A Butterfly Through the Mist - Chapter 134

“Are you thinking of making friends?”

“Not that either.”

“……”

“Why make friends. I’m too busy just staying at home.”

With a perfectly calm face, he uttered words that sounded like those of a social misfit. Tilia, rendered speechless, simply gazed at him without saying another word.

The man’s face, exuding a sense of unwavering determination, seemed to say that he needed nothing more than Tilia. Some might feel only satisfaction at such blind devotion from someone close, but Tilia was not one of them. She felt a slight concern about Ilex’s attitude.

After acknowledging that her heart had fallen for him, Tilia found herself unable to treat Ilex with the same feelings as before. Unlike the time when just being by his side was enough, she now began to look toward a more distant future.

She would spend many long years by Ilex’s side. She would, quite literally, live her life with him.

But in all that time, would it really be alright for them to have only each other?

Of course, it was nice that he loved her so deeply. It made her happy that he set aside everything else and only wanted her…

“Would you like me to make some friends?”

Ilex, too—was it really enough for him?

At Tilia’s prolonged silence, Ilex glanced at her expression.

Loving someone was such a hard thing. It wasn’t just about caring for her own feelings or well-being—she found herself worrying about his as well. Even though the one receiving such concern didn’t seem to mind it at all.

“If you insist, I do have some old friends I don’t keep in touch with anymore.”

She clung so desperately to the idea of wanting them both to be happy together.

Realizing her own selfishness anew, Tilia belatedly met Ilex’s gaze and asked, “How distant are these friends?”

“They’re classmates from the academy.”

“…The academy?”

Tilia’s brow furrowed slightly as she recalled the lowlifes who used to hang around Ilex during his days at the Royal Academy.

“Who?”

Even though she had said she wished he would make friends, she hadn’t meant she wanted him drinking with lunatics.

“Let’s see. Was it Evan, or Louis?”

Even their names were off-putting.

Tilia, who harbored extremely unpleasant memories of the male students at the Arkansis Royal Academy, was beginning to feel increasingly uneasy.

Sensing her mood, Ilex quickly added, “I wasn’t even that close to them during academy days, so I don’t really remember their names.”

“…Then is there really a need to grow close now?”

“You’re the one who told me to make friends.”

“……”

She had fallen into her own trap. Now it was awkward to take back her words and say he didn’t need friends after all.

Tilia pressed her lips tightly together, and Ilex let out a small chuckle, resting his chin on his hand atop the low table between them.

“Why? Have you changed your mind about me making friends?”

“…It’s not that I dislike the idea itself.”

“Then what?”

“I just don’t like the idea of you making the wrong kind of friends.”

Even as she said it, she winced inwardly. Only moments ago, she had been wishing for him to enjoy a richer life—and now she sounded like someone trying to control him at her own whim.

The heart truly would not be ruled.

Tilia sighed inwardly, while Ilex, unaware of her turmoil, asked casually, “Then what kind of person do you think makes a good friend?”

“Well, it’s nothing complicated.”

With a slightly dispirited look, Tilia stirred the muddler in her teacup and murmured, “Someone whose company makes you happy, and from whom you keep learning new things—that’s a good friend.”

“In other words… like your friend, Judy Bartlett?”

“Yeah. Like Judy.”

“Aha.”

Leaning across the table to look at Tilia, he let out an artificial-sounding exclamation and then shifted back against the chair. His relaxed voice resonated softly through the tearoom.

“Then you just need to introduce your friend to me.”

“…Huh?”

“Introduce Judy Bartlett to me. As a friend.”

A pairing she had never even imagined made her slow to understand.

Tilia furrowed her brow slightly and asked back almost reflexively, “Did you just say…?”

“You said Judy Bartlett is your best friend. I need that kind of friend too.”

Unlike her confusion, Ilex’s pale blue-gray eyes sparkled brightly, as if asking, Isn’t that a brilliant idea?

“Besides, Lady Bartlett and I were classmates at the academy. Now that I think about it, we even studied together a few times. That’s a good enough connection to build on.”

“……”

“Introduce Judy Bartlett to me as a friend. Ah, from now on, I’ll just go with you whenever you visit the Bartletts.”

I, too, am now a close friend of Lady Bartlett, you see.

