Chapter 39

“Don’t tell me… you saw everything? Why did you look without permission? That’s so unfair!”  

Hazel, upset, began to ramble on and hit Kaiden’s arm with her hand, asking him to let her go. She wanted to jump out of bed and hide immediately, but Kaiden, as if to say she shouldn’t even think about escaping, wrapped his arms and legs around her like vines, holding her tightly in place.  

“Hazel, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to look.”  

“I can’t forgive you!”  

“There was a letter from Humohr about the fragrance factory tucked between the pages of your diary.”  

Kaiden kissed Hazel’s shoulder, which seemed to stick out as if she were pouting in anger.  

Behind the letter from Humohr, which invited her to the fragrance factory, there was a number that was hard to ignore.  

Kaiden: X8.9 points  

Humohr: 69.0 points  

Unfortunately, the most crucial part had been soaked in water, leaving the paper wrinkled and the numbers illegible. The visible part showed Humohr with a higher score, making Kaiden uneasy.  

He had turned the pages to see if there was an explanation for the scores, only to find short sentences beginning with “With my lover~” filling the pages.  

Each entry was as cute and endearing as Hazel herself, filled with adorable wishes:  

– Take a nighttime walk holding hands with my lover from midnight until sunrise.  

– Wear matching couple outfits and go on a date in the city with my lover.  

Kaiden thought Hazel would smile brightly if he remembered these and pretended to fulfill them one by one. As he flipped a few more pages, however, the tone changed dramatically.  

There were bold and daring fantasies about intimate moments that made him wonder if they were even possible. Some were already crossed out with pencil marks.  

– Touch a prince as virile as the Dragon Prince.  

– Try it with my lover while handcuffed.  

It wasn’t sorcery; it was pure mischief.  

The source of these audacious imaginations became clear in the following pages, filled with reviews of dozens of er*tic novels, including one titled ‘The Virile Dragon Prince’s Circumstances’. Hazel had carefully selected and noted down the things she wanted to try.  

Kaiden tucked Humohr’s fake letter, which had invited her to the fragrance factory, into his inner pocket and recited the diary’s contents as if replaying them in his mind. While caring for Hazel, who had been intoxicated by the fragrance, he jotted down what he remembered on a piece of paper.  

Still squirming in his arms, Hazel scolded Kaiden, saying that it was wrong to look at someone else’s things.  

“That’s my privacy! From now on, you’re banned from entering my room!”  

“Hazel, isn’t that too harsh?”  

As Kaiden loosened his arms and legs that had been holding her, he began tickling her. Hazel burst into laughter, and her sulking expression quickly brightened.  

“But, Hazel, can’t you just tell me one thing?”  

“What is it?”  

Hazel, still catching her breath from laughing, lifted her head from where it rested against his chest and looked at him.  

“How many points did I get?”  

“Oh, Your Grace!”  

Hazel, realizing he must have seen that part too, playfully hit his chest with her fists.  

“You’re just too cute, Hazel.”  

Kaiden smoothed down her stray hairs with his fingers and kissed her forehead.  

“Shall we get up and have breakfast?”  

“No.”  

“Let’s eat breakfast and then go on a date.”  

Once again, his lips brushed against her forehead before pulling away.  

“Where are we going?”  

“How about Serena Tea House and Mopelli Restaurant?”  

Both were famous date spots that couples always visited at least once.  

Hazel’s round cheeks lifted at the perfect choice of locations, but then she remembered her earlier refusal and bit her lip. Had she been too stubborn?  

“You’ll go, right?”  

Kaiden’s smile, paired with his slightly tilted eyes urging her for an answer, was so handsome that it made her heart flutter as if wings were brushing against it.  

With his flawless face smiling solely at her from the early morning, she couldn’t even think of refusing, let alone being angry.  

“Well… yes.”  

“Good girl. You’re generous too.”  

Kaiden chuckled softly, planting another kiss on her forehead before lifting the arm that was wrapped around her waist. The blanket slid off as he effortlessly picked Hazel up and placed her on the floor by the door.  

“Hazel, get ready and come out.”  

“Yes.”  

“And don’t wear that white dress you wore last time.”  

Thinking that flashy outfits weren’t to his taste, Hazel waved goodbye, saying she’d see him soon.  

***

From the morning, the streets were bustling.  

It happened to be market day, so there was plenty to see, and the crowd was so dense that there was hardly any room to step.  

As Hazel clung tightly to Kaiden’s arm for support, his folded arm came down to hold her hand. She liked the warm sensation spreading like blossoming flowers, so she tapped her fingers lightly against his.  

‘So this is what dating the Duke feels like. We’ll be married soon, won’t we?’  

