“But His Majesty thinks such remarks of mine are disrespectful.”
Ellison laughed heartily, passing off her weakness as a joke.
“The future world will recognize it and history will speak of it.”
Valentin instructed Dawson beside him to hand over a docunt stamped with the Dennox seal.
“This will really be a great help to . I’ll strive not to let your and Dennox’s support be in vain.”
Ellison expressed her determination again, squeezing Valentin’s hands that she was holding.
“My business here is now finished. You must be busy, so please…”
Valentin said, pointing to her aides standing at attention behind Ellison, shuffling their feet. It was a lecture and social gathering hosted by her. Being held up by just one person, Valentin, was a waste of ti. People she needed to et, exchange opinions with, and express gratitude to were overflowing both here and outside.
“Thank you for your consideration. You’re such a warm person. Then I’ll get up first.”
She left her seat for the people waiting for her, receiving Valentin’s polite greeting. As Valentin quietly watched the 1st Princess leave with her aides, Dawson carefully suggested:
“Would Your Highness like to get up now as well?”
“No. Dalton hasn’t returned yet. I should wait and go back together.”
“I understand. Then I’ll tidy up the place a little.”
Perhaps because there were many people, the serving staff all looked busy, so Dawson cleaned up himself. Amidst the bustling gentlen, the teacups and dishes the Princess had been using were cleared away by Dawson’s hands.
Valentin, who was flipping through a weekly magazine again beside Dawson quietly cleaning up, raised his head at a loud noise.
“Get out of the way, you’re in the way.”
Crash!
The thin tea set shook roughly on the movable tray. Soone had carelessly bumped into it. No, had soone pushed past soone else…?
“Oh…! I’m sorry, I apologize.”
The busy and noisy movent naturally drew attention.
A brown-haired man was hurriedly moving to help Dawson, who had his arms stretched out to catch teacups falling from the tray before they hit the floor. While picking up small things like teaspoons and tea forks. Wasn’t this person clearly also a victim who had been pushed by soone?
“yer Lilford…?”
Valentin unconsciously said his na out loud.
“Valentin…?”
It seems his own voice saying the na was louder than he thought.
The person who had been hurriedly helping to clean up raised his head and called out to Valentin in surprise. It was closer to exclaiming than saying a na.
Average height, small and thin build, a gentle face with drooping eyebrow ends, light freckles sprinkled across the bridge of his nose, common brown hair, awkwardly smiling lips as if embarrassed and flustered…. All of that filled Valentin’s view.
“Oh… It’s been a long ti, Valentin. No, I guess I shouldn’t call you that anymore…?”
yer said, peeking at Valentin from between his hunched shoulders and lowered head. His deanor was so subservient that it was surprising for soone who was supposed to be the heir of a noble family.
‘I thought I wasn’t very noble-like myself, but he’s even more so than …’
Valentin thought blankly as he stared at yer. Even though Valentin was sitting on the sofa and yer was standing, putting him higher than eye level, he still had such a shrinking posture. It was astounding to Valentin that he had the remarkable skill of looking up at soone below from a high place.
“Hey, be careful!”
Another voice was heard beside them.
“So-Sorry, Lord Pembroke.”
Finally, the alpha who received yer’s apology clicked his tongue and left. At that mont, the mory from last ti hit Valentin’s head. They say Eldon’s social circle is wide yet narrow, but to have such a coincidental composition that reminded him of those tis.
Russell, the eldest son of the Pembroke Count family. He was the one who despised yer the most beside Valentin in their boyhood. Valentin blankly stared at his retreating back, feeling a strange sensation. Then he imdiately opened his mouth towards yer, who was still standing awkwardly beside him.
“I didn’t see clearly, but it seed like Russell hit you first and left…”
“Ah…”
yer scratched his head again, unable to look straight into Valentin’s eyes and rolling his eyeballs.
“You can sit, Lord Lilford.”
Even though Eldon wasn’t as strictly hierarchical as Dales in terms of lord and vassal relationships, Valentin still held a high position here. So now Valentin was addressing yer, who didn’t know what to do and kept lingering, and giving permission to sit together.
yer sat down next to Valentin with an awkward smile, still looking at the floor.
“It’s been a long ti, yer Lilford.”
