“Oh, what’s that? I’ve never seen that fruit in Bergen.”

“Star fruit. It only grows in hot climates, so you mostly find it in the southern cities.”

“I see. And those sculptures? I noticed quite a few of them at the harbor earlier.”

“They’re modeled after the local folk faith. Guardian figures, carved as offerings to the sea god for safe passage.”

Liz listened with interest and kept looking around.

The harbor city streets overflowed with curious goods from every corner of the world. While taking it all in, she stole a glance at Johann walking beside her, hand firmly holding hers.

His clothes were far more casual than usual. Instead of a suit, he wore a white linen shirt with good airflow, a beige vest, and dark slacks, a look that was polished but relaxed. In a suit he looked like a cold-eyed businessman. Right now he looked like an attractive young man her own age, carefree and at ease.

He said ‘date’ earlier.

She hadn’t expected those words from a man who supposedly thought of nothing but work. She had been too flustered to respond and had just ended up being pulled along.

Seeing him like this, so different from the image she had formed through newspaper articles, made something stir in her chest.

“Why are you staring? If you’ve fallen for me, I’d appreciate you saying so.”

“……I, I wasn’t. I’m just surprised you know so much about everything.”

Liz looked away and answered primly.

She had been trying not to think about it.

Maybe Judith had put unnecessary ideas in her head. Johann felt more present to her than usual today, to the point where even breathing felt a little awkward.

I can’t actually like Johann. That’s impossible.

She tried to keep her feelings in check, but once she became aware of it, every bit of her attention fixed itself on him.

She found herself noticing expressions and gestures she had never thought to pay attention to before.

“Running a bank doesn’t mean I’m indifferent to everything else. You have to study every indicator in the world to make sound investments.”

Which was true. To reach the position he held, he must have worked relentlessly. Knowing every field wasn’t just ambition, it was a necessity.

The more she looked at him, the more remarkable he seemed.

The fact that a man like him was taking time out of his day to go on a date with her felt strangely out of place.

That must be why she felt so unsettled.

Having someone stand firmly on her side without even being asked was something she had never experienced in her entire life.

She had wondered about it before, but she still couldn’t understand why he went so far out of his way for her, beyond simply being kind and attentive.

Even in an arranged marriage, this level of closeness was rare.

Watching him behave the way a couple in a love match would, her feelings kept getting confused. If he only needed a wife in name, spending this much time with her was a loss for him. And yet the hours they shared kept growing longer, until it felt almost natural.

Come to think of it, Liz had spent her life cheering on other people’s love, but she knew almost nothing about romantic feelings herself.

She had never loved anyone, and no one had ever loved her.

That was probably why she had no immunity to this. Why her heart kept reaching toward Johann without her permission.

Still, she knew this couldn’t be allowed to continue.

We’re not a real couple.

Even if she had legally become his wife, the reality was that she was little different from a stand-in bride.

The five-year arrangement was probably just something that came out in the moment.

Even if they kept up appearances for a while to avoid gossip, Johann von Ashworth, a man who measured everything in terms of family advantage and calculation, would eventually take a wife from a house comparable to the Bonecia family.

When that happened, she would be cast aside.

It was a relationship that would end the moment he discovered she couldn’t have children. Staying at his side on the premise of a child who would never come was something Liz could not do.

More than anything, he had chosen her in haste, simply to cover the humiliation of a bride who ran away on their wedding day. Once he returned to the capital and his dignity was restored, there was no reason he would keep a flawed wife.

Then the rational thing was to end it herself, before her feelings deepened and she got hurt. Being abandoned by a man who felt nothing for her would be a pain that made even the worst gossip feel trivial by comparison.

And beyond that, taking the husband of the bride she had helped escape was fundamentally at odds with everything she had ever believed in.

If Amelia found out, she might think exactly what people said, that Liz had been after that position from the start.

She might even undo what had been done for her family’s lawsuit, the thing that had made this arrangement possible in the first place.

No matter how she looked at it, nothing good could come from staying at Johann’s side.

She had drifted into gloomy thoughts without realizing it, staring at nothing, when something cold touched her lips.

Johann had bought an ice cream at some point and was holding it out to her.

“The maids told me you make sure to have ice cream at least once a day, even on the ship.”

“Ah…… you heard that? Thank you. Childish of me, I know.”

It was just something reported back to him, but the fact that he remembered it made her quietly pleased.

Liz took a lick and smiled. Johann leaned in and murmured, “Not childish. I’d say it’s charming, if that isn’t something you’d object to.”

Her cheeks went pink.

This man had a talent for saying embarrassing things without any apparent discomfort. Flustered, Liz pointed at his empty hands to change the subject.

“Aren’t you having any? Oh, right, would it be beneath a distinguished duke’s dignity to eat street food?”

She expected him to decline if he was the type to worry about aristocratic etiquette. Instead, Johann caught her wrist and pulled her toward him.

“Who said I didn’t want any.”

He closed their distance in an instant, held her gaze, and licked the exact spot her tongue had touched. The soft mound of ice cream disappeared into his mouth. Liz drew a sharp breath.

“Sweet. Just like you.”

His suggestive tone set her ears burning. Liz looked away and grumbled, “If you wanted some, you should have bought two.”

She turned to walk off, and her body lurched forward. Someone passing by nearly walked into her. Johann caught her from behind, steadying her.

“Thank you. But is it alright for you to keep staying with me? If you have work to do, you don’t have to.”

“I thought I should stay close to a wife who complains of boredom at every opportunity. Besides, you don’t have anyone else to talk to.”

Liz bristled and fired back, “You may not be aware, but I actually have plenty of friends. I’ve gotten close with Lady Judith, and I’ve made quite a few friends in other cabins. I was even recognized for my social skills at Bellum Girls’ Academy.”

“Then who’s your oldest friend?”

The question caught her off guard. She couldn’t think of anyone right away. She had been close to quite a few people at the academy, but as the bad rumors spread, they had all slowly pulled back.

Then a forgotten memory surfaced.

“I had a friend when I was little. We met at a noble family’s party when I was seven, and we used to sneak away from the adults and play together.”

“What were they like?”

A flicker of unusual interest crossed Johann’s face.

He had shown no particular reaction when she mentioned becoming friends with Judith. His rare curiosity made her feel quietly pleased as she answered.

“A girl with bright golden hair, like sunshine. Pretty as an angel.”

“……A girl?”

Johann’s eyebrow lifted with a trace of surprise. Liz looked into his eyes and added without thinking, “She was beautiful and sweet, and her eyes were this clear, deep blue, like a still lake…… oh, actually, they’re a lot like yours.”

At those words, Johann’s breath stopped for a moment. Something expectant flickered in his eyes, a barely perceptible tremor, and then his lips pressed together and went still.

Liz blinked, watching his expression close off and go cold.

What’s wrong.

“Johann……?”

She called his name carefully, sensing something off, but his face stayed quiet, as though he had gone somewhere else in his mind.

The silence stretched past what she could bear. Her gaze drifted toward a sculpture shop across the way. As much to clear the awkward air as anything, she pointed at it with deliberate cheerfulness and started walking.

“Let’s try that one next.”

Liz headed over, and Johann followed a beat later, his expression complicated.

She browsed a few more shops after that. She was looking at fabric in a silk shop when she spotted Johann some distance away, speaking with his guards.