52. Organizing the past and present (2)

Louis Apparte has arrived at the royal capital. Louis Apparte, accompanied by only one servant, first visited the house where his son, Maxime Apparte, was staying.

“Maxim.”

“father.”

Maxim saw his father standing in the doorway. He was shorter than Maxim in height and size. Since Maxim resembles his mother more, his father’s appearance does not resemble Maxim’s as much as it does. Her light brown hair color was the same as Maxim’s, but her eyes were different from Maxim’s, with brown eyes close to black.

“Did you receive the letter well?”

“…Yeah. I read them all.”

Louis Apparte, as soon as he met Maxime, brought up the story of the letter out of the blue. It was like asking if the letter he had sent on a blank page was received well. Maxim nodded, affirming. Louis Apparte raised his eyebrows slightly and gave me a look of satisfaction.

“Okay then, let’s have a little chat with rich people after a long time.”

Louis Appart sat down in front of the table in the living room.

“Master, what do you need…”

At the servant’s question, Louis Apparte clapped his hands as if he had just remembered.

“I’m going to move to Baron Borden’s mansion soon, so grab a carriage and wait for me. I’m going to go out with my son after a bit of a party.”

“All right.”

The servant bowed his head and stepped out of the house.

“Fortunately, that friend is from our territory. The birthplace was confirmed, and the family was also confirmed.”

said Louis Appart, turning his head toward the closed door.

“But just in case, you need to be careful.”

Maxim looked at his father who shrugged. My father’s light eyes narrowed sharply.

“…yes, it’s not always nice to be associated with high-ranking nobles.”

Father sighed.

“I asked you in the letter…do you have any guesses?”

Maxim looked at his father’s face. I didn’t want to bring more family.

Maxim thought so.

I didn’t want to see that everyone was unhappy after sharing the truth without being shy. The affairs of himself and Theodora had to end on the line between himself and Theodora. Even if what awaits at the end is the end of oneself.

“Nope.”

Maxim shook his head. My father, Louis Apparte, nodded, saying he knew. I guess I didn’t want to ask for more details.

and one remaining. The one person who makes Maxim worry from the deepest depths.

“And… I have a request.”

Louis Appart raised an eyebrow. Maxim was not the kind of kid who would normally ask for something like that. That’s why Maxim, Louis Apparte, who was asking for something from himself with such a sincere attitude, couldn’t help but be concerned.

“What request?”

“After this engagement ceremony, can we take Marion to the manor?”

When Louis Appart heard what Maxim said, he burst out laughing.

“What, do you like it that much?”

“And, I want you to take good care of Marion while I am away.”

Maxim didn’t laugh, but continued his request in earnest. Louis Appart smiled at Maxime’s attitude and nodded.

“Let’s have a good talk with Baron Borden. do not worry.”

“…thank you, father.”

Maxim expressed his gratitude in a low voice. Louis Appart didn’t answer, just smiled.

—

There was a subtle tension in the air in the drawing room. It felt quite different from the tension that usually occurs when the parents of a man and a woman who get married meet. Emile Borden welcomed Louis Apart, the head of the Aparta family and Maxime’s father.

“Sit comfortably.”

“Thank you for your hospitality.”

The difference between court nobility and provincial minor nobility. Emile Bordain treated Louis Apparte as if it were natural, and Louis Appart also took it for granted that he was treated badly. Louis Appart sat in an unpleasantly soft chair and looked at Emile Bordain.

“Isn’t this the third time we’ve seen each other face to face like this?”

Emile Bordain rubbed his chin and said. Louis Appart nodded quietly.

“okay. Still, we promised each other a future, but we don’t meet very often.”

“There was no reason to meet, no time to spare, your son must be very busy.”

There seemed to be no malice in Emile Bordain’s words. Louis Apparte let out a big laugh.

“It must be because my son is shy. He has such a shy personality.”

Emile Bordain snorted at Louis Apparte’s joke.

“Right. Your son didn’t talk much.”

