The orphanage fire was not severe and was contained around the kitchen where it started, but because the aftermath clean-up was hectic, it took a while before Firman earned a breather for himself.
‘Adler, we’re already done here, so you must return to Aileen’s side.’
Only after having been told that by Rev. Robert did Firman realize that he left Aileen behind.
He promptly ran off due to the unsettling news of the orphanage’s fire but Firman is Aileen’s personal guard. No one else other than him is guarding the lady today so leaving her to her own devices is preposterous.
Firman’s face turned blue at the thought, but Robert calmed him by a pat on the shoulders.
‘I had Aileen stay put inside the church so it’s alright now. I understand your sentiments, but you must remain by her side at all times.’
‘…My apologies, sir.’
The holy knight bowed to the reverend and promptly left to the church afterward.
If Firman were to be asked, Aileen is an unusually broad-minded noble lady.
She speaks to everyone sincerely and without a hint of sarcasm in her tone, whether you are an unranked knight or a house servant.
Despite her personal attendant’s stir about it, the ducal lady has not scolded him for his church errands either.
It only made more sense to him why the prince is so enamored by Aileen.
However, perhaps due to her extreme cluelessness, the lady does not even suspect Prince Maynard to have an interest in her at all. She is fairly convinced that the prince is merely coaxing for her title’s worth—although Maynard’s equally proportionate awkwardness is also to blame—and does not realize his feelings for her even the slightest.
It was a wonder to Firman how she failed to notice the obvious hints despite how frantic the prince coaxed her, even in his presence.
He was dumbfounded when he heard from the lady that the two of them started to do weeding together, but he still did not believe that a prince would possibly do something like that every day for nothing. When Aileen told him how the prince may have found grounds keeping to his liking, even a man like him was astounded.
But, conversely speaking, that severe insensitivity of the lady was a saving grace.
He feels apologetic to Maynard, but the lady must not be handed over to the royal family.
(No, even Miss Aileen would be angry this time.)
He left Aileen on her own to go to the orphanage so the lady has grounds to be resentful.
He is remorseful, but he also found himself liking the idea of witnessing the lady a little peeved.
It made him wonder what kind of face will the lady make when crossed, and the mere idea of it brought a smile to his face.
Angry or not, it would still do him good to start everything with an apology. In his twenty-eight years of living, Firman, who is considerably popular with the ladies, knew by experience that the situation calls for modesty.
Having arrived at the Church, his gaze loitered around the entire church, searching for Aileen’s silhouette.
‘Miss Aileen?’
The church may be large but he cannot possibly fail to overlook her figure here, but even when Firman went around the whole building calling her name, but for reasons unknown to him, the lady was nowhere to be found.
