Prove Your Worth

Lesban's voice seemed to linger in her ears. You really are... interesting.

The reason he showed her such interest had to be connected to the word in that note — Hasets.

There was a gap in her memories, from around the time she was eight. I'll have to ask Brother Shupert about this when I see him. Or even before that... if there's some way to look into it.

Lesban didn't seem the type to tell her anything freely. He would merely twist the corner of his lips into that dizzying smile of his and toy with her — like a child watching fish in a tank.

Strolling through the garden, Esika reached toward a flower, then carefully closed her fingers. When she opened her hand, a white butterfly rested on her palm. She gazed at its delicate wings, a smile forming on her lips, when a low voice sounded behind her.

"Esika."

Kalian stood there, his expression rigid, looking at her. She had known he was approaching for several minutes already, but she asked in a dry, indifferent tone,

"You seem to have time on your hands today."

At the chill in her voice, Kalian's hand twitched. A few weeks ago he would have furrowed his brow at once, but he knew full well he had no right to do so now. He took a few more steps toward her. Yet even as the physical distance closed, the gulf between them seemed no smaller. If anything, the look in her eyes retreated further with every step he took. A dull ache throbbed in Kalian's chest.

"I... misunderstood you yesterday."

His voice carried through the quiet flower garden. After a moment, Kalian parted his heavy lips and offered her his genuine feelings.

"I'm sorry I didn't trust you — that I pushed you. Esika."

A warm breeze drifted between them. But Esika's gaze remained as cold as ever. She scoffed inwardly as she regarded him. Would you have apologized if the Crown Prince hadn't eaten that cookie and proven my innocence?

Of course he wouldn't have. Kalian had been raised under Leona Klaus's tutelage — a woman who rationalized his every action. And so, no matter what he did, he believed there was always a reason for it, that he himself was being reasonable. This apology was nothing more than the surface of a defeat she had forced upon him.

"I've heard your apology."

At Esika's flat, inflectionless voice, Kalian flinched and looked at her. The old Esika would have shed tears, pouted that he'd hurt her feelings, or soothed him, telling him not to say such things. But the Esika standing before him now wore a gaze so cold he couldn't even begin to guess what emotion lay behind it.

"This evening..."

That look in Esika's eyes had begun to unnerve him at some point. It was as if she had become an entirely different person. Of course, he still wanted to believe it was merely a passing whim.

"...If you have no other plans, I was hoping we might dine together. What do you think, my lady?"

He broached the subject with an awkward expression. This time, he was certain she would accept. He himself had come to apologize, after all — not anyone else. And the old Esika had always wanted to share dinner with him.

"I'm sorry, but lunch hasn't settled well. I think I'll skip dinner tonight."

Kalian's hand twitched. Esika continued, looking thoroughly unenthusiastic.

"That's why I was out here walking."

A queasy sensation rose in Kalian's stomach. He had never expected her to refuse — and now that she had, a dizzying hollowness washed over him, as if a delusion had just become reality. An expression of genuine displeasure had settled on Esika's face. For a moment, Kalian was seized by the urge to grab her wrist and order her to dine with him, whether she liked it or not.

"...Very well."

But if he did that, his dignity as Duke of Klaus would become a laughingstock. Clinging to a wife who had refused to dine with him? Unthinkable. With a darkened gaze, Kalian turned away. Irritation began to seethe in his mind. How did I end up like this?

In the dim warehouse, Hans scanned his surroundings and found Esika. Moonlight spilled around her as she sat beneath a window. Beautiful silver hair and eyes that gleamed a deep, vivid blue... She had the air of something stepped out of a fairy tale, yet the atmosphere she radiated was ice-cold.

It wasn't my imagination. Her Grace has changed.

Hans had not immediately taken Esika's side. It was only after watching her defeat the Dowager Duchess at tea that he had become certain. If she truly had changed... it was a wager worth making. The Klaus ducal house's finances were growing more precarious by the day, after all. And even if his wager failed, there would be no loss to Hans — just as Esika had said.

"Your Grace."

Hans bowed his head in greeting. Behind Esika, he could see Sella watching him with thoroughly untrusting eyes.

"As Your Grace commanded, I recommended the Chwihen investment to the Dowager Duchess. It appears Her Grace intends to invest even if she must take out a loan to do so."

The fate of House Klaus now hung on the Chwihen investment. Watching the corner of Esika's lips lift, Hans felt a flicker of unease. He could not read her play.

"If I may ask something, Your Grace... did you not say you intended to take House Klaus for yourself?"

"I did."

"The reason you had me recommend the Chwihen investment to the Dowager Duchess must be because you believe it will fail. But if the investment fails, it won't be just the Dowager Duchess — the entire House of Klaus could fall." Given the current political climate of the Empire, the chance of failure seemed slim. "Moreover, Chwihen is a promising investment. It's not an easy one to lose on."

Chwihen was, after all, a highly favored candidate for the western hub city.

"The Dowager Duchess will fail."

Esika's voice cut through Hans's words. Neither high nor low — calm, but ice-cold.

"But I will not."

Hans flinched. Her chilly, beautiful voice brought his logical thinking to a halt. The thought that it really would happen that way lodged itself in his mind. Where did that certainty in Esika's blue eyes, gleaming in the dark, come from?

"If Your Grace would tell me more of your thoughts and intentions in detail..."

"You don't fully trust me yet. And I don't fully trust you, either."

Esika's words caught Hans off guard. For more than a decade he had managed the ducal house's finances and dealt with countless people both inside and out — but the changed Esika was difficult to handle. No — "difficult" wasn't quite right. It was more that he couldn't begin to fathom what went on inside her.

"So I cannot tell you everything."

"I trusted Your Grace and acted according to your will. And yet you say you don't trust me..."

Hans deliberately let a wounded look show, but Esika merely smiled faintly.

"Just as you calculate and judge me, I intend to judge you. That's all."

At that, Hans's eyebrow twitched. If Esika hadn't demonstrated her capability at tea, he would have reported every word she'd said straight to the Dowager Duchess.

"And what you want from me isn't mere lip-service trust, is it?"

The foolish duchess who had been pushed around by everyone was gone. In her place was a woman who saw through Hans with a gaze so piercing it was almost cruel. For now he was busy enough cleaning up after the extravagant Dowager Duchess, but Hans had always been a man of ambition.

"What I can tell you for certain is this: I will swallow House Klaus whole and drive out those who are of no use."

The corner of Esika's red lips curved upward. Beside her smiling figure, moonlight shimmered like a veil.

A knock sounded at the door. Alone on the balcony, gazing at the moonlight, Kalian turned at the shadow that fell beside him. Yuri stood there, a tray in her hands bearing the liquor and cheese he favored. A brief silence passed before she awkwardly opened her mouth.

"Your Grace, you seemed out of sorts today, so..."

Yuri took another step closer and continued.

"I brought a few things you might enjoy."

A bitter smile formed on Kalian's lips as he looked at her. Why had he hoped, even for a moment? That the door would open and Esika would appear, as she once had. His former self would have recoiled in distaste and told Esika not to bother him... but tonight, he might have spent the time with her.

Taking Kalian's bitter smile as assent, Yuri stepped onto the balcony where he stood. She set the liquor and sliced cheese upon the table.

"If I wouldn't be in the way... might I keep you company?"

At Yuri's words, Kalian looked at her. Delicate, well-formed features, radiant blonde hair and crimson eyes — she was certainly too beautiful to waste as a mere maid of the ducal house. Of course, she still fell short of Esika. If Esika hadn't summoned her here, Yuri would have been of an age to marry some man by now.