The Young Lady Who Wants to Love (3)

The embrace lasted rather longer than Theorad had expected.

Ashley was the one prolonging it. With her forehead buried against his shoulder and her slender arms clasped tightly around his back, she looked almost painfully vulnerable.

He felt a little embarrassed, but he understood why she was holding him so fiercely. His hand settled gently on her back, patting her in comfort.

She must have had a terrible time.

While he had been struggling with the elf, rumors of Fred's involvement with the rebels had spread quickly. The princess's troops had arrived at the castle amid the turmoil over his departure.

Now Count Leonberg and Princess Benelia were at odds over the search, leaving the soldiers caught between conflicting orders.

It was as if a wave had crashed over the family from the front while a wildfire approached from behind.

Knowing Ashley, she would have pushed herself to the limit trying to find the best way through the chaos.

She must have kept all that worry locked inside her…

As Count Leonberg often said, his daughter was brilliant, but she was still young. To ease the burdens of the people she cared about, she would shoulder problems she had no obligation to bear.

That grieved Theorad. It frightened him, too.

Part of him wanted to tell her to forget his troubles with the elf entirely. But Ashley would never abandon him just because he asked. She would agree to his face, then continue working in secret.

Sometimes the kindness with which she tried to solve his affairs could turn into something almost reckless.

But it wasn't enough merely to pity her. Ashley had a right to be happy while she was young.

At least today should be peaceful.

For the little time he had won by sending the elf away, he wanted to think of Ashley alone.

He lifted his hand from her back and rested it lightly on her shoulder.

“How much longer are we going to stand here hugging? Surely you still have things to do.”

“Ah…”

Ashley drew back at last, wiping the corner of her eye with her hand. In the sunset, the moisture on her lashes caught the fading light.

“I'm sorry. I was thinking about something else…”

“You mustn't apologize for that.”

“…You apologize all the time yourself, Sir Theorad.”

“Ugh. That's a different matter.”

His weak attempt at humor drew a small laugh from her.

“How unfair.”

Unfair or not, he was glad to see some of the sadness leave her face.

Theorad smiled at her.

“Is there anything else you'd like to do? I think I can spend the whole day with you, Ashley.”

“Today…?”

For a moment her thoughts went in an entirely unexpected direction.

She imagined their fingers interlacing, whispering love to one another, their lips meeting in a long kiss.

The images came so readily that she startled herself. She coughed and felt her cheeks grow hot.

They hadn't even held their wedding ceremony. She couldn't simply indulge herself as she pleased. It would disgrace her family, violate propriety and perhaps even upset Theorad.

Besides, he isn't particularly interested in that sort of thing.

Before the ceremony, it would be best to keep their relationship respectable.

Of course, if Theorad suddenly threw himself at her, that would be another matter. She would hardly be able to resist him…

No!

Her imagination was getting away from her again. She forced it back under control.

“Then let's go to the study!”

Theorad wondered why her voice had risen like that, but chose not to ask.

“The study? You mean His Excellency the Count's private study?”

“Yes. I have the castle's master key. We can get in.”

He hesitated. Entering Count Leonberg's personal library without permission was hardly a small matter.

“Ashley, there's a proper way to enter a place like that.”

“It'll be fine. Father would certainly allow you in.”

“Assuming his permission is not the same as obtaining it. Unless His Excellency says so himself, it would be discourteous.”

“But Father is busy with the princess. It may be late tonight before we can even ask him.”

“Surely there's somewhere else we could spend some time alone. The lake outside the castle, for instance…”

He stopped.

The sun was already setting. Once it disappeared beyond the mountains, night would fall quickly. Even in peaceful Pelgaroin, going out beyond the castle after dark was unwise.

And regardless of safety, few people—Count Leonberg least of all—would approve of an unmarried man and woman walking together in private at night.

They could bring escorts, certainly. But that would defeat the whole purpose of Ashley's wish.

So that's why she suggested the study.

Her plan made sense, but he still disliked entering her father's rooms without consent.

Seeing him hesitate, Ashley pouted.

“Wasn't it a wish you promised to grant me?”

Ah. That's why she asked for three wishes.

His own promise had become a trap for his conscience. He thought for a moment, then surrendered.

“Very well. But afterward we must tell His Excellency exactly what we did and ask his forgiveness. If you won't agree to that, I can't go.”

It was just like him to insist on proper conduct, even while agreeing to a small act of mischief. Ashley found it endearing.

“All right. Then, Sir Theorad—are you ready to become a wicked little thief with me?”

He looked at her with a smile.

“Of course.”

---

Guided by Ashley, the would-be criminal Theorad arrived at Count Leonberg's private study.

Several servants had seen them on the way, so their supposedly secret expedition was hardly secret. All of them politely pretended not to notice. It spoke volumes about the affection Ashley had earned within the castle.

