Chapter 18 – Didn’t Notice (2)

“What are you doing? Sit down.”

At Cabellenus’s orders, Alicia hesitated and lingered around the bench.

The only place to sit in the straight chair was the seat next to Cabellenus.

“Come on.”

At the urging of Cabellenus, Alicia sat rigidly beside him.

“…….”

“…….”

“It smells good.”

In the silence that continued, Alicia barely managed to squeeze out her voice.

She did not know what the man wanted to do, but it was strange to sit on a garden bench without doing anything.

“Do you really like this?”

Cabellenus tilted his head at the roses in full bloom.

The flowers fluttering and swaying in the wind were obviously splendid and pretty, but not in his eyes.

He did not like flowers.

No, to be more precise, he hated all weak things.

“How about you, Your Grace?”

“It smells too strong.”

Alicia shed an awkward laugh at Cabellenus who was frowning.

The handsome man looked good wherever he was, but the figure of him sitting on a bench surrounded with flowers was certainly strange.

The scent associated with Cabellenus was a cool iron scent, not a rose scent that filled the nose.

“Then shall we go somewhere else?”

Alicia, who had noticed, carefully commented.

Opinions were not befitting of slaves, but it was unavoidable.

As she watched the increasingly crumpled face of Cabellenus, she was worried that something might happen.

“You said you liked it.”

“Pardon?”

“Never mind. Just stay.”

Cabellenus leaned his upper body against the bench with a frown on his face.

He knew that he looked absurd right now and that if Gerpenus had seen him now, Gerpenus would have teased him for another 20 years.

However, if he did not do this, there was nothing he could do.

No matter how valuable it was, he was going to do anything to bring down the unwavering Alicia.

“…….”

“…….”

Again, silence hovered between the two.

For a long time, Alicia barely took her eyes off Cabellenus as she carefully observed his actions.

She did not know what was going on, but the man really seemed to be just sitting there.

‘What are you thinking?’ 

Cabellenus, whom Alicia had watched so far, hated wasting time.

It was impossible to spend time sitting still on a bench without lifting a single document like now.

“Well…….”

Alicia voiced cautiously with a nervous face.

She did not mean to ask any questions, but today Cabellenus was strange.

“What’s wrong?”

“By any chance, is something wrong?”

“No. Nothing like that.”

“Is that so…….”

Alicia’s shoulders drooped.

Although she heard Cabellenus’s answer, it was still not enough to resolve the question.

“Don’t you like it?”

“Yes?”

“You’ve always been sitting here. I thought you liked it because you were sitting here all the time.”

‘This wasn’t it either.’

Cabellenus looked at Alicia’s drooping shoulders and clicked his tongue shortly.

He was starting to feel that it was quite tricky to cater to someone’s preference.

“Oh, that’s because this place gets the most sunlight.”

“Sunlight? What about it?”

“It’s warm.”

He glanced at Alicia’s hands that were reaching out towards the sun’s rays.

Her hands were quite soft due to the care she received every day, but the scars still remained.

“Ah?”

“On a nice day, it feels good to sit here and enjoy the sunshine. The sun is so warm and cozy that I don’t have to think about anything.”

“…….”

In the past, the basement where Alicia spent most of her time had no sunlight.

In the darkness, the dim candlelight was all she ever had. But even that was not always given.

The family, who was stingy with Alicia, said they felt that even one candle that went to her was a waste.

So she had to spend her time crouching down on the dampness that weighed down on her body and all curled up on the cold stone floor.

Despite these depressing thoughts being an unwanted memory that she was constantly trying to forget, they kept returning to her.

“Well, is this a bit weird too?”

Alicia smiled awkwardly at the intense, stinging gaze.

Her life was far from normal in many ways, so her thoughts and actions were bound to be unusual.

Even if the difference went against Cabellenus’s wishes, she, herself, would not know if it was wrong. She had to constantly watch his reaction and look back on whether she had made a mistake.

“……Smile again.”

“Yes?”

“Smile like you just did.”

Cabellenus impatiently urged Alicia.

The smile on Alicia’s face was very momentary, but Cabellenus could not forget the moment.

“Ah, like this?”

At the sudden request, Alicia forcibly raised both ends of her mouth.

“That wasn’t it.”

Cabellenus shook his head firmly.

The smile just now was not like that.

It was more natural, softer.

It was like red hair shining like the glow of the setting sun.

Cabellenus reached out and grabbed Alicia’s hair.

The hair that had been taken care of had become softer than before, but it was unreasonable to compare it to the sunset.

“Then, what about this?”

“No.”

“Oh, it isn’t?”

She did her best.

Alicia’s mouth, which had risen to the fullest, dropped down helplessly.

Cabellenus stared at Alicia closely and gave a long sigh.

The red hair that he had captured slipped through his fingers.

“Don’t look at me.”

“Yes?”

“Don’t react so anxiously to my words.”

She had always been rude when she asked him to kill her, but now her eyes would be wide open whenever he said something.

Cabellenus pressed his fingers across his crumpled forehead.

“I’m sorry. I’ll try harder.”

Alicia mumbled.

She tried to not get on his bad side, but it was difficult.

“Stop saying that.”

“I was wrong, so it’s natural to apologise for the mistake.”

“What did you do wrong?”

“Whatever the case, it’s the slave’s fault to go against the master’s will.”

“……One more time, if you recited those ridiculous slave virtues again, you’ll be punished.”

Nevertheless, he should dismiss the servant who taught Alicia the slave virtues.

Cabellenus grabbed Alicia by the shoulder, cursing the servant who he did not even know the face of.

He did not like her weak shoulders that emphasized that she was scared.

“Then tell me something else. If you tell me, I’ll do what Your Grace tells me to do.”

“You don’t have to do anything. When did I ever ask you for that?”

“But if I do nothing, it’s worthless.”

Alicia’s body trembled slightly.

At some point, Cabellenus would stop embracing her.

He would gradually lose interest in her.