The afternoon sun shone brightly, making Lucas's blonde locks look like gold as he lay on the grass once again, carefully ignoring any remark or order from the Martel family. A falcon circled high in the sky above him.

Lucas lazily opened his eyes, irritably biting the tip of a blade of grass. He had been in this damn village for weeks now and had done absolutely nothing of what was required of him. He could not wait for Madame Martel to lose her patience and send him back to the capital with a shout.

Lucas was damn tired of being in such a remote place, where the girls were not as beautiful and more pious than in the capital. He found it incredibly amusing that it was more difficult to bed a village girl than a society lady. Even taking the Martel daughter as an example.

He couldn't count how many times he'd flirted with her, but he always got rejected. It was frustrating. Lucas wasn't used to being rejected. He was used to girls falling for his charms. What was wrong with these people? Although, he could admit, albeit reluctantly, that there were more beautiful girls here than in the capital, considering they didn't use much makeup. Was he becoming desperate?

"Madame Martel ordered you to weed the garden this morning. Why are you lying here?" The red-haired boy said calmly. Miles. Even the name made Lucas feel disgusted. The blonde raised his head and looked at the dirt on the other boy's face. His appearance evoked only compassion and pity. How could anyone enjoy doing such a thing? All the dirt and stench... Lucas was above all that, and he would rather have re-enrolled in the military academy than come within ten meters of a vegetable patch.

"Do it for me," Lucas waved his hand, lying back down on the grass. He put his hands behind his head and lazily watched the clouds pass by in the sky, no longer paying attention to Miles's indignant gaze. It seemed to be the way he spent most of his time these days.

Lucas probably could have continued to ignore everything around him and just lay there, but then he heard a melodious laugh. He raised his head again and looked at the source of the noise. It was her—the Martel daughter—laughing. It was the first time he'd heard a girl laugh so genuinely, and he wanted to be the reason she was smiling or laughing, but there was another person with her. Miles. Of course. Lucas thought sarcastically as he sat up on the grass. Two peas in a pod: a loser and a country bumpkin. Lucas thought irritably, running his hand through his hair.

"Leave this loser and join me," Lucas smiled self-confidently and patted the grass next to him, completely confident that she would come to him. Anyway, everyone would have chosen his company over some orphan.

"Come on, Lady. We could go on a date," Lucas suggested with a playful smile, running his hand through his hair. "Anyway, I'll show you a better time than he ever could."