37. The Consolation of First Place is Hypocrisy to Second Place (2)
“It seems Karla was rather emotional earlier. You should understand. A man must have the grace to overlook such things, don’t you think?”
Lucas finally emerged after receiving emergency healing, looking somewhat more human again.
If it was an offense, then it was one that Enrico didn’t seem particularly concerned about.
There wasn’t even an apology—nobles simply don’t apologize.
Especially a great noble like Cascata, who owes no apology to anyone.
If he were to apologize, it would perhaps only be to the Emperor himself. Certainly not to someone like Lucas.
‘If I say I can’t understand, then I would appear unmanly.’
That slippery old codger—Lucas grumbled internally but continued to smile brightly on his face.
“The lady has a vivacious temperament, I believe. After marriage, I’ll try my best to guide her.”
“That’s good. Since she lost her mother early, she didn’t adequately learn proper etiquette. I think you’ll understand. Now, go.”
Enrico glanced at Lucas and then turned away.
Whether Lucas returned home or not was none of his concern—an unspoken declaration that Lucas held no interest for him whatsoever.
Lucas stared at Enrico’s retreating back for a moment before turning away himself.
There wasn’t a single part of him that didn’t hurt: his arms, shoulders, waist, even his hips. Among everything, his face was probably the most painful spot.
“How can a woman’s slap be so potent? I don’t understand.”
“Master, are you alright?”
At the estate’s carriage stand, standing beside a prepared carriage, Lucas climbed aboard while grumbling.
Despite Kiara’s worried tone, Lucas only frowned without providing much in the way of a response.
“It doesn’t matter if I’m alright. Once we’re married… tch. That damn girl, she’s just like her father, all high and mighty.”
“Is that so.”
Kiara’s face darkened.
Even after quite some time serving in his house, Kiara couldn’t get used to Lucas’s coarse remarks.
Kiara’s family, the Servitore clan, belonged to the lesser lineage of Shaiskeil, Lucas’s house.
Kiara, the third daughter of the Servitore family, was originally meant to become Lucas’s concubine, but their marriage had been delayed due to Lucas’s enrollment in the Academy.
Which meant that once Lucas graduated from the Academy and joined the military, their marriage would be finalized, and Kiara’s future would be firmly set in this arrangement.
Such behavior from her future husband left Kiara feeling quite conflicted.
“Anyway, once we’re married, that’s the end of it. If I can get Fabio to do what I want, I’ll even take over Cascata.”
Kiara silently disagreed with Lucas’s boasts.
From what she’d seen of Lucas, he was neither intelligent nor clever. She doubted someone like him could pull off such a simplistic plan and get Cascata to fall for it.
“With Shaiskeil and Cascata combined, I’ll control the two greatest pillars of this empire. Hehe…”
Kiara remained silent.
“Are you sure the two of you are alright to go back alone?”
Regina’s worried voice received nothing more than a smirk from Ivan.
However, Regina’s gaze swept over Ivan and then landed on Karla, already seated inside the carriage.
Ivan’s uniform jacket she had donned upon appearing.
Regina very much wanted to accompany them, but she had plans to stay the night at a relative’s house. If not for that, she would have undoubtedly gone with them.
In truth, there was nothing problematic about their return. Both Karla and Ivan were Academy students, and there were dormitories there, so going back posed no major issue.
Still, Regina hesitated to let them go, her gut feeling unease.
“Ivan will pick you up from the carriage station tomorrow afternoon. Go relax and take a break, alright?”
Ivan’s gentle words prompted Regina to suppress her creeping premonitions and force a smile.
“Yeah. You must come to pick me up tomorrow, alright? I’ll bring the potions I need on my way there. Got it?”
“Alright. Just don’t worry too much.”
“Yeah…”
Regina tried to hold Ivan’s hand. Just as her hand brushed his,
“Aren’t you going? Are you going to war or something? It’s so affectionate, I might cry.”
Karla’s mocking voice cut through their moment. Ivan hurried to turn away, leaving Regina’s hand aimlessly flailing before retreating back to her side.
Ivan climbed into the carriage, his gentle smile slowly blocked by the closing door.
The carriage displaying the emblem of the Cascata House slowly departed from the carriage station.
Regina stood there, staring after it. She remained rooted to the spot until the carriage disappeared into the darkness.
“Do you not have feelings for Regina?”
Karla yawned and asked Ivan.
“Of course not. How could someone like me be with someone as great as Regina?”
“Huh… I don’t think Regina sees it that way.”
