The maid, her face gone pale, narrowed her eyes and asked, “Are you perhaps the, the young lady?”

“Yes. I was out for a walk and caused a commotion. I’m sorry.”

“Goodness.”

Both maids covered their mouths, flustered, then bowed their heads.

“We apologize for not recognizing you.”

“We apologize.”

Meliciel felt flustered alongside them.

“No. It’s my fault for coming in without a word. So it’s all right.”

The maids collected themselves with a relieved breath and looked at the pot Meliciel was holding.

“We, we’re sorry, my lady, but that……”

Oh no. Meliciel realized her perfect crime was a failure and grew uncomfortable.

“It’s so pretty……”

“We apologize, but items belonging to Od Palace cannot be handled freely.”

“……What?”

“Nothing in Od Palace may be disposed of without the Grand Duke’s decision.”

Since when did that rule exist?

Back when she lived in Od Palace, there were several things Lani broke with her own hands.

Not once did Kahar scold or question her for it.

She must have taken it too lightly because of that. Thinking she could just take one small pot.

“My lady, would you give us the pot?”

Meliciel smiled awkwardly and clutched the pot tighter.

“Does it really have to be that way?”

The maid looked flustered too.

“We apologize. We’ll find you something similar.”

“But this one is……”

The baby’s.

But there was no way to explain it like that.

“Please give it here.”

The maid approached with a now-anxious expression. Meliciel stepped back.

It wasn’t worth being stubborn about, but even so, this one thing…….

“I’ll speak to the Grand Duke about it myself.”

“But, my lady.”

That was the moment. Meliciel’s foot twisted and she went down.

Crash.

She let go of the pot and it shattered to pieces.

Meliciel blinked in a daze at the spilled soil.

“Ah……”

“Goodness! Oh no!”

The maids cried out and scrambled to gather up the pot.

They were busy scooping up the soil with their hands rather than checking on Meliciel, who fell.

“Wait, don’t touch it.”

Meliciel tried to stop them, but the maids seemed not to hear.

“Stop. I’ll, I’ll do it.”

“If the Grand Duke finds out, we’re dead!”

The maid who shouted at Meliciel reached for the uprooted cactus with trembling hands.

“One person walks in and you’re already making this much noise.”

A low voice came from somewhere.

The maids spotted Kahar first. They startled violently, quickly stepped back, and bowed their heads.

“You’ve arrived.”

The maids accepted Kahar’s sudden appearance as a matter of course.

What reason would Kahar have to come here now?

Od Palace was originally closed off, and it was said that Lani opened it when she moved in.

Could it be because of the greenhouse? He used to like it.

Perhaps that cold man was pouring his own quiet affection into the greenhouse.

Framed that way, everything fell into place naturally.

The maids cleaning Od Palace. The greenhouse, more lush than before. Kahar, visiting occasionally.

“So what happened here. Do I have to ask before anyone speaks?”

Kahar’s blue eyes swept lightly over the shattered pot, the scattered soil, and the cactus.

When they landed on Meliciel sitting on the floor, a flash of displeasure crossed his sharp gaze.

“The thing is, we apologize. We tried to stop the young lady, but……”

“We apologize. It is entirely my fault.”

The younger maid glanced at Meliciel and tried to shift the blame, but the middle-aged maid quickly bowed her head and lowered herself.

“We apologize. We broke something the Grand Duke treasures. Please punish us.”

The middle-aged maid pressed herself flat to the floor. The younger maid promptly followed.

Their hands were trembling. Meliciel watched and opened her mouth, then closed it.

Whatever the truth of the matter, she knew it was their role to shield the fault of those above them.

Meliciel pressed her hand to the floor and pushed herself halfway up. Without caring that her dress was getting dirty, she picked up the wool cover.

Then with her other hand she took hold of the cactus buried in the broken pot. Kahar looked at her and sighed.

“What are you doing? Get up.”

“Grand Duke, may I keep this? It’s already broken anyway……”

“Get up.”

“I’m sorry for breaking the pot.”

“How many more times do I have to say get up, Meliciel.”

Meliciel swallowed her distress and staggered to her feet. She tightened her grip so as not to lose what she held.

