[Hated Hero, Going to His Fiancée’s Home【Part 3】]

Led by Tayte, I made my way to the Ehrenbergs’ prided garden.

“Ohh…”

It was magnificent.

Scale-wise, it wasn’t eye-popping.

But the limited space was filled with colorful flowers in full bloom. They appeared to be arranged randomly; overlapping neither in color nor size, making them appear natural. It was evident how much detail was paid into their arrangement. The large fountain in the center of the garden was the cherry on top.

It was well maintained as well… It was no wonder Tayte wanted to show it off to me.

The scent of the flowers rode on the gentle breeze and tickled my nostrils.

It was like my heart was being purified just by standing here.

“It’s a wonderful garden… I feel like staying here forever.”

“Truly?!”

“Yeah…”

How soothing.

It almost made me forget the passage of time.

――Out of nowhere, I felt a gaze on me, and I looked around.

They were hiding in the shadows, but from their presence, it was clear to me who they were.

They were likely servants of the House of Ehrenberg… It appeared that they were spying—or should I say, watching over me and Tayte.

Although there was already a report about me, it was evident that they didn’t completely believe it. Perhaps they were worried that I would treat Tayte like before behind them, hence they came to watch.

…I see.

If they were going to take that attitude, then I would have to show proper manners as well.

Which meant, I should be flirting with Tayte full-on and showing them that I was no longer the old me(Barrett)!

“Barrett?”

“Tayte… why don’t we sit down and chat?”

“Sure♪.” Tayte accepted my invitation.

We gently sat down side by side.

“Do you always care for this garden?”

“The maids do it, usually. And I help them when I’m back on days off.”

It was nothing but small talk—but all of it was important information for me.

After all, (former)Barrett knew practically nothing about Tayte.

For him, Tayte was but a political tool.

Suppose that in the future, he made a name for himself as a Hero, and eventually succeed the House of Albers, their engagement would be—no, maybe if Barrett didn’t get deposed by Raul, and kept his position as Hero, he would even get engaged with the princess of some country.

If that happened, Tayte would—

“Something on your mind, Barrett?”

“—! N-not at all. It just felt very comfortable here, so I ended up spacing out, that’s all.”

“…………”

Did she catch me becoming absent-minded from worrying…?

What had I done… I was supposed to cherish my time with Tayte when I was with her.

——At that time,

There was a light tap on my right shoulder.

Wondering what that was, I turned my face to the side… and I was met with Tayte’s face.

“?!”

That surprised me… she fell asleep, huh.

I painfully got her.

I mean, it was really relaxing here, with the refreshing breeze and all… not to mention the warm weather.

Fatigue slowly caught up to me, and I almost fell into a doze—when all of a sudden, the servants of the House of Ehrenberg who were in hiding, came and gathered around us.

“U-uhh…” As I was bewildered, wondering what they were going to do, the servants all gave me thumbs up at the same time. Nobody spoke—probably because they didn’t want to wake up Tayte—but their smiles conveyed their gratitude.

Some of them were even crying… wait, now that I took a closer look, Marina, Priim, and Rebecca were also among them?!

…In any case… apparently, not only Lord Alonso, Tayte’s father, but everyone in this mansion was aware of Tayte’s feelings. And now they were all happy that we were finally getting along.

Our engagement was no longer in form only, but one of mutual feelings.

Glad everyone gave us their blessings.

――In the end, Tayte slept with my shoulder as a pillow until it was dinner time. Halfway through, however, she changed her pillow to my lap—perhaps finding the position uncomfortable. As result, Tayte’s face turned bright red as soon as she woke up, and she repeatedly apologize to me.

After telling her not to worry about it, I asked her to let me use her lap as a pillow in exchange. It left Tayte flustered, and she blushed furiously, but she eventually nodded quietly in consent.

Tayte’s lap pillow… I’m looking forward to it!