"I'm serious. He is a playboy. My friend in charge of the clothing department was heartbroken because of him.”
Dorothy thumped her chest in frustration.
"That isn’t Victor."
"You can't dismiss it with mere words. One has to be wary."
Esther narrowed her eyes as she sent a suspicious glance towards Victor.
Then, Victor followed up with an endless amount of excuses, his face presenting a deep sense of injustice.
“There isn’t anything I can do if a woman keeps following me because of my looks. We never dated; it was an unrequited love. How did this turn into an affair?"
“I’m sure she said you made a pass on her!”
“I have never done that.”
Esther grinned as she alternated looking between Dorothy and Victor, who had undergone war nerves for a few days now.
"You’ll keep seeing each other, so try to get along well."
As soon as Victor became her exclusive escort, Dorothy had gritted her teeth and raked up these rumors involving Victor.
Dorothy's friend must have been dumped by Victor.
"My lady, I apologize."
"Are you even the slightest regretful? I've heard there were countless other victims besides my friend."
Although Esther thought their clamoring was a bit over the top the past few days, she didn’t find it all unpleasant.
"Oh, I need to feed BamBam.”
Esther, who was looking at the two without having noticed how much time had passed, was surprised and took the feed out of the drawer.
BamBam lay comfortably atop the cushion. It was worrying and strange that she slept continuously these past few days.
"Is she sick?"
Esther asked anxiously, as BamBam filled herself with the food presented to her.
“It was said the time to lay her eggs had passed.”
She had interrogated a snake expert, and they stated if she still didn’t lay her eggs, the snakelets may have already died.
In addition, Esther could, on normal occasions, feel BamBam’s emotions when they made eye contact. However, she hasn't been able to communicate with her lately.
Esther was stalled; she was certain something was not right, however, she couldn’t figure what it was.
Esther moved her chin up as she observed BamBam when the door to her room opened.
Judy was the only one who entered without bothering to knock beforehand.
"Esther, are you busy?"
Judy's clothes were smothered with dirt, from when he had previously frolicked around. Esther stood up and shook her head.
"I was feeding BamBam."
"Then look at this."
Judy handed Esther the gold envelope he had brought with him. The white paper held in his dirty hands was foreign.
"What is that?"
"You'll find out when you open it."
Esther carefully opened the envelope.
There was a card inside, and it briefly stated Esther and Judy’s invitation to dinner.
The name of the respective sender.
"...Sebastian?"
"Yeah. Don't you remember?"
She looked back into her memory to recall anyone with the same name. Then, it came to mind.
‘He’s the half-penny guy!'
The name of the boy who had verbally abused her in the garden was Sebastian.
Esther's expression darkened as she recalled the words she received from him that day.
"Does he happen to be brother’s friend?”
"That's right. He committed a big offense towards you, right? He wants to apologize for it."
"So suddenly?"
"He invited us a long time ago, but I forgot."
Judy grinned as he scratched his forehead.
After the camp training, he beat up Sebastian and earned a promise from his side, however, Judy ended up forgetting as time passed.
Sebastian grew anxious of Judy’s quietness despite all the previous fuss and ended up sending him an invitation.
"How about it? Will you go with me?"
Judy noticed that Esther was reluctant to accept the invitation when she kept silent and wriggled her hands.
"If you don't want to, there’s no need.”
The major reason for visiting Sebastian was to have him apologize to Esther directly, however, if the person disliked the fact, there wasn’t a need for it anymore.
"Uhm."
Esther was debating whether to reject the offer.
Of course, she didn't want to go when she recalled Sebastian bragging about his bloodline.
However, Sebastian’s family members listed on the invitation caught her eye.
The Duke of Vissel was one of the four great families which supported the Empire.
'Is that why he put so much emphasis on his lineage?'
Esther now understood why he was close to Judy since childhood, now that she thought of his family.
Considering the future of her battle against the temple, it would be beneficial to harbor a close relationship with Sebastian.
"Did he really apologize?"
"Yes, he’s very apologetic towards you.”
It may be a lie, nevertheless, nothing was disadvantageous on her side. Esther returned the invitation to Judy as she calculated everything in her mind.
“Then I'll go.”
“Really? Yeah! That’s great!"
Judy jumped up and down in delight. He was now going to crush Sebastian's nose once more in return for the time he boasted of his younger sibling when in Vissel’s residence.
"Let's talk to my father and leave the day after tomorrow."
The Vissel estate took half a day to arrive by using a fast carriage from Tercia.
Since the meal was in three days, they had to leave at dawn the day after tomorrow, to arrive by that date.