Feeling the reality of it all through their clasped hands, Hazel smiled at the passing young ladies, as if to say, “The Duke will soon be my husband.” But for some reason, none of them seemed surprised.  

Dating was supposed to be noisy and full of rumors.  

“Your Grace.”  

“Yes, Hazel.”  

“Why doesn’t anyone know that we’re dating?”  

Disappointed by the lack of reaction, Hazel kicked at the ground. She had secretly hoped for envious glances from the young ladies and gossip speculating about their relationship.  

‘Is it because there’s no ring?’  

While Hazel pondered over this, she raised her hand to block the sunlight, noticing how bare it looked without a ring.  

“Hazel, your hand.”  

“Why?”  

Thinking he might be about to put a ring on her finger, she eagerly opened her palm and held it out.  

Smooch.

His lips touched the back of her hand.  

Smooch.

Then the palm of her hand.  

And again, smooch.

His lips landed on her fingers, where she had expected a ring.  

“W-what are you doing?! What if people see?”  

“Let them see.”  

Kaiden, towering over her, lowered his hands to cup Hazel’s cheeks and showered her with kisses, as if pecking at her like a bird.  

“Oh, Your Grace!”  

Being kissed in the middle of the bustling market made Hazel feel as though even her hair was standing on end.  

Just moments ago, the passersby had treated Hazel and the Duke as mere strangers, but now their gazes lingered on her before hurriedly averting their eyes. Oddly enough, this filled her with a sense of pride.  

Although it wasn’t a ring, the Duke’s gesture of marking her as his own made her heart pound. She had been upset earlier when no one seemed to notice their relationship, but now she worried that being recognized might disrupt their date.  

She didn’t know if this was what dating was supposed to feel like, but it was as though she was constantly climbing hills, both big and small, without pause.  

“Now that we’re done exploring the market, let’s go to Serena Tea House.”  

“Alright, Hazel.”  

The Duke’s affectionate touch on her shoulder made Hazel stumble as if her legs had suddenly malfunctioned.  

From a young age, the Duke’s actions toward her had always been kind and considerate, but now that she believed his love was behind them, her body sometimes acted on its own. Was this a side effect of dating?  

“Q-quickly!”  

Hazel, who had been staring blankly at Kaiden, abruptly turned her head and pointed to a green sign with her finger.  

At the tea house, Kaiden cooled her tea to a drinkable temperature and even gave her two of her favorite chocolate cookies.  

After sipping tea and strolling until the sun was directly overhead, they entered Mopelli Restaurant, where the scent of savory oil wafted from the entrance.  

“Hazel, you said you wanted to visit here, didn’t you?”  

“Yes. I’ll have the honey cod steak.”  

Hazel eagerly ordered the dish that Humohr, the Young Marquis, had praised endlessly.  

Even while Kaiden raised his hand to call the waiter and placed their order, the curious gazes of noble children met Hazel’s eyes several times.  

‘Is it starting to show now?’  

Hazel thought that public dating was harder than she had imagined as she picked up a piece of bread from the table.  

“Your Grace, when do you want to get married? It’d be nice to wait for Evan’s return, wouldn’t it?”  

Hazel’s question, brimming with anticipation, made Kaiden clear his throat and fiddle with the ring box in his pocket.  

He had touched it so much that the velvet case was starting to wear out.  

Even at this very moment, while they were eating lunch, Kaiden was constantly debating when and how to give her the ring.  

He wanted to slip it onto Hazel’s finger as she reached for the sky, but the street didn’t seem like the right place. Neither did the garden with birds flying around, nor the restaurant filled with the scent of savory oil.  

Hazel’s diary, which he had secretly opened, contained dozens of date plans, but not a single word about proposals.  

‘Why didn’t she write down the most important thing?’  

Kaiden wanted to give Hazel a proposal that would become the most memorable moment of her life. Ideally, it would be in a place filled with her favorite desserts and stars.  

Hazel called out to Kaiden, interrupting his thoughts.  

“Your Grace? When do you think would be best?”  

“I think it’s better to wait for Evan.”  

Although Kaiden wasn’t planning to postpone the wedding just because Evan didn’t approve, he didn’t want to have the ceremony without him either. After all, Evan was Hazel’s only family.  

“He’ll come next month, right?”  

Hazel, feeling full, placed her hand on her stomach. Kaiden wiped the breadcrumbs from the corner of her lips with a handkerchief and then extended his hand, saying it was time to leave.  

Hazel placed her hand on his palm, sensing the numerous gazes in the restaurant directed at her and the Duke. She secretly enjoyed the attention.  

“Tomorrow morning, I’ll speak with Marquis Erban.”  

“Father will be absolutely thrilled.”  

“I hope so, but I’m nervous.”  

“By the way, when will I meet your parents, Your Grace?”