As Long As You Are Happy

She was bashful but it felt nice to be complimented. 

By holding herself back from denying the praise, the compliment only sounded sweeter. 

“Alright!”

With a clap, the Viscountess of Alphinton turned back around with a light twirl.

“To celebrate us finishing this book, shall we end this lesson here?”

“Yes!”

Irina replied brightly in spite of herself before quickly covering her mouth. 

The viscountess had also paused, as though in surprise, before bursting into laughter.

“You say the same thing but there’s something different about the way you said it this time, milady.”

“I know right.”

Irina fanned herself as she felt her face getting hot. 

“Alright, then let us take a good break for this afternoon and resume class again tomorrow morning. Don’t forget that we will be covering geography first thing tomorrow.”

This time, Irina remembered to zip her lips and merely nodded. 

It seemed like she had nodded wordlessly because she was afraid she might answer her too excitedly again.

But her sparkling eyes could not hide her excitement as well.

As if finding Irina cute, the viscountess left the room.

‘A break!’

As soon as the viscountess left the room, Irina jumped out of her seat.

She had recently been progressing a lot faster in class which must be why she managed to get a break today. 

Still, she never expected that she would ever get a day where she could have the entire afternoon off. 

‘It should be alright for me to take a break from studying just for today, right?’

Smiling to herself, Irina walked around the study slowly.

What should she do?

What should she do with the time she never thought she would get? 

‘A nap?’

No!

It would be a waste to spend her precious break just sleeping. 

‘Should I read a book?’

After pondering about it for a bit, Irina shook her head.

She liked books but her behind might become one with the chair if she sat there any longer. 

Then, what about having a chat with Dame Delphia and Lord Leo?

Or…

“Ah, the garden.”

Irina spotted the central garden outside the window. 

In the past few weeks, there had been a considerable number of people going to and fro the garden, revamping it from its unkempt state. 

It now looked completely different from the garden she had grown used to.

Irina sat by the window and swung her legs as she stared at it. 

“Alright.”

Should she take a walk around the garden today?

***

“It really does look different now.”

Walking along the path snaking through the garden, Irina slowly took in her surroundings. 

The paths that used to be filled with bumps and difficult to walk on were now smooth pavements, and the grass that had grown tall enough to brush against her calves had been trimmed neatly. 

The flowers that once bloomed in haphazard places had also been rearranged and the trees had been moved to ensure they each received sufficient sunlight.

There were even new flowers and trees that complemented the rest of the garden.

‘So this is why Aaron boasted so much about the estate’s gardener.’

She recalled how Aaron’s shoulders would widen when he talked about how he managed to bring in someone who had already been retiring and was in the middle of leaving the capital.

‘It’s so pretty…’

They were now in the middle of summer.

A time when the trees along with the flowers looked the prettiest. 

Hence why the garden in the middle of the Winfried Townhouse seemed to glow. 

‘Who knew summer had such pretty sights!’

Back when she was living in the slums, summer had been so suffocatingly hot she always prayed that the season would pass them by quickly. 

And once she achieved freedom, summer had welcomed her with such pretty sights. 

‘And I don’t have to worry about the slums anymore.’

Hadn’t Delphia grinned as she announced that she had handled it with no issue?

She did not share how and what exactly she handled but Irina felt relieved as though Delphia had told her she could relax now. 

‘Everything’ sparkling.’

Irina walked under the sunlight that fell through the green leaves. 

And when a gust of wind blew, she walked through the cooling breeze in spite of herself and when birds chirped, she would turn to listen.

Whenever she noticed a flower she had never seen before, she would approach its bed.

The green trees, flowers that were in full bloom and the sound of the leaves rustling against the wind. 

The moment her cheeks had turned redder than before from standing under the summer sun. 

“Hm?”

Irina paused in her steps. 

‘Someone’s there?’

She spotted someone in the part of the garden the gardener had yet to work on yet. 

A man stood in front of a dying tree. 

‘This is not the time for anyone to be in the garden.’

The knights were all in the training hall to discuss something and the rest of the employees were in the mansion. 

And wouldn’t the gardener also take a break to avoid the heat?

Who was it? She was curious.

Irina quietly walked further into the garden to find that it was Winfried standing in front of the tree. 

‘The duke?’

Why would he be here?

He should be swamped with work.

The war might have ended but the administrative work only just began. 

Especially for the Duke of Winfried who would need more than 10 copies of himself to finish the amount of work he had because he had fought in the war. 

Because of that, though they lived in the same mansion, this was the first time she had seen his face in days.

‘He looks tired.’

His eyebags looked particularly deep.

Had he come outside to take a break?

“…..”

Then, she shouldn’t disturb him.

