Chester stared silently at the cookie held out to him.
Seeing him pierce the dessert with his gaze without making a single gesture, Ruite couldn’t help but inwardly regret his impulsive action.
Come to think of it, Chester didn’t exactly look like the type who enjoyed sweets.
Just as Ruite’s arm began to ache and he started to pull his hand back, Chester’s hand intercepted him.
A moment later, the cookie vanished into his mouth.
“Hmm, but as expected, the Duke’s residence is different. The banquet hall is incredibly huge and spacious.”
“My father likes this sort of thing.”
“This sort of thing? What exactly do you mean?”
“Things that are visible to the eye—and flaunting them to others.”
Ruite, who was about to pick up another dessert, paused.
The word ‘flaunt’ didn’t exactly carry a pleasant connotation.
Ruite recalled Benger and Chester’s grand entrance into the hall earlier.
The Duke’s presence certainly captured everyone’s attention.
It almost felt as if Benger was the protagonist of the evening, rather than Chester, whose birthday it actually was.
“But is it okay for you to be standing around here? You’re the star of the show today.”
Ruite remembered how Chester had been following the Duke around all evening, greeting various nobles.
“What about you? Why are you alone?”
“Ah, I ran away.”
Ruite’s gaze shifted to one side.
There, the Count and Countess Everhart were chatting warmly and laughing with others.
“I’m not much different.”
Before they knew it, the two were standing side by side, leaning against a wall in a secluded corner of the hall.
Standing in the corner allowed them to see the entire interior at a glance, yet it felt as though this spot was disconnected from the glittering, noisy space over there.
“Oh my, they say the Everhart family is close with the Callaway family, but even the children seem quite dear to each other.”
The sound of whispering reached Ruite’s ears.
Following the source, he saw ladies from certain families glancing over while huddled together.
For some reason, the looks they directed at him and Chester were quite persistent.
Noblewomen loved to gossip.
Almost all rumors in aristocratic society could be traced back to the social circles.
Ruite felt inwardly uneasy.
Tomorrow—no, as soon as the banquet ended today—those ladies would likely spread word far and wide.
They’d say the friendship between the two families’ children looked incredibly tight.
While that wasn’t a bad rumor per se, it was certainly something Chester would dislike.
“Ahem.”
Ruite let out an awkward cough and took a step away from Chester.
Then another step, and another—by the time he was three steps away, Chester noticed the strange behavior and whipped his head around.
“Can you go a single day without doing something weird?”
“What? W-weird? I have a reason for this, you know.”
Ruite snapped back, but his eyes kept darting toward the group of noblewomen.
His gaze was so transparent that Chester seemed to realize exactly what he was thinking.
“Stop doing useless things and come back here. Don’t you realize that makes you stand out even more?”
‘Ah, is that so?’
Ruite scratched his head.
Convinced by the logic, he readily replied, “Alright,” and stuck close to Chester’s side again.
Ruite stood still, stealing glances at Chester’s profile.
Chester seemed to find this atmosphere relatively stable; he was simply sipping his drink and staring blankly at the hall.
Ruite took in the distance of about a span between them.
Strangely, it felt incredibly awkward.
However, it was a different kind of awkwardness than what he had felt when being with Chester after deciding to break off the engagement.
“Ah.”
A low sound vibrated in Chester’s throat—it sounded like a sigh of resignation.
He handed his glass to a passing servant and fixed his gaze on a single spot.
Benger was standing there with a stiff expression, sending a sharp look toward Chester.
“If there’s something you want to eat, just tell anyone.”
“Huh? Oh, okay.”
Out of habit, Chester checked his attire and began walking toward Benger.
The faint sound of the sigh he had left behind seemed to linger in the air.
Ruite stared at the now-empty space beside him, then watched Chester as he resumed greeting people alongside Benger.
The smile on Chester’s face was flawless and handsome. But he didn’t look truly happy.
The glittering time that felt like it would never end finally reached its conclusion, and the banquet hall grew silent and empty.
