Within the carriage, an endless silence floated.
The regular rattle of the wheels was almost likable.
In that silence, Emil’s eyes were fixed on something outside the glass-closed window without uttering a word.
“It seems useful.”
The first to break the silence was the Duke.
The Duke, who took off his glasses, wiped the lens with a soft cloth.
“If you stay close, it may be useful someday.”
“Useful…”
“You don’t like it?”
“…”
Emil’s gaze, which didn’t dare to make eye contact with the Duke, fell and faded.
‘Did father like that child?’
Gradually his anxiety spread.
He wanted to get to know her.
But when his father told him to befriend her, he felt uneasy about the hidden intentions.
‘Should I say something to that child?’
It was the first time in his life that a child approached him first and held his hand.
He was always oppressed in the mansion and everyone neglected him, treating him with disdain.
However, as if she didn’t care about his birth, the child held out her warm hand as if it was nothing.
‘She said she liked me because I’m handsome… I’m handsome.’
She also said she liked him because he was good at studying.
Emil could never have imagined that his knowledge was something remarkable. As well as his face.
‘Will she like me more if I become more handsome and smarter?’
Because of people’s gossip, he only thought of himself as an evil villainess’s bastard.
No matter how much he craved affection and a warm touch, all he got was contempt and wariness because he was the son of a wicked woman.
The only person he could have something close to a conversation with was his father, Duke of Callixst.
But his father was a cold-hearted man who was never attentive or caring, and his apathetic demeanor made him feel suffocated.
‘I want to get to know her, but my father also said…’
He was afraid something bad would happen to her.
“Emil Callixst.”
“…Yes.”
The duke stared at Emil as if he was staring at a mere object.
“Make Velsia Lankester fall for you.”
Emil didn’t fully understand what he had heard just now.
“That… what…”
“I’m saying to gain her favor.”
“How can I…”
“Isn’t it simple?”
“…”
“She already seems to be interested in you, odd as it sounds.”
Emil couldn’t raise his head.
Then, he heard the Duke briefly chuckle. It was a sneer.
The girl’s gaze flashed through his eyes.
Pale-ivory-colored bobbed hair and dark red eyes like autumn leaves appeared and vanished in an instant.
