Chapter 182

Four more days passed. Meanwhile, the rainy season came to a lull in Milan, and the warm sunlight began to pour down.

Marianne visited Mrs. Chester’s salon for a long time and met several people. It was now her job to help Mrs. Chester, the host of the salon. Mrs. Chester called her kindly in front of everyone and talked with her and took care of the details as if to show them who her new favorite woman was.

Roxanne, who reappeared at the salon after almost a month’s absence, volunteered to help Marianne and followed her. Many women in the salon began to gossip about her, Roxanne raised her head and smiled at them. Even when someone sarcastically said she looked better than before, Roxanne didn’t get angry. But Marianne saw her clenching her crumpled handkerchief with her back to them.

“Oh, I’m sorry. Something urgent happened suddenly, so I have to stop the party now. Let me open the salon until evening, so you can go back and enjoy it.”

As soon as Mrs. Chester said so and left the parlor, Marianne took Roxanne to the back garden, saying she wanted to get some fresh air outside.

“The weather is good, isn’t it?” said Marianne.

“… Yes, it is.” Roxanne said feebly. Marianne looked at her pitifully, but Cordelli, who was supporting her on the other side, snorted, grumbling deep inside, ‘Why are you so lazy when you volunteered to help Marianne?’

Marianne calmed down Cordelli and pointed to one end of the garden.

“There’s a rose garden when you head over to the main entrance. Would you like to go there? There’s a fountain and a bench. It’s perfect to take a break there. ”

“Yeah. Let me escort you there.”

Roxanne walked toward the place Marianne pointed to. Since she decided to be Marianne’s friend, Roxanne acted passively like someone without her own opinion.

The quiet air blew over them. There were flowers that fell after the heavy rain, but most of them bloomed greener and brighter thanks to the rain. It looked like Mrs. Chester took care of them in advance, predicting heavy rain.

Marianne glanced at Roxanne, passing by the flowers that survived. Thanks to the fresh scent of summer, they felt the afternoon sun warmer.

“Don’t worry too much. You don’t have to react to what others say about you. Isn’t it the tradition here on Noble Road where they create groundless rumors and the truth is buried easily?”

Roxanne didn’t reply.

“Anyway, you can come back to the salon here, Miss Roxy. That’s important.”

Roxanne did not answer. Instead, her fingertips trembled faintly while she was helping Marianne. She was not sure if it was because Roxanne wanted to hear something from somebody or if Roxanne felt unhappy about her sympathetic remarks.

Instead of speaking to her anymore, Marianne just walked forward. Everyone sometimes wanted to keep silent. Perhaps Roxanne wanted it now.

They soon arrived in front of the rose garden. Rare varieties of roses, which were not readily available on the market, were shooting out new buds. Cold water gushed from the fountain and cooled their heat.

“Oh, how pretty! Why don’t we sit on the bench over there…”

Marianne stopped while walking toward the bench behind the fountain.

There was a guest who was already sitting on the bench first. He was a gentleman dressed in a black suit. Tapping the ground with a decorative stick with his legs crossed, he turned his head up and looked at Marianne when he heard them coming toward him.

His eyes met hers. His olive eyes were familiar to her. He looked at her intensely. She gave him a faint smile at first, but she soon hardened her face.

There was an awkward standoff between them for a moment. While the two were looking at each other, Cordelli approached her, looking at Marianne curiously.

“What’s the matter with you?”

However, Cordelli also freaked out when she saw him. Roxanne joined them, knitting her brows, but she could not understand logically why the two were showing such a reaction.

“Who is that man? Do you know him, Lady Marianne?” Roxanne asked.

“… No. I don’t know, ” Marianne replied firmly, looking straight ahead.

But unlike her denial, she couldn’t take her eyes off of him easily.

Only then did the man get up from the bench slowly. He was pretty tall. His long hair that let down to his waist was dark green like Marianne’s eyes. He was not big enough to be overbearing, but given the fit of his robe, he had quite a strong build.

He walked in long strides toward Marianne.