Emile Bordain put on a dumbfounded expression at the words that were similar to his son, but with a different personality. The two sat in silence for a while.

“…there is one problem I would like to suggest.”

“Something?”

It was Louis Appart who broke the silence.

“After announcing the engagement, would it be all right if I took Marion to our side of the estate?”

Emile Bordain smiled meaningfully when he heard Louis Apparte’s proposal. Cold blue eyes stared eerily at Louis Appart.

“I’ll have to wait a little bit for that. Thank you for the suggestion, but I think our family needs time to think about it. More than anything…”

Emile Bordain’s eyes seemed to be holding back a smile.

“The prospective couple, isn’t their opinion more important? I’ll ask Marion herself later and let you know.”

Louis Appart looked at Emile Bordain. He did not know what those deep, lightless eyes were thinking.

“Yeah, I’ll try to get up at this point. I will have to greet the guests who are coming soon.”

Emile Bordin stood up from his seat and said.

“By now, Marion and Maxime must all have finished their preparations.”

—

When she took off her mask, there were always eyes following Marion.

He didn’t take off his mask very often, and he didn’t see many people taking it off, but they always had a look of pity on them. The first begins with physiological aversion. I was used to it. could understand He rarely looked in the mirror with his mask off.

The figure of a person with nearly half of his face distorted. After trying to swallow the instinctive disgust, what comes back is sympathy. Sympathy was fine too. I could understand. Because everything is natural.

do not care. don’t get hurt

The wounds on the body were enough.

“miss?”

Even so, Marion was reluctant to take off the mask. It just took them getting used to their faces and making the same expressions.

Sitting in front of the vanity mirror, Marion put her hand on the mask. It was hard. A white, plain mask covering the bridge of the nose from the right cheek.

“yes. I will take it off.”

Marion took off her mask. His black hair fluttered and fluttered, revealing a distorted face beneath it. His ugly right face is reflected in the mirror. And I could see the gaze of the maid standing behind it.

“Then, let’s begin.”

The maid came and stood behind Marion. The maid cautiously placed her finger on Marion’s chin. Marion lifted her chin following the maid’s touch.

The maid began dressing Marion. Little by little, not too much. The hand of the maid began to decorate Marion naturally. With a businesslike touch, without a single small talk. The maid dressed Marion.

Since it’s an engagement ceremony, you need to dress up nicely.

Shouldn’t you be more beautiful in front of your fiancé?

There were no such common stories. She just decorated Marion with the attitude of doing what she had to do, as if she were doing repetitive labor. Marion closed her eyes without looking in the mirror. All I could feel was the maid’s touch and the rustle of her clothes.

“It is over, lady.”

Marion opened her closed eyes. I saw only half of her beautiful face. The ugly figure of the remaining half contrasted with the left face.

“The engagement is going to happen soon, so stay tuned. I will come back to see you soon.”

Marion nodded helplessly. The maid looked blankly at Marion and then left the room.

You should be happy, you will.

Marion thought to herself as she looked in the mirror. The feelings of liking someone and wanting to be with someone were all because Maxim was the first. It was so unfamiliar to him that he denied it for a long time. How long did it take for you to accept that feeling? The feelings that were regarded as simple kinship had grown too big to be called kinship.

How nice it would be if I could just be happy.

How nice it would be if she could just put aside all thoughts about why Maxim became her fiancé and what happened to him and go to the man she said was like her.

Marion fiddled with the mask.

I don’t know anything about him, and I can’t understand him.

smart.

A knock was heard at the door. Marion cleared her face and raised her head.

Just as I was about to tell him to come in, I heard a familiar voice through the door.

“May I come in?”

I flinched at the sound of Marion’s voice. His voice was low and cautious. Marion hurriedly picked up the mask.

“Hey…Wait a minute…!”

Marion’s voice trembled. The mask rattles and slips from your hand. Marion grumbled at her hand and quickly picked up the mask. The left face in the mirror was slightly red. Marion quickly donned the mask. Unfortunately, the mask only covered the right side of his face.

