#15. Estimating the Distance Between a Man and a Woman (2)

Inside the carriage heading for House Béarn’s estate.

Unable to bring himself to ride in the same carriage as her family, Dmitri sent Eleonore ahead in the carriage in front.

When Dmitri had traveled down from the Grand Ducal Castle in the North to the capital, he had boarded the train alone, without a single attendant.

In truth, Grand Duchess Hildegard had been angry less because he’d secretly gone to the capital without telling her than because a Grand Duke had traveled around all by himself, without any attendants.

Of course, there was no one in the Galatea Empire who could lay a hand on Dmitri, the Empire’s greatest warrior. And no one coveted the North, a land with little to offer, so there was little danger in traveling alone.

But if a Grand Duke of the Empire went around all by himself, without anyone in attendance, people were bound to gossip.

Though Hildegard didn’t dote on her older brother as much as Dmitri doted on her, she still found the sight quite distasteful.

But when Dmitri left the capital, things were a little different.

In the carriage he was riding now, on its way to House Béarn’s estate, a red-haired girl sat across from him with a troubled expression.

“Ailie. Is something wrong?”...