Chapter 80
A sigh slipped from Nerys’s lips before she even realized it, a wave of relief washing over her. Diane, noticing it, quickly read the card herself.
“Employer…? Nerys, who’s that? Is it that Lady Kellen from the household you’re tutoring for? She even sent you clothes? That’s great!”
Until now, Diane had harbored a bit of resentment toward this so-called Lady Kellen, but suddenly she felt a surge of fondness for the woman.
She’d thought the lady was just some minor noble from a backwater province who had to rely on distant scribes in Carten for errands, someone with no trustworthy agents nearby.
But if she could send something like this—before the job even began—then she must be incredibly wealthy. Generous too, and clearly someone who genuinely cared about Nerys.
With an employer like that, it felt a little less bitter to send Nerys away.
Though Diane still hated the idea of her being taken far away… the surprises didn’t stop there. Another servant appeared outside the powder room, clearing his throat.
“Excuse me, young ladies. A gentleman has just arrived.”
“That must be Bran! Tell him to wait a bit! I’m not ready yet!”
Diane clapped her hands together. He was a little early, but better that than a man who kept a lady waiting.
Betty moved quickly to help her get ready, but the servant outside cleared his throat again, sounding awkward.
“Um, it’s not Young Master Bran. It’s a very handsome man with black hair… He says he’s here for Miss Nerys.”
Who could that be? Diane tilted her head. She was relieved Bran hadn’t arrived yet, but a black-haired man? When did Nerys get herself a partner without telling her?
The servant asked again, this time with visible unease.
“Shall I have him wait? Or should I ask him to leave?”
It was the time of evening when every girl with a partner was busy preparing, so any young man visiting a girl’s dorm right now would clearly be her date.
But for the servant to ask such a thing… something must’ve felt suspicious about this black-haired man. There was probably something about him that made it impossible to mistake him for a student.
Diane shrugged at Nerys and asked, “So? Is he your partner?”
Nerys looked slightly troubled. She had a good idea who it was… no, she was almost certain.
He had graduated from the Academy several years ago. And just like in her previous life, after massacring the elders of his clan, he had barely left his estate since.
She couldn’t even begin to imagine how busy he must be.
And now he had suddenly shown up in Carten? Now? Something serious must have happened.
This wasn’t the time to be worrying about a silly student ball. Nerys stood up and put on her outer coat.
“I’ll go down for a bit and talk to him.”
“You need to get ready before going! What are you talking about? On a day like this, you’ve got to, okay? You’ve got to look amazing and show a completely different side of yourself!”
Diane protested in a flustered panic, but Nerys didn’t seem to hear. She tied the sash around her coat, gestured for Betty to move aside, and walked straight out of the powder room.
“W-Wait! Riz!”
You didn’t even fasten the top button at your collar! Diane didn’t even get the chance to say it. Nerys had vanished in an instant. Diane was stunned for a moment, then her eyes sparkled with delight.
The always-perfect Nerys, running out like that just to see her partner? So all that talk about not going with a date—there had been a reason after all.
To be honest, most of the boys who had asked Nerys to the ball—by Diane’s standards—weren’t very impressive. A few of them, she supposed, were just barely decent enough to be seen with—again, by her standards.
They could’ve gone together as a group—Nerys, Diane, Bran, and whoever she picked. But she had rejected all of them—every single one!
‘She had someone picked all along.’
And the fact that she hadn’t even told Diane until today meant that the man must’ve been dragging his feet the whole time.
How infuriating! He should’ve made his feelings clear from the start! How dare he keep her waiting!
“Go meet him quickly.”
At Diane’s whisper, Betty rushed after Nerys.
Meanwhile, Nerys, having left the powder room, didn’t even realize the top button of her coat wasn’t done up, nor that her hair was hanging loose without an ounce of elegance.
She was too preoccupied, trying to understand why he had come all the way here, analyzing and guessing every possible reason.
Another rebellion, maybe? News from Maindulante rarely made it outside, and even if something happened, word usually didn’t reach others until it was long resolved.
Or was he injured again? Whatever it was, it had to be something he couldn’t handle on his own—for him to come not to the library, but all the way to Diane’s dormitory.
When the elders were slaughtered, Nerys had known that Cledwyn was only dealing with traitors. But the rest of the Empire’s nobility seized the chance to call him a deranged tyrant.
They’d spread vicious rumors about him with glee. People like that always had their schemes—but if Cledwyn used his skills wisely, he could probably suppress such rumors with ease.