She thought he looked much taller up close, when he already approached and leaned forward and presented his face close to her nose.

“Go away! How can you be so rude without showing any manners?”

Cordelli screamed out loud and reached out. She pulled Marianne behind her back just like a mother bird trying to protect its baby bird.

But the man straightened his back with a smile, not a bit embarrassed.

“Oh my… it was your eye color,” he said with an elegant voice, a little higher than that of an ordinary man. His soft voice had a faint foreign accent. Marianne, who had often met famous artists around the world since her old days at Lennox, quickly recognized its mysterious difference.

“I’ve never seen such clear and green eyes like yours. Are there many people in Aslan with eyes like yours? ”

The man bowed very lightly and smiled at her. His fleeting smile had the power to make the other party feel good.

“Oh, I apologize if my question offended you. There are many people in my area who have the same eyes like this woman, but your eyes and this lady’s are rare. Especially your eyes.”

He alternately looked at Cordelli, Marianne and Roxanne.

“Why don’t you formally introduce yourself if you are a gentleman? A lady doesn’t talk to just anybody,” Roxanne said sharply.

“Sorry. It looks like I interrupted your precious time. ”

He soon went down on one knee skillfully and reached out toward Marianne.

“I would like to introduce myself. I’m Akad of Elam. ”

There was a moment of awkward silence. But before she was ashamed of his hand, Marianne slowly pushed Cordelli to the side.

“My lady?” Cordelli called her in embarrassment. Pretending not to have heard her, Marianne bit the inside of her lips, placing her hand over his.

Akad of Elam wasn’t his real name.

Dark emerald hair and olive eyes, a voice mixed with the peculiar accent of the people in the Faisal Empire. He was a man who knew Aslan’s noble laws well enough to distinguish her class from others and how to call her properly according to the Aslan customs.

There was only one person who satisfied all those conditions: Shahar Ibn La Partia.

That was probably his real name. Ober was confident that as the second prince of Faisal, he would be a better card than Empress Alessa. He was the very guest that Ober mentioned as Faisal’s nice guest, who would be coming to Milan soon.

“… I’m Marianne of Duke Kling’s family.”

“Marianne. It’s a name that goes very well with a lady. I will never forget it. ”

Shahar didn’t take his eyes off of her, while kissing the back of her hand.

“I’m flattered by that,” she withdrew her hand, pretending to be as casual as possible.

With a kind smile, he looked like a man who would never get angry, but he did not look weak or soft. Of course, he was not the type of man who would make the other party wary of him first. If she had not heard from Ober about his looks beforehand, she would have regarded him as a little strange foreigner and forgotten him.

She knew that this kind of man was much more dangerous, so she covered half her face by opening her fan.

“I’ve never heard of the last name Elam. It looks like you are probably not an Aslan nobleman.”

“Elam is a castle on the west side of Faisal. There are many lakes, large and small, where they built lots of Parthian imperial villas. My distant relatives also live there. I would like to invite you to Elam in due course…” Shahar smiled again. His glowing eyes captivated her. “How about taking our encounter today as a chance for that purpose?”

Cordelli sneered at that. Their conversation was too friendly to be taken as their first meeting.Marianne hastened to find an answer before Cordelli exploded with anger.

“Well. I know that Elam is a wonderful castle, but I’m not sure if His Excellency will allow me to leave Milan. ”

“… His Excellency?”

Hearing that, Shahar knitted his brows as if he pondered over something. Then he quickly laughed with a confident look, saying, “Oh, you’re the lady he mentioned! The unprecedented whore who controls the emperor and Marquis Chester…”

Cordelli yelled at him even before he finished talking, “Hey! What the hell are you talking about? Watch your language!”

Roxanne quipped, “Our lady is the only daughter of Duke Kling. What’s more, she’s formally engaged to His Majesty! What the hell did you say? Whore? Oh my god, what gentleman can dare babble such groundless rumors before a lady? You are not a gentleman but a crazy jerk! Who the hell allowed you to come here? Get back ten steps from my lady! Otherwise, I’ll call the knights!”