TINOT 19

Chapter: 19

The next morning, Lisithea woke up early.

Her body felt unusually light, which put her in a good mood. After quickly finishing her preparations, she began working through the tasks that had piled up.

She had even sent Mari out on errands and was busily clearing her workload when she sensed someone hesitating outside the door.

She tried to ignore it, but soon the door opened and Celia peeked her head in.

“Unni, I heard Joel Spencer came by the other day?”

Lisithea, who had been sorting through documents, raised her head and looked at Celia.

Unlike yesterday—when she had been furious, insisting the marriage with Diamuid must never happen—she now wore a bright smile and seemed in a very good mood.

“You seem to have plenty of free time these days.”

“What did Joel Spencer say? Did he cry and beg or something?”

“……”

What exactly was she expecting?

Lisithea could never keep up with her half-sister’s unpredictable emotional swings.

Not that she wanted to.

“He didn’t cry, and he didn’t beg. Even if he had, nothing would have changed.”

He had simply barged in, thrown a tantrum, and left.

Come to think of it, both Joel and Celia resembled each other—flaring up in anger and then exhausting themselves like siblings.

“Hm,” Celia hummed, studying Lisithea’s expression before asking,

“You seem completely unaffected. Still, wasn’t Joel Spencer someone special to you?”

Joel and his circle were practically the only acquaintances she had any closeness with, so Lisithea didn’t deny that.

“If he hadn’t done what he did, then yes.”

When Lisithea answered in an indifferent tone, Celia’s nonstop chatter abruptly stopped.

The smiling face from moments ago stiffened, and soon Celia’s usual sarcasm followed.

“You really know how to wear people out.”

“And?”

“I truly hated Joel Spencer, but now I almost feel sorry for him.”

“……”

“He probably never even dreamed you’d cut him off so quickly and cleanly.”

Just moments ago she had been screaming about whether Lisithea would cling to him without pride—yet now she made a fuss because Lisithea had accepted the broken engagement.

“So should I have clung to him and begged? Should I have said he could keep that woman as a mistress as long as he married me?”

“Who said that? That’s not what I meant. I’m saying there’s something wrong with your usual attitude and behavior.”

Lisithea knew her tone and personality were not particularly likable.

But that could never excuse the wrongdoing of Joel and the Spencer family.

“So you’re saying Joel Spencer strayed because he was tired of my behavior?”

For a moment, Celia was speechless, her face turning bright red as she shouted,

“When did I say that?! I meant that if you keep acting like this, no one will stay by your side!”

“I don’t need that.”

Lisithea rose from her seat, looking down at Celia with a crooked smile.

“And Celia, why not be honest? What you’re worried about isn’t that no one will remain by my side. You’re upset because I won’t play along with your little dollhouse game.”

A child throwing a tantrum because she wanted a gentle, affectionate older sister but couldn’t have one.

That was all Celia’s behavior amounted to.

And of course, Lisithea had no intention of joining such childish play.

“Don’t force your idea of an ideal family on me. No matter what you do, you can’t drag me into a group of people who adore you to death. Trying to provoke me with words like this is pointless.”

Struck at the core, Celia lowered her head, her fists trembling.

“…What makes you so great?”

Her voice, squeezed through clenched teeth, was full of grievance and resentment.

“You think everyone in the world is ridiculous and insignificant, don’t you? Acting like you alone are pure and noble, looking down on everyone else with contempt.”

Celia hated Lisithea’s indifferent gaze.

All she saw in those blazing golden eyes was scorn and disregard.

She wanted to make it so those eyes could no longer dismiss her.

Celia lifted her head, her eyes blazing.

“Did you know this? Joel Spencer once tried to approach me.”

“……”

“What, did you think you meant that much to Joel Spencer? Did you think that cunning man approached you without a purpose? What Joel wanted wasn’t you! That bastard only wanted the Cullinan Mine!”

Lisithea’s eyes widened in shock.

“Look at that,” Celia thought triumphantly, glaring at her.

“You’ve endured well, keeping that secret with a mouth that can’t hold anything for even half a day.”

Seeing Celia present it so confidently as if it were some great weapon, Lisithea burst into laughter.

