21 What should I do next for today ?

Cedric just blinked in surprise. Against my expectation, I didn't get an answer, instead received an even more awkward silence. When I looked up, I immediately took my eyes away from his face and heavily sighed. My hopes were crushed as I saw him already looking into the distance again. Small movement of his mouth came unbeknown to me, but before he could speak a word, I already waved my hand and said frustratedly, " … Just forget it. "

Soon I walked away, embarrassed from my own action. The archduke also followed me silently, side by side with me. While I just looked at the flowers as this was the most exciting thing today, he looked straight into the path again. It was so quiet between us that we would immediately notice the smallest motion from our next, even if one just breathed. It was so suffocating that it was admiring in a sense. It was an awkward silence, that was the most normal thing between us that I didn't even find uncomfortable to be in silence now.

" Hahaha…" , I thought absentmindedly, " It was indeed normal. Why did I even hope for something like an earnest compliment from him anyway ?"

In the past, I once wished for such words, something like "You did a good work" or " You are sweet." or " You look pretty today." . Hah. It were just these small gestures, which would make excited for. It didn't have to be big for me yet even this was a hurdle for him what it seemed like. The only good comments I heard from him were when he were in public, added with a fake smile. However not one of them were directed at me, more like he spoke them to other ladies instead." Should I be happy ?" ,was my question afterwards.

" You are as beautiful as always." Such a womaniser.

Did he have done so with Luciana, I would have accepted this kind of treatment. But this naturally wasn't the case.

It was only at that time, where the sun was on its highest, the flowers bloomed greatly and the refreshing wind blew as if nature awakened. It was spring. This memory was just as clear as it hurt.

When I saw the happy couple walking through the garden in front of the Evergarden mansion from afar, I knew I shouldn't look. I should walk straight to my office as planned, was my thought. Despite my constant warning to myself my curiosity won over me, so I finally turned around.

All of sudden tears overflowed from my eyes. Something broke inside me.

" You said, that you have a lot to do. That's why you can't spend one minute of your time with me. That what you said to me. Yet you had the time to go with lady Bareforth ?" ,I asked myself at that time.

I was on my way to my office with my paper and book for management in the hand and coincidentally saw it from afar. It seemed that they didn't notice me, so they continued being in their own world. The weather was nice, the flowers were nice, everything was nice. As if nature protected this moment. Nowadays I often watched such scene in my time. It made me laugh for my rather tragic play in this theatre. As I contemplated about it,

I then heard the archduke saying,

" You are kind." with a small smile on his face. An honest one.

Sadness. Frustration. Despair. After that I looked down at my paper and just thought absentmindedly, " For what did I work again ?"

Soon I hugged my paperwork to my chest tightly. I didn't notice that my lips began to quiver. Later on, as cliche as it was I quietly walked away with small tears beginning to form in my eyes again.

Let's face it !

Don't expect anything from him.

Don't ask for him.

Don't look at him.

Only do what I want to. And finally and the most important thing was: Stay away from him.

"Setting my own rules should work. ", as soon as this strong believe came, I now focus on my next subject: the male lead.

With my head held high I opened my mouth, " I will dress moderately, so don't worry. The festival soon begins. That's why let's prepare for the time being. Let's meet up ONLY on Friday then." I emphasise the "Only"" especially because I wished for us to only meet each other till that day, thus we won't see each other after this discussion anymore.

" So let's end this and go our own way…", the last sentence I just said it stayed on my mind.

He just looked quietly at me.

" …That's alright, lady " were his final words. With a less authoritative attitude than I used to. With a face which I couldn't decipher. Nowadays I got a grip of his emotions.The reason for it still unknown. " What is it that bothers you ?" ,was my thought then.

"As I thought, our relationship is indeed toxic", I confirmed inwardly, " We should really stay away from each other for our own good. Perhaps it was better the way before my post- divorce. It was… probably better that he got acquainted with lady Bareforth, as we didn't need to often collude with each other forcefully. " … Since I believed the archduke must be also tired. I didn't quite understand his perspective, but for now I knew that he didn't love me from the beginning, so naturally he would soon find his true love. In the essence he stayed loyal to me till my divorce as long as he didn't kiss her or more in this timeline. Besides for walks and smiling I didn't see anything where it called cheating in a grand way. Only rumours made it a big deal as he was known for not showing much attention to any ladies, his work was highest priority. Counting the novel into consideration too, he still hold back for pretty long, not engaging into any scandalous things yet,... except for the later part. Despite everything... I was still mad.

I did try to understand his point of view during this time, but could you blame me that I couldn't do so and didn't even want to know him at all. He was the reason for my family's and my death. What was more to it ?

Closing my brain from any more overthinking, I just focus on my next movement.

My next movement should be expected by both us already. As I began to lead him to the gates, I was suddenly interrupted by a shrill scream.

" ROSIE !!!!"

Upon hearing my name my head turned around and I saw two figures running in our direction. Surprised by this relegation, I gaped. From the corner of my eye I noticed the archduke already coming back to his emotionless self like a switch. As if his variety of faces was complete lie. " Woah, I had to give this back. He can act. ", I admired it a bit reluctantly.