Marion lowered her head and averted her eyes from her reflection in the mirror. It seemed that the heat on his face would not cool down until he let Maxim in. His face grew even hotter as he seemed to have unknowingly made too much noise out of embarrassment.

“Now… it’s okay to come in.”

With Marion’s permission, the door opened. Marion raised her head cautiously and looked at the doorway. I decided to forget for a while that my face was stained red.

Maxim was wearing the same clothes as when he first met him. Red with a white shirt, a vest resembling the color of red wine. There was no frock coat because it was summer, but everything else was the same. However, the atmosphere was distinctly different. There was a faint warmth in his sunken eyes, not a cold one, and the corners of his mouth were not stiff, but relaxed.

“Are you ready?”

Marion nodded faintly. Actually, I wanted to say that I wasn’t ready, and that I still had a long way to go to prepare my mind.

“Can I come here now…?”

Maxim looked at Marion, who greeted him very stiffly, and asked in a confident voice.

“…Should I leave if it makes me uncomfortable?”

“no.”

Marion hurriedly stopped Maxim. Maxim stopped walking and came to sit next to Marion.

“Even if…it’s okay.”

Marion said in a shy voice. Maxim smiled faintly.

“yes. Will there be a moment?”

Marion looked at the face of Maxim, who was sitting next to him. He had a soft smile, and there was no strain on his face. However, Marion could feel a sense of deja vu in Maxim’s appearance. The suffering that had been revealed implicitly when he was dealing with himself was now invisible.

“Maxim…”

Marion unknowingly called Maxim. I thought that the change did not seem to be a positive change. I thought that the expression was like a person who let go of something, not just a warm gaze for himself.

“yes?”

Maxim sees Marion. Those eyes that don’t care, Marion was worried about those eyes.

“Are you okay?”

“Are you okay?”

Maxim seemed to be genuinely asking that question. But the tremors, those brief tremors, could be seen by Marion. He knew at least that there were many things that Maxim could not tell him. That’s why Marion was even more concerned about Maxim’s attitude.

Marion said something she wouldn’t have asked before, but she couldn’t pass by Maxim’s face.

“If it’s something you can’t tell me, it’s okay if you don’t tell me…”

Marion eventually backed off. A shadow fell over Maxim’s face for a moment.

“Marion.”

“…Yeah.”

Maxim looked at Marion as if he were about to say something. However, the words did not come out as a sound. How can I reassure this person who is similar to me but has a different deep wound?

Maxim covered Marion’s left hand. While Marion was anxious, she grabbed Maxim’s raised hand as if trying to cling to the warmth that Maxim gave her.

“After the engagement ceremony, would you like to come to our estate for a while?”

Marion’s eyes widened. Then, as if to calm down again, he lowered his blue eyes. It must have been something like a small protest against Maxim’s blatant avoidance of an answer to the question he raised.

“…want to go. but…”

Marion’s eyes toward Maxim were not those that demanded an explanation, but those that were full of concern. His eyes worried that he might have gone wrong or that he was going far away.

“…”

Marion bowed her head. Maxim was enduring the feeling of guilt stabbing a corner of his heart. Marion repeatedly blamed herself for not being able to catch him or cling to him.

What if I could put her first in the end?

Everything else in the past, is it true, is it tangled in resentment, forget everything, just.

How nice it would have been if I had been able to prioritize the person named Marion.

“…I’ll go.”

I heard Marion’s words. Because those words contained her determination, Maxim could vividly feel the guilt piercing his heart.

“One day, when work is over and I return completely…”

Maxim’s words reach Marion. Was it an empty promise, Maxim did not know.

“at that time.”

Maxim squeezed Marion’s hand tightly and said. Marion listened to Maxim’s words with eyes that only looked at Maxim.

“…Yeah. at that time.”

They promise a future, a future that is not even certain for them.

A knock was heard at the door. A servant was calling Marion outside.

The engagement ceremony will begin soon. Maxim got up from his seat and held out his hand to Marion. Marion saw Maxim’s outstretched hand and put her hand on top of it.