“Is that really what matters right now? I’m telling you Joel Spencer tried to hit on me! Do you think I hated him for no reason?”

“I heard you. Since magic users are rare, he probably wanted to secure some connection. You said it yourself just now—would that cunning Joel Spencer approach someone without a purpose?”

Still, it wasn’t entirely without gain.

Spencer’s obsession with magic users far exceeded Lisithea’s expectations.

It seemed they were conducting research that absolutely required one.

In any case, it was time to end this conversation.

“So, are you finished with what you prepared to say?”

As if telling her to leave if she had nothing more to say, Lisithea gestured toward the door.

Unable to achieve what she wanted despite revealing her hidden secret, Celia grew anxious and grabbed Lisithea’s wrist.

“Don’t get your hopes up. The Grand Duke Cassius is the same. Everyone just wants your Cullinan Mine. So don’t expect anything and end up disappointed—”

Lisithea calmly pried Celia’s fingers off her wrist one by one.

“No. You’re wrong.”

To treat Diamuid as someone blinded by greed for something like the Cullinan Mine was unthinkable.

Someone as noble as him desired something else.

For example—

“What His Highness desires isn’t the Cullinan Mine. It’s me.”

Things too fragile and beautiful to measure with money—love and people.

“His Highness loves me.”

Lisithea seized both of Celia’s wrists in return and smiled confidently.

It was a bright smile without the slightest shadow, filled with absolute confidence in being loved.

Could Lisithea even smile like that?

To Celia, the face of the sister she had known her entire life suddenly felt unfamiliar.

Just then, a knock sounded at the door, and Mari delivered the news Lisithea had been waiting for.

“Miss, His Highness the Grand Duke Cassius has arrived.”

Today was the day Diamuid was scheduled to visit Aster.

“I’ll be right there.”

After replying, Lisithea released Celia’s wrists and turned away.

“…Y-you don’t actually believe what the Grand Duke says, do you?”

Celia called out urgently from behind her.

“Celia, you’ll soon see. You’ll see how much His Highness loves me.”

Lisithea left the room with a lively step.

The curtain had risen.

It was time to become a woman in love.

***

Even the simple motion of his long fingers gripping the handle of a teacup made it impossible to look away.

No—even if he remained perfectly still like a sculpture, it would have been the same.

His breath, his elegant and beautiful hands, his long legs loosely crossed—

His very existence held people’s attention.

The servants of the Marquis of Aster’s household stared at him as if enchanted.

“They’ve all lost their senses. Well, it’s only natural,” thought Ryan Dilton, the escort knight of the Grand Duke Cassius, calmly observing the reactions of the Aster household.

Even attendants who served Diamuid daily were sometimes overwhelmed by his beauty.

How could those encountering him unprepared remain composed?

While Ryan silently admired his master’s appearance, Diamuid himself was focused on the taste of the tea served by a maid of the Aster household.

“This is practically just water…”

The tea served at the Aster residence tasted as bland as plain water.

Diamuid recalled how Lisithea had blinked rapidly in surprise after tasting the tea he brewed for her and smiled faintly.

“She must have liked it—she emptied the cup in one go.”

By now, the flowers in the Grand Duke’s garden should be blooming nicely.

On a sunny day, it might be pleasant to drink tea together and chat leisurely.

As he quietly finished a couple of cups of the unpalatable tea, a thought suddenly struck him.

“She’s a little late. Waiting itself is no trouble, but…”

It wasn’t that waiting bored or annoyed him.

The situation itself felt strange.

Today’s visit had been scheduled in advance with Lisithea.

Given her character, she would have prepared everything and waited—being late was unlike her.

“Could she have gotten into a dispute with her family and been delayed…?”

Just as he raised his head with that concern—

Click.

The door opened, and light poured into the reception room.

“Lis—”

Before he could even rise from his seat while calling her name, she rushed in as if flying and threw herself into his arms.

Her ebony-black hair fluttered softly, brushing against the back of his hand.

Though surprised for a moment, he easily supported Lisithea even while half-risen in an unstable posture.

“What is it, my lady?”

His voice, as if laughing softly in his throat, made the air tremble gently.