As I was distracted by his skills, I soon got overwhelmed by a cute bunny who "pounced" on me with madness unlike her gentle appearance.

" Rosie, I missed you so much ! ", she shouted with much adoration and rubbed her face on my chest.

It took me awhile to process what happened, but this didn't take long for me to return the hug and said with a smile,

" Hello, Alisa. …Why are you here ? "

Not long, her brother also joined our party.

" Hello, Rosie…. Now Lis get away from her. You most likely hug her to death if it continues. ", he explained with a chuckle while he stared at his lovely sister with affection.

As soon as he said it, she obediently freed me and commented with a pout , " Cabel, you just want to hug Rosie too, right ? It's just that I was the first to do so. " Her hands lay on her hips.

"Yeah.., in contrast to you I can't always act with her freely. " Added with sigh from Cabel.

" What do you say ? You always slept with her when we were small. Don't turn your words around. Just admit that you were just jealous." , she countered with mischievous smirk.

" We were kids back then ! Now I'm a man, y'know ?!", he exclaimed annoyed with a blush.

" Ha ! You, a man? I saw you since you were born. In my eyes you will be always a kid. ", Alisa spoke with a loud laugh, holding her stomach.

I just watched the argument of my cute childhood friends, not knowing the dark aura of the person next to me, seemingly increasing steadily. But when I noticed the obvious mood of this particular one, I knew, " I'm screwed."

"No, I didn't do anything wrong", I believed, then I suddenly noticed," but rather…" , upon this thought I redirected my eyes at the culprit for his sour mood. I immediately coughed taking attention of the both before. On commando they stopped with their bickering. With question marks over their heads, they looked at me for a while. But as if it finally made click in Cabel, he corrected his behaviour, stood straight and looked at the archduke with nervous expression. Only Alisa stayed confused like a lost animal in the middle of a huge city searching for her forest. I just shook my head and believed, " When searching for her husband, let's first find someone with lots of brain and patience. "

" Good day, archduke Evergarden. ", greeted my childhood friend and brother of Alisa while bowing.

Luckily, the brain of my cute friend still worked perfectly, then finally understood the situation and soon acted accordingly.

"G-good day, archduke Evergarden. ", she stuttered her greeting clumsily through and I thought, "Oh my gosh…"

Now we waited for the response from the other side, yet nothing came back. Again our previous awkward silence continued, only with two additions.

" …Good day to…", the archduke soon spoke with dark tone.

" Ah, I'm Cabel Labelle and this is my big sister Alisa Labelle." Cabel immediately noticed the missing introduction, as the duke didn't know how to address them in the first place.

"Good day, Sir Labelle and lady Labelle. ", Cedric finally said with more confidence, still not changing his unemotional state. Surprised by this behaviour, I looked at my still- husband in confusion, because he normally interacted with other people with much more politeness and friendliness like as if this was his second nature, but he was rather cold, even annoyed right now. For what reason ?

When looking at him closely, I discovered some thoughtful and serious expression although a bit underlying, yet still there. But there was more hidden to it. This was what I was sure of.

" …Could it be that we once met each other before ? " ,he then asked with his focus on the young man.

Surprised by this question, Cabel flinched and closed his mouth to a line.

"Ehm…"

His eyes moved to right and left, then he answered, "I'm sorry, if I offend you but I don't have any recollection of encountering you, archduke Evergarden."

"…"

"Perhaps the archduke saw you while he met my father. He could have seen you doing swordsmanship or being with me from afar. ", I nervously added, gaining the attention of everyone at the end.

"…"

"…yeah, it could be.", the archduke gave back with a unsatisfied expression. Later on, he looked at my best friend for a while. As expected Alisa became uncomfortable by this stare and just looked to the ground.

Silence. Wind blew past us.

…

…

…

" COME ON, MAN ! Why does it have to be so awkward !? I can't take it anymore.", Alisa soon exploded.

" Alisa !", I shouted in shock and took my hand to her mouth. Soon I said,

" I apologise for my friend's behaviour, archduke Evergarden." The male lead just watched at it unmoved and nodded.

" Excuse us, I believe we interrupted something really important here, so we will take our leave. ", Cabel finally spoke with his gaze on me saying: I'm sorry.

Shove your apology up your *ss !

" No, it's alright. I had to leave too anyway. I just had a discussion with my wife and we already finished it."

At once like lightning their heads snapped to the archduke.

" Heh ?! Wife ? Rosie ?", both of my friends exclaimed in surprise.

"Oh, right. I forgot that they don't know about it yet. ", I remembered. Suddenly realisation hit me, I widened my eyes and asked inwardly, " Wait, why did he even mention this anyway? Wasn't it a secret until it became officially according to him? "

Before I could even react, the archduke spoke with much conviction,

" Yes, lady Labelle and Sir Labelle."

" I thought, that Rosie got just divorced. Was I not right ? " , asked my small brother- like- childhood friend in confusion. When he just noticed how he spoke to the noble, he added with a bow, " … I apologise for the question. "

"…" My strange still-husband stayed quiet for a while but then exclaimed,

" It was like that at first, …but it is in process so until then I'm still her husband. "

" Was he right ?", Alisa asked me now urgently.