This guy must be lacking somewhere.
Regina’s eyes were as clear as day; how could this guy live in a different world entirely?
The venom in her tone diminished as Karla stared at Ivan for a moment, then clicked her tongue and turned away.
“Are you cold?”
“No, I’m fine. Are you asking for your uniform back?”
“No, it’s fine. Since this uniform has been keeping me warm, I won’t take it back. I’m not cold at all.”
Karla tried to straighten her uniform blouse that was tilted to the left, but doing so with just one hand was difficult. She wrestled with her arm under her neck, behind her head, trying to adjust it, but it wasn’t easy.
“Let me help you.”
Ivan stood up and fixed the uniform on her shoulder. Then he added,
“Oh, don’t misunderstand. I’m not pitying you or anything. I just wanted to help.”
“Who said anything? Why are you making it seem like I’m strange?”
“… Strange?”
But it’s probably nothing.
Ivan easily dismissed it and leaned back into the carriage seat.
“Take a nap then.”
Ivan stretched lazily after gazing at the scenery outside the window with his chin resting on his hand and shook his head.
“Nah. How can I sleep in such a fancy carriage?”
“Tch, you’re full of it. You’re spouting off to the noble and calling him names but treating the carriage like a noble possession?”
“But… Karla let me do it.”
“Would you use polite speech and honorifics if I told you to?”
“Of course, Miss Cascata.”
“Done, forget it.”
Ivan smirked at Karla’s words.
“Full of it.”
That was the end of the conversation.
A quiet silence ensued. After a while, a soft, steady breathing sound could be heard.
Karla was asleep.
She seemed to have relaxed deeply into the soft carriage seat, falling into a calm sleep as the tension drained from her body.
“Her eyelashes are incredibly long.”
Ivan quietly observed her face.
Her womanly features were distinctively marked.
Long eyelashes, a sharp nose—she wasn’t as radiant as Regina, but there was a lively charm in her blushed cheeks and lips. Her eyebrows tilted slightly upward, giving her a fierce air but one that suited her well, given her personality.
“It’s good to see we’ve gotten closer.”
Karla’s icy demeanor—now revealed to stem from his own feelings of inferiority—was a startling revelation.
There was no reason for that. Really, there was.
Her tranquil, sleeping form.
With each breath, her full chest rose and fell. Her slightly parted lips released warm breaths, tracing her delicate neck, her snowy complexion…
“Not yet.”
Ivan, standing in the swaying carriage, had his hand extended toward her neck.
Impulse.
Desire.
I want to strangle her right now. To hear her cry out in agony. To rekindle fear and terror in her violet eyes. To hear her plead to be spared in that cold voice…
“Not yet, not yet. It’s not time yet.”
Ivan shook his head violently and sat back down. The storm of emotions surged with every encounter with Karla.
He gripped the pendant hanging around his neck and thought of Albina.
— Ivan, if you ever feel confused about why you feel the way you do, hold this pendant and take deep breaths. It will help.
“… I don’t know how she got it, but I’m glad I have it.”
Albina had assumed Ivan didn’t know much about himself, but that wasn’t the case. Ivan had already remembered everything about his past life and was only keeping it hidden.
The necklace did little more than mask his power, but it slightly helped him regulate his emotions.
Ivan closed his eyes tightly and clutched the pendant, repeating deep breaths.
After several attempts, the turmoil eventually settled, and Ivan realized they were passing through the entrance to the Academy’s dormitory road.
“Are there no empty rooms?”
Karla’s irritated voice made the dorm supervisor look troubled.
There were empty rooms, of course.
But none had been tidied up.
Was he to place the young lady of the Cascata family in a completely disorganized room? That was impossible.
“No, there really aren’t. Karla student, how about the floor then? It just doesn’t make sense that there would be no room.”
“There are, they’re just not cleaned. Dust needs cleaning, and… our cleaning staff has suddenly disappeared, making it a difficult situation for us.”
“Ah, this is troublesome.”
Karla’s irritated expression furrowed as she frowned. What was she supposed to do? It was unreasonable to sleep in the lobby, after all.
“Hey, Ivan.”
“Hm?”
“Isn’t there a bed in your room?”
“Uh, yes… of course there is.”
“Then you sleep on the floor while I take the bed.”
“…Wait a moment, Karla. You’re proposing to stay in my room?”
“Why? Don’t you like the idea?”
“I, it’s not that I don’t like it, it’s just…”
This wasn’t how things were supposed to go. Ivan couldn’t understand what was happening at all.
