Chapter 48: Two Scents

She was kidnapped while sleeping on the night she turned eight.
When she woke up, she was lying in a place that was not her own room, and Vered, who seemed to have been captured together with her, explained that she had been abducted and had slept for two whole days.
While she was filled with anxiety over what would happen next, help arrived.

“Today was… intense.”

On the bed in the guest room where the lights had been turned off—
She remembered having a late dinner with Bernhard, being given juice after the meal, and talking together.
When she woke up, she found herself lying in a high-quality bed.

Perhaps because of the rebound from sleeping for two days straight, Faustina could not fall asleep no matter how long she kept her eyes closed, and she replayed the day’s events in her mind.
When a noble child was kidnapped, the future was usually nothing but grim possibilities.
Among those, Faustina, who had been rescued with astonishing speed, was lucky to a near-miraculous degree.
Even without being told, she herself thought so.
Faustina sat up and got off the bed.
Struggling in the darkness, she put on her shoes, then stretched both hands out in front of her and walked while feeling her way forward.
Her hands touched a wall.
She slowly moved her hands upward along it, and then they touched something hard.
When she grasped and turned it, the door opened.

“……”
“……”

When she opened the door leading outside, Ciel, holding a candle lantern, stared down at Faustina with wide eyes.
Bathed in the flickering red light, Ciel’s silver hair was damp.
Looking closer, his skin was slightly flushed as well.
He was not wearing the white-and-blue outfit she had seen before sleeping, but black slacks and a white shirt.
She fleetingly wondered if he had undone too many buttons, but set that thought aside.

‘Did he just get out of the bath?’

When she breathed in, a sweet floral scent filled her lungs.
There was no doubt he had taken a bath.
Seeing Faustina look up at him blankly, Ciel bent one knee so their eyes met.
She absently thought his skin looked very white through the opening of his loosened shirt, but she set that aside too.

“What’s wrong?
Can’t sleep?”

She nodded.

“Vered said you slept for two days straight, so you’ve probably had enough sleep and don’t need any more right now.”
“What should I do to fall asleep?”
“If you’re not tired, it’s surprisingly hard for people to sleep.”

Outside, it was still pitch-dark.
Unlike daytime, there was no way to run around outside and use up her energy.
Perhaps because she was standing so close to Ciel, the sweet scent grew even stronger.
It smelled very nice.
When Faustina said so, Ciel asked, “Want some?”

“Huh?”
“It’s not particularly expensive, so I can give it to you.”
“B-But, I’m still too young for perfume—”
“Oh, this is bath additive.
You can use it whenever you like.”
“Bath additive…”

So he really had been in the bath.
A drop of water fell from the tip of his silver hair.
Maybe he had not dried it properly with a towel.

“Won’t you catch a cold?”
“Hm?
Oh, because my hair’s wet?
I’m not delicate enough to catch a cold from something like this.
Oh, Faustina.
If you can’t sleep, want to come with me?
The sun will rise in another hour or two anyway.”

He invited her to spend time together until morning came.
If she could not sleep even when lying down with her eyes closed, then she might as well stay awake.
Faustina took the hand he offered.
Ciel stood, took Faustina’s hand, and began walking through the mansion, guided by the candle lantern’s light.

“Um, Sir Priest, have you been awake this whole time?”
“I woke up about two hours ago.
I couldn’t sleep even when I closed my eyes, so I woke Vered and had him keep me company.”
“……You woke him up?”
“I did.”

She felt sorry for Vered, who must have been dragged out of sleep.
They walked by lantern light, went down the stairs along the way, and entered a large hall.
They turned right and stopped in front of a certain room.
Ciel let go of Faustina’s hand and opened the door.

“Ah.”

The room was lit, and Vered was asleep with his head resting on the armrest of a two-seat sofa placed in the center.
There was probably no one else in the kingdom with hair and eyes like Vered’s.
As she stared at his mesmerizing rose-colored hair, his white eyelids trembled.
When they opened heavily, eyes the same color as his hair appeared.
He and Faustina stared at each other sleepily, then his gaze shifted behind her, and he sat up with an annoyed look.
After a small yawn, he turned toward Ciel.

“What kind of face do you make at someone who just woke up?”
“Hm?
What do you mean?”
“Hah… fine, play dumb if you want.
So who’s this?”

