Why is he acting like that?
The troublesome guest reception has been properly wrapped up, so there shouldn't be anything to irritate him.
Or maybe something has already happened that he doesn't like?
“……Barhan.”
“Yes, Your Grace.”
The one who interrupted the ongoing question was Dante himself.
However, he had no words to follow up after calling him.
Is he hesitating, which is unlike him?
Just as worry began to creep in, wondering if something really had happened.
“This is about someone I know.”
“……Pardon?”
Does the Duke know someone?
Barhan suppressed the question that had risen to his throat with effort.
Not noticing this, Dante rubbed his furrowed brow and continued speaking.
“Um… what should I do if another man's face keeps flashing in my mind?”
“……What? What? What?”
Barhan repeated “What?” three times, too shocked to respond properly.
So that means…
The Duke keeps thinking about another man…
“Are you… in love with him?”
“What are you talking about? That can't be! It's not love, it's jealousy…!”
Dante, who had jumped up and shouted, quickly shut his mouth and sat back down.
The hand that had been rubbing his brow was now sweeping across his entire face.
“Forget it. It's nothing.”
It was far from being nothing.
Seeing the red ears peeking out from his black hair, Barhan smiled silently.
* * *
A few days passed after the unwelcome guests had left.
During that time, Dante took the opportunity to reflect on himself. And he came to a new definition of himself.
Despicable, childish, petty.
He never thought he could be such a narrow-minded person.
Day and night, the prince's face kept flashing in his mind.
Unlike his own stiff and fierce appearance, the prince's gentle and warm demeanor ignited a dark flame in his chest.
Why did the second prince have to come?
Perhaps it would have been better if the first prince had come instead.
He may be his brother's enemy and a truly detestable being.
But he wouldn't have been such a source of concern.
Dante's fixation on the second prince, Joshua, traced back to the first night of the guest reception.
When Serafina left the room saying she would get some water and didn't return, Dante became worried and couldn't sleep.
With no other choice, he broke his promise to Serafina and left the room first.
And what he saw was this:
Serafina and the second prince sitting together, quietly drinking tea.
Moreover, it was clear from the context that the tea they were drinking was made from flowers he had grown himself.
Strangely, that was shocking.
The flowers he had grown to be near Serafina, and he had even told her to use them freely.
But seeing the two of them drinking tea made from those flowers, childish jealousy welled up inside him.
Those are my flowers.
Flowers I grew for Serafina.
Flowers I nurtured with care, giving them fertilizer, watering them, and thinning them out.
He simply couldn't believe it.
How could a person be so childish!
Of course, he didn't suspect that the two had an inappropriate relationship.
He knew better than anyone that Serafina was not that kind of person.
Yet, he couldn't help but feel jealousy rising just because they shared that one flower tea.
Even after the prince left, his smiling face kept coming to mind.
Was he always that cheerful?
Right. He had heard he was kind, but still, did he have to smile so much…?
“……Ha. What a ridiculous state of affairs.”
Dante could only hold his head in frustration at the childish and petty flow of his thoughts.
Serafina came to find him while he was struggling with his pettiness and forcing himself to work.
“Are you busy?”
“No, I'm not busy.”
“Thank goodness. I was worried I came when you were busy.”
Seeing her glance at the stack of papers on his desk, Dante casually pushed the documents to the corner.
They were all things he hadn't been able to deal with due to his complicated thoughts.
“Then how about taking a walk with me?”
Serafina pointed outside the window with her index finger.
* * *
The two walked side by side in the garden.
“Isn't it cold?”
“No. I think I'm getting used to the weather now. But it will probably get colder from here, right?”
“Probably… since it's still the beginning of autumn.”
“Wow. The north is no joke.”
As if imagining the coming cold, Serafina shivered her shoulders.
Dante thought he should tell Barhan to prepare for the cold in advance.
How long had they walked?
The two stopped in front of Dante's flower garden.
