Formerly, The Fallen Daughter of the Duke

53. Two Private Tales

After Keith and Lewis headed to His Majesty the King for a report on this incident, Vike said he would send Claire to the out-of-house room.

Of course Claire insisted on letting the royal family send her. But Donnie and Dion’s, “We seem to have a crush on each other, so let us drink. His Royal Highness begged me to send Claire.” I agreed with her even though I was frightened.

We’ve been talking for a long time, so the evening is quite late. The lights in the royal palace were naturally lit, but Claire was somewhat uncomfortable and walked closer to Veek than usual.

“… wait”

Vike suddenly stops and dives into the wall to hide Claire. Claire’s breasts roar at the unexpectedly impending nostalgic smell.

But this behavior was unnatural in a situation where the guards were all over it, albeit at night.

(I wonder what’s going on)

Confirming where Vike stared over his back, Oswald and the tall brunette man he also saw this morning were talking in there.

“… my brother and Marquis Liu.”

(That was the Marquis Liu who said he was pushing His Royal Highness Oswald…)

Claire whispers to Vik.

“We were talking in the morning. This is the second time I’ve seen you both today… and I don’t want you to notice much, even though I haven’t heard from the Mead family.”

“Once you’re back.”

Claire shakes her neck to the side and holds Veek’s hand.

“Huh.”

The next moment the two were already in Claire’s private room before Vik leaked his voice in surprise at the sudden holding of his hand.

“… Is Claire so effortless to use metastatic magic”

Vike has his eyes rounded as he stares seriously at the hand Claire was holding.

“Yep. I’ll study hard though I still don’t have a lot of technique to use. So when you have to, rely on it.”

“… Huh. You’re just like Dion said. But as a man, I don’t feel very good…. I’d better protect you.”

“Pfft. You are.”

Couscous laughs. After showing Claire her face as a surprise for a moment, narrow your eyes and Veek says.

“… can I get you a cup of tea?

“Sure. Stay here until those two have finished their secret conversations.”

Claire quietly prepares her tea so she doesn’t wake Sophie, who is resting in the next room.

Veek, sitting on the couch, is somewhat restless as he follows Claire’s movements with his eyes. Claire fell asleep, remembering how Veek had come to visit the House of Lehne as she did every night.

“I would have told you earlier about the Lewis”

“He was telling me what he knew about everyone to prove he was going backwards”

“… right”

Vike breaks down his posture with one foot on his lap.

“Can I ask you something about me?”

Honestly, Claire wasn’t sure how to tell me about Veek. Vik is and has been very open to Claire. Claire understood that he was trying to narrow the distance, but that’s why when I brought up a topic I hadn’t talked about yet, I felt I was approaching the fact that I was a candidate for the righteous queen and my fiancé.

After a little thought, Claire spins the word.

“Vik once showed me the king’s capital, Ultz. When I was a kid, I went to a toy store where I said I was going with patience.

“… heh”

Vik gives him a look that looks unexpected and embarks on himself.

“It seems that when I was little, you and I worked hard to get praise from your father. … Is this too common?”

“Speaking of which, you did. I miss it.”

“Then… when Veek was doing sword arches in the Royal Palace yard with Keith and the Lewis, you laughed that it seemed like me when I said I was getting mixed up with my brothers arches too. I don’t suppose that meant she didn’t look like a lady.”

“I don’t know about that. I think it means something completely different.”

Vike distracts himself from Claire, whose cheeks swell slightly, and laughs bitterly. Instead of verifying Claire’s retrograde behavior, I could see how she was just purely enjoying the conversation.

Seeing his comforting look made Claire want to talk more about what she knew. I also wanted to talk about the pocket watch in my pocket, but I stop thinking that would just be a bad idea.

“Then… they also took me to the high ground where Wong Du Ultz could see. Just in the evening, the city was fantastically colored and beautiful. But more than that, I was struck by the landscape where the happiness of the Paft country was so concentrated.”

“… Was it”

That’s what Veek said and put his hand on his chin to hide his mouth. Its face, which is subtly smiling, also appears slightly red and illuminated.

“I somehow see what Claire said about me the first time I saw you as being…. apparently, it doesn’t change no matter how many times I repeat it”

Claire first noticed there.

Vik wasn’t suspicious of Claire’s story that he was going backwards. After believing everything, he was trying to lean on himself, who seemed to be fighting something.

You’re the same.

Claire smiled as she grabbed her pocket watch from the top of her pocket so she wouldn’t be overflowing with emotions.

“When this thing settles down, I still need to talk to you. Will you listen to me again?

“Oh, sure.”

Vik nodded confidently with a haunted look on his face.