The Young Lady I Want to Love (4)

Ashley stood with her face lowered, blushing so fiercely that Theorad could almost imagine steam rising from her head.

He wanted to tease her a little longer. But she was plainly more distressed than he had intended, so he restrained himself.

“All right. If you want me to stop, I will. But…”

He picked up the book of childhood drawings and patted her gently on the head.

“Lying is wrong. Especially when there's no need to hide the truth. You have nothing to be ashamed of. The things you did when you were little were rather adorable.”

“But it's still embarrassing…”

“Only because you insist on thinking of it that way. I did something much the same when I was young. I've never been ashamed of it.”

Ashley raised her head a little. Curiosity displaced some of the mortification in her clear blue eyes.

“…What did you do?”

“Whenever I thought of you, I wrote a poem. Eventually there were so many that I bound them into a collection. It's still kept in the library at Deharem Manor.”

“Then… you had an adorable side when you were little, too, Sir Theorad.”

“Only you.”

He smiled. The heat in Ashley's cheeks, which had begun to fade, returned at once. She puffed them out in protest.

“Sir Theorad, if you keep teasing me, I really will get angry.”

“I understand. I'll stop.”

Still smiling faintly, Theorad returned A Cute Time to its place on the shelf.

As he did, the title of a nearby volume caught his eye.

The Obscene Hobgoblin Maid.

He blinked. Then he looked again.

The same words were still there.

Your Excellency the Count…?

Why would Count Leonberg, a man so upright and honorable that other nobles held him up as an example, keep a book with such a scandalous title in his private library?

The question defied reason.

Drawn by an almost morbid curiosity, Theorad took the book down. Beside him, Ashley averted her face and gave a small shake of her head, but he was too absorbed to notice.

He flipped through several pages.

It was the very same book he'd seen in his father's study at Deharem Manor.

Did Father give His Excellency a copy?

Surely the Count couldn't have purchased such a thing for himself. Theorad could scarcely imagine any other explanation.

But did noblemen really exchange pornography as gifts?

He'd never heard of such a custom. Perhaps witches, with all their knowledge of indecent matters, would understand it. Among respectable aristocrats, however, it seemed unthinkable.

He couldn't resolve the mystery. Deciding that the Count must have had his reasons, Theorad set the book back on the shelf.

Then he looked at Ashley.

She was sweating, unable to meet his eyes. Her lips were pressed into an anxious line.

What's wrong with her?

He studied her for a moment. The longer he looked, the redder she became.

And then he understood.

He had taken down a book called The Obscene Hobgoblin Maid and opened it right in front of her. From her point of view, he must have been examining pornography with great interest.

She's misunderstood!

True, he had read the copy in Deharem Manor during a bout of adolescent curiosity. That didn't mean he had a taste for pornography, he told himself. Not at all.

But how could he prove that?

He drew a breath, determined to correct the impression before it took root.

“Ashley, in case you're imagining something strange…”

“I-it's all right!”

She swallowed and finally summoned the courage to look at him.

“You've come of age, Sir Theorad. You're a healthy young man, so there's nothing wrong with being interested in… in books like that.”

“No, what I meant was—”

“In fact, isn't it reassuring? A hobby like reading and appreciating those sorts of books proves that your interests are perfectly healthy!”

“Ashley.”

“And if you keep it private, I don't think it's anything to be ashamed of. Of course, you don't have to keep everything private. If it were only something small, I might be able to satisfy a little of your desire myself…”

Ashley's eyes widened at her own words.

“N-no! Forget I said that!”

She was hopelessly flustered. The more she tried to explain, the farther her words wandered from anything Theorad could answer.

Somewhere in her imagination, an entirely new man had apparently appeared: Theorad, enthusiast of obscene books.

It was a crushing misunderstanding.

Such things were easy to create and painfully difficult to undo, especially when there was no clear proof to offer.

Theorad chose the only method he could think of. He took Ashley gently by the shoulders and looked straight into her eyes.

“Ashley. Do you trust me?”

His low, steady voice calmed her enough to nod.

“I have happened upon pornography before, but I have no particular interest in it. I only opened that book because I'd seen another copy in my father's study and was curious why it was here. Will you believe me?”

“…Really?”

She looked up at him with such innocent uncertainty that his heart ached.