The moment he added that with a dazzling smile, forgotten memories resurfaced.

No matter how much she tried to resist with sharp retorts, there had been countless moments when she had ended up swept along in the direction he wanted.

Why had she forgotten like a fool? Ilex Davenport was a skillful swindler. A trickster who would cunningly drive her into a trap like a fox!

Nooo—! Judy’s scream seemed to echo from far away. But by the time she realized she had been caught, it was already too late.

Unable to come up with a rebuttal, Tilia could only glare at Ilex’s smiling face, her hand gripping the muddler trembling slightly.

***

Phew.

Finishing her long train of thought, Tilia looked at the man beside her with an openly displeased face.

Having ultimately forced Tilia to send a letter to Judy, Ilex had managed to arrange an appointment.

At least he had enough of a conscience to suggest that it would be nice if Judy’s husband, Victor Bartlett, could also join the meeting.

“If Victor Bartlett comes too, it really will feel like a couples’ gathering.”

Recalling the face he made while humming as he sent the letter, Tilia wasn’t entirely sure whether it had truly been out of consideration for the shy and timid Judy.

“I am the one who should be grateful for the invitation.”

While sighing inwardly, she heard a polite voice from in front of her. It was the voice of Victor Bartlett, who must have rushed to the mansion straight after finishing work at the capital.

“I would also be delighted if Your Grace would continue to visit the Bartlett mansion from time to time.”

Hearing that formal, rigidly proper greeting made her heart grow even heavier.

Victor Bartlett, whom she had occasionally encountered while spending time with Judy, seemed, unlike the blunt impression he had left during academy days, to have a surprisingly gentle personality. Above all, the way he looked after Judy so tenderly was impressive.

She had heard later that he had harbored a long unrequited love for her friend—and that too had left an impression.

Thus, Tilia, who had developed a mild fondness for her friend’s husband, felt sorry for him now.

He would otherwise have enjoyed a cozy dinner with his wife, instead of enduring this awkward meal with a duke.

“Since we’re friends, there’s no need for such formal speech.”

However, it seemed she was the only one harboring such feelings.

Ilex, with a nonchalant expression, looked at Victor and suggested, “Just speak casually. Like back at the academy.”

Easier said than done. Tilia instinctively shot Ilex a glare.

Even though Arkansis was experiencing some upheaval, it remained a society with deep-rooted, rigid class structures.

Even back in academy days, it had been clear that Victor and Judy had found it difficult to approach Ilex. Now that they were adults in society, it would hardly be easy to use informal speech with him.

“I will do so.”

As expected, Victor’s voice, tinged with faint embarrassment, flowed out.

“That’s still honorific speech.”

“Ah, I see. I’ll… be careful.”

After that awkward correction pointed out by Ilex, silence settled over the table.

It would have been better to just let him keep using honorifics. Thanks to Ilex’s unnecessary comment, an atmosphere where no one could easily speak had taken hold.

I should say something. What should I say?

While Tilia was racking her brain for a suitable topic,

“Are you always this quiet?”

Unable to endure even that short moment of silence, Ilex opened his mouth again.

“This doesn’t seem like the good friend I heard about.”

Ha.

At that nonsense, Tilia finally couldn’t hold back and stomped on the top of his foot with her heel.

Even as she pressed down firmly with her heel, Ilex didn’t utter so much as a groan. He simply turned his head to look at the one who had stomped him and asked,

“Why are you stepping on me?”

“…….”

Unable to stand his utter lack of awareness, Tilia finally exploded.

“Come outside.”

Gritting her teeth, she whispered under her breath, bowing her head slightly toward him.

“Let’s talk outside…”

However, just before she could grab Ilex by the collar and drag him out, a small laugh rang out from the front.

Startled, Tilia turned her head—

and there was Judy, covering her mouth with a hand as she giggled uncontrollably.

“Being here like this… really feels like being back at the academy.”

Hearing Judy’s voice for the first time today, Tilia almost protested that she had never once spoken so familiarly with Ilex Davenport during their academy days, but she swallowed it down.

“Back then…”

Yet Tilia’s effort to suppress her words for the sake of salvaging the atmosphere turned out to be pointless.

“It was terribly hard back then…”

At the end of Judy’s suddenly hollow-sounding words, silence once again blanketed the table.