Alluring Secret : Black Vow

Chapter 3 : Part 2 : Beyond Affection

Chapter 3, Part 2 – Beyond Affection

Tard Region, Kingdom of Calmonde. This continent, which spread out on the other side of the sea east of Velcant, was up of many small countries. Calmonde, rich in nature and surrounded by mountains on all sidse, was also one of these small countries. Due to the difference between hot and cold seasons being much more severe in this continent than in Velcant, along with the fact that the most of the area was covered in mountains and forests, the population here was rather low, in great contrast with the vastness of the land. Most of the residents were farmers, the civilization here was not very developed, and there were even villagers that were entirely self-sufficient. Not many came from Velcant to spend the rest of their lives in this small country.

Len's house was a little ways east of the capital of Calmonde. It was an old mansion in the middle of a beautiful forest. The mansion itself wasn't nearly as spacious as the Cyrinpt mansion, but it was well-kept by its few servants, and its design made it easy to live in no matter what season; it was both beautiful and functional. I had already grown quite accustomed to living here.

Half a year had passed since the day I had taken Len's hand and run away from the wedding. Every day, I heard various news that had travelled across the sea from the newspapers in the neighboring Velcant. The daughter of the prestigious Cyrinpt family had mysteriously disappeared. There were a wide variety of articles, some claiming it to have been a kidnapping, others elopement, and others even saying it was a spiriting away. But as I stared at those flat, printed words, it was if they were about someone completely unrelated to me. As I thought about what mother might be doing right now, about everyone back at the mansion, about Mr, Iceburg and all those who had come to the wedding, my chest hurt. My betrayal still weighed down heavily on me, and continued to cause my heart pain. Surely, if they were to learn of my current situation, they would be both angry, and saddened.

Even so, I was no longer even capable of regretting that the choice I'd made on that day may have been a mistake. Something gained from something lost. It wasn't simply something placed on the balance of my heart to keep it steady, but something that had become very precious to me.

"Hey, Miku~ I finished peeling the apples."

"Alright. Then, please prepare the butter next...... huh?"

"Hm? What's wrong?"

The thing that Len was holding in his hand..... had to be an apple. I glanced over at the scattered apple skin on the kitchen counter. No matter which way you looked at them, they were strange. To think that the peeled apple would become smaller... As I gathered up the thick skins, I said to Len, who was smiling cheerfully.

"....... The apple skins are going to be the main focus now."

"Eh? We're using the skins, too?"

"We're not, so that's why I asked you to peel them off. And yet.... you shaved off so much of the fruit, too."

It probably wouldn't be possible to make the apple pie he wanted with only this amount...... If I remembered, there should still be a few more ripe apples growing in the garden.

"I'll take care of this part, so please bring me two or three more apples."

"What!? But I want to help too!"

"...... It's alright. The thought alone makes me very happy,"

I said with a smile, and after making a slightly embarrassed face, he cheerfully went to go pick the apples. Although he was able to do most other things so skillfully, for some reason, he was only particularly clumsy when it came to housework like cooking and cleaning. Just like how he'd peeled the apple skins so thickly, when he'd helped with washing the dishes left by the maids who were on vacation, he had ended up breaking most of them. While he'd said that he had never done housework before, there were many other things about his daily routine that were unusual. I felt that this wasn't simply because of the cultural difference between Velcant and Tard. He had told me that he'd always lived alone, without any parents and siblings, so perhaps he was just a little out of the ordinary.