I asked, as if to confirm.
“...But the family might think differently from you two.”
“Absolutely not!”
“If they dared to make me do something like that, I’d rather abandon the family.”
The two of them were so indignant that they even said they’d remove themselves from the family registry if such a thing happened.
Wait, do they dislike each other that much? I didn’t quite understand, but I assumed there must be some reason behind it and tried to calm them down. Still, I couldn’t help but break into a cold sweat.
“Anyway, no matter what, we have a relationship where something like that could never happen.”
“I wouldn’t allow it, even if the sky split into ten parts.”
“Then I’d say a hundred parts.”
“I'd...”
“Ah, I get it. I clearly understand that neither of you would ever agree.”
After finally managing to calm them down, they immediately began vying with each other over how deeply they despised each other, swearing by the heavens.
I had to urgently stop them again. Even as I did so, I still couldn't comprehend their behavior.
‘Is it because they’re royal? Their standards must be incredibly high.’
Laddy Estebanwas stunning, even to another woman’s eyes. Of course, she was still too young to be called a beauty, but if she continued to grow like this, it was certain she’d become one of the top beauties.
Not just her face, but unlike most imperial citizens who had rather dull-colored hair, she had dark grey hair that strongly asserted itself.
Should I say she made you look twice? I was curious just how beautiful Ray's ideal type must be if he would refuse someone like this.
Anyway, after calming them down, I was about to ask how they came here when I heard voices calling me from outside the maze.
Perhaps the young ladies who had been worried about me being gone for so long had come looking.
"I'm over here! I'm inside the maze!"
The maze was complicated, but there was no need to shout since the garden lay just beyond the walls.
When they tried to enter, I shouted a warning in case they might get lost while searching for me. Then I turned to look at the two of them.
Should I take these two with me?
Ray probably followed Lady Esteban, but she came because she said she wanted a friend... I hesitated about making the offer, but before I could, both shook their heads.
“We snuck out...”
“Me too. I think I need to go back.”
Their faces showed genuine discomfort, making it harder to insist. When I asked if they had a way back since they snuck out, they replied not to worry—they came by carriage.
“See you next time.”
Ray held my hand tightly and whispered. Perhaps because I was worried about leaving the kids who came out secretly, I hesitated, unable to leave easily. But the young ladies beyond the wall were worrying, so I had to say goodbye.
Lady Esteban took my other hand and murmured, "Me too. Next time, I hope you'll call me Aries. Seiana."
“Why on earth would Seiana want to see you?”
Ray snapped at her, but Lady Esteban ignored it as if she hadn’t heard. Then she nudged me forward, urging me to go.
Ray waved her hand at my hesitation, and after a brief pause, I left the maze.
***
Aries, smiling gracefully and waving, stopped laughing abruptly when Seiana’s figure was hidden behind the maze wall. The first thing she did then was kick toward her opponent.
Her pointed shoe flew toward Raymund’s shin, but he scoffed and dodged lightly.
Frustrated by narrowly missing the kick, Aries was about to swing her foot again when Raymund grabbed her up as if lifting a cat by the scruff of its neck.
“You’re really nasty.”
“Isn’t that milder than just kicking me out of nowhere?”
“You’re doing this on purpose even though you could use another method.”
Aries squirmed in mid-air, her limbs flailing with discontent. Her resentment toward Raymund stemmed entirely from the way he had restrained her body.
The ability to levitate or pull objects through the air was an imitation of Aries’s ability to control attraction and repulsion.
She called him nasty because he humiliated her using the very ability she was most confident in.
Normally, someone an ability user can’t control the ability other than the one they were given. Aries, who controls attraction and repulsion, couldn’t teleport or breathe fire.
Yet Raymund could do all that. This was because his ability was 'Dominion'. Whether due to his status as a member of the Imperial Family, Raymund could use any the ability user ability as if it were his own.
Aries was still dangling in the air, her face sullen, pouting her lips.
"It's unfair. If I had an ability like space control, I'd go see Seiana every single day."
"You'd get tired of it soon."