The invited nobles had all returned to their estates, with the exception of the Everharts.
Ruite remembered his parents and Benger mentioning they would set aside a separate time to talk later.
That was why he was currently inside the Callaway mansion.
To be precise, Benger, Chester, the Count and Countess Everhart, and Ruite were sitting across from each other at a table in the drawing room.
Ruite strained his eyes to fight off sleep.
He wanted to run to his bedroom right this second and collapse onto a soft bed.
The conversation between his parents and Benger was not only incomprehensible but also incredibly boring.
“By the way, Ruite.”
“…Yes?”
Benger suddenly addressed him.
Since Ruite had been fighting a losing battle against drowsiness, he couldn’t help but be a little startled.
“How is academy life? Whitmore is a place where the intensity of education increases as you go up in grade, isn’t it?”
“Ah… I am attending faithfully.”
Ruite wondered what would be best to say, then decided that giving a vague answer was the safest bet, so he uttered the most plausible response.
Benger fell silent for a moment.
Ruite felt an inexplicable discomfort from the gaze that seemed to be piercing through him—or rather, scouting him.
But it was only for a split second.
Benger’s lips curled into a smooth smile.
“You truly are the child of two people with such excellent character and wisdom. Yes, sincerity is very important. Great grades and results do not come without sincerity.”
On the surface, it sounded like a compliment.
However, there was a very small but definite thorn hidden within.
If one just let the words flow by, they would never be pricked or even know the thorn existed.
Sincerity wasn’t what Benger was emphasizing.
The “great results” mentioned afterward was his true intent.
Despite feeling the thorn, Ruite bowed his head and thanked him for the kind words.
According to the natural order of things, he was to marry the second son of the Callaway family.
Once that happened, Ruite would officially become a member of the Duke’s family, and Benger was speaking with that future in mind.
‘The person who is to become a member of our family must be excellent.’
However, Ruite let the words go in one ear and out the other.
He intended to break off the engagement with Chester amicably anyway.
Benger’s arrows were no longer aimed at Ruite.
He resumed his conversation with the Count and Countess.
But perhaps it was because of that sudden question, or perhaps the persistent gaze he had caught for a second, but his sleepiness had vanished completely.
Just as he was wondering if he should thank Benger for waking him up, a plate piled high with desserts suddenly entered his field of vision.
The plate couldn’t have moved on its own; it was Chester’s doing.
Chester had a somewhat sunken expression.
It was a face where negative emotions like worry, resentment, and annoyance seemed to be mixed together.
It was deep into the night when Ruite’s group finally stood up to leave the drawing room.
The Count, his wife, and Benger exchanged farewells, promising to meet again.
They headed out under the polite escort of the servants.
“Ah!”
At that moment, something he had forgotten struck Ruite’s mind.
“Hmm? What is it?”
Seeing their son freeze just as he was about to board the carriage, the couple tilted their heads in unison.
“Mother, Father, could you wait for just ten minutes? I’ll be right back!”
“Huh? Ruite!”
Before the two could even ask why, Ruite stepped back into the Duke’s mansion.
Several servants saw him and asked why he had returned.
“I had something to say to Chester but I forgot. It’ll only take a moment…”
The servants’ expressions relaxed into warm smiles.
The employees of both households knew the details of the arranged marriage.
Of course, they were strictly ordered to keep their mouths shut in exchange for that knowledge.
In their eyes, Ruite simply looked like a shy young master who had come back to see his fiancé again.
“He is likely still in the drawing room. I will go and bring him.”
“No, it’s fine. You’re busy cleaning up, so I’ll just go myself.”
Ruite didn’t forget to thank them as he turned back toward the drawing room.
To be honest, the mansion was so large and the hallways branched out so much that he almost took a wrong turn once.
As he approached the drawing room, he saw light leaking through a slightly ajar door.
Ruite raised his hand to knock on the door without much thought.
“What was that pathetic talk just now?”
At that moment, a cold, chilling voice rang out, and Ruite’s hand stopped dead in its tracks.
