Chapter 73: Lilac is your color

“..welcome, Leopold-sama.”

“You must have been surprised at my sudden notice. I’m sorry, Lady Melanie.”

“No, not at all. I was a little surprised to find out that our next meeting was two weeks away.”

Melanie greeted Leopold at the entrance and smiled absentmindedly.

It is clear that she’s wary of what Leopoldo says and does.

The old Leopold would not have even noticed such an atmosphere.?Should I thank Rembrandt for training me, or would I have been happier if I didn’t notice it?

..after all, if I suddenly said I wanted to visit, people would probably be wary of me.

Leopold had such thoughts, but still smiled.

He had a lover whom he described as having a pure love with until a few months ago, and his whereabouts have been unknown for almost three months.

Regarding the second matter, he pretended that he was staying at the mansion to help his father handle the business, but no one would believe such a transparent excuse.

If he were to lose his diploma from the Royal Academy, his qualifications as an aristocrat would be questioned. There is no way that any aristocratic sons would take such a risk and stay at home to help their father.

If so, that would mean that Leopoldo was doing something during that time that he couldn’t tell people about.

And since this is true, there is no doubt that he is a shady potential fiancée for the House of Bertland.

Probably, the Marquise of Reinalpha would not have been a worthy partner until half a year ago, when the economy was in a slump.

He teamed up with Rembrandt to expose Alejandro’s misdeeds, and the Marqués of Strydom acquired the Reyes Chamber of Commerce, and the Marqués of Reinalpha acquired almost all of McKay’s personal assets.

The money obtained from the sale of three villas and their land, excluding the main house where McKay lived, as well as several other land and buildings, was quite significant.

That was at least enough to compensate for the losses incurred by the Reinalpha family due to Alejandro’s scheming.

But even so, it doesn’t mean that the human casualties of the dead sailors did not happen. They will never come back.

Still, they were able to ensure the livelihood of their remaining family members, hire new staff, and start another business.

The Reinalpha family became strong enough to afford these things.

And it was the Dukes of Bertrand who joined forces as partners in this new venture.

The Dukes of Bertrand had no reason to refuse an offer from the Reinalpha family, whose financial and human assets are now abundant, even if they have shown no trace of it six months ago.

Even if Leopold, the marriage partner, had a lover who was rumored to be passionately in love with him until recently.

Because Leopoldo claimed that he had properly broken up with the woman.

..but that did not stop the family from worrying about the second daughter of the Duke of Bertrand, who had been chosen as a potential match for him.

That’s why Leopold came here today, in order to remove as much of that worry as possible.

“..since you’re here, please come to the salon.”

“No, I can’t bother you with my sudden visit. I’m just here to do my business, so I’ll leave immediately.”

The atmosphere is tense.

Leopold realized he had misspoken. He rushed to open his mouth.

“Oh, no, I just, uh.. I just came by because I have something to give Lady Melanie. So..”

“..something you want to give me?”

The tension in her shoulders was gone, but Melanie’s eyes still showed a hint of uneasiness.

Leopold hurried back to the carriage he came into, then opened the door, and took a bouquet of flowers from inside.

Melanie’s eyes widened. Several of the servants behind her gasped in surprise.

“Here.”

Melanie stared dumbfounded at the lilac flower offered in front of her.

It was a bouquet of autumn chrysanthemums, which Melanie claimed to like at their first meeting two weeks ago.

“For me..”

“Yes. You said you liked this flower. But I chose the color according to my preference.”

Melanie reached out and gently accepted the bouquet.

Her eyes were round with surprise, but her mouth was slightly parted.

“Yeah, I knew it.”

“Eh?”

Leopold nodded happily when he saw Melanie holding a bouquet of flowers to her chest. And now Melanie, seeing this, tilted her head curiously.

“I thought it was your color. Just as I thought.”

“My, color?”

“The one I saw with you the other day was a white autumn chrysanthemum. And then I thought it would be a nice gift for you. But if I were to give it to you, it would be this color.”

“Eh..”

“When I saw it, it reminded me of you. It was the color of your eyes.”

“..”

Melanie turned her head down.

She’s holding the bouquet of flowers as if she’s burying her face in them.

This gesture warmed Leopold’s heart.

At least, this bouquet made her happy. That much he knew.

“Today, I happened to see these flowers on my way out the door, and I just had to give them to someone. I couldn’t resist the urge to give them to you. So even though our appointment was still two weeks away, I suddenly wanted to see you.”

“..so that’s how it was.”

Melanie still had her face buried in the bouquet.

Leopold’s eyes narrowed as he wondered how much she liked them.

“I’ll leave you to it. I look forward to our tea party in two weeks.”

“Are you leaving already?”

“Ahh. I don’t want to trouble you any more than I already have.

“..no trouble.”

Not at all, Melanie said, but her words were too small to reach Leopold’s ears.

“I am satisfied today because I was able to give you a bouquet of flowers. Next time, by all means, let’s find an opportunity and visit the botanical garden together. Please tell me the name of the flowers again. See you in two weeks.”

“..yes. Please take care on your way home.”

“Thank you.”

After greeting Melanie, who finally looks up, Leopold turns to the carriage.

His heart was pounding wildly with nervousness. But his face was still trying desperately to look calm.

He went into the carriage, closed the door, and exhaled as hard as he could.

“..haa.”

She smiled at me.

Lady Melanie smiled at me.

His back was drenched with cold sweat.

The stinging stares from the servants made his hands sweat profusely.

..but.

“She smiled at me at the end..”

Not a fake smile, not a facade that had to be put on.

It was a shy, but sincere smile that overflowed unintentionally.