“Really. You needn't be wary of me. I don't hide things from you, so I'm not very different from the man you already know. I swear it on the honor of House Deharem.”

“…The same goes for me.”

Ashley's eyes softened. Perhaps she felt a little foolish for having been so easily reassured, but she wanted to believe he meant what he said, and that was enough for now.

“I'm glad we understand each other,” Theorad said.

Then his gaze wandered to the study window.

Outside, the sky was already dark and full of stars. They had been talking and browsing so happily that he hadn't noticed the passing hours.

Time really does fly when you're enjoying yourself.

He regretted it, but there was no stopping the night.

“I should be going. By now Her Highness and His Excellency must have finished their discussion and returned to their rooms.”

They couldn't remain hidden in the study forever. Ashley nodded reluctantly.

“Yes. It's better to confess afterward than to be caught here.”

“At least a confession may earn us a lighter punishment.”

“You really are a wicked thief, Sir Theorad.”

“I'll take that as a compliment.”

They exchanged smiles, but neither could entirely conceal the sadness beneath them.

Neither knew when another opportunity to meet alone would come.

Theorad refused to let their farewell end in gloom. He cleared his throat and spoke brightly.

“Oh, you still have one wish left, don't you? If you've thought of it, tell me now. Whatever it is, I'll make certain it comes true.”

“…My last wish?”

Ashley hesitated.

The wish she truly wanted to make lay somewhere in the distant future.

Of course I want to marry you, Sir Theorad…

She wanted their engagement to become a marriage. She wanted to wake beside him each morning and prepare food he would enjoy.

In spring, she wanted them to walk beneath cherry blossoms. In summer they could play in a cool stream; in autumn, read together by the fire; in winter, build snowmen that looked like the two of them.

She wanted them to care for each other and grow old together.

But all of it seemed painfully uncertain now. She knew that asking him to marry her would only add to the burdens he was struggling to carry.

She kept that desire to herself.

“My last wish is…”

Ashley summoned a bright smile, even as her voice threatened to fail her.

“That you will be happy, Sir Theorad.”

---

Meanwhile, in the kitchen of the castle's first building…

“So that's her? I heard she was beautiful, but the rumors didn't do her justice.”

“I've never seen an elf before. I thought they only existed in stories.”

“And I hear she knows an astonishing amount about cooking.”

The kitchen buzzed with conversation.

The elf sat in a place of honor surrounded by cooks, waiting for a dish to be brought to her.

How had things come to this?

After the head maid had brought her to the kitchen to help with chores, the head chef had asked whether she could cook. He'd given her some simple ingredients to cut up.

The kitchen was short-handed because so many workers were away on leave, and even one extra pair of hands was welcome. But the elf had finished the cutting in an instant, her knife moving with extraordinary precision.

Impressed, the head chef had asked what she'd cooked before. She had answered with a list of dishes and a wealth of knowledge about their preparation.

The chef had been so astonished that he'd begun telling everyone an exceptional cook from the Great Forest was among them.

Before long, the cooks who had finished their work gathered in the first building's kitchen. One sous-chef had even issued a bold challenge: he would make a dish capable of winning the admiration of a chef from the Great Forest.

“It's ready!”

He placed his offering before the elf: a pan-seared salmon steak, garnished with corn salad. At first glance the arrangement appeared a little untidy, but the colors and proportions came together pleasantly.

“Hmm.”

The elf examined the plate, found no obvious fault, and gave the smallest nod.

She broke off a piece of fish and put it in her mouth. After chewing and swallowing, she laid down her utensil and looked up at the sous-chef with perfect composure.

“Sous-chef, you're fortunate to have a position in this castle.”

“Ha! I'm glad you enjoyed—”

“If you tried selling food like this on the street, you'd starve to death.”

The sous-chef froze. The blow to his pride was almost palpable.

Paying no attention, the elf picked up a napkin and wiped the corner of her mouth.

“You should be grateful every day for Count Leonberg's generosity.”

By invoking the Count himself, she'd made an immediate retort rather difficult. The sous-chef clutched the back of his neck, overwhelmed by her merciless assessment.

Around him, the watching cooks began raising their hands.

“I'll challenge her next!”

“No, me! I'll knock that elf down a peg!”

And so, quite without planning, a cooking contest erupted in the kitchen of Pelgaroin Castle's first building.