I Like You
"Weren't you working?"
Valdrova asked.
"It was nothing important."
"No. I only came because I was bored, so if I'm bothering you, I can come back later..."
There was no way Ferda could refuse her.
What matter in the world could possibly be more serious than boredom?
"No. You may come in."
"But you seem to have a lot of work..."
Valdrova looked at the documents piled across Ferda's desk.
"It truly is fine."
"Are you sure...?"
"If necessary, I can simply burn all of it."
"What? Are you allowed to do that?"
"I am."
His voice was so firm that it somehow made him even less believable.
"Y-You shouldn't do that. You still have to work."
"But you'll be bored."
"Don't worry about me. You should work, Ferda. I'll sit beside you."
"Beside me...?"
"Yes! I'll stay perfectly still and quiet as a mouse!"
"Very well."
Valdrova cautiously approached, dragged Mori's chair over, and sat beside Ferda.
"You can do it!"
She raised both hands in an encouraging gesture.
But there was no possibility of him concentrating.
Even though she wore a mask, he was still conscious of the fact that her face was turned toward him.
She had come because she was bored. If he could not relieve that boredom and only made it worse, would that not make him unqualified to become her partner?
'Perhaps I really should burn everything...'
Just as Ferda was about to make a momentous decision, Valdrova leaned closer.
She read the document in his hand.
"Interim Report on Summer Budget Expenditures... What does that mean?"
Ferda explained.
"It is a document showing how the money allocated for summer is being spent."
"I see. Does it look all right?"
"It says they require more funds than expected, but this amount is still manageable."
"Hmm..."
Valdrova looked down at the numbers written below, her expression troubled.
"Do you think I could do work like this too, Ferda?"
"You could, but there is no need for you to."
"But these are things I was originally supposed to do, aren't they?"
"It is right for me to handle these tedious, miscellaneous tasks. There is no reason for Your Highness to learn them separately."
Valdrova abruptly fell silent.
The stillness sent a chill through him.
Had he said something wrong?
Should he have told her that she could do it too—that she would be capable of it if she studied hard enough?
"I didn't actually come here to say something like this... I keep getting sidetracked."
Valdrova fidgeted, rubbing her fingertips together before speaking hesitantly.
"I'm sorry I kept avoiding you these past few days. I was simply too embarrassed to bear it."
"It is all right. I can wait until Your Highness is emotionally prepared."
"...You're doing it again."
She sounded deeply disappointed.
Ferda still did not understand what he had done wrong.
"I..."
"Yes?"
"I like it."
"Pardon?"
Ferda was shaken.
He reacted so strongly that even Valdrova, who had spoken the words, became startled.
"I mean... the name Eleanor."
"Ah. Is that so?"
"Yes. It's the name you gave me, Ferda. If you don't use it... I feel hurt."
"Ah."
So that was the reason.
Whenever she seemed displeased, it had always been after he addressed her as "Your Highness."
"I understand."
"Yes."
"Then, Eleanor."
"...?"
"Yes!"
Valdrova answered with remarkable enthusiasm.
Her reaction made it obvious that this truly had been the only problem.
"Hehe. You can go back to work now. I was being terribly annoying, wasn't I?"
"No. This much is perfectly fine."
"May I annoy you a little more?"
"You may."
"Then..."
Valdrova's fidgeting hand slowly crept forward along her body before cautiously snatching one of Ferda's hands.
"May I have this?"
"Shall I cut it off and give it to you?"
"There's no need to go that far!"
"It was a joke."
It had not sounded like a joke at all.
Ferda looked at Valdrova and smiled faintly.
Unable to look at that smile, Valdrova lowered her head and began playing with his hand.
She traced the creases of his thumb, moved across the smooth surface of his nail, and continued toward his index finger.
The way she touched each finger one by one made it seem as though she were trying to read everything written into his hand.
Naturally, Ferda could no longer concentrate.
"Ferda..."
"Yes?"
"What do you like about me?"
It was a sudden question.
Valdrova continued as she moved from one finger to the next.
"You're handsome and intelligent, Ferda... so I feel like you would prefer a woman prettier and smarter than someone like me. Someone like that Olivia, for example...?"
Olivia Arken.
A beauty worthy of being called the Rose of the Empire.
But Ferda knew what lay beneath her surface.
It was so deep and dark that looking at her felt like looking at another version of himself.
No matter how beautiful she was, that resemblance left him only with an uneasy feeling.
"Even if Olivia and I are both intelligent, there are things that cannot be gained through effort. And you possess one of those things, Eleanor."
"What is it?"
The answer was the very question she had just asked.
"I cannot tell you."
"Why not?"
"Because it is most beautiful when you remain unaware of it."
"What does that even mean...?"
Valdrova grumbled, wondering whether he was teasing her.
It was truly ironic.
The fact that she did not understand how precious she was only made her seem all the more precious.
Ferda's heart, which had been pounding with excitement, gradually settled.
A pleasant silence descended, and he returned his attention to the documents.
Neither of them spoke again.
Ferda turned the pages while Valdrova continued fidgeting with his hand.
Eventually, she began drawing something on his palm.
Following the sensation of her fingertip, Ferda traced the lines in his mind and realized that she was writing letters.
"Are you writing something?"
"That's right. Can you feel it?"
"Yes, I can."
"Hmm... Then I'll write a word, and you can try to guess what it is. How does that sound?"
Valdrova seemed excited by the idea.
There was no way Ferda could refuse.
"Very well."
"Then this is the first question."
Her finger moved gently across Ferda's palm, using it as though it were a sheet of paper.
After even adding a period, she asked playfully,
"What did I write?"
"Apple?"
"Yes, it was apple. Now for the next one!"
