He continued the conversation naturally in a gentle voice, and Ariella responded occasionally. Most of her answers lacked sincerity, but that alone made Aaron very happy.
“By the way, I heard you danced with Duke Ashbon at the last ball.”
After some time had passed, Aaron seized the opportunity to bring up the topic he had been most eager to ask about.
“I heard that guy approached you out of nowhere and asked you to dance. Is that true?”
His intention was obvious; he wanted to hear a response that would satisfy him, even though he already knew the answer.
Ariella usually did not meet Aaron’s expectations, but this time she decided to do so.
Not for him, but for the other man who had helped her.
“No, it’s not like that. Actually… I asked the Duke in advance.”
“What? Why would you?”
Aaron stopped abruptly at the unexpected answer. His voice, which had been pretending to be kind, quickly turned harsh.
Ariella hesitated, avoiding his gaze. Aaron seemed impatient and irritated, but today, at least, he did not rush or scold her.
After a suitable pause, she continued with a sad expression.
“…Because I thought, Aaron, that you might pay a little attention to me.”
Could there be a more appealing statement for Aaron?
That she had used Nobert to catch his eye. It was something that would naturally make a man feel proud. Especially for Aaron, who felt a strange sense of competition with Nobert.
As expected, Aaron reached out to Ariella with a thoroughly satisfied expression.
“Arrie. That—”
Smack!
However, she roughly swatted his hand away.
“Don’t do that. I’ve given up now!”
Ariella suddenly raised her voice. It was about time the meal was coming to an end.
From experience, Empress Genevieve did not tend to have long breakfasts. So they would soon be leaving the palace.
“That day, you ultimately followed Lizzy, didn’t you? How do you think I felt watching that?”
“No, Arrie. I—”
“Even if you dress up so earnestly, it means nothing. Even if I dance with the Duke, you won’t even be in the same space as me! Because you… you have no feelings for me at all.”
Behind the confused and helpless Aaron, a figure flickered not far away. Upon confirming this, Ariella quickened her pace to elicit a reaction from Aaron.
“Only then did I realize that I had no more chances. I came here today to say that. I’m giving up on you now.”
“No! Just listen to me, Arrie!”
“What do you want to say? What words will you use to hurt me again…!”
Aaron had always hated it when his words were interrupted. If someone dared to cut him off or didn’t focus on him, he would raise his voice to draw attention.
That habit emerged even in moments like this.
“I wanted to be next to you, not Lizzy!”
The Crown Prince’s loud voice echoed beautifully through the garden filled with spring flowers.
And even the women who had come out to admire the fluttering yellow flowers heard that voice.
“…Aaron?”
Empress Genevieve called her son’s name with a bewildered expression.
With several maids and the prospective daughter-in-law, Lizzy, by her side.
Goodness, there’s no mess quite like this.
The empress’s maids couldn’t bear to look anywhere and lowered their gazes.
If the man who had just shouted in the garden wasn’t Aaron, they would have clicked their tongues, thinking how foolish the young people these days were.
But unfortunately, he was the next heir to the throne of Bingham and the second son of the empress they served. So, for the maids, the best course of action was to pretend they hadn’t seen anything and keep their heads down.
“Mother, what are you doing here…?”
Aaron seemed so absorbed in Ariella that he had forgotten he was standing in his mother’s garden.
If that was all he had forgotten, it would have been fortunate. It seemed he had completely erased from his memory that he was supposed to meet the woman who would become his wife and his mother today. Even though Lizzy had mentioned it several times.
“I greet Your Majesty, the Dignified Moon of the Empire.”
Ariella lightly lifted her skirt and bowed her knees to greet the empress.
“Princess Bedford…?”
The empress seemed unable to believe that the object of Aaron’s passionate declaration of love moments ago was the Ariella Bedford.
Ariella’s attire was also vastly different from what the empress had seen before, and she knew very well how much her son had disdained her.
“Yes, Your Majesty. I have been preoccupied with family matters, so I apologize for my late greeting. I hope you have been well.”
However, her voice was as elegant as that of any noblewoman, and her flawless etiquette was indeed what the empress recognized.