"My lady, I don't think there will be enough time to order a new dress... will you be alright?"
"I can wear what I bought last time."
Esther’s eyes glimmered as she recalled the green dress Dolores had picked out for her.
***
“Esther, hold my hand.”
Judy exited the wagon first and reached out to Esther. He was more like her escort.
Esther smiled lightly as she held Judy's hand. The two were well-matched siblings.
"Master Judy! Welcome."
The butler who had been standing by the door recognized Judy and rushed to greet him. As Judy went and returned, back and forth, often, the two recognized each other’s faces well.
"Is that Lady Esther next to you?"
"That's right."
"Welcome to our Vissel estate."
The butler smiled gently and proceeded to guide the two inside to the garden.
Perhaps today's meal had a very quiet atmosphere because only two people and Sebastian's friends were invited.
Today’s atmosphere was calm, as Sebastian only invited two of his acquaintances to the meal.
“Let’s have our meal over there.”
Judy replied as he spotted the table surrounded by greenery.
"The garden is very pretty."
Esther observed the Duke’s splendid residence, which seemed different from the Grand Duke’s.
The two paid attention to the well-tended garden.
Meanwhile, Sebastian left the mansion after he received word of their arrival.
Sebastian was wearing a black suit, along with a red tie. He lifted his head, then pulled it back down.
However, because of his chubby physique, all the buttons on his shirt were on the verge of bursting.
In addition, he couldn't bear the heat of his body and kept sweating on his forehead. He took care of that matter as he held his handkerchief tightly.
"Huh? It's Sebastian."
Judy spotted Sebastian and instantly waved in a brusque manner.
"We’re here. Come on!"
Esther turned her head towards Sebastian. Her expression instantly hardened.
Sebastian was also flustered by her appearance. He turned embarrassed at the thought of him having to apologize.
‘I need air conditioning.'
Sebastian slowly headed towards the two, a dejected expression playing on his face.
Nonetheless, Esther seemed quite different from the first time he had seen her.
“Is she the same person?"
Sebastian muttered unconsciously.
When he first met her, she was skinny and feeble. She didn't feel like a noble in the least.
However, she now seemed like a perfect noblewoman in every aspect. Judy, standing beside her, didn't seem out of place at all.
Besides, she looked pretty in her dress. Her cute face was now visible to Sebastian's eyes.
‘Am I crazy? What's wrong with my heart?’
Sebastian stood in front of the two, confusion overwhelming his mind. Now, he could only see Judy, as Esther was no longer visible.
"Thank you for coming."
"Yeah. But why are you acting like that?"
Judy burst into laughter as he witnessed the stiffened Sebastian.
"It’s nothing."
"It's weird. Say hello to Esther too."
Sebastian greeted Esther with a nod.
"Hello."
"Hello."
Esther felt despondent because of her misunderstanding against Sebastian that he was ignoring her.
No hint of arrogance was presented, however, the unpleasantness she felt from that day remained vivid.
"Then I'll stand elsewhere."
Judy moved away from the two, so they could have a comfortable conversation. Of course, it was after he had warned Sebastian, 'If you say any nonsense, you'll die.'.
"So..."
Sebastian lifted his head to face Esther, as he figured apologizing and quickly leaving would be the best choice.
However, as soon as he made contact with Esther's pink eyes, Sebastian froze. Her puffy cheeks were so cute.
"I… crazy, man."
Esther silently waited as she observed Sebastian’s expression change continuously.
'I think he’ll burst if touched.’
He seemed so red he couldn't get any redder, yet now he was burning redder like a beet.
"Could you look elsewhere for a moment?"
"Yes? Yes.”
Esther didn't understand why, however, Sebastian asked so urgently that it forced her to turn her head to the other side.
Sebastian gulped his saliva, relieved. Then, he quickly delivered his apology to Esther.
"That day, my words were too harsh. I was beaten by Judy at the time, so I guess I used that to get payback.”
Esther’s heart and mind were relieved bit by bit as she listened to his sincere voice.
"I'm very sorry. Will you accept my apology?”
Sebastian pulled out a red apple from his arms. It was a very substantial apple he had kept for the sake of his apology.
He stuck it out to Esther, who had her head turned to the other side. The tip of his fingers, grasping the apple, was shaking.
Esther's eyes widened at the unexpected gift. She didn't expect him to bring an actual apple to apologize.
"This is an actual apple. Pfft."
In the end, Esther couldn’t help but burst into laughter. Sebastian's wrongdoing wouldn't disappear, however, if that was his way of apologizing, she decided to overlook it.
"I chose the biggest and firmest one."
Sebastian scratched the back of his head in embarrassment.
