About Your Pride and My Prejudice

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Following the head-maid, I diligently walked through the endless forest path lined with garden trees. At the end of the thick forest, a dark blue-clad official stood waiting for us.

He handed over a document that I couldn’t even read properly and I signed it with trembling hands.

Although somehow I couldn’t sign it properly because I was embarrassed.

「Mel」

“Thank you. Please give my regards to Mr. Leopold.”

The official, who received the childlike signed documents, left the mansion at a busy pace, leaving a brief greeting. Perhaps because she also no longer had any business left, the head-maid also bowed silently as soon as the official left and turned toward the annex.

There was nothing new to be upset about her attitude. Sandra is the only one who talks to me in this mansion in the first place. Even if it weren’t for that, they’ll be busy sweeping and polishing this huge old castle every day. I have that much understanding.

I just wanted to ask a little more detail about what the head-maid said. That I’m pretty much a mistress of this mansion. And whether that’s really what Alan Leopold says.

“Phew….”

But her hand, which she had gently stretched out, fell off helplessly, as the back of the head-maid in uniform had become as small as a small dot.

As expected, she was scared. Of course it was a lie to get her to sign it quickly. Because she thought the same answer like ‘There’s someone waiting for you.’ would come back.

But it was also unbearably scary to hear the confirmation that their young master really said that.

“Ugh…….”

When the grass leaf, which grew ankle-high, brushed the wound, my whole body felt numb as if I had been electrocuted. I wish I could go back to my room, apply some medicine, and rest. Even though I skipped breakfast and lunch and wandered around the garden through the smell of grass, I couldn’t go back to my room for some reason.

It’s not because I don’t want to face the ashes again, as Sandra should have cleaned my table by now. However, the foolish thought that this road was the most likely place to reunite with him grabbed me by the ankle and did not let me go.

Of course, it is frustrating and painful to feel that a that has not been completed is burned to ash in an instant. It’s a precious story I’ve written in my spare time, going back and forth between the narrow desk in the old two-story house and the corner of my favorite coffee shop. If I deny that it has disappeared yet, it would seem like it would have never happened. I still can’t believe it.

But now, I feel more strongly that I should talk to Alan Leopold. What was he thinking when he burned my ?

It’s impossible to guess, but in fact, it’s like I know a little bit. But these ideas, which make me afraid, cannot be dispelled without his answer.

Unless it’s Alan Leopold.

With that thought, I crossed the wide garden towards the main gate. Even if I could get to the door, I wouldn’t be able to get out. I know clearly that he is more likely not to be able to come back today.

In the face of the obvious fact, I sometimes slowed down to reflect on how small and insignificant I was, but whenever I raised my head with hesitation, the unknown certainty comforted me.

I thought it was a strange and affectionate comfort.

“……The bulb that I had dried has not yet been replanted.”

It was then that a shrill voice was heard. As soon as I stopped walking at the unfamiliar voice, a familiar voice followed.

“Good job. Sooner or later, we will have to do a major overhaul of the garden.”

It was certainly the voice of William, the butler of the mansion.

And I acted out of my league again.

“William…!”

I shouted out the name of the butler somewhere beyond the crowded garden tree colony. Originally, I would have walked towards the source of the voice, but now I can’t afford to.

“William! Where are you, William!”

In the end, William and the gardener found me first. The butler with a dignified and solemn impression walked in front of me, standing alongside the young chestnut tree. He touched the shiny monocles one after another as if he couldn’t believe it.

“What’s going on? Are you lost?”

He glanced puzzledly at my messy, tangled hair and sloppy attire— just a thin shawl over my sleepwear. I would have looked even more shabby and strange in contrast to their undisturbed appearance.

“You’re going to catch a cold. Please go in—”

“Take me to Alan.”

William paused in bewilderment. His eyes seemed to be telling me this- What’s wrong with your head?

“……You know, the young master is now,”

“Take me where Alan is. You know where he is.”

“Lady, you’re being so stubborn……. I don’t know why you’re doing this, but he’s not a free man. If you wait until he comes back,”

“He locked me up to write a and then burned it!”

I cut off his words and screamed. Because I don’t want to hear a lecture in the least. The butler turned pale and asked the gardener who was listening in the back to go back.

