* * *
“Ruite!”
“My son!”
I had forgotten. I had forgotten that there were people in this mansion who would act exactly like Blue.
But by the time I realized it, it was already too late.
The Count and Countess Everhart, who loved their son dearly, lunged at Ruite from both sides simultaneously.
“Wa-wait a second…”
“Have you been well?”
“Your health! How is your health? Is there anywhere that hurts?”
Ruite parted his lips to answer, but questions continued to fly at him.
Reina Everhart, the Countess, and Teian Everhart, the Master of the House, were a couple famous for their overflowing parental affection.
“I was healthy, but I feel like I’m going to collapse again because I can’t breathe.”
“Ah, right. Sorry. We overdid it, didn’t we?”
Ruite massaged his squished face and greeted his parents, whom he hadn’t seen in half a year.
“Do you have any idea how much we missed you?”
The plan to sleep to his heart’s content as soon as he reached the mansion was a failure.
The couple dragged him to the drawing room, saying they had so much to hear from their son.
The variety of refreshments prepared in advance clearly showed how long they had been waiting for him.
They were already prone to worrying, but since Ruite had previously lied about being sick to skip the dinner with the Callaway family, their anxiety had doubled.
Sitting in the drawing room, Ruite worked hard to tell them about his academy life.
His mouth actually hurt from talking so much.
However, knowing how much they cared, Ruite sincerely answered every one of his parents’ questions.
“By the way, are you and Chester getting along well?”
Ruite, who was drinking tea, suddenly choked and let out a flurry of dry coughs.
Since they were engaged, it was natural for his parents to be curious about the relationship.
After a moment of thought, Ruite brushed it off, saying they were getting along fine.
“When I saw him last time, Chester had become even more dashing. He was so polite and well-mannered; I’m so glad our son’s fiancé is such a child.”
Reina laughed, covering her mouth. Ruite deliberately bit his lip.
If he didn’t, he felt like he would blurt out that the Chester his mother saw was a total act—and that the real Chester was prickly and rude.
The reaction of both families toward this arranged marriage was very positive.
To begin with, the two houses had maintained a friendly relationship for a long time, and there was no reason to refuse a marriage that benefited both sides.
This was especially true from the Everhart family’s perspective.
The aristocratic society revolved entirely around arranged marriages, and since the original Ruite had held favorable feelings for Chester to begin with, the Count’s house had no reason to hesitate.
However, the irony was that the two individuals actually involved in the marriage were the ones who welcomed it the least.
After about two more hours of conversation, Ruite was finally able to go up to his room.
“Ah, I’m exhausted.”
Forgetting even to change out of his school uniform, he collapsed onto the bed.
The softness and plushness were incomparable to the dormitory beds.
Just thinking about becoming one with this bed for a month already made him feel better.
From that day on, Ruite began to properly enjoy his freedom.
His first priority was waking up as late as possible.
Since he had to start the day early at a fixed time at the academy, he intended to be unburdened by time during the break.
While he was sleeping soundly, unaware of whether the sun had even risen, Blue would enter the room.
When the cat jumped onto the bed and settled in front of Ruite’s face, Ruite would wake up a few minutes later with a groan.
“Blue, couldn’t you wake me up a bit more gently?”
Blue rolled onto his back and acted cute toward Ruite.
While still half-asleep and petting Blue, Kio entered the room with a knock.
“Are you awake?”
“Yeah.”
He had slept so deeply that he could barely open his eyes.
“It’s a rare vacation, are you just going to stay in the mansion? If there’s anywhere you want to go, please tell me.”
Kio began helping Ruite prepare for the morning.
“Kio, the place I want to go most is first, the bed, and second, the bed.”
“I thought you’d say that. Still, you mustn’t forget the banquet this evening. Understood?”
“…A banquet? There’s a banquet tonight?”
At that, his half-closed eyes snapped wide open.
Kio let out a small sigh as if he had expected this.
“Is there not a banquet being held at the Callaway Dukedom tonight? It is to celebrate Young Master Chester Callaway’s birthday.”
“Ah.”
Only then did a faint memory resurface.