Yet somehow, he’d become the monstrous “cruel beast” of noble gossip circles.
For most nobles, such rumors would be damaging. That’s likely what those spreading them were aiming for. But Nerys suspected Cledwyn had been using those rumors to his advantage—and so she’d kept quiet.
If his enemies thought the world hated him, they would lower their guard. And that gave him time to rebuild his territory.
Still, the thought that he had been fighting alone against so many enemies while she remained ignorant until everything had ended… it unsettled her.
In any case, he had never once broken a promise to her.
Nerys had made it a habit to speak with him through magic every few days. She visited the Zakaria Library so often that Diane thought Nerys was studying pharmacology.
But those conversations were never long. Someone was always calling him away.
And even during those brief moments, he never spoke about the issues he was currently facing.
So why, when he had been navigating such a tangled political mess all alone, had he shown up here so suddenly and without notice?
Dozens of theories raced through her mind. The current ruler of the school, Princess Izet, wasn’t someone to be taken lightly. With Ren Fayel absent from the Academy, if Cledwyn was injured, what would be the best escape route?
Nerys was still considering the most discreet shortcuts when she finally descended from the second-floor powder room to the first-floor parlor.
She stepped into the parlor, decorated lovingly to Diane’s tastes, and there he was—just setting down a teacup on the jade table, rising from a small sofa covered in soft sky-blue fabric.
It had been so long since she’d last seen him that she needed a moment to even recognize if the man before her was truly the same person she remembered.
The last time she had seen him, he had still been a boy—barely fitting into the category of a young man. But now… he was fully grown.
The tall man with black hair stood with broad shoulders and strong arms. His chest was firm, and his long legs filled his trousers in a way that was, while not inappropriate, undeniably striking…
That was what her eyes were drawn to first, inevitably. And when he finally turned his face toward her, revealing radiant gray eyes—
He still had the chiseled beauty of an ivory sculpture, but now there was a deeper weight, a hardness to his gaze, turning Cledwyn Maindulante into a breathtakingly captivating man. He smiled, light-hearted.
“Such an urgent welcome… It seems I’ve come to the right place.”
Urgent? Only then did Nerys glance at the windowpane and notice her own appearance.
Her face flushed a little.
The outfit she wore was designed to be fastened with a sash at the waist and a row of buttons at the collar—but all five buttons, from just below her neck to the center of her chest, were undone.
The neckline wasn’t wide, but the upper curve of her chest was faintly visible.
Nerys immediately turned around. The servants nearby also quickly looked away. Her hands scrambled to fasten the buttons, fumbling in her fluster.
By the time she managed to button them all, her mood had already soured. Trying to hide her embarrassment, she asked as calmly as she could manage.
“What is it?”
“Oh? Hasn’t the servant told you yet?”
Cledwyn bowed politely and smiled again.
In contrast to Nerys’s disheveled appearance, he looked immaculate in a black formal suit.
A sash ran diagonally across his broad chest, crimson with golden embroidery, glittering against his velvet jacket. Twin diamond buttons gleamed at his chest, bordered by fine gold-stitched designs—perfectly suited for a formal ball.
“I am grateful to the noble lady for granting me the honor of being her partner for the graduation ball.”
“When did I do that?”
The words burst from Nerys before she could think. She blinked suspiciously a second later.
Was that ‘please’ on the card meant as a partner request? That was… far too vague.
“Such a warm welcome—how could I doubt it?”
Realizing she’d caught on, Cledwyn casually shrugged with a knowing smile.
“I’ll wait as long as it takes, Lady Truydd. We were taught in etiquette class that waiting for a lady’s preparation is the mark of a true knight.”
Nerys widened her eyes at the sudden reference, then unintentionally recalled their second meeting.
– “Investigating a lady’s background—shouldn’t a knight know better than to do that? Didn’t you receive proper training?”
– “You should’ve paid more attention in etiquette class.”
He remembered that conversation?
“Your sense of humor’s improved. Then, for the sake of knightly virtue, I’ll take my time and come back down.”
Trying to disguise her embarrassment, Nerys added a little sarcasm to her tone—but it came out slightly pouty. Cledwyn’s smile deepened.
Once, she had thought his smile was merely beautiful. Now, it was breathtaking enough to steal the air from her lungs. Nerys quickly turned and left the parlor.
Watching her go, Betty was nearly moved to tears. Tall, handsome, well-built—and polite too! He was absolutely worth waiting for until the day of the ball!
The perfect partner!