Kahar stepped closer and held out his hand. She knew perfectly well it meant to hand over what she had.

“I, I don’t want to.”

“What?”

Kahar exhaled in disbelief, and Meliciel shook her head more stubbornly than before.

“I want to keep it.”

“What is this stubbornness?”

“Can’t I? I like it, and I really want to take it with me……”

“Meliciel.”

But Kahar was not easy. Whether he truly had deep affection for the greenhouse, he showed no intention of yielding even one small pot.

His palm faced upward, pressing her.

“Bring it here.”

She felt like a thief being searched. She was frightened and afraid, and it hurt to let go.

It wasn’t so much that she didn’t want to let go as it was that her heart ached.

“How much more do you intend to make a fool of me?”

She was hardly endearing, throwing a childish fit in front of the maids. The current situation, creating friction with Kahar, was no benefit to her either.

But giving this up, when it made her chest ache and tighten so much…….

She opened her mouth in surrender under the weight of Kahar’s darkening gaze.

“……All right.”

She let out a breath and extended the hand holding the cactus. But it was only a pretense of handing it over.

Whoosh. Meliciel spun around and ran.

She gritted her teeth and ran toward the forest with everything she had.

Surely Kahar wouldn’t chase after her over one little thing like this.

“Hah, hah……”

Fortunately, she sensed no one pursuing her.

Meliciel hid herself in the middle of the forest, pressed her back against a tree, and caught her ragged breath.

“Hah……”

It was agonizing, like her throat was being torn. Her chest felt like it might burst, and it took a long while to steady her breathing.

When she calmed down somewhat, she peeked out from behind the tree.

One last check to see if Kahar was coming after her.

“Your escape is so pathetic it’s not even funny.”

“Eek!”

Kahar’s voice suddenly came from behind the tree, and Meliciel screamed and swung her arm.

Before her hand could even reach his solid chest, he caught her wrist.

“Hah, when did you get here! You, you scared me!”

“I was surprised too. To think my future wife is a thief.”

Kahar clicked his tongue and stepped closer. Both her hands were pushed up above her head against the tree.

Kahar pinned both her wrists with one hand and looked down at her with contempt.

Tears gathered drop by drop on Meliciel’s thick lashes.

“Can’t you just, give it to me?”

“I’m curious why you want it this badly.”

“……It, it’s just because I didn’t want to look foolish in front of the maids. That’s why I was stubborn.”

Meliciel made up an excuse and privately congratulated herself on how convincing it sounded.

“A duchess’s reputation doesn’t hit rock bottom just because she couldn’t have one pot.”

“Then since it’s just one pot, can’t you let it go, Grand Duke……?”

She asked with her last shred of hope. She squirmed against the hands he held, but couldn’t move at all.

Kahar’s gaze, fixed steadily on her, was dark. In contrast, the sun pouring from behind his head sparkled like starlight.

The sunlight filtering through the gaps in the leaves was dazzling, and Meliciel quietly lowered her eyes.

“Everything in the greenhouse has to be kept as it is. So put it down.”

Meliciel bit her lip and held on stubbornly. She knew he could take it from her with the slightest effort, but this one thing…….

She wanted to keep this one thing.

“Meliciel.”

“No.”

“Let go.”

Even after Kahar released her hands, Meliciel didn’t loosen her grip.

“You’re, bleeding.”

“No.”

“You’re going to bleed from holding it that hard?”

Only when Kahar raised his voice slightly did Meliciel realize the cactus spines were digging all over her soft palm.

“Ah……”

“I’ll send you a cactus the size of a person first thing tomorrow.”

Meliciel had no choice but to release her grip. She decided it was better to have it taken by him than to damage the cactus.

Kahar took the cactus without a second thought. Then he took the wool cover too, easily, right out of her hands.

Cold air filled her now-empty hands.

“Just don’t make noise.”

Kahar’s low voice came like a warning.

“Don’t stand out. Be there without being there. Is that so hard?”

“……”

Meliciel didn’t answer. She felt like she would burst into tears if she opened her mouth now.

She held back the stinging breath, again and again.

“This area borders my hunting grounds, so don’t set foot here again.”