“Titiana!”

“Huh?”

I had just arrived in the capital; who could possibly be looking for me?

As I rubbed my sleepy eyes and turned around, I saw a beautifully dressed young woman standing with a parasol. It was my friend, Rosemary.

“Rosie.”

She approached with a bright smile, grabbed my hands, and shook them energetically.

“I was wondering if you’d show up today! Where have you been?”

“Well, I was back in my hometown for a bit… But what about you, Rosie? Were you looking for me?”

Why was the Duke’s daughter, Lady Morphe, lingering around my shop?

‘Could something serious have happened?’

I put on a serious expression.

But to my surprise, Rosemary answered cheerfully.

“Do friends need a reason to meet? Do you have time for a cup of tea? And what happened to your neck? Did something happen?”

Oh, dear.

It seemed my long day was not over yet.

***

‘Titi is something else.’

Her efforts to get Yujin to talk were admirable.

Watching her hurriedly board a commercial carriage, Yuri sighed.

‘Even though she’s not in the best condition.’

Magic wasn’t all-powerful, especially in the realm of healing. Crafting a spell was challenging, but the healing from a cleric borrowing divine grace was much more effective.

‘If I don’t look after her, she’d probably skip meals and just sleep.’

Should I just follow her? As he stood there pondering, Yujin spoke up.

“So, what are you going to do now?”

What else could he do? Yuri needed to visit the Magic Tower, even without that magic circle.

But he had no intention of taking Yujin along.

“You don’t need to go to the Magic Tower. As I said before, I’ve learned all I can from that magic circle.”

“Okay.”

Yujin nodded as if he had expected Yuri to be this cold. He spoke calmly.

“I have somewhere to go too, so let’s part ways.”

His demeanor was so stiff, it felt like a distant memory when he had thanked Yuri for helping him when he was sick and admitted he envied him.

‘He changed as soon as we arrived in the capital.’

Yuri shrugged.

“I wonder if Titi knows how uncharming he is.”

After parting with Yuri, Yujin boarded a carriage heading to the royal palace. As he leaned back, Titiana’s image spun around in his mind like a broken projector.

Her silver hair matted with blood, sitting as if she didn’t even feel the pain.

Her eyes widened in shock like a deer meeting a hunter when Yujin appeared.

Feeling embarrassed and too proud to want to hold his hand, yet her heart softened, causing her hand to twitch hesitantly.

‘How could someone be so delicate…’

Titiana was much shorter than Yujin. Even when their relationship was much more hostile, Yujin was always startled by how small and fragile she seemed when she glared up at him.

She had grown up pitifully from a young age and was just beginning to breathe freely.

To think such ruthless misfortune would befall a woman like her.

What made it more infuriating was that the person who caused this misfortune was probably sipping tea somewhere, completely unfazed. Likely having forgotten what they had done.

‘I can’t just let this go.’

Yujin set his jaw. The face that had softened in front of Titiana quickly hardened into something as cold and unyielding as a glacier.

Upon returning to the capital, the first place he headed was none other than Sabina’s palace.

As Yujin had guessed, Sabina was sipping tea while choosing dresses for the next season. She brightened and rushed out when she saw him.

“Yujin! What’s going on? Have you finally decided to apologize?”

She had been lamenting that none of the dresses in the catalog she was looking at were as beautiful as those handled by the Esrenche Trading Company.

‘If I hadn’t seen Yujin for so long, he must have reflected plenty.’

Thinking in her self-centered way, Sabina raised her head arrogantly just as Yujin spoke in a cold voice.

“Please stop.”

“What?”

“Please leave Miss Titiana Este alone.”

Sabina’s long eyelashes fluttered like a butterfly. Her perfectly beautiful face crumpled instantly.

Who? Titiana Este?

That girl who dared to captivate Yuri?

‘Why bring up that girl after not seeing each other for so long?’

Sabina’s mind was in a whirl. She had done so many things that she couldn’t even begin to guess what had made Yujin so angry that he came looking for her.

So, Sabina resorted to her usual excuse.

“Yujin, why are you saying that? Do you think I have time to bother that woman? I’m incredibly busy.”

It was a naive and innocent smile that could fool almost anyone.

However, Yujin, who had seen her escape trouble using this method multiple times, wasn’t buying it. He spoke again in a cold voice.

“This is my final warning. Next time, we’ll meet in court.”

“Court? Do you really mean that? What damage do you think that would cause me?”

“Even if you don’t face punishment, your reputation will suffer greatly.”

“Yujin!”

With that, Yujin turned and left without a goodbye. The maid, who had just brought out tea and refreshments, looked surprised as she watched Yujin’s retreating figure.

Sabina clenched her fists in mounting anger and shouted, trembling with rage.

“Has everyone gone mad? Are you saying that insignificant woman is more important than me?”

Naturally, there was no response from Yujin, who had already left.

***

I was so sleepy I could have fainted, but I let Rosemary drag me into a nearby café and sat down.

With her gloved hand elegantly supporting her chin, Rosemary asked me,

“So, where have you been?”

“My hometown…”

Was it just my imagination? I felt like I had already given this answer earlier. The déjà vu was strangely confusing.

Rosemary’s eyes sparkled as she asked, “Your hometown? Are you finally planning to introduce him to your parents and set a wedding date?”

“What? A wedding?”

What on earth was she talking about?

I was so caught off guard by the unexpected topic that my eyes widened. Rosemary winked knowingly.

“Aren’t you dating that handsome guy from the flower shop? That’s why you went to your hometown together, right?”

“What?”

It was only then that I realized what misunderstanding Rosemary had. Since Yuri and I had both been away, she thought there had been some dramatic change in our relationship.

I quickly waved my hands.

“Oh, no! It’s not like that. Marriage? I’ve decided never to get married in my life.”

In response, Rosemary gave a mischievous cat-like smile.

“Is it his problem then? So, you are dating, right?”

“I’m telling you, it’s not like that.”

As I firmly denied it, Yuri’s voice, confessing in a strangely earnest tone like boiling water, echoed in my ears.

‘Just use me.’

But there was no lie in what I had just said.

He had indeed confessed to me sincerely, but I hadn’t given him an answer. We were in a ‘pending response’ state.

I shook my head.

“No matter how much you push, I won’t fall for it. Let’s drop this subject.”

“Oh my.”

Rosemary rounded her red lips, then squinted her eyes with interest.

“Are you playing hard to get? That’s good too. Titi, I didn’t realize you were such a romance expert.”

Now it wasn’t just confirmed romance; it had turned into a game of push and pull. I bowed my head to hide my face, which felt like it was about to burst, and waved my hands.

“No, it’s not like that! So you came here to talk about my love life!”

Rosemary snapped her fingers.

“Of course. What’s more entertaining than a love story? When the flower shop closed and you left briefly, I thought nothing of it. But when that handsome young man disappeared too, I figured there must have been some progress.”

“Ah.”

If a mysterious man and woman went on vacation together, one might assume that. I explained the situation.

“There was a trial in my hometown. Yuri just went with me.”

However, Rosemary, already seeing things through a romantic lens, found it all amusing.

“So, you wanted to show him off to everyone back home.”

“I went because of the trial. How do you interpret my words like that?”

“He’s certainly a beautiful figure you wouldn’t be ashamed to show off anywhere.”

Feeling like I was talking to a wall, I sighed. Then I suddenly realized something odd about the conversation and asked Rosemary,

“Wait, Rosie, do you know Yuri well?”

Rosemary hadn’t visited the flower shop many times. How did she remember Yuri’s face so clearly?