"Me? That can't be... Oh, not me, but Seiana would get tired? Of me?"
'That might be true,' Aries muttered, then something struck her and she burst into laughter.
“Aha! So that’s why you only left once every two or three days? Even though you weren’t busy! Ahahaha!”
Raymund gave a slight flick of his finger as he glared at Aries, who was giggling as if she’d found something to tease him about. Instantly, her body, which had been hovering quietly in the air, began to shake violently.
Aries tried her best to resist, but it was no use. Only after letting out a sharp grunt, as if she was about to lose control, did the shaking finally stop.
"Demon. Idiot..."
She tried to vent her frustration by spouting every bad word she knew, but Raymund didn’t even flinch.
Once the presence of Seiana was completely gone from the maze, Raymund finally let Aries down from the air.
He probably hung her up there as a form of punishment for teasing him, but also to keep her restrained—he wasn’t sure what impulsive act she might do otherwise.
Raymund nodded toward Aries once she landed lightly on the ground. The gesture was arrogantly regal—nothing like anything Seiana could have imagined.
Though he didn’t speak a word, Aries understood the silent nod to mean that she was to lead him to the carriage she’d come in.
Without a word, Aries moved quietly, and Raymund followed slowly behind her.
They passed through the maze and the garden, arriving at a corner of the mansion wall where they used their abilities to lightly leap over the fence.
After walking a little further, they reached a carriage that looked completely ordinary on the outside. The coachman bowed his head politely as the two approached.
But while the exterior seemed normal, the inside was quite different. The walls of the carriage were two to three times thicker than a regular one.
The windows were smaller and, most notably, translucent to the point that it was almost impossible to see inside.
The carriage looked suspicious just by appearance, but this was the only kind that the ability user could ride—since anyone passing by might faint at the sight of them through a transparent window.
As soon as they both sat down, the carriage began to move slowly. Aries, sitting opposite Raymund, studied him silently before finally speaking.
“Are you still not feeling well?”
Raymund’s quietness wasn’t just because he didn’t want to talk to Aries—it was because he wasn’t in good condition.
Using his ability drastically worsened his state. Other ability user also struggled with unfamiliar ability after inheriting them, but after about a year, they got used to it and recovered. But for him…
He didn’t know whether it was because his ability was too strong or his body was rejecting the ability.
So he usually avoided using it, but hearing that Aries had gone to see Seiana startled him enough to make him teleport and even suspend her in midair.
'Since he didn't want to be with me, he could have used teleportation to go back, but seeing him return in my carriage instead...'
He seemed to be in worse shape than Aries had thought. She wanted to say something sympathetic, but since he kept his mouth shut and ignored her, she held back, worried that teasing him again might cause him to collapse.
Naturally, silence filled the carriage.
Clip-clop clip-clop.
Listening to the steady sound of hooves, Aries thought of Seiana.
How could such a miraculous person even exist? Just picturing Seiana’s face made her heart race.
‘I’ve never wanted something so badly in my life.’
This desire extended to people and objects alike. As the Duke's Lady, Aries had never known poverty. Even after becoming an ability user and losing her ordinary life, her material wealth had only grown.
All it took was a casual mention of craving something - food or an object - and within hours, the desired item would appear before her.
What she couldn't possess were intangible things like human warmth and affection. She had abandoned hope of receiving such things from anyone...
'Parting is too painful. I want to stay by her side forever...'
What could she do…? Aries’s eyes darkened with a sinister gleam.
“Don’t waste your time with nonsense.”
Raymund broke the silence with a warning. The two understood each other well enough to read each other’s thoughts clearly.
Aries was taken aback but quickly smiled. She wasn’t the only one having such thoughts.
Raymund scoffed at the look in her eyes that seemed to say, “Aren’t you just as shameless?” At least he believed he had more self-control than Aries.
'Going to threaten someone just because you don't like them can't be considered being in your right mind.'
If you don't like someone, shouldn't you just avoid them? Raymund couldn't comprehend this logic. That's why he kept his guard up around Aries. While she might seem pitiful now, he couldn't risk her recklessness endangering Seiana again.