Chapter 34
“Oh, my mother is calling me for a moment. You two can talk.”
It was at that moment that Eleon came to his senses, who looked at Elysia, bewitched.
“Your Highness. Would you like to try this dessert?”
Karina spoke to him with a smile, but Eleon was busy thinking about Elysia, who had just left.
Elysia seemed to be in a good mood.
No wonder she was like Rona.
Rona was always lively and cheerful.
She was so energetic and positive that every time she spoke it made his dark world light up.
But Elysia was different.
Still, his sensitive feelings were speaking.
Rona and Elysia are the same person.
They have the same voice, the same light steps, and the same scent of cherry blossom flowers that are fragrant every time she moves when he stays close to her.
But when he opened his eyes, she felt like a different person.
Why don’t you look happy?
In Eleon’s memory, Rona used to be happy over little things.
She was happy whenever the meal was delicious, when she got cookies as a snack, or when Bernard gave her a bonus for working hard.
The world she saw and heard instead of him was full of beautiful things.
They were the only words that warmed and brightened up the world of a blind man.
I think it’s a good thing that she found her family.
Rona disappeared on her way to Cafe Cardinal.
She left no trace.
She left all her things and money at the Grand Duke’s residence.
He was stunned when he couldn’t find Rona, but now he understood her position.
The mere fact of having worked as a maid was something she didn’t want to talk about now that she had regained her status.
Rather than salute a place where she has worked, she is better off cutting it all off.
A scandal arises from an additional delusion rather than a fact.
But Eleon came to see Elysia every day.
She looked like a weak herbivore.
Elysia reminded him of a calm rabbit. When he tried to reach her, she would jump up and run away, looking at him with surprise.
Her eyes seemed to come back to life only when she met Eleon.
I wanted to see you smile.
Even the butler had seen her smiling face before him.
And the thought of it made him want to send the competent Bernard to look after the estate so he couldn’t come back.
Bernard’s detailed explanation of Rona’s smiling face was a habit from his blind days.
Even after Eleon regained his sight, he couldn’t easily give up his habit of having people describe details to him.
Eleon was jealous to the point of wanting to expel those who had seen Rona before him.
He became obsessed with Elysia’s smiling face, just as Bernard had described it.
When will I be able to see her bright smile?
However, seeing Elysia, who was not very welcoming to his visit, made him nervous.
Should I tell Elysia that I know she is Rona? Will our relationship change?
But Elysia pretended not to know me.
Do you remember the blind man who looked at the sunrise in the morning and the moonlight when he took a walk at night, as you asked him?
I wonder if you have forgotten the scenery of the old Cafe Cardinal, as you described it to me.
There were years when I relied on you, but without you, my heart would feel empty.
Would that make a difference?
Every time I saw Elysia, she would draw a line between us like I was a stranger, and my head would fill with all sorts of thoughts.
But seeing Elysia’s smile for the first time made me forget all my worries and thoughts.
Eleon barely pushed his thoughts aside.
As Karina looked at him sitting, she smiled warmly.
“You don’t like sweet desserts?”
When there was no answer, she looked around and pushed a bowl over to where Eleon was sitting.
“Then try this. It’s a pickled fruit from the east, it has a unique taste because it’s sprinkled with salt.”
As if waiting for Elysia to go away, Karina actively spoke to him when they were alone.
What’s going on here?
Eleon narrowed his eyes.
「“Lady Elysia.”」
Maybe the maid who came looking for her up a while ago was just looking for her master.
But what about Elysia’s attitude?
「“Oh, my mother is calling me for a moment. You two can talk.”」
But Elysia disappeared before the maid could tell why her mother was calling her.
……. No way.
The sudden thought disgusted him.
When Eleon didn’t answer her question properly, Karina got depressed.
“Your Highness.”
“Please, speak.”
“Actually, I asked Lady Elysia to let us meet, Your Highness.”
Eleon raised his eyebrows.
Ah, that was it?
Unable to read his mind, which was as crooked as his slanted eyebrows, Karina hurriedly said what she had prepared.
“You helped me when I was in trouble before, so I wanted to thank you properly.”
“I helped you?”
He didn’t remember anything.
Eleon tried to recall, but nothing came to mind.
“At Cafe Cardinal. Some bad guys were arguing with me, and you helped me.”
“Ah.”
Then a scene came to mind.
He remembered that when he was blind he followed Rona to Cafe Cardinal and remembered another young lady.
She reminded him of Rona, so that’s why he chased them away.
However, he only helped her because she was in a similar situation as Rona.
