Chapter Title: The Night Garden
Gigi and the chief butler Ernst were sitting at the desk for the assistant and looking over some documents by candlelight.
"What are you looking at?"
Cesare asked, causing Gigi to jump up with a startled face. Ernst also looked surprised.
"Master, aren't you going to rest...?"
"Have you checked the reactions of the guests at the banquet?"
"Yes. Everyone was pleased. Solroxan ceramics are hard to come by in the market."
Ernst, who was in charge of the banquet, replied. Cesare's gaze shifted to Gigi.
"And the preparations for the cavalcade?"
"Everything is perfect! But really, you should rest, don't you think? Everything you were worried about is over now."
"Signor Manfredi is right. Miss Adelaide's debut went smoothly as well."
A word that piqued his interest came up. Cesare pretended to look at the documents for a moment while holding his breath. He asked naturally.
"How is Adelaide? Is she sleeping?"
"Yes. Miss Epony reported that she went to bed early."
"So, you should go to sleep as well, Master! The proper social season starts today. If you step down from your position as the most eligible bachelor, it will shake the status of the Stellone Trading Company!"
Gigi rudely shooed him away like a pigeon. When Cesare smiled and gestured for him to come over, he quickly hid under the desk.
"No violence!"
While fumbling, he dragged the documents from the desk as if determined not to let him work.
Cesare had been working quite hectically lately. Too many distractions.
"Alright, handle everything as needed during the season. Report immediately if there's anything urgent."
"Yes, sir."
"Understood."
Cesare left the office and headed to his bedroom. A large window revealed three gardens at once.
The neatly arranged white bedspread by Jane and Oliver was visible, but he didn't feel like lying down.
After some thought, Cesare took a cigar from the humidor and headed to the terrace connected to the bedroom. He sat on the outdoor iron chair, cut the end of the cigar, and lit it.
As the sweet smoke rose, he rested his arms on the back of the chair and gazed at the garden. The garden, darkened by night, had a deep green hue. The color of Adelaide's hair.
*"Signor Manfredi is right. Miss Adelaide's debut went smoothly."*
As Ernst said, Adelaide's debut was successful.
She showed more than expected. She was skillful and shone brightly.
Whether she realized it or not, everyone in the ballroom glanced at her every three minutes.
Her shimmering golden eyes and the occasional hint of sorrow on her face were strangely sensual.
Of course, there were still hurdles to overcome to properly enter the social world, but at least the men would welcome her warmly.
Moreover, at the end. The moment Adelaide and Ezra's eyes met.
Cesare sensed that things would go smoother than expected.
"...Well, it's no wonder that bookworm wouldn't fall for her."
Cesare muttered, holding the cigar in his mouth.
Over the past two months, Adelaide Bibi had become stunningly beautiful. Her skin was radiant, and her whole body emitted a fragrance. After a few visits to the office, she had somehow learned and made her own the languid hand gestures typical of high society.
Additionally, she played the role of his sister excellently. Like a real sister, she occasionally begged him for things.
"A large pearl ring has come to Bottega di Vesio. Don't you think it would suit me?"
Each time, Cesare would take her to Bella Stella Street and buy her what she wanted.
Adelaide always blushed with joy, her eyes sparkling as she explained how beautiful the morganite he bought her was. Thanks to her, Cesare began to understand a bit why men would gladly spend a fortune on those small, expensive stones for ladies.
He had always done so, but in truth, those were merely bait for bedroom pleasures. He had never sincerely given a gift before.
So sometimes Cesare wondered if Adelaide had truly opened her heart to him.
But Cesare had his capable servant Epony.
"She hasn't shown any particular interest or worn it separately. She always leaves the dressing up to me."
Cesare could see how useless it all was to Adelaide Bibi.
His sister was so bad at acting that she could ask for a 5,000-gold sapphire but had no idea how to use it.
If she really liked it, she wouldn't be so indifferent. She'd want to look at it all the time.
Listening to Epony's regular reports on Adelaide Bibi, Cesare couldn't help but feel exasperated.
It didn't take long for that exasperation to turn into inexplicable irritation.
Even when dancing together, Adelaide Bibi no longer reacted. Even if his body reacted inappropriately, she simply looked up at him with clear, kind eyes.
Once, she even said,
"I heard you haven't been seeing any ladies."
Just those words made his blood rush. Why? What a pathetic body he had.
But he smiled casually.
"Ah, you seem concerned?"
"Naturally. I thought there might be a celebration coming up in the family."
"...A celebration?"
"Yes. Miss Lucrezia must be really beautiful to discourage you."
Whether it was Adelaide or Adelaide, she had a remarkable talent for ruining his mood.
Adelaide consistently maintained an annoyingly deferential attitude for two months.
Sometimes Cesare really doubted whether he ever had a sister. If not for his involuntary bodily reactions, he might have genuinely thought so.
That's how stubborn Adelaide Bibi was.
Thanks to her, Cesare had to pick on her whenever he had a chance in the past two months.
*Because you're a shoeshine girl. Because you're of low birth. Because you're uneducated. Because you're poor. Because you're nothing without me. Because you have nothing but pride.*
Even a good person would get angry at least once, but Adelaide only made a pretentious pout and said, "You're too much, Brother."
Where had the woman gone who had once aimed scissors at him? She seemed to have disappeared along with those tears on the day of her initiation at the Galeotto Club.
If what he saw that day was Adelaide's true feelings, then he hadn't seen the real Adelaide Bibi even once since.
"...It's annoying."
Cesare muttered, exhaling smoke. He deliberately avoided thinking about which part or why it annoyed him. His noble pride wouldn't allow it.
Just thinking about it made the cigar taste bad. As Cesare prepared to get up, he noticed something.
A white figure suddenly appeared at the edge of the garden.
"..."
Cesare stopped putting down his cigar and looked at it.
It was Adelaide.
The first thing that caught his eye was her porcelain-like white skin. Next, he noticed the thin negligee fluttering.
A woman with graceful movements, appearing leisurely yet slightly tired, revealed and hid herself among the garden bushes.
For a moment, he was mesmerized by her beauty, like a will-o'-the-wisp, but then Cesare irritably ran his hand through his hair.
*Again. She's dressed like that again.*
Does she have no sense of her own body? Even if the inner palace is sparsely populated...
"LeRoy, what is that?"
He asked his secret attendant, and a voice emerged from the darkness.
*She often takes walks at night.*
"Often?"
Cesare's face grew cold.
"Did you know and not report it?"
*I apologize. It didn't seem important... She didn't do anything unusual.*
"Then what did she do?"
*She really just walked. Sometimes she sat and looked at the stars, or lay on the grass for a bit.*
Cesare was silent for a moment before asking,
"Did she ever cry?"
*No. She never did.*
*What a disgustingly strong woman. She never cries even when alone.*
After some thought, Cesare, with the cigar in his mouth, walked toward Adelaide.
He had no particular thoughts. He just felt like giving her a compliment for her hard work over the past three months.