“Valentin…”
Finally eting Valentin’s eyes as he greeted him formally first, yer smiled faintly with an awkward smile. It was a naive smile that was embarrassed, glad, and happy to see you.
Yes. This was actually the problem.
The biggest reason why the original Valentin always teased him, easily mocked him, and treated him like prey.
yer liked Valentin. Of course, not romantically. But there were many strange points to think he admired him as an oga to oga of the sa gender. He wasn’t a masochist, so why on earth did he approach soone who laughed at and despised him like that in the original?
And it wasn’t just the original. It was still a mystery why he always greeted Valentin first and approached him smiling during their boyhood days.
“Have you been well?”
“I… no, I have been well, Lord Dennox.”
“No. Like just now, and like in the old days, ‘Valentin’ is enough, yer.”
“Th-Thank you, Valentin. It’s really a great honor for .”
‘Honor’ seems a bit too much… He acted as if being allowed to use the na was a great joy. Valentin was starting to get a headache from yer’s still excessively subservient attitude. Why on earth is he like this…
“Now tell
the truth. Russell clearly hit you first and passed by. And you bumped into the tray because of that force.”
Right? As Valentin asked, looking straight into his eyes, yer’s pupils lost their way again. Seeing him unable to look directly at Valentin and shaking back and forth, he didn’t seem to have the wit to lie, let alone tell the truth.
“But why do you apologize first?”
Actually, what he wanted to ask was sothing deeper and more intimate. Why do you always choose to be in the unfortunate position in life?
As Valentin finished speaking, yer quietly raised his eyes, which had been shaking uncontrollably, and awkwardly t Valentin’s gaze. Then he smiled as if troubled and scratched his head again.
“Just…”
“Just?”
“It’s about not creating conflict, Valentin.”
At those words, Valentin felt like he’d been hit on the head.
‘That’s exactly the sa as what I always used to say…?’
Was this the frustrating feeling others always had when they saw him?
“If I just endure, if I just apologize, no one gets hurt and everything ends quickly… Everyone will be satisfied.”
“Huh… really.”
At Valentin’s exasperated response, yer added hurriedly with an embarrassed smile.
“It’s in the Bible too. ‘Love your enemies.’ Of course, Russell isn’t my enemy! Not at all… It’s just like that. Just… thinking of the Lord’s words, there’s nothing I can’t do. I want to live according to that will… ‘Blessed are the peacemakers’…”
yer’s voice grew quieter as he rambled on, citing Bible verses. Valentin now looked at yer with a pitying expression and said:
“You should have just beco a clergyman, yer.”
“…Yeah. That would have been better…”
yer slowly raised his lowered head and quietly said, looking out the window. Sohow feeling like he understood yer’s current situation from those words, Valentin closed his mouth without saying more. A fleeting sadness shone in his common brown eyes.
Feeling sowhat sorry for yer, Valentin offered him tea and briefly exchanged recent news. But when it beca uncomfortable to face each other and talk more due to old mories, Valentin excused himself saying he would find Dalton and go ho, and said goodbye as he stood up.
“It was nice to see you, yer Lilford.”
“I… I was honored to be able to talk with you…!”
“Honored is a bit much…”
“It… it is an honor! You’re now Her Highness the Grand Duke’s Consort…”
He finished saying goodbye while calming yer who was rambling about Valentin again.
Tap tap tap.
As he walked towards the cigar room where Dalton would be networking with businessn, Valentin was lost in thought.
‘Did I look this foolish and frustrating to others too?’
From talking with him, yer Lilford wasn’t a fool.
He was just an excessively kind and gentle person. Just like when he was young.
His personality was also overly docile, and he was very unlucky in that he lacked caution when acting and was clumsy, always causing accidents. And his naive and seemingly slow-witted personality made him an object of contempt and easy mockery for the blue-blooded nobles with high noses. How much easier would it have been given his background as well.
Talking to him directly, he was knowledgeable and his thinking was wise and gentle. He truly would have been suited for the clergy. So there was a fundantal difference from himself, who clumsily advocated good actions with a kind heart.
‘But to others, we probably looked the sa…’
Valentin heaved a deep sigh.
“Do you have sothing troubling you?”
Dawson, who was walking behind him guarding him, asked after hearing Valentin’s sigh.
“No, I just have a lot on my mind.”
“……”
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