Caught off guard by the sudden question, Faustina panicked, unprepared.
As she desperately searched for words, Ciel scolded Vered, “Don’t put her on the spot.”
“Yeah, yeah,” he replied indifferently, then reached toward the wooden table that smelled faintly of nature.
He pulled a glass jar closer, opened the lid, and took out a cookie.

A clean, soapy scent drifted from Vered as he ate the cookie with a sleepy face.
Since Ciel had said he had been playing with Vered, Faustina concluded that he must have taken a bath as well.

Vered held out a cookie toward her.

“Want one?”
“Yeah.”

She took the cookie and bit into it.
It was less sweet and harder than ordinary cookies.
Because it was hard, the crisp texture was enjoyable.
Reading her softened expression as approval, Vered held out another cookie to her and said, “Here.”
Ciel, who had been preparing tea in the corner of the room, came over carrying a teapot and three teacups on a tray.

“Do you like it?”
“Yes!
It’s really delicious.”
“I’m glad.”

He set the tray on the wooden table, gently guided Faustina by the back, and seated her beside Vered.
Ciel sat across from them.
She looked up at him curiously as he poured the tea with practiced ease.

“Sir Priest, do you make tea yourself?”
“I like to do most things myself.
Here you go, Faustina.”
“Thank you.”

She accepted the teacup together with its saucer.
As a duchess’s daughter raised without want, she had never had the chance to brew tea herself.
A thought suddenly occurred to her.

‘If I break off my engagement with Bernhard and leave home, I’ll have to live on my own, right?
Then I should at least learn how to make tea.’

She drank the tea in high spirits, resolving to ask Rinsu to teach her how to brew it once she returned to the mansion.
The moment it touched her lips, a fruity sweetness spread through her mouth.
As she savored it deeply, she sensed not only the fruit’s sweetness but also a faint floral note.

“It’s delicious!
It’s like a flower garden blooming in my mouth!”

Just as she was about to ask what brand it was and decide to have Citrin order some for her—
She felt a change in the room’s atmosphere and looked forward suspiciously—then froze.

“……”

Ciel was holding his teacup midair, staring blankly at Faustina.
His blue eyes were fixed on a single point—Faustina alone.
Seeing her confusion,

“……Ciel.”

It was Vered’s quiet voice that brought Ciel back to himself.
With a start, Ciel returned from wherever his thoughts had gone and gave Faustina an apologetic smile.

“Ah… it’s nothing.
Don’t worry about it.”
“O-Okay.”
“Did you like it that much?
This tea.”
“Y-Yes, it’s a flavor I’ve never had at the mansion.”
“I see…
Then I’ll have some of this tea sent with you when you go back.”
“Really?”
“Of course.”

Though she was curious about his earlier reaction, she was delighted at the thought of being able to drink that flower-garden tea again after returning.
As she happily gazed at and tasted the tea, Faustina widened her eyes at Ciel’s astonishing way of eating cookies.
He took a cookie from the glass jar, broke it in half, and dipped it into his tea before eating it.
If she did that herself, she would certainly be scolded.
Depending on who saw it, the scolding would differ, but she would be scolded nonetheless.
When she blinked repeatedly, the man beside her remarked, “You always eat in such a strange way,” with a hint of barbed humor.
Used to it, Ciel paid him no mind and dipped the other half of the cookie into his tea as well.

“It’s surprisingly good.
When I tried it on a whim as a child, it went unexpectedly well.”
“Don’t you get told it’s bad manners?”
“Hehe.
Things like this are best done when no one’s looking.”
“I see.”

‘That’s true.’

From an even younger age, Faustina too had received strict lady’s training every day, and she had often played small pranks when she thought the tutors and maids were not watching.
She was scolded whenever she was caught, but it was fun, so she never stopped.
Eventually, word of her mischief reached her mother, Lyudmila, and she received a major lecture.
Knowing she was in the wrong, she did not argue back, but if her tutor had not intervened, the lecture would have dragged on for hours.
Meanwhile, Elvira’s skipping lessons with her tutor had been tacitly tolerated, which gave rise to a hollow feeling and a sense of indifference.

A bad premonition stirred.

