Chapter 08
“…!”
Even though he was just standing there, Gerry jumped in surprise, looking as if he’d been caught doing something wrong.
“Oh, it’s the Tower Lord!”
The person who came out of the room was Neya. She wore a bright smile as if she had completely forgotten everything that had happened earlier.
“Why did you come upstairs instead of staying with Mom?”
“Huh? No, I was just… what were you doing?”
“Ah!”
At Gerry’s question, Neya suddenly remembered and spoke in a clear voice.
“I needed to bring the tea and teapot for the princess!”
“…Princess?”
“I’ll be right back!”
Neya shouted that and dashed down to the first floor.
Gerry, watching her blankly, soon laughed.
“She’s really bright.”
Far from being sulky, she was as lively as usual.
Gerry didn’t particularly like children, but seeing this side of Neya made him feel he might actually come to like them. Such resilience could only be made from a child’s innocence.
‘But… what’s this about a princess?’
Was she playing with dolls or something? Curious, Gerry peeked into Neya’s room.
Inside, Shane sat neatly in a dress, even holding a fancy toy teacup in his hand.
“….”
“….”
Silence hung between them as their eyes met.
Then Gerry spoke.
“Puhahaha!”
A clear, mocking laugh.
“Don’t laugh.”
“Oh my, I never thought I’d see something like this in my life!”
Despite Shane’s words, Gerry doubled over with laughter, wiping tears from the corners of his eyes.
“Shane, the mighty Shane, playing dress-up and tea party… suits you, I’d say.”
“Shut up.”
Shane looked slightly embarrassed, her cheeks tinged with red.
“You really are endlessly merciful to children, aren’t you?”
“…Not really, but I just can’t win against Neya.”
“Can’t win against Neya?” Gerry tilted his head in confusion.
Before he could process what that meant, the door swung open, and Neya appeared.
“I brought the teapot… oh, the Tower Lord is here too!”
Clapping her hands, Neya seemed delighted.
“Perfect timing! I needed a princess from a neighboring country! Tower Lord, will you join too?”
“What?”
Gerry froze, then waved his hand immediately.
“No, I’m not free enough to take part in something like this…”
“Don’t want to…?”
Neya looked up at Gerry with pleading eyes.
“….”
Faced with those sparkling eyes, Gerry could say nothing.
So this is what she meant by “can’t win against her.” Shane’s earlier words now made perfect sense.
For a long while, Ajeure had been drinking alone, and when she glanced at the clock, she frowned.
‘Did he fall in the toilet or something?’
It had already been over thirty minutes since Gerry left.
Not overly drunk yet, could he have collapsed somewhere? Ajeure got up to check and headed upstairs.
Approaching the bathroom, she suddenly stopped.
Neya’s door was slightly open.
“….”
Hoping for the best, Ajeure opened the door.
Inside were two men wearing dresses, even with ribbons in their hair that Neya had fixed herself.
“….”
“….”
Shane and Gerry froze at the sight of Ajeure.
Only Neya was comfortably sleeping on Gerry’s lap, as if nothing had happened.
In the cold silence, Ajeure’s face twisted in displeasure.
“…Perverted idiots.”
Gerry shouted in indignation.
“What’s wrong with me wearing a dress!”
“If you excuse yourself like that, it just looks worse!”
Shane scolded Gerry, but he didn’t care.
The commotion was stopped by one person.
“Ugh…”
Neya, lying on Gerry’s lap and using him as a pillow, furrowed her brows, disturbed by the noise. Both men instantly went silent.
Seeing Neya clutching the teacup in her hands while asleep, Ajeure quickly understood the situation.
Her gaze then shifted to the dresses the two were wearing.
With a displeased expression, she spoke to Shane.
“I told you to throw them away. Why are you still keeping them?”
“They’re expensive. I wanted to sell them later.”
“….”
“They’re going to be discarded anyway, right?”
“Do as you like…”
Ajeure clicked her tongue.
“Gerry, take that dress off and come downstairs quickly.”
Leaving only those words, she closed the door and left.
Gerry, staring at the tightly shut door, fiddled with the hem of the dress he was wearing.
“No wonder Ajeure was using her dress so easily. She threw it away, huh.”
“The servant sent it when we came here, but the lady told me to discard it.”
“It looks fine, so why?”
The dress, belonging to the Heartless family’s daughter, was very expensive and well-maintained, able to be worn for years more.
Shane knew why it had to be discarded.
“Since she won’t be wearing it anymore, she probably doesn’t even want to see it.”
Ajeure could no longer appear in high society; she had effectively been buried among the nobles. She knew her situation and didn’t want that dress in her wardrobe, not even as a source of false hope.
“So you kept it to sell it?”
“Do you really believe that?” Shane replied incredulously.
“You seem to forget, but I’m a noble too. I don’t need petty money.”
Although Shane now did chores beside Ajeure, she had originally been from a count’s family and a prominent household, with ample wealth.
Shane looked at the sleeping Neya with a bitter smile.
“I just kept it because the young lady is so capricious. She might want it later.”
“….”
Gerry quietly observed Shane.
Soon, beyond the closed door, Ajeure’s loud voice rang out.
“Hey! If you don’t come quickly, I’ll drink it all myself!”
“Sigh… that drunkard…”
Gerry exhaled a long sigh.
Though close to Ajeure as a drinking companion, he still disliked her.
Shared feelings were strange—he hated her so much, yet was grateful for someone who understood his emotions, which somehow brought them closer.
Still, even joking and chatting like this, Gerry didn’t hold Ajeure in high regard.
Her misdeeds were the kind one should criticize for life.
Gerry brushed Neya’s hair back as she slept on his lap.
“Of all people, she had to end up with Ajeure.”
“Sheesh…”
“So Neya has to live next to Ajeure her whole life? That’s harsh.”
“What can you do? Even such a person is still a noble. Since she was legally adopted, there’s no issue.”
Though she wouldn’t be officially listed in the family tree, Neya would belong to the household for life. A Catsha’s position, neither fully human nor cat, meant she could not choose her life.
Gerry muttered while looking at the sleeping Neya.
“Poor thing.”
With a hint of pity in his voice, he moved the doll from his lap, carefully placed Neya’s head on it, and got up. The dress he had been lazily wearing fell off as if it had been discarded.
Adjusting his clothes, he said,
“I get that Ajeure is attached, but there’s no need to consider her feelings.”
For once, Gerry looked unusually cold.
“You know she doesn’t even deserve redemption.”
“….”
Shane said nothing and watched him.
“Take good care of Neya.”
Leaving those words, Gerry exited the room.
Watching him leave so coolly, Shane thought,
‘He forgot to remove the ribbon.’
The pink ribbon Neya had tied earlier still dangled from Gerry’s hair.
He must have liked it, Shane thought, letting it slide.