Amid the flowers blooming profusely, there were sparse gaps visible.
It was a sign of harvest.
Watching the stems and leaves that had lost their flowers swaying gently, Dante's mind once again conjured the prince's face.
Damn it.
How long will this pettiness continue?
What if the prince's face keeps coming to mind forever?
At this point, there was no choice but to deal with it…
“Are you listening?”
“……Yes. Yes?”
“You didn't hear what I said, did you?”
In the midst of his extreme thoughts, it seemed Serafina had said something.
Feeling sorry for having ignored her words, he hesitated, and Serafina smiled, showing her teeth.
“Since you let me use your flowers, I'll let it slide this time. And this is a gift.”
Serafina suddenly thrust her hands, which had been behind her back, forward.
In her hand was a pouch made of purple fabric.
“What is this…?”
“It's a sachet made of dried lavender. Like a fragrance pouch.”
“You made this… yourself?”
“Of course!”
She confidently exclaimed, listing her efforts.
“I harvested it myself, rinsed it with water, dried it in the sun after wiping off the moisture. Moreover, I didn’t put it in the pouch myself, but Barhan prepared it for me. Well, I did grow the flowers, but… ahem. Still, this counts as handmade, right?”
Serafina, who was proudly smiling, rolled her eyes as if she was looking for a positive response.
“It’s completely handmade.”
“Right? Isn’t it? It’s really handmade.”
“But why did you suddenly make this? You must have been tired from the guest reception…”
“Lavender is good for sleep. I thought you might not have been sleeping well the other day, so I made it.”
Dante immediately realized what she meant by “the other day.”
The night Serafina had woken up to get a drink.
So, it was the night when this unending pettiness had begun.
“By the way, I happened to run into the prince that night, you know? He said he couldn’t sleep well, so he went out for a walk, and I felt a bit sorry for him thinking of you.”
“You thought of me?”
“Yes. I remembered how you used to have trouble sleeping. Your eyes were always so sunken. Anyway, I thought of you, so I made some chamomile and lavender tea for him… and while making it, I thought it would be nice to make this for you.”
Seeing Serafina smiling brightly, Dante covered his mouth with his hand.
He felt warmth rising over his cold body.
“How is it? Do you like it?”
“……I like it more than I should.”
The sincerity that spilled from his trembling voice made Serafina's face flush as well.
“I’m glad. It was worth the effort.”
“It truly is the best gift.”
Yes. It really was the best gift. He was overwhelmed with joy.
It made him happy that she had made it for him, but even more so…
The fact that she thought of him while talking to the prince.
The reason she felt sorry for him was that he came to her mind, and that made him so happy he couldn't contain it.
This was also a childish and petty joy he couldn't tell anyone about, but what could he do?
Just as he couldn't suppress his jealousy, he also couldn't suppress his joy.
Dante looked at the pouch in his hand and smiled faintly.
Noticing the smile slowly spreading across Dante's face, Serafina quickly blinked and then turned her head away.
Isn’t that a crime?
Is it okay to smile so beautifully?
She held her pounding heart and took deep breaths.
Remember, Donkibyeong.
Be careful, Donkibyeong.
“What I just gave you is a lavender sachet, and there’s chamomile too. You can drink the chamomile tea when you can’t sleep. It’s also very fragrant and nice, it should be good?”
But she couldn't hold back the rambling words that spilled out.
She felt dizzy, wondering what she was saying.
“Then, would you like to drink it together now?”
“……What?”
“I want to drink it together. How about it?”
With a direct gaze, Serafina hesitated, biting her lip.
Then she slowly nodded her head.
“Sure. Let’s do that.”
At the mention of drinking tea together, Barhan hurriedly prepared a table in the garden.
The blue sky and pleasantly cool air.
Amidst the vibrant plants, the two sat facing each other and drank tea.
The conversation they shared was nothing special, but it flowed continuously for a long time.