‘With this kidnapping, my engagement to Bernhard will probably be dissolved, but if that happens, what will they say to me?
Since I was kidnapped while asleep, I hope there won’t be any scolding…’

She began to worry that she might be raged at for losing her engagement just because she had been sleeping in her room and woke up kidnapped.
That was not all.
Even if she had been rescued quickly, if the matter became known to society, it could stain Faustina’s record and cost her good marriage prospects.

‘Father will probably handle information control thoroughly, but there’s always the chance of the worst.
Since I plan to leave home anyway, I’ll just not worry about it.’

Her brother Kane would inherit the house, so there was no concern there.
Aelia had told her that after Faustina disappeared, Kane safely succeeded Citrin and became duke.
If her engagement with Bernhard was dissolved, then, as she guessed, the next fiancée would most likely be Aelia.
Faustina’s engagement to Bernhard had not yet been publicly announced and was known only to the royal family and House Wittgenstein.
Even though Aelia said she had no intention of becoming crown princess, still—
House Laris, though only a marquisate, possessed power rivaling that of a ducal house.
Moreover, the Marchioness of Laris hailed from the border marquisate that formed the cornerstone of national defense.
Even the royal family could not force the issue.
In that case, Faustina wondered if it would be difficult for Elvira to become crown princess as before.
Those two were “fated lovers.”
They absolutely had to be joined.

‘?’

Despite thinking that herself, Faustina felt a sense of doubt.
Why?
Because they were bound by fate?

‘—Because between them there is an unbreakable bond tied by Fortuna’s thread.’
A voice spoke in her mind.
Someone she should know, yet did not recognize.

‘That’s why from the very beginning, there was no place for you to slip in.
To put it bluntly, you were just a convenient decoy.’
Again, the same—someone unknown.

A decoy… that must be right.
Because the villainess Faustina existed, Bernhard and Elvira were united, hailed as “fated lovers.”
For some reason, the wedding of the two—something her former self should never have seen—rose in her mind.
A massive blade pressed its tip against her heart, poised to stab at any moment.
Rather than remember any more and suffer unbearable pain, she gulped down the rest of her tea in one go.
It had cooled a little, so it was not very hot.
Still, her sudden action drew the attention of both Ciel and Vered.

“What’s wrong?”
“Eh, n-nothing at all.
Ehehe.”

She laughed it off and handed her teacup to Ciel, asking for a refill.

About two hours later, the sun rose, and it was time for the mansion’s servants to awaken.
Seeing the three already relaxing in the salon, the butler gave a wry smile.
Ciel instructed the maid standing behind the butler to prepare Faustina.
When she asked about Bernhard, she was told he was already awake and getting ready.

“I see.
Then, Vered.”
“Have a safe trip.
I’ll be a good boy and go to sleep.”
“What are you saying?
Of course you’re coming too.
You promised you’d grant my request.”
“Ah, yeah, yeah, that one where you cheated and got the upper hand.”
“That’s rude.
I didn’t cheat.”
“You knew I liked cats and still distracted me by saying ‘Look, a cat.’
Who did that?”
“And who was it that believed it so easily and lost?”
“……”

When it came to verbal sparring, Ciel was several steps ahead.
Vered, who had known him since childhood, understood that well.
He even resented his past self for not simply watching what would happen instead of helping the Ciel who had wandered into the slums and nearly been attacked by vagrants when they first met.
But—

“Ciel wouldn’t be taken down so pathetically.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Just talking to myself.”
“You talk to yourself loudly.”
“Doesn’t matter.”
“Fine, fine.
Now come along.
Dress appropriately.
Your face is far too good-looking already—if you dress the part, no one will realize you’re an orphan from the slums.”
“I don’t care.
Meeting you was the end of my luck.”
“That’s harsh.”

He did not look particularly hurt.
This was the kind of banter only two people who knew each other inside and out could share.

After finishing their preparations, they boarded the carriage waiting outside.
Receiving a large basket of breakfast from a maid, Ciel told the coachman, “Head for the castle.”

Faustina and Bernhard were both wearing children’s clothes prepared in haste.
Judging by their attire alone, no one would realize they were a duchess’s daughter and the crown prince.
Only their refined bearing hinted that they were nobles.

Around the same time, dawn had just broken at the royal palace, yet Sirius was visibly restless.
Seeing him stand by the bedroom window, touching his left cheek with his left hand, Sierra pressed a hand to her forehead in exasperation and remarked, “Whenever Ciel is involved, he’s like this.”