Episode 9. When You Said the Book Was Pretty

“Hey, are you okay…?”

Shiloh, who had brought the invitation addressed to Brienne, paced anxiously around his sister. It was hard to count how many times he’d asked if she was okay lately. The room felt so gloomy, it was as if a raincloud hovered only over Brienne.

Brienne’s pale hand, gripping the letter tightly, trembled faintly.

“…No, not at all.”

“What now? Let me see.”

Shiloh sighed and snatched the letter from her hand. Since Brienne unexpectedly handed it over without resistance, he could quickly see what had gotten her into such a state.

[…And so, the engagement ceremony will be held this coming Saturday. I offer Lady Ford my sincerest condolences. While this day is one that ought to be filled with blessings for me, I can only imagine how upsetting it must be for Lady Ford.

Even if you do not attend the engagement, I will fully understand.

However, if you happen to come for the sake of our old friendship, I would like to ask you to be my bridesmaid. I have extended the same request to all the unmarried ladies of the honorable houses representing Rontiano, so I trust Lady Ford will not decline either.

To celebrate the harmony with the Bannon ducal house, I have chosen to wear a black dress. I have requested all the bridesmaids to wear white dresses.

So I would be grateful if Lady Ford would also wear a white dress.

I am already looking forward to the beauty of Lady Ford. Just as you always lit up the room when Kaiden was present, I hope you will grace us with your presence once again.

Thank you.]

“Hah…! What the hell is this!”

Clicking his tongue, Shiloh scowled and crumpled the letter. What kind of crap was this, being read so seriously? The sister he knew wasn’t someone dumb enough to fall for such a petty scheme.

“Brienne, you’re not seriously thinking of going, are you?”

But Brienne only glanced up at him with tightly pressed lips. Shiloh raked his hands through his hair in frustration and raised his voice.

“It’s clearly meant to provoke you! A black dress? Give me a break. This isn’t a funeral, who wears black to an engagement? If you believe that and show up in white, then…”

“No, it might really be true.”

As Melosi said, black was the symbol of the Bannon ducal house. It was Melosi Bailey who even made short hair fashionable among the capital’s nobles.

“Besides, she’s asking me to be a bridesmaid. How could I refuse that? All the other ladies will be attending. And Shiloh, I have an invitation. Since I have a handwritten letter from Melosi, she wouldn’t plot something bad.”

At that moment, Shiloh stiffened.

What is this?

Why is my hand hot…

“…Shiloh!”

The invitation in his hand began to burn black. Brienne stood up, stunned. Shiloh hastily hid his hand behind his back, but Brienne had already seen the scorched remains of the invitation.

“Are you crazy? Why would you burn it? No, more importantly… how did you even burn it?”

“S-sorry… I was just so angry…”

Shiloh clutched the ashes tightly in his hand. He apologized out of instinct, but no matter how he thought about it, he hadn’t used any magic.

No, to be precise, he couldn’t use any.

He had never learned to manipulate mana and never entered the magic department, so how…

Realizing something was wrong, Shiloh held out the hand with the ashes. It was time to reveal the secret he had kept hidden if he didn’t want to be hated by his only sister.

“…Brienne, I don’t know how this will sound, but I really didn’t do anything.”

“Are you kidding? Then are you saying the letter just spontaneously caught fire in your hand? Who else in this room could use magic besides you?”

“It’s true. I know I’m the only suspect, but the truth is…”

His eyes momentarily showed a flicker of confusion.

‘…No way.’

Am I really the only one to suspect?

Shiloh’s throat bobbed. As Brienne said, all the signs pointed to him, but he couldn’t dismiss his own doubts so easily.

“The truth is what?”

Brienne pressed impatiently. Shiloh finally shut his eyes tight and confessed for the first time in his life.

“I—I actually don’t know how to use mana…!”

But the response he got was cold. Brienne glared at him with eyes chilled to the core.

“Now you’re lying too?”

“Lying…! Brienne, think about it. If I went to Roeta to become a mage, why would I have ended up in the swordsmanship department?”

“Didn’t you say it was because swordsmanship was more fun?”

“And you just believed that? Obviously, it was because I had no talent for magic! I never even liked swordsmanship…”

Stung where it hurt, Shiloh sighed deeply.

“Anyway, it wasn’t me. If you ask me, I think you’re the one… with powers.”

“What?”

Brienne frowned at once, but her voice came out much calmer than expected.

“Shiloh, say something that makes sense. I’d sooner believe the invitation had a spell cast on it.”

“That’s not it. The invitation had no magic in it.”

“You said you don’t know how to use mana. So how can you be sure?”

The air instantly turned cold at Brienne’s sharp question. Shiloh, already humiliated from admitting he couldn’t wield magic, now dropped his voice with anger.

“Then how about a bet? On who did it.”

“Fine.”

Brienne nodded. Thanks to this damn magic, she’d forgotten all about Melosi.

“How are you going to figure it out?”