A few days ago, during a meal with his parents, his father had mentioned a banquet would be held at the Dukedom soon.
He had let it go in one ear and out the other back then, but it turned out to be a celebration for Chester’s birthday.
About a week had passed since the vacation started.
Naturally, he hadn’t met Chester.
It had only been a few days, but thinking of his face now, it felt like they hadn’t seen each other in a very long time.
“A birthday…”
“Pardon? What did you say?”
Ruite fell into deep thought.
It wasn’t just any banquet; the fact that it was a party to celebrate Chester’s birthday kept bothering him.
“Hey, Kio. Let’s go out for a bit during the day.”
The meaning of a vacation at the academy was this: a time to rest and recharge after a semester of hard work and growth.
However, such deep sentiments held no power within the Callaway Dukedom.
Chester received several hours of lessons from a tutor today as well.
The tutor, hired for just one month, possessed a brilliant career and skill set.
Others might see this and say hiring such an elite tutor for short-term education was a waste and an excessive luxury.
But Venzere Callaway, who had ordered the hiring himself, was well aware of that.
He committed such waste for one reason: to ensure his son didn’t slack off just because it was a vacation and to keep the pressure on so he wouldn’t lose his edge.
The power and authority of the Callaway family were strong.
But Venzere was a greedy man who wasn’t satisfied with that.
He placed great importance on the family’s honor and the status the imperial citizens perceived.
That was why he insisted that anything less than top of the class was worthless.
Graduating as the valedictorian of the Magic Department—where only chosen children could enter at the prestigious Whitmore Academy—was an immense honor worthy of praise.
Such honors accumulated to strengthen the family’s power.
That was the ideology Venzere prioritized most.
“Young Master.”
While Chester was rubbing his stiff eyes, the head butler approached.
“I have narrowed down a few outfits for you to wear today. Would you like to choose one yourself?”
“Forget it. Just pick something decent, Butler.”
“Yes, I will do so.”
Because of the butler’s words, he remembered that today was the day of the banquet celebrating his birthday.
To be honest, he didn’t particularly like parties where nobles gathered in droves.
If it were up to him, he wouldn’t do it, but his father would never allow that.
Just thinking about following his father around and becoming his “accessory” made him feel tired already.
Then, a certain face suddenly flashed through his mind.
“Ah, is the Everhart family attending the banquet?”
“They are. We sent the invitation first and received a confirmation of attendance.”
“I see. You may go.”
That meant Ruite was coming.
Throughout the final tests, they hadn’t been able to have a proper conversation, let alone look at each other’s faces.
Before the break, Chester had to leave the academy early to attend another Duke’s banquet with his father.
Ruite was probably incredibly excited that vacation had started.
Just thinking of Ruite made the fatigue that had been creeping in vanish instantly.
But at the same time, a part of his heart felt tight and stifled.
A few days before the final tests, during the weekend, he had happened to overhear something while passing the sparring grounds for personal training.
It was the conversation Ruite had with those two students from the Swordsmanship Department.
‘Then, is there someone you like?’
‘I don’t.’
That firm voice still flickered in his ears.
Even when Dylan asked if he was sure, Ruite had repeated the same answer.
It should have been a welcome statement.
But funnily enough, it didn’t sound pleasing at all.
‘Ruite Everhart no longer likes Chester Callaway.’
Since that day, that sentence hadn’t left his head for a single moment, making him feel unpleasant in many ways.
Questions like ‘Why? Since when? He liked me enough to welcome an arranged marriage’ followed along.
He could have thought Ruite was lying to follow his request not to spread rumors about the engagement, but there hadn’t been a hint of a lie in that answer.
And considering Ruite’s recent actions, the claim that he didn’t have anyone he liked sounded more sincere than anything else.
“Sigh… I really can’t figure him out.”
The most troublesome existence lately was Ruite.
And just as much, the thing he understood the least was his own heart.
It felt like he had lost the control and direction he had maintained so naturally and had been dropped into the middle of nowhere.
Chester closed his eyes tightly.
The only thing that was clear was that he wanted to see that foolish, cute face.
* * *
