The West Wind's Destination - Chapter 41
“So, you confessed your love in an awful situation with awful words, and yet she accepted it?”
“That’s right.”
In reality, the response he received was regarding his plea for her to stay at the mansion.
He couldn’t be quite sure whether it was an acceptance or not, but regardless, Aseph had at least achieved his initial goal.
But no matter what angle you looked at it, their relationship seemed doomed and hopeless. Being a witness to this, Aseph’s aide, Ruslan, didn’t know what to say and just silently refilled Aseph’s glass.
Neither of them were particularly fond of drinking, but today seemed like a good day for it.
Aseph downed his glass in one gulp, reflecting on the ambiguous outcome of his reunion with Bea, while Ruslan had to endure watching Aseph wallow in his misery.
“There’s no hope. Just give up.”
“What do you know!”
“Honestly, it’s not going well.”
“Don’t you have any words of encouragement…”
Ruslan, hailing from a vassal family of the esteemed House of Vilkanos and Aseph’s childhood friend, had rarely seen Aseph in such a state. They had studied and trained together since childhood, and even as his aide, Ruslan had been through battles with Aseph.
This version of Aseph, the beloved guardian of Vilkanos, was almost foreign to him.
Aseph Vilkanos of the Vilkanos Archduchy.
Born into a privileged family, he had an upright yet somewhat irritable personality. The wars with the mages had made him even more eccentric. The same Aseph made mages grovel before his feet and even dared to look arrogantly at the Emperor.
Yet now, he was just so flustered over one woman.
Ruslan had witnessed the commotion in the parlor when Zephyr and her child had arrived at the mansion. Aseph’s frantic efforts to persuade Zephyr to stay, arranging meetings and visiting her personally, were unlike anything Ruslan had seen before.
As Aseph’s long-time friend, Ruslan was also worried.
After being betrayed by the mages once, now Vilkanos was enamored with an alchemist.
“If you wish to take her as your vassal, I support it. Zephyr certainly has the ability, no need to put her to the test. The butler may object, but Your Highness, to be frank, alchemists are a breed that doesn’t understand love.”
Having witnessed the turmoil in the parlor, Ruslan remarked to himself that Zephyr seemed too cold.
The child brought by Zephyr was undoubtedly of the Vilkanos bloodline, and it seemed she had raised the child alone. However, the warmth one might expect in a parent’s gaze was absent in her eyes.
It was not the look of a parent towards a child born of their own flesh and blood.
It was a cold, detached gaze, as if observing an experimental subject, ready to cut off its lifeline if necessary.
Although perceptions had changed a lot as of late, alchemists still had yet to shake off that prejudice.
They’re seen as heartless, crazy people who saw humans as mere experimental subjects and, driven by curiosity, wouldn’t hesitate to cut open a stomach.
Ruslan didn’t say it out loud because of Aseph’s infatuation with Zephyr, but from what he had seen of the woman with his own eyes, she seemed to perfectly embody the chilling stereotype often associated with alchemists.
“Just give her some money and tell her to leave the child here. Just focus on the Young Master. That’s the ideal solution.”
Saying this, Ruslan too brought his glass to his lips.
‘I’m not even sure if that’s really Your Highness’s child.’
The child, bearing the same expression as Zephyr, seemed eerie—almost inhuman.
“I said it half-jokingly before, but I still think love is a bit too much to hope for.”
“Even the well-loved former Guardian didn’t reap rewards from the beginning.”
“Ah, that’s a famous story in Vilkanos. The Lady of the House who wouldn’t easily open her heart, and he wooed her tirelessly, day and night…”
“So, it’s in the bloodline, isn’t it.”
Up to this point, Aseph had been despondent, but at the mention of lineage, he seemed to regain his characteristic arrogance. It appeared he thought that even a cold person could be warmed up and won over.
“But the Lady, before she met the former Guardian, she had suffered a painful bereavement, didn’t she?”
“……”
“Zephyr doesn’t even love Your Highness, does she? Naturally, she must still be unable to forget that mentor of hers, too.”
Even if alchemists were different from the stereotype, they still must be capable of love like any other human being. With that premise in mind, if someone were to speak of love for a person who had already passed away, didn’t that mean that there’s no hope at all?
There was another problem. The identity of this ‘mentor’ that Zephyr mentioned was clear—and that was a huge issue.
If she loved such a madman, she definitely couldn’t be normal.
“If that deceased ‘mentor’ is Myron Devesis…”
“Enough.”
Aseph cut off Ruslan before he could cross a line.
“You don’t seem to be of any help.”
“Ignoring reality won’t help either…”
Ruslan shrugged.
“Your Highness, marriage isn’t difficult. You can just propose as you did in the parlor.”
“……”
“It seemed to work, didn’t it?”
Rather, Ruslan was referring to the somewhat coercive manner Aseph had employed in that situation.
Neither gentle persuasion nor pleading worked, and not even the promise of unimaginable compensation swayed her.
But when he spoke to Bea in that manner, she quietly accepted.
It was a tactic that had worked unintentionally. He had even resorted to using it another time.
However, just because it worked didn’t mean he liked that approach.
“Who in their right mind treats the person they love like that?”
