In the light, the woman faced the man in the shadows, and the man, more comfortable in the shade, faced the woman familiar with the light.

In the quiet library, the silence was thick. It was like a curtain had been drawn, cutting them off from the world.

Hyacinth pondered deeply while facing the man. The questions that had troubled her nights flashed by one-by-one.

What do I want to do with this person? Why did I look and wait for him? What answer was I expecting? The feelings I have for this man……

Click. The sound of a door opening behind the sofa was clear. The two, who had been lost in thought while looking at each other, were startled at the same time. As the Duke hurriedly tried to stand, Hyacinth grabbed his hem and shook her head desperately.

If he leaves? And if by chance someone else checks this place and finds her?

Rumors will spread in an instant. Hyacinth knew that all too well.

More importantly, this was her secret space since childhood.

Even if this man had already discovered it, she didn’t want anyone else to.

“Lady?”

The Duke whispered quietly.

“We must not be caught.”

“……Understood. The person seems to be here just to find a book and leave.”

His guess was accurate, as the sound of the door closing was heard again.

“They’ve left.”

The Duke shrugged.

Some people existed who could make even a simple movement captivating. Hyacinth mulled over this trivial realization while gripping the man’s tunic more tightly.

“Lady?”

“Tyche wants you, Duke.”

Oops, her words came out faster than her thoughts.

It was her unconscious mind forming sentences in her desire to keep him.

“Well, I don’t want Tyche.”

“Wow.”

To openly say he found the court social circle bothersome. And in front of her, the flower of Tyche. Hyacinth was genuinely impressed.

“I…….”

— she was about to say ‘can’t stand it.’ She closed her mouth in time, but he seemed to have noticed.

The Duke tilted his head back and let out a hollow laugh. The sound was deep, like an echo in a cave. It was the first time she had seen him like this, so Hyacinth watched him without blinking.

“I admit. It does sound quite unpleasant.”

“Why not try to make amends now?”

“No.”

A sharp refusal. His determination not to attend any events was clear, and Hyacinth gave up easily. Of course, that didn’t mean she resigned herself to leaving.

Even if she couldn’t clearly define this emotion, she wanted to prolong this moment.

“What do you do to pass the time? Don’t you get bored?”

“I do various things. Training, things like that.”

“I see.”

“Yes.”

A brief silence.

Hyacinth somehow resumed the conversation.

“I didn’t expect to meet you here like this, Your Highness.”

“…….”

“How did you find this place?”

“Originally, I have a talent for finding hidden spaces.”

It was a concise answer, like when he was in the audience chamber. Though he could have asked back how you knew about this place, the Duke remained silent.

Ultimately, it was Hyacinth who spoke again.

“……I apologize for my excessive rudeness earlier. I should have confirmed if there was someone else here, but I failed to do so. It was my oversight.”

“It’s alright.”

The conversation abruptly ended.

To endure the awkward silence, Hyacinth tidied her hair.

Under the serene sunlight, every corner of her body was bathed in golden light. The warmth spreading through her fingertips and cheeks encouraged her.

“There’s an outing tomorrow.”

“Enjoy it.”

“Spring in Tyche is generally mild. So, there are many events. Have you ever seen Tyche in the spring rain, Duke?”

Though it seemed he wasn’t paying much attention to the conversation with his head tilted back, surprisingly—or perhaps not surprisingly—the Duke was a diligent knight. He didn’t miss a single word from the lady.

He slightly shook his head. A negative answer.

“I hope you get to see the spring rain in Tyche sometime.”

“……Why?”

“The spring rain here usually falls briefly in the evening. After the rain, if you look at the sky, there’s an eight out of ten chance you’ll see a rainbow.”

“It must be beautiful.”

“Yes. When I was young, I used to go looking for the jewel box beyond the rainbow.”

The man slowly lifted his head. With one eyebrow slightly raised, he stared at Hyacinth. There was a somewhat thoughtful look in his eyes.