“Why in the world did he treat me like this….”

“I understand. Calm down first.”

A sigh flowed out at the words. Is it because he is Alan’s loyal servant? Even after saying he understood it felt like a deception.

I managed to continue, suppressing the rising sorrow.

“If I could, I would have visited him myself.”

“……Miss.”

“If your master hadn’t locked me up…… I would have run out even barefoot.”

“…….”

It was only when the butler hurriedly handed the handkerchief that I realized that I was crying but I didn’t have the strength to accept it casually. My ankles were throbbing, my face was a mess, and my emotions were collapsing as if they were broken.

“William, Alan…….”

“Please stand up, Miss.”

The butler was embarrassed and reached out to me, who sat down without caring about the dirt.

“Let me see him…….”

“I’ll send a servant.”

My eyes widened at those words.

“Are you taking me where he is?”

It seems that he had a rather very happy and welcoming face for a person who would get scolded at, gave explanation and an apology for coming to see Alan Leopold.

“His business unit is facing a very important situation right now. I’m not sure that he’ll be able to meet you if you go to see him today.”

“Then…”

I lifted myself up with my sleeve wiping away tears. I still had a slight dizziness. The autumn leaves above my head are about to pour down.

“If you don’t mind, I’ll tell him to send a carriage. Let’s go back to the room first.”

The answer gave me a wave of relief and distant fatigue. I nodded softly and walked unsteadily back to the annex.

When I returned to the room, disinfected the wound, and washed myself in a bathtub full of petals, I felt a little better and dreamy.

When I came out of the bath and was drinking a little of the clear soup Sandra brought, a maid came and announced that a carriage was waiting outside.

* * *

I remember the day I climbed the brilliant Moonlight. The clear sky between spring and summer, the sound of a miracle that shakes the earth, and the smell of the sea.

However, while not aware of it, it was already the peak of autumn. And this is surprisingly my first outing since coming to the Principality of Lunoa.

“Then we’ll be on our way, miss.”

I fainted without knowing that I had arrived at Lunoa, I opened my eyes in an ancient castle dungeon. After that, a new life in an immovable cage. It was not long ago that I was able to come out to the garden.

If I was asked if I lived an unhappy and miserable life, it was not. However, enjoying good rooms, clothes, and food and having a comfortable time with countless servants does not make unwanted restraints a pleasant thing. It is a very dangerous idea to think so.

The problem is that sometimes I felt happy.

……No, actually quite often I think.

“Ha….”

I leaned against the seat without even thinking about pulling back the curtains. Before I came to Lunoa, I was curious about the street scenery of Lunos, the capital city where art lived and breathed. Now I just didn’t want to think about anything.

I fell asleep for a moment, but the carriage rattled and stopped, and my eyes were wide open. Sure enough, I heard a knock and the coachman opened the door. The gentle autumn sun crept into the carriage.

“We’re here, miss.”

Holding his outstretched hand, I got out of the carriage, and a three-story building stood in front of me. It looked quite old, but it was a neat building that gave the impression that it was antique rather than old.

“This is the office…….”

There were already countless moments when I missed him so desperately while he was here. Did he sometimes think of me here too?

A young man came running to me, who was thinking about it while standing blankly.

“Oh, you’re…….”

He was an academy scholarship student who lost his way in a detached house the other day. He told the story of Tobias, he greeted me with a happy face as if he recognized me right away.

“Welcome. He’s waiting.”

He guided me to a small tea room at the end of the hallway. As he walked down the cool corridor, he talked about Lunoa’s autumn weather and the duchy’s traders.

It may have been his own consideration, but unfortunately, I couldn’t properly hear any of his words. Because the sound of my heart beating wildly was much louder than his voice.

What am I supposed to say when I meet Alan Leopold? First I condemn the heinous act of burning my , and then I receive a sincere apology, and then…….

“Sir Alan, this is Eden. I brought her here.”

I held on to the doorknob before I heard the answer. It’s never my will to be so impulsive.

It’s because the only thing inside this door that makes my face hot just by thinking about it and takes all the time to think about it…No…, Melissa.

Actually, it’s all my will.

I kicked the door into the room and shouted.

“Alan!”

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