“If I put it in like this…”

At the tall door, Ashley pushed the master key into the lock, inserted it a little farther, and turned it to the right.

Click!

The lock released with a pleasant sound. Theorad thought he felt the mana surrounding the door fade. Perhaps the key had also undone a magical barrier.

“There.”

Ashley opened the heavy door with practiced ease.

Creeeak.

Theorad stared at the sight beyond it.

“It's enormous. Bigger than I'd imagined.”

“It's Father's study. Come inside before someone sees us.”

He followed her in. From the inside, the room seemed even larger.

Beneath the high ceiling, glowing magical orbs lit shelf after shelf of books, arranged in long, orderly rows.

This is more than a private study…

It was a library in everything but name. The sheer number of volumes set his scholarly curiosity ablaze.

“You're free to look around,” Ashley said after closing the door.

“Really? I may?”

He turned toward her with the delighted expression of a child receiving an unexpected birthday gift.

“Of course. I know how much you like books.”

“Ashley…”

Her thoughtfulness moved him. He resolved to spend just a little time among the shelves.

Ashley watched from nearby as he wandered from row to row. Whenever he found a rare or unfamiliar volume, he drew it out reverently, then grew as excited as a pirate discovering treasure.

“Is this a treatise on doppelganger alchemy? I heard the Church burned almost every copy for being dangerous, but here it is…!”

He moved to another shelf.

“Ashley, look! A collection of the tower masters' writings on the Oblivion Monster! It even has an illustration from the first edition. Rather frightening, I admit, but fascinating!”

Then another volume caught his eye.

“Hmm. This is a remarkable study of magic. It examines the way people once mistook magic for divine miracles, and tries to explain magical progress through religion…”

Two hours passed that way.

By the time his legs began to ache, Theorad reached into the corner of a shelf and withdrew a loosely bound book.

“What's this…?”

The cover bore a curious title: A Cute Time.

He couldn't guess what it contained, so he opened it. Inside was a crude picture, apparently drawn by a child.

“Hm? What's this supposed to be?”

Ashley leaned over to look.

The lines were unsteady and the features indistinct. It seemed to depict a person, but hardly anything else could be said with certainty.

“Perhaps a collection of children's scribbles,” Theorad mused.

Something about the clumsy drawing made him smile. He turned another page, then another. As he went, the skill of the artist improved little by little.

“Oh? They all seem to be pictures of the same person.”

“Do they…?”

Ashley leaned closer, studying the drawings. A chill ran through her, followed by a flush of dreadful recognition.

Wait… Did I draw these?

When she was very young, she had spent much of her time drawing. At first she'd sketched ordinary objects—fruit, tables, whatever was close at hand.

After accompanying her father on a visit to Deharem Manor and meeting Theorad, she began drawing portraits instead.

She could visit Theorad only when her father permitted it. Whenever she missed him, she would draw his face on another sheet of paper.

I told them to throw these away…

She had stopped drawing such pictures as she grew older. Embarrassed by her childish attempts, she'd handed the old drawings to her maid and ordered them discarded.

Evidently, they hadn't been thrown away at all. Perhaps the head maid had passed them to Ashley's father, who had bound them together and stored them in his study.

Whatever had happened, Ashley was mortified.

While she fretted, Theorad turned to the final drawing.

The artist's skill had improved enough that this portrait was recognizable at a glance.

“Wait. Isn't that me?”

The child in the drawing resembled him exactly as he'd looked years ago. Even his brooch was there, bearing the cardinal emblem of House Deharem.

“Who painted this?”

Ashley answered in haste.

“P-perhaps one of the castle's knights?”

“Impossible. It's a picture of me as a child. How would one of the castle knights know what I looked like then?”

“Th-then perhaps a servant…”

“I doubt it. The lines and shading are much too clumsy for a grown artist. Whoever did this must have known me since we were children.”

Theorad closed the book and considered it with exaggerated solemnity.

“I don't know who the artist was, but I imagine she grew into a beautiful young lady. Well-mannered, clever, considerate… Surely someone would be fortunate to marry her.”

Only then did Ashley realize that Theorad had known who the artist was all along.

The heat in her face doubled.

“Alas!” he continued in a grand, lamenting voice. “Had I known such a girl in childhood, I would have asked her to marry me. Ah, what a tragedy that we never became acquainted!”

He spoke so naturally that it was almost infuriating. Ashley stared at the floor and clutched the hem of her dress, unable to bear the teasing.

Theorad looked toward her with a mischievous gleam.

“Don't you agree?”

Even the tips of her ears were red. Tears of embarrassment gathered in her eyes.

“Sir Theorad… I was wrong…”

She drew in a breath and squeezed her eyes shut. Her lips moved with difficulty as she managed one last plea.

“Please stop now…”

Whatever one's rank, the shame of a childhood embarrassment was difficult to bear.