“Did the lady also believe in such superstitions?”

“They said it would grant wishes. I thought it was worth a try.”

“The beautiful and noble flower of Tyche also had wishes.”

“Well, I’m human too. Of course, I have desires.”

Hyacinth chuckled awkwardly.

She had set out to find the ‘jewel box that grants wishes’ when she was very young.

At that time, Caleb was a very grumpy child. As the youngest, he believed all the family’s attention and his mother Johanna’s affection were entirely taken by Hyacinth, which was somewhat true.

So, he would occasionally pull Hyacinth’s hair or trip her for fun. One day, Caleb lied to Hyacinth, saying that if she found the jewel box beyond the rainbow, she could meet their parents……

Young Hyacinth actually set out to find it.

She had to return after being caught by the gardener of Tyche Castle before even reaching the castle gate. She was scolded to tears by the adults but didn’t say a word about Caleb, and from then on, Caleb was half under her control.

It was a childish story, common between siblings in their immature years.

“Doesn’t the North have such legends? Like the jewel box beyond the rainbow or the tooth fairy.”

“The tooth fairy story exists in the North too. If you think about it, the North probably believes in fairies more than any other region in the kingdom.”

He pointed to his hair with his long, graceful fingers. The mysterious color, said to be a mark of the fairy’s blessing. It was a silvery color that shone brightly even in the dark.

“Ah, that makes sense.”

“But since it snows instead of rains, there’s no rainbow legend. If there’s a similar story, it would be ‘The Dream of the Snowfield.’”

“What’s that?”

Hyacinth tilted her head.

Her heart was filled with a sense of pride. To be having such a long conversation with this taciturn man was astonishing, even bewildering. Could she believe that his closed-off nature had slightly softened towards her?

It felt like a fairy’s feather had landed on her heart.

“On a night of heavy snowfall, if you freeze to death alone in the snowfield, a fairy will take pity on you and grant your wish.”

“……What?”

“It’s true.”

“No, no. That’s too cruel, isn’t it?”

“It’s a lesson to live well now rather than wishing for something. Isn’t the ending of the rainbow jewel box story similar?”

The warrior who actually found the jewel box cried, thinking of his lost youth. His wish was to turn back time.

When you think about it that way, it makes sense, but still, freezing to death alone in the snowfield is too harsh.

“The legends of the North are quite harsh.”

Hyacinth remarked primly.

And the Grand Duke of the North just chuckled and adjusted his posture.

“It’s because it’s a harsh and desolate place, Lady of the South.”

“But it must be beautiful.”

“…….”

“I want to see it.”

The Duke raised an eyebrow as if to ask, ‘Really?’ It was the same expression she had seen in the audience chamber, so Hyacinth chuckled softly. Unlike before, the atmosphere was comfortable and happy.

Just then, as the clouds covered the sun, the boundary between them began to dissolve. At the moment Hyacinth, too, was enveloped in the shade where the man was staying.

The Duke’s expression stiffened.

His face was stern. It was a sharp vigilance that made Hyacinth flinch. Her heart, which had been pounding fiercely, now beat with a different emotion. She felt dizzy.

“Well then. I’ll be going.”

The Duke stood up abruptly. His demeanor was as fierce and wild as the cold wind of the North he had described.

Hyacinth had no time to hold him back, nor to ask what she had done wrong.

The man trained in martial arts was fast and agile. By the time she hurriedly stood up, the Duke had already reached the threshold of the library. He left without looking back.

Just like in the garden that dawn.

The golden time between them just now seemed to have no meaning at all.

Before she knew it, the sun had emerged from the clouds, and light poured from behind her. Hyacinth slowly stepped out of the secret space and sat on the sofa in front. She was dizzy with confusion, but one thing was clear.

It might not have mattered to him, but it did to her. It was meaningful to her. For the first time, the woman who had lacked nothing realized her own deficiencies.

* * *