It meant nothing to him.
“Don’t worry about it, you don’t have to thank me.”
“But it is thanks to your help that I was able to get out of the problem, Your Highness.”
Karina’s green eyes sparkled with vitality.
He felt a familiar sensation.
It was definitely a look that showed interest in him.
But it was none other than Elysia who prepared this place.
「“Actually, I asked Lady Elysia to let us meet, Your Highness.”」
Suddenly his accumulated nervousness had been cut when he heard her speak.
Eleon was very offended.
There were times when he had to resist the urge to hold Rona while feeling the warmth of her tiny hands, and when he carefully covered her with a blanket without touching a single hair of hers.
How lovely would it be to see you when I opened my eyes and saw you?
He used to imagine himself caring for her so much without looking at her.
He would never be able to change his feelings for her.
And at the end of his delusion, won’t Rona look at him like a man considering they call him a blind beast?
That was it.
Now, he has fully recovered the symbol of Oder, the red eyes.
He was able to go to the old days when he had everything, but Rona was not by his side.
And still, she doesn’t see Eleon as a man.
I thought you would know even if I didn’t tell you.
Rona didn’t have to say anything.
She used to notice what he wanted as if she could read his mind.
Oddly enough, Rona didn’t realize that he liked her.
“May I invite you to dinner to thank you?”
“I didn’t mean to help you.”
“Yes?”
Karina’s eyes widened at the unflattering remark.
“There was someone who went through something similar at the cafe. I was just thinking about the past.”
“You still helped me. I really want to repay you, Your Highness.”
“I refuse.”
Eleon got up from his seat.
Karina was startled and stood up at the same time.
“Where are you going?”
“Oh, my mother called me for a moment. Lady Karina should enjoy tea here.”
He waved his hands with a disdainful expression.
Karina sat back spellbound as he waved his hand with a sneer.
“I should get going now.”
As Eleon disappeared, she wondered what she had just heard.
“This is the Duke of Yuter’s Mansion.”
Isn’t his mother Princess Lev?
“Nobody came to call him.”
She couldn’t believe that he was leaving all of a sudden.
Only then did she suddenly realize that Eleon had expressed his displeasure.
“What should I do?”
Karina cried.
It was not easy for her to come to her and ask Elysia for a favor.
However, she wondered after hearing the rumors that Grand Duke Clevent was a bit crazy, going to the Duke of Yuter’s mansion every day.
Will Grand Duke Clevent send Elysia a courtship letter soon?
According to what she found out, Elysia was a priestess with great divine power, enough to receive oracles from all five gods.
Karina thought that it would be a very important oracle when Elysia could only remember her.
It’s important.
Karina believed that she would influence the fate of the Empire, whether she was connected to Sabiel or to the only Grand Duke of the Empire.
If she married Crown Prince Sabiel, she would become the Empress, and if she married Eleon, who was born with Oder’s blood, she might become the next Oder’s mother.
Isn’t that what the old woman fortune teller says?
“She told me that first I was going to have children. She said that I would be blessed.”
However, she became distant from Sabiel, and it was difficult to even sit face to face with Eleon.
She did not know what to do.
Karina thought it was humiliating, but she had no choice but to ask Elysia for help to make the Grand Duke fall in love with her.
“She didn’t seem to have any feelings for the Grand Duke.”
So why did she foolishly say she was going to help me?
It seemed like she was not even aware of the basics of courtship with a marriage proposal in mind when a nobleman came to visit every day.
The chaperone must have a clue, but Elysia didn’t seem to care at all.
Elysia said she would help me.
She lost her memory and was originally a priestess.
Karina thought that Elysia was a sloppy woman.
“That’s great. I must have the Grand Duke.”
Karina clenched her fists.
* * * * *
Elysia looked up at the blue sky.
“You two must be having a good conversation, right?”
Instead of granting her request, Elysia had nowhere to go at home.
“I feel uncomfortable seeing Mariela these days.”
Elysia’s mother had been sensitive ever since the debutante ball.
She had no idea why.
It seems that Mariela regrets making her debut.
She hoped that when her daughter regained her memories, she would return to Hadunsha.
“There is no place for me to lie down in such a nice place.”
Elysia wandered around, finally finding a spot, sitting under the camellia trees planted in rows to separate the gardens.
She picked up a fresh camellia flower and fiddled with it.
“Phew.”
She let out a long sigh.
“What’s wrong with me?”
The image of Eleon and Karina sitting alone next to each other stuck in her mind.
“This makes me feel like I’m jealous.”