped paying attention to the fly fluttering in front of him.
But unfortunately, the person on the other end didn't seem to notice, or perhaps did it on purpose, and instead of leaving, he sat down in the seat created for the person waiting, namely Isota.
"I heard that you came to see Isota. I wonder did my younger sister may have made some mistake with the Duke?"
He tried to talk to Arsene as if he were a caring older brother who cared about his immature younger sister. It was an action that clearly showed that it was a pretentious act, just like what he did at the last party.
“Isota has not been properly educated, so please be lenient even if she makes mistakes.”
Arsene's fine brow narrowed because of Giles, who was buzzing loudly like a fly. He still took another sip of warm tea, and he looked at a man who looked like a goat, as if he were whisking away an insect.
“It seems like Sir Giles likes to disparage his own family.”
Giles, who was groveling and trying to please Arsene, suddenly froze as if he were a plaster statue. He tried to talk down to the easygoing Isota, but it didn't seem like it.
He immediately changed his attitude and tried to figure out the situation, but he thought with a big smile. His pride was hurt, but he wasn't in the right mind to build up his pride in front of Duke Greroy.
But just at the right time, the door of the drawing room opened violently. Instead of opening the door, it was almost like breaking it.
Giles, startled, turned his head to shout at the person who violently opened the door. Who would dare to be so uncivilized while he is talking to Duke Greroy?
As he opened his mouth to point out, a bright blonde woman appeared behind the door and looked around the room. Then she hit the player before he could say anything.
"You...!"
Isota's blue eyes were fixed on Duke Greroy. Her half-brother sitting in front of him didn't even seem to be in sight.
Isota, who without hesitation referred to a nobleman higher than her, walked into the room with her.eyes raised in a triangular shape.
"Why is the Duke here?"
A voice burning with anger greeted him very harshly. As she approached, she spoke right away without even sitting down. Giles looked down at her with his mouth shut and sat awkwardly in between.
Arsene looked at her with his usual smile. Her unsmiling violet eyes quickly scanned her expression.
“Because I came to see the lady.”
“I have nothing to talk about with you, Duke.”
Cold gazes met in the air. The two made eye contact for a moment as if they were fighting, but then fell apart when Arsene turned his gaze to Giles.
“The person I’ve been waiting for has arrived, so I’d like to talk to her.”
An unspoken pressure was placed on Giles to get out of the way. Sitting opposite him, he got up from the sofa and crept away.
“Then I’ll just leave. If anything happens, please call me, Your Highness.”
He didn't think he'll ever call him again, but Arsene smiled and nodded.
When Giles left the parlor without becoming anything more than a fly until the end, Isota, who was standing tall, placed her butt where there was still a trace of where he had sat.
She got straight to the point without any pretense of greeting. Sharp eyes examined him.
"Why did you come to see me?"
It turned out that she didn't even care about the teacup in front of her and tried to solve just the business. It was very rude from the perspective of a noble, but Arsene had neither the intention nor the time to point it out.
"Where did Regina go?"
Isota flinched for a moment at his question, which only got to the point.
Arsene took note of even the slightest movement. One small reaction from her could have been a clue to finding Regina.
After a moment of agitation, Isota put on a shameless face. Just like she did the day Regina disappeared.
"How do I know that?"
Arsene stared coldly at Isota, who was looking at him with her eyes wide open.
If Regina trying to trick him was cute, Isota didn't think much of it.
'You're clumsy with your eyes!'
It was just laughable that she thought he could fool himself.
He sat leisurely with his legs crossed and looked comfortable, as if this was his mansion. The languid atmosphere made Isota nervous.
Arsene looked at her reaction and clasped his hands together and placed them on his legs.
"Everyone knows you went out with Regina that day. I think this is enough."
He heard from Iz the day Regina disappeared that she purposely mixed into the crowd, dropped her escorts, and tricking them into thinking she was wearing Regina's hat.
Even if that wasn't the case, it was even more unnatural to think that she, a close friend, wouldn't have helped.
But she foolishly seemed intent on continuing to deny it.
"I was also shocked because I suddenly lost Regina that day. Then she just disappeared, so I haven’t recovered from the shock yet. Isn’t this too much?"
Rather, she cheekily teased her tongue, saying, 'Isn't this too much?' and closed her mouth at the exact glance.
A moment of defeat passed by her expression that caught his eye.
The cool sunken purple eyes watched as she did, and slowly lowered her eyelids.
“Lady Rose. I think this is polite enough to you for helping Regina."
"........"
Iosta realized that it would be useless to deny any further accusations. It would have been wise to admit some and make up some answers.
She quickly changed her answer.
“I only helped her get out of the capital, I don’t know what happens after that.”
It was true that she only helped her get out of the capital. Even if it was a lie not to know what happened after that, it was more plausible than just denying it because it contained half the truth.
Regina gave them a brief plan before leaving here. Going to Entanto, crossing to Misbrunn, and then going to the East Continent, things like that. But of course she had no intention of saying this.
She somehow let go of her friend, but she couldn't let her be captured by Arsene again.
She looked at Arsene as if she really meant it this time, and he grinned. However, she could immediately feel that there was not a single trace of positive emotion in that smile.
“You’re giving the same answer as sir Bellov.”
It was just a word, but it sent shivers down her spine for no reason. It was amazing how Regina drew such a sweet figure with such a person.
And Isota realized one thing in that short sentence.
'What? Did this person even go to see Kai?'
From what he was saying, it seemed like he went to Kai first before coming to her.
Arsene recalled Kai's face that he had seen a moment ago.
He seemed to be excellent at hiding his emotions, as his facial expressions changed so subtly that it was difficult to notice.
However, no matter how much he did, he could definitely feel that he was sharpening his edge when it came to things related to Regina.
When he thought of that, he suddenly felt bad. How could he protect Regina in that way?
The fiancé was himself.
For a moment, he felt like he was standing in the middle of a storm. It felt like he was being swept around, losing the keys I always held straight.
After a moment passed, he calmed his churning stomach and slowly opened his mouth.
“It’s not difficult to force an answer from you if I feel like."
It wasn't really difficult. If you want to hear the answer you want, you just have to torture them until they tell you.
However, that could only be used on overnight guests or political opponents, and was not for friends of your fiancee.
Isota looked weary after hearing his words, because I understood what he was saying.
The perfect duke that people praised was actually such a cruel person. Regina probably knew that and ran away.
While she was thinking that way, Arsene loosened his crossed legs and sat upright. His fingertips picked up a sugar cubes next to the teacup.
“But since you’re Regina’s favorite friend, it couldn’t get any better than this.”
It would have been better to refrain from making threats, considering what would happen later when Regina returned.
Saying that, he dropped the sugar cube on the teacup.
A sugar cube fell onto the cold tea, causing ripples. Because of the temperature of the cooled water, the sugar cubes slowly melted while maintaining it shapes.
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