“We’ll just ask. We happen to have a very powerful mage in our house.”

Identical light green eyes turned to the tightly closed door.

***

The Ford siblings, who had always been crazy about bets since childhood, set off to find Hereis in person instead of sending a servant with a message. When Shiloh split the ashes in half and disappeared down the left corridor, Brienne naturally headed down the opposite one.

Whoever found Hereis first would ask him to use tracking magic to reveal the culprit.

But Brienne’s mind was not that simple.

‘…Why am I even doing this?’

Without even having time to be sad over Kaiden’s engagement, she was wasting it trying to find out who burned an invitation.

Was this really such a big deal? Still, Shiloh’s reaction bothered her too much to just ignore it.

However, even if they found the culprit through Hereis, the engagement was still the problem.

No matter how you looked at it, a white dress was the symbol of the bride.

If she wore a white dress as Melosi requested, it would be a breach of etiquette. But if she wore another color, it would be a blatant insult to the one who invited her.

As Shiloh said, maybe she could just refuse to be a bridesmaid. But the mention of honorable houses and the political undertone made her hesitate.

With the invitation burned to ashes, she had no one to ask for advice…

Strangely, no one came to mind. Ever since childhood, her weak health had kept her buried in books and away from social circles.

‘Maybe I just shouldn’t go.’

Honestly, Brienne knew there was no real need to attend the engagement. But she couldn’t ignore the feeling that this might be the last time she’d ever see Kaiden.

‘…Fine, if I have to go, better to attend the engagement than the wedding.’

No matter what, she would never attend Kaiden’s wedding.

While she mulled over her thoughts, Brienne arrived at the library. After a moment’s hesitation, she nervously opened the door. She passed the maze-like bookshelves and walked deep inside, but contrary to her expectations, there was no one there.

Scanning the room, she quickly set the book she brought on the shelf. It was that bizarre book she had planned to return while she was at the library.

But her hand froze midway.

Now that she thought about it, it would be odd to just leave the book without explanation.

‘If I’ve already made excuses, it’d be awful if he turned out not to know the contents… Better test the waters first.’

After a brief dilemma, Brienne took the book and walked out again.

“Ah, Lady Ford.”

Luck was on her side as she ran into Hereis exiting her father’s office.

“Why are you coming from there?”

Brienne glanced at the door he had just come from and asked stiffly.

“The marquis called for me. We played chess together.”

“Ah, chess…”

Brienne nodded knowingly, reminded of how her father often begged Shiloh to play chess.

“And why are you coming from the library, Lady Ford?”

“I was going to return this book…”

So why didn’t you leave it there?

That’s what he’d ask next.

Brienne hesitated for a split second, scrambling for an answer. But Hereis was quicker with his gaze.

“Looks like you enjoyed it. Still holding it close, I see.”

…What? Does he know something?

Brienne instinctively shrank her shoulders. There was something teasing in his tone that gave her chills.

“…Young Duke, this book…”

“Yes? Is there a problem?”

“No! No problem. It’s just that this book…”

Brienne gestured at the book with her eyes. She intentionally dragged out her words, but Hereis only squinted slightly, looking clueless.

Relieved, Brienne quickly hid the book behind her back. If she raised suspicion, he might actually start getting interested in the content.

“…It’s just such a pretty book. Don’t you think?”

She had accidentally come off like she was bragging, but Brienne stubbornly held her chin high. The steel-gray eyes that had been looking down at her absurdly now softened into a smile.

“Yes, it is pretty.”

His gaze slowly traced her face.

“Very much so.”

‘Why would he look at someone like that while talking about a book being pretty…’

Caught in his gaze, Brienne felt flustered. Thinking he was bound to cause misunderstandings with eyes like that, she cleared her throat several times.

“A-and just to be clear, I haven’t read this book yet. I’ve only been carrying it around because the cover was pretty.”

A question mark appeared on Hereis’s face. He seemed to ponder for a moment before nodding slowly.

“I see. Understood.”

An awkward silence followed. Brienne, still watching him, tucked the book under her arm and held out the ashes wrapped in paper.

“…Actually, I have something to ask.”

“What is this?”

“I think Shiloh used magic, but he keeps denying it. Can you help? I heard you can use tracking magic, Young Duke Belif…”

Before she could finish, Hereis gently took her wrist. Her small hand was lifted effortlessly into his large one.

Brienne flinched but tried not to show it. Just as her arm began to ache from the clear difference in height, Hereis smiled as if amused.

“It definitely wasn’t the Young Marquis.”

“Huh? Then who…”

Hereis let go of her wrist and took the ashes. Brienne instinctively grabbed her now empty wrist with her other hand.

“Do you really not know?”

Lifting the ashes, Hereis tilted his head. The playful motion filled Brienne’s eyes with confusion.

Why won’t he just tell me?

Just as she furrowed her brow in frustration…

“It wasn’t the Young Marquis’s doing… and now it’s my turn.”