" Ehm…yeah." , I answered belatedly.

In a sense yeah. This should be correct. Still he shouldn't do this only because he was annoyed by their behaviour from before, I believed as the cause for his previous attitude.

" Still why does he still call you his wife ? It's not like he cared for you anyway. Ehm…Sorry, Rosie. " , My straight- forward childhood friend spoke with apologetic eyes. I just waved my hands indicating that I didn't mind at all. Not like it was wrong.

Before I could answer, the archduke firmly said,

" She is still my wife."

" For a soon -to- be -EX- husband, you really insist on this term wife for my friend. ", Alisa countered with a pout. " What would happen if my friend would like to find a man on her own, but this would just prevent her from doing so. "

" Alisa!!!", I took her by hand, walking for good enough distance away from them and quietly whispered into her ear panic-stricken, " You can't talk like that to a royal. You could get into prison at this rate."

" I don't care."

I sighed tiredly. " Don't be so reckless."

" You see, how should I be arrested, when it would be true anyway ? The divorce was already signed up, only it have to be controlled. That's all. Besides till then I'm already all around the globe again. "

I was a bit nervous not telling her about this one issue we had from yesterday. But still…

How could she be so reckless ?!

Come to think of it, the archduke Evergarden and Alisa were complete opposites, but perhaps because of that they somehow compensated each other. Somehow. …What was the saying again ?

"Opposites attract."

But when seeing the both, their hostility practically spread everywhere, not even the beautiful roses could lighten it. I questioned this logic.

" Ah, I shouldn't run away from reality, especially right now. ", I shook my head upon my thoughts.

" Anyway, I don't have the power to go against him anymore. If you want to, then at least do it quietly. "

" What do you mean ?", asked my innocent bunny.

" Naturally, you totally looked like you wanted to hit him. Please hit him with words without being too offended. But I would rather prefer you hiding your dislike towards him.", I explained with a deadpanned look.

" Oh, come on, Rosie ! I do dislike him, because he hurts you. But I'm not stupid enough to hit him with my fists, even if I want to. Also I won't offend him …that much. Promise ! "

To my luck, I saw some common sense in my friend and sighed in relief, but suddenly she made a strange move.

She winked with a goofy smile, then said, " That's why I'm here. As your friend I will solve this problem for you. "

" What do you mean ? "

Alisa smirked, then turned around and shout to the direction of the men,

" Archduke, we should have a match !"

" WHAT ?! This was your plan ?!", I shouted back.

" A game ?", the male lead asked in confusion whereas Cabel just paled to the point that he became white as paper.

" Alisa !!!! " , I screamed panick- stricken. Before I could prevent it from escalating, she already ran towards Cedric without blinking, leaving my strong grip from before. She used my surprise as a chance to leave.

She exclaimed again with a challenging pose, " Let's have a match deciding, if you could still call her wife or not. When I win, your won't call her forever . Then if you win, you can call her like this. "

"…", the archduke just looked at my friend as if she was some alien. " Not gonna blame him for it.", I sighed.

" No." , he then spoke.

"I apologise for her behaviour again.", I spoke in a hurry while catching up my friend.

" We should leave, ALISA " , Cable then said, added his apology and finally took Alisa by arm, accompanied by a malicious glare directed at my best friend. At once she shrank and became quiet.

" Oh, no…", I thought. I became scared to be left alone with this ice block.

In fear I would be left behind with this awkward situation, my body suddenly moved on his own and graped his hand. Surprised by myself, I took it back as fast as I graped it before. I wasn't the only one who were shocked as well. Cabel just looked at our linked hands. Cedric also looked at it. Alisa just smirked.

" Ehm… you both can go to the parlour room. We could go to the city later on. I want to shop.", I immediately explained my action in a hurry.

"Oh, alright, we will wait.", Cabel answered me calmly. I breathed out.

Suddenly I heard Cedric exclaiming, " I take the challenge."

" What ?!" , both, I and Cabel, said in unison whereas Alisa just exploded in happiness.

"YAY !!!"

Without even minding our souls flying to the sky, she just explained the game,

" My suggestion is to play the game which many guardians and knight from centuries ago played to improve their reflexes and defences. You can't use own weapons. The only weapon which is allowed is a paint soft-stone. I think you already know what I mean, archduke evergarden."

Smirk.

" Yes", said Cedric strongly.

Glare.

" We have to divide the place into two fields. How about going to the training ground ? It should be large enough. We could also take a few knights. The more the better.

Only two teams. Select teammates for your own team. Each group have an own field. Everyone have to dodge the arriving balls from the enemy. You can also catch the ball. When getting hit on the head it won't count. And once you were hit you are out. That's it easy ,right ? "

Wink. smirk.

" Alright.", Cedric answered.

Cold.

When I finally woke up from my trance, I unconsciously thought,

" Wait for a minute. These rules are familiar to me."

" The game which developed centuries ago was … Dodge ball!" , Cabel finally spoke absentmindedly with horror visible on his face.

Blank look. It felt like my soul already began flying away again.

"Are they kidding me ?", I thought tiredly.