49 – Who Made You Cry?

Silvio ousted the former heads of the Leveaux family from their positions and replaced them with the relatives of the Fontana family, who had endured a harsh five years. Under the new king, he vigorously worked to restore his family’s status. Amidst this, numerous marriage proposals from the Fontana family were aimed at distracting Silvio from Idyllia. Their recent distance had sparked rumours that they had separated.

(They don’t even know the circumstances…!)

Frustrated, he saw off a relative when Robert arrived to report on the day’s duties. Robert now managed the troops in Silvio’s stead. After his report, Robert added,

“By the way…”

He casually continued,

“I saw Lady Idyllia earlier. She seemed to be crying…”

“────”

Silvio nearly lost his composure but steadied himself, leisurely flipping through documents to appear unfazed.

“…It’s probably just another one of your tricks?”

“I’m not lying. She seemed hurt by someone’s harsh words…”

(That bastard…!)

Silvio imagined throttling his subordinate. Whether it was true or not was unclear. If true, he couldn’t remain still. He would rush to comfort her and make the offending man regret it. But losing his cool now would play into their hands. It could be a trick, a bet among his subordinates to see if he would leave his office. Reading his thoughts, Robert smirked.

“If you don’t believe me, check the bench near the nymph statue in the garden. That’s where I saw her.”

Given specific information, Silvio reflexively rose from his seat. His eyes met Robert’s, who smiled thinly.

“I knew you’d believe me.”

“…That can’t be true. I’m not falling for it.” 

After considering it, Silvio sat back down. He recalled how, in the past, he had used such bets involving superiors. Although immoral, it was one of the few entertainments available on the battlefield, something even officers would turn a blind eye to. The key was not to fall for the bet.

(I’m not playing this game.)

Even if there were rumours that he and Idyllia had broken up, who would dare insult her? It had to be a trick. There was no way she was hiding and crying alone. Lost in these thoughts, Silvio noticed Robert sighing as if confessing something.

“Alright. I’ll confess. ‘Someone’ was a bit vague. It was someone from the Fontana family.”

“What?”

“I don’t know the details, but according to a witness, after members of the Fontana family entered the room, she entered shortly after and came out of the adjoining room looking upset. That’s why I assumed she was insulted.”

“…”

Silvio angrily kicked his chair back and threw open the door, storming out into the hallway.

“…And another confession: she just looked downcast enough to appear to be crying…but that’s fine.” 

Robert muttered to himself, smirking as he watched his superior hastily run from the first floor of the palace towards the garden.

♔♔♔

Idyllia sat on the bench with her head bowed. From the moment she left Silvio’s room, she had been deeply crestfallen, unable to lift her face. She had chosen a bench near the fountain with the nymph statue, secluded by trees in a corner of the palace garden. Here, she could avoid prying eyes and quietly wallow in her emotions. The guilt she felt for being pleased at Silvio’s words, “I have no intention of marrying anyone,” was overwhelming. She felt unworthy of such thoughts.

(Even I can’t marry anyone…)

Not with other men, nor with Silvio. In truth, she should be happy for him and wish for his happiness if he were to marry.

(It’s awful…to feel relieved…)

With a sigh, she covered her face with her hands. Just then, rhythmic footsteps approached. She recognised that brisk pace…

“Idyllia!”

Sure enough, it was Silvio. Seeing her, he knelt in front of her, took her hands, and peered into her face.

“What happened!? Who made you cry? Tell me!”

“…Huh?” 

Made her cry? What was he talking about? She wasn’t crying, just feeling down. Her puzzled expression prompted him to sigh bitterly, muttering to himself.

“I figured it was something like this. I knew it…”

“Is something wrong?”

“No, just some jokester subordinates playing around again.”

Seeing his grumpy face, she let out a small laugh.

“Maybe they just wanted their important superior to take a little rest? You’ve been working non-stop lately…”

“Those guys aren’t that considerate,” Silvio grumbled, sitting down on the empty part of the bench. Suddenly, he looked around, lost in thought.

“We used to meet in places like this often. Parks, church benches…wherever we could find privacy, we’d whisper our brief moments of love.”

“Yes. It was always so painful to have to part so quickly…”

“Me too.”

Back then, she had always envisioned a future where she would marry Silvio. She hadn’t considered any other possibility.

(But now—)

Now, even sitting next to each other with no one to interrupt, they couldn’t even meet each other’s eyes. It was ironic that when the obstacles were gone, they were no longer lovers.