How to Tame That Gentle Male Lead - Chapter 4.7
Resena left the room with a fresh smile. Among the landscape paintings hanging in the corridor, quite a few were ones she had bought together with Renard. Seeing the seaside painting hanging on the landing wall, it was inevitable to be reminded of Eldis.
‘Eldis’s eyes were that blue too.’
Suddenly, she remembered that Vernas’s eyes were also blue.
The mysterious blue eyes, reminiscent of a bright summer sea, made her want to stare at them as if enchanted. Resena stood still on the stairs, gazing at the landscape painting with its crashing waves.
It feels like I could be pulled right in.
“…”
Resena unconsciously reached out and caressed the painting.
She recalled Vernas concentrating on carving wood, holding the chisel with his beautiful fingers. The passionate act reflected in his blue eyes had completely captivated her heart.
‘…I guess a sculptor who dominated an era is indeed different from ordinary people.’
The corners of Resena’s mouth curled up involuntarily.
“I keep remembering like this…”
Her hand slowly dropped after tracing the marks of waves rolling in over the sea. After feeling the texture of the thickly applied oil paint, Resena turned her head and continued down the landing.
The dining room was on the first floor. Moreover, befitting late July, the scent of hydrangeas tickled her nose. As she entered, the Duke and Duchess, already seated, looked at her with beaming smiles.
“Resena. Did you sleep well?”
“Yes, I slept well. Mother. Did you both sleep well too?”
“Yes. We slept well, thanks. Resena.”
The meal proceeded in a truly gentle atmosphere.
The open windows allowed the scent of hydrangeas from the garden to permeate the space. Servants brought various dishes to the table. As clear soup bowls were placed in front of each person, everyone picked up their silver utensils without hesitation.
A steak with tender lamb meat was on the plate. Resena cut it with her knife and brought a piece to her mouth with her fork. The way it melted in her mouth showed how much effort the chef had put into it.
“Resena. Do you know that His Highness the Crown Prince is visiting at noon?”
“Yes, I know. Our sleepyhead Renard came early to tell me.”
At this, the Duchess covered her mouth and laughed softly.
“That boy. It’s admirable that he woke up early, but he’s so sleepy he can’t even eat… I’m worried he might yawn and invite criticism when meeting Crown Prince Eldis.”
“Ahaha…”
After a soft laugh, Resena decided to be honest.
“Actually, because I thought Renard might yawn even when meeting His Highness… I advised him to just greet His Highness when he arrives, and then excuse himself on the pretext of having some business.”
“Oh my.”
“It seems His Highness only has business with me anyway… And his saying he wants to see both Renard and me, I think, might be due to his awareness of the rumors that I might become the Crown Princess. If so, there’s no need for Renard to be present for long… I thought it would be best to let Renard sleep until the afternoon and for me to meet His Highness alone, to avoid any discourtesy.”
The Duchess responded, her eyes curving beautifully.
“That seems like a good idea. If Renard yawns in front of His Highness, given His kind nature, he wouldn’t say anything directly, but his aides and others might think Renard was rude. Then the gossip would spread in no time, so it’s probably the right decision to have Renard absent.”
“That’s right. And since he seemed to be constantly sleepy after waking up early, I told him to sleep without messing up his hair.”
Mother gazed at Resena contentedly before cutting her lamb with her knife. The way she elegantly brought it to her mouth, not deviating an inch from proper etiquette, made Resena watch quietly before stabbing her own lamb with her fork.
“Yes, that’s better. Oh, Resena. When Renard wakes up in the afternoon, could you two take the evening train to briefly visit our territory?”
“Hm? Did something happen in our territory? I thought we had left it to a proxy… Is it urgent enough that I need to go down and see for myself?”
At this, the Duke cleared his throat and spoke.
“Well… We’ve been receiving reports that dark mages have been appearing in our territory lately. I need to do paperwork, so I can’t move, but you and Renard aren’t tied down anywhere, so you can go to the territory and investigate thoroughly, can’t you?”
“Hmm…”
“Marchioness Andaril’s tea party will be held soon, so it would be good if you could investigate and return before then.”
“Hmm… But if dark mages have really appeared in our territory, I think the investigation might take a bit longer. It might take about a week to two weeks, so I’ll decline Marchioness Andaril’s tea party.”
The Duke thought for a moment and then nodded.
“Alright. Do that. If you and Renard investigate thoroughly, I can rest easy. And if there are still dark mages in the territory, have Renard subjugate them. Renard is a skilled Sword Master, so he should be able to handle most dark mages.”
“Then, to prepare for any contingencies, I’ll take about ten knights with us. Only those who can use Aura. I think it might be a bit hard to leave everything to Renard alone…”
“Oh my.”
The Duchess’s eyes widened, but Resena continued with a smile.
“Renard loves to sleep in, doesn’t he? So he’ll only be able to function properly in the afternoon, but if we investigate traces of dark mages and close in on them, they’ll surely act out regardless of whether it’s morning or night. So we need people who can move in the morning in Renard’s stead. A Sword Master would be ideal… but even a Sword Expert who can use Aura should be sufficient to deal with dark mages. That’s why I want to take that many people with us.”
The Duke nodded in agreement.
“Yes. Go ahead. It’s never too much to be thorough in dealing with unexpected situations. So, since you’re taking people anyway, take about fifteen. If you take only those who can use Aura, you won’t have to worry about dark mages running amok.”
‘Besides, going down to the territory like this was something that never happened in my past life…’
Until the moment she was imprisoned, she had mostly followed similar routes. Of course, to change the outcomes of those events, she was dealing with things differently in this life, but that meant variables would be in flux.
Her goal was, after all, to prevent the male lead Eldis from destroying the world. And since her own goal was to live a peaceful and comfortable life, Resena was trying to eliminate as many potential causes of unexpected events as possible.
‘This is the first time I’m going down to the Arnasus territory to directly track dark mages, so no matter how much I prepare, it won’t be enough.’
Thanks to her preparations, the summer ball ended safely.
Although she confirmed that Zergard had a connection with the previous Resena, it didn’t seem like he would do anything immediately. Because of this, Resena felt relatively less burdened about going down to the Arnasus territory with Renard.
While chasing dark mages was directly antagonizing Zergard, with Zergard’s arms cut off now… He would be focusing on recovery, so it would be safe to assume they wouldn’t encounter him. This means that most of the dark mages who appeared in the territory should be at a level that Sword Experts can handle. No matter how strong the dark mages were, except for Zergard, they would struggle even against a single Sword Expert who could surround themselves with Aura to block the infiltration of black mana.
