When My Enemies Began to Regret

She could feel the guards who were following them were also agitated.

“If I had a holy relic like the main character in the opera, I would have made the same choice for Aloken.”

“What?”

“Eternal life doesn’t matter if I can be with you.”

Fanora pretended to lean lightly on Aloken’s shoulder. It was a copy of the people’s behavior who passed before her eyes. 

Aloken tried to reflexively back off when she touched him. But a few seconds later, as if he had finished judging, he changed his attitude. “I don’t even crave for holy relics in the first place. With such a lovely fiancée by my side, I have enough treasure.”

“Oh my, is that true?”

As expected, Aloken responded skillfully to the play. As he approached, the appearance of whispering love while wrapping his arms around Fanora’s shoulder was more natural than Fanora, who had begun it.

“What a sight!”

“Did they drink honey to become that sweet?”

“It’s a happy thing that our young Master is happy, but to do that on the street…”

It was obvious what the servants who were walking with them together would think like that. Rather, it was what she had hoped for. Fanora and Aloken continued their playful play until they boarded the carriage.

“It’s already late. I’m in trouble if my fiancée gets hungry, so can you hurry up?”

“All right, my Lord.”

Fanoragot into the navy-colored carriage, gracefully accepting Aloken’s hand escorting her. Aloken, who had few words with the horseman, also approached the carriage shortly after.

“Hmm?”

However, he took a seat next to her this time, not the opposite like before. Fanora sat beside him without saying a word. Soon she watched the carriage door close.

The heavy sound of the door closing was soon followed by a shallow vibration every time the wheels moved.

“Fanora.”

“Yes.”

“What were you thinking?”

Now that the curtain had fallen, it was the actors behind the curtain’s turn to show their true faces.

“What did you do that for? You don’t even usually keep your manners.”

Aloken had returned with a cold look that made it feel like his voice had been lowered by one tone. He leaned his upper body toward her and whispered so that the conversation wouldn’t leak to anyone. The pressure grew as much as their distance got closer. However, Fanora had already lost my fear since she smashed Haures’s head.

“You seem to be going through a lot too.”

“What…?”

Naturally, this kind of pressure didn’t impact her. Fanora went on, fiddling with the cloth hanging by the window.

“Aloken, you didn’t like the opera you just saw, didn’t you?”

When this was brought up, Aloken’s expression on the window hardened.

“No, not that much. I wasn’t interested enough to the point I didn’t care if the actor on the stage died in the place…”

It was a casual remark. However, Fanora acted as if she had been trampled upon. 

“…”

“Did I offend you?” Then he shut up. Seeing him unhappy with this situation, Fanora wondered whether he made a slip of the tongue and reflected on his remarks. But no matter how much she thought about it, there was no problem.

“I know the eyes of people who are not interested in a certain subject because I have received a lot of similar glances over the years.”

Fanora dismissed her thoughts and continued the conversation in a small voice. “It hurts to be bored.”

“…”

“But seeing you sit in a boring opera for hours just trying to be a fake lover… It made me think differently.”

Usually, while talking about this topic, someone would have said a word of sympathetic response. Still, the man sitting next to her only looked at her with questionable eyes.  

“Looking back, you always did your best to hide our fake engagement. Thanks to that, there wouldn’t be words about me regarded as a fake fiancée, but on the other hand, I think I’ve been too uncooperative.”

“…”

“So from now on, I’m just trying to keep up with my acting…”

This play was honestly not a bad thing for Fanora either. The more solid their love seemed, the less room for Naverius to find out about it.

“Fanora.”

At last, Aloken, who had not said anything, opened his mouth. He looked down at the floor, clasping his hands, and subtly answered the question.

“I certainly don’t like opera. It’s boring, but there’s actually more than one or two boring things like that.”

“…”

“No matter what I do with the things around me, it’s not fun at all… At first, I looked for something stimulating to appease my boredom. I don’t like gambling. Fortunately, I like to hunt.”

“And then?”

“But these days, I’m getting tired of hunting.”

He leaned lightly. Then he supported his elbow against the carriage wall and said while putting his chin on his hand. There was no such thing as arrogance or humility. “Then what should I do when hunting becomes as boring as an opera?”

“You just have to find another hobby, right?” Fanora answered without much thought.

“That’s right. Fortunately, I think I’ve already found something I’m interested in this time.”

If she had known that he would then bring this up, she would have had a conversation with him more sincerely. Soon Aloken’s eyes turned to her. He seemed to have realized something.