Still excited, Valdrova diligently wrote another word.
"Ferda. That is my name."
"That's right! Next..."
"Eleanor. Your name."
"Correct! You're very good at this. I'll have to make the next one more difficult."
Valdrova swayed her head happily and hummed under her breath.
"For the next one... Hmm..."
Her formerly lively movements grew calmer.
The hand holding his suddenly felt strangely warmer.
"...You have to guess this one too."
"Understood."
Ferda focused, trying to read the letters Valdrova traced onto his palm.
Once she added the final period, she asked,
"What did I write?"
"Hmm. Was this one too difficult?"
"No. I believe I understand what it says."
"Then say it."
"It says..."
Ferda unconsciously touched his face.
He hesitated, looking deeply troubled.
He knew the phrase she had written very well.
But it was not something he could easily say while sober.
For a man as quiet and expressionless as him, the words felt far too sweet and beautiful to utter aloud.
Yet Valdrova was waiting for him to say them.
And so Ferda carefully spoke.
"I like you."
With a deeply satisfied expression, she answered,
"I like you too."
Valdrova wrote the same words several more times.
Each time, she smiled as she savored the troubled look on Ferda's face.
***
Valdrova Castle, Luri's room.
Her routine after completing the day's work was simple.
She removed the clothes she had worn that day, rewarded herself with a piece of fruit preserved in honey from a jar, and tossed it into her mouth.
Rolling the sticky sweetness around on her tongue, she threw herself onto the bed.
It was currently midnight.
Her duties would begin at four in the morning, so if she fell asleep now, she would get four hours of rest.
Luri had always slept that much.
It was enough.
Following her usual routine, she closed her eyes.
"Hmm..."
But they would not stay properly shut.
She had trained herself to fall asleep the moment she lay down, yet tonight sleep refused to come easily.
A single distracting thought continued to torment her.
It filled her mind with a hazy, fog-like emotion she could not clearly define.
Luri slowly turned her head.
A stack of books sat within her field of vision.
They were the books she had seized from Ferda's office.
Books filled with suspicious and obscene content.
"...Pervert."
The word was directed at Ferda.
Even Luri knew she did not truly mean it.
Ferda had no idea what those books contained.
Luri was the one who knew.
And she was the one who had panicked and run away by herself.
Remembering her behavior, Luri covered her face.
'I actually screamed at him and fled...'
She could not believe she had behaved like some flustered maiden.
When had she ever been shaken so badly?
Of course, there had been many times when major events had disturbed her.
But over something this trivial?
Had she ever overreacted so strongly to something so insignificant?
"This is all because..."
Ferda's face appeared in her mind.
A frail man who rarely showed emotion.
Deep blue eyes and a beastlike gaze.
A remarkably warm and comforting scent.
And an embrace broader than she had expected.
"Ah..."
Luri violently shook her head, trying to erase the image.
She was going mad.
Even imagining him made her feel strange.
It felt as though she were approaching a taboo she must never cross.
Luri rose from the bed and placed another piece of honey-preserved fruit in her mouth.
When had this begun?
She searched for the source of these feelings and concluded that it had to be the book in her hands.
The writing was in an incomprehensible Eastern script, but she knew the title.
Forty-Nine Ways to Tame an Insolent Maid.
The contents had absolutely nothing to do with Luri.
She was the maid of the Red Dragon Valdrova, not Ferda's maid.
No matter what he demanded, she was in a position to refuse him whenever she wished.
That was who Luri Silverwind was—the maid of Valdrova.
The book was merely making her imagine events that could never happen.
'I should burn a book like this immediately.'
Luri summoned a flame.
But she could not bring herself to touch it to the book.
A sudden question arose in her mind.
'...Now that I think about it, is there really any reason to burn it?'
She was not the insolent one.
Ferda was.
Though he was tall and carried himself with an elegance beyond his years, he was still young, yet he acted like her master despite standing before a dragon spawn.
He even liked being hit, yet still strutted around trying to look dignified.
'I cannot allow such perverted tendencies to influence my lady.'
Valdrova was like a blank sheet of white paper.
She could easily be influenced by others.
Naturally, Ferda would eventually corrupt her.
'Therefore...'
At least Luri had to remain rational.
She recalled the advice she had received when she was appointed commander of the Mobile Brigade.
'Know your enemy and know yourself, and you will win every battle.'
Having steeled herself, Luri looked down at the book once more.
Forty-Nine Ways to Tame an Insolent Maid.
'If I learn all forty-nine methods, I can prepare ways to counter them.'
Once she thought about it that way, her entire attitude changed.
All her hesitation and uncertainty vanished at once.
This book must not be burned.
She absolutely had to read it.
Unfortunately, there was no reason for Luri to know an obscure Eastern script.
She needed someone who could read it.
Who could she ask?
'Penelope.'
Luri reflexively released a wave of killing intent.
She would rather have Ferda discover her than let that demon learn she was reading this book.
Then was there another option?
'Mori.'
Ferda had gone to find Mori because he wanted these books translated.
As the master of the Library of All Things, she was certain to understand Eastern writing.
'I can ask her.'
Mori lacked a strong sense of self, so if Luri told her to keep it secret, she was unlikely to reveal it.
It was already late at night.
There could be no better opportunity to ask discreetly.
Luri decided to act immediately.
She sprang to her feet and placed a hand on the doorknob.
"..."
She hesitated for a moment before looking back.
Her gaze fell upon the other suspicious books stacked nearby.
'Now that I think about it...'
She was already going to read one obscene book.
Would bringing a few more really make any difference?
Yes.
It should be fine.
Luri picked up three additional books and headed toward Mori's bedroom.
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