Irina pressed her lips together before she called out for the duke.

‘Still, it should be alright for me to look at him for a while.’

His black hair that looked distinctly darker than shadows, his broad shoulders and his larger-than-average build. 

And his scarlet eyes–through which she could never read his thoughts and were always casted in shadows–and his tightly pressed lips. 

Certainly, if anyone were to see him now, they might find him scary.

Was that how the rumours of him spread?

‘But he’s not scary.’

He was also not as strange as the rumours described him to be. 

Having completely forgotten that she had also been scared of him at first, Irina pouted her lips. 

‘Anyone would know he’s not a scary person if they just had a proper conversation with him.’

Far from being scared of him, they would discover how kind and warm the duke really was.

‘They’re all so mean to him.’

The Duke of Winfried was a war hero.

She still could not believe that instead of welcoming his return, there were still so many spreading strange rumours about him. 

When she thought about how people at the charity auction treated him, she could not help but to sadden. 

‘… But, what did he say again?’

“Well.”

“… I don’t know if I shouldn’t.”

The duke’s response when they talked about the rumours about him was strange.

‘Normally, people would deny the rumours if they aren’t the truth, right?’

He would have said that the rumours were not true, he would say that he was wronged.

“…..”

Hadn’t the duke shown more of his good sides than bad ones?

But the duke she knew and the duke from the rumours were definitely different. 

He was not a killer, a war-crazed man or someone who felt no guilt from the war. 

And he was not crazy about blood. 

He seemed to have nightmares often but, well, didn’t everyone?

‘In fact, he’s a kind and caring man.’

But then why did he react like that?

The duke turned his head her way.

Revealing the red eyes that had been casted in the shade under the tree. 

How strange. 

When Irina stared back into those eyes, he tilted his head.

“Miss Irina?”

“…..!”

Their eyes met for a moment. 

Heok, surprised, Irina inhaled sharply.

“What are you doing over there? No, where were you going?”

“Ah…”

Unknowingly trying to hide behind the closest tree, Irina stiffened.

He responded with a voice laced with laughter.

“What’s the point of hiding if half your body is exposed?”

… So, she wasn’t even hiding that well.

Irina pressed her lips together tightly. She couldn’t continue standing still so she fidgeted at her spot. 

Her gaze continued to lower.

“I was… taking a walk.”

“When it’s this hot out? The sunlight is too glaring for a walk.”

When did he get this close?

His hand brushed against her cheek before falling off. Their skins touched for only an instant but Irina jolted her head up in surprise. 

“Your face has turned completely red.”

Soon, she felt a light grip around her wrist. 

“If you’re not too busy, let’s rest under the shade for a moment.”

“It’s alright.”

For some reason, she felt ticklish. 

Be it the cheek he had touched earlier or the wrist he was currently grabbing. 

They tickled as though a butterfly had landed on her skin. 

‘It must be because I’m embarrassed.’

Irina pressed the cheek the duke’s hand had brushed against with the back of her hand. 

No matter how she thought about it, the duke should not have known that she was peeping. 

But then she had to have gotten caught while trying to hide awkwardly. 

Her head continued to lower. 

‘It’d be nice if he could just let things go.’

It would have been better if he had just acted as if nothing happened…!

“Aren’t you supposed to have history class right now?”

I got through! (1)

Raising her head, Irina smiled at Rogan before realising something. 

“How did you know that I was supposed to have history right now?”

“I was the one who hired the Viscountess of Alphington.”

“I know but…”

Irina hesitated.

“You’ve been very busy lately.”

So many days had passed since she last saw a single strand of his hair or whispers of his voice even though they lived in the same estate. 

“I thought you would have no idea since you’ve been so busy you haven’t left your study.”

“That’s true.”

Without taking his eyes off the tree, Rogan gave a relaxed reply. 

“I told the viscountess and Aaron to always prioritise you.”

He turned his head. Irina had been staring at the duke this entire time so, when he did, they immediately made eye contact. 

“So, if anything happens to you, Miss Irina, they are to come straight to me.”

“Is that alright?”

Irina tapped the ground with her feet for no particular reason.

“I heard from the butler that you don’t even have time to sleep…”

“I have enough time to see you.”

Rogan gave a nonchalant reply before turning his head back around.

But Irina could not.

She continued to stare blankly at Rogan.

She parted her lips slightly a couple of times.

Why on earth?

Why was he doing this… and going so far? 

“… Why are you staring at this tree?”

However, the answer she was most curious about remained stuck in the back of her throat and would not leave her lips. 

T/N:

(1): I couldn’t find a good way to translate this but basically Irina was praying that the duke would forget that she was peeping on him so when the duke changed the topic, she thought she managed to communicate with him through telepathy or something.