“Everything Lady Celsius brings up these days is interesting. When you pretended to be my lover earlier, I thought it wasn’t bad.”

“?”

“I’ve never felt this way before.”

Aloken smiled at Fanora, who was looking at his face. 

“…So, what I mean is, you’re charming.”

Fanora pretended to be startled when the word charming came out of his mouth.

“…”

However, there was no significant change other than her raising both her eyebrows slightly. In other words, her face didn’t turn red or her lips smiled.

“Ah, yes. Thank you.”

Fanora felt awkward to hear that she was charming, the opposite of the insults she had heard. Rather, it felt like he was giving her a slap on her face.

“Your reaction is too cold.”

Aloken straightened his tilted upper body and sat upright when Fanora showed such a cold face. Then he looked at her face and added a few words. “What I’m interested in you, not just a one-time contract. I’m even willing to carry this out until marriage.”

Fanora couldn’t let those words slip away. “Marriage?”

“These days, I think it’s okay to have Lady Fanora as my real wife.”

“What do you mean it’s okay?! You won’t gain anything by marrying someone from the Celsius family…”

“I see. When we made a deal, you politely said that we didn’t have to get married, but the truth is you just didn’t want to.”

Aloken pulled up a short curtain hanging from the carriage’s window to see how close they were to the mansion and then calmly began to look straight ahead. His face had regained its smile.

“My family is not a family that will be shaken just because of marriage to Count Celsius’s family.”

Fanora listened quietly to his words and noticed that Aloken’s remarks were sincere. 

“I have no intention of getting married.”

For Fanora, he was merely a tool to establish her  in the society while at the same time beating out Naverius. She had already made up her mind that she would destroy and kill her targets in the next two years, but it would be difficult if she stumbled upon a marriage she didn’t even want. It was not good to be clingy.

“That will never happen.” Fanora drew a line as cold as frost in the North. 

However, Aloken replied as if it was natural, without turning his head to look at the front of the carriage. “My hunting skills are better than you thought.”

“Why did you say that out of nowhere…”

“I have no hobby other than hunting, so the skills I had been immersed in for a long time naturally improved.”

He placed his hand on his twisted leg, tapped his knee lightly with his index finger, then lowered his head and raised the corner of his mouth.

“I’m persistent when it comes to beasts I’m interested in.”

“Are you comparing me to a beast?”

“It’s the same whether it’s a person, a beast, or a piece of meat.” He drew the end of his words softly and joked. 

Fanora clenched my fists for a moment at his attitude. Shortly after, she turned her head to look out the window as if ignoring his words.  As she saw a familiar landscape, they seemed to have reached the Duchy. 

“You’re going to hunt me down like a toy, right? Even if I say I don’t like it?”

“Is that how you respond?”

“Even the gratitude I felt for you before is disappearing. I’ll pretend that there won’t be any further cooperation from now on. I don’t want to be more than a business partner with you.”

As soon as the coachman stopped the horse’s hooves, Fanora opened the door and got out of the carriage.

“Yo-Young Master, did something happen between you and the young Lady?”

Even though Aloken and Fanora apparently got out of the same carriage, she got off without an escort. Even it was unusual for anyone who sees it. Aloken, who stepped on the ground belatedly, told a lie.

“There’s nothing to worry about. It’s just a quarrel between lovers.”

* * *

That night.

It was good to run out first, but Fanora couldn’t avoid mealtime since she stayed in this mansion. So she had to have an overly lavish evening with Aloken. In addition, Aloken shamelessly delivered a letter to her room, saying, “People feel intimacy and affection for those they see often.”

Fanora didn’t like this situation.

She couldn’t understand why he showed such great interest. Obviously, he didn’t bother her until recently. He even said that if she wanted to get married after breaking up with him, she would lose her reputation.

Fanora eventually gave up thinking. She hoped this was just a brief, poor-quality prank by the arrogant little Duke.

“Lady Fanora, did you call for me?”

“I can’t sleep well, and I’ll probably stay up all night. So could you bring me a new candle for the night?”

“I understand. If Lady is experiencing such symptoms, scented candles seem to be helpful. Should I bring it with the rest?”

“Thank you.”

By the time my maid brought the new candle, Fanora had unfolded the theology book she had received and began writing with the tools from Aloken. It made her calm down. The more sharp nib pressed against the paper and the more wavy letters she drew, the calmer her mind became.

Was it because they want the person they’re interested in to be interested in them as well? Even though there is a good concept called friendship, they always want more than that. Fanora thought they were greedy.

* * *