He clicked his tongue, wishing they could just understand each other and go their separate ways, but it seemed impossible to escape without bloodshed. He had wanted to talk more with Olivia, who seemed to be one of his kind, but that would have to wait until after he survived Alois.

“Alois, wait. There wasn’t anything that dangerous. Really.”

The hostile atmosphere that seemed ready to explode into a fight suddenly subsided when Olivia embraced Alois’s waist and held him back. Alois instantly dispersed his power, fearing the energy might hurt her.

“I saw his hand touching you.”

So I should start by cutting off his wrist. Alois’s gaze fell on the man’s wrist. At this cold, serious threat that was clearly no joke, the man irritably hid his hands behind his back.

“It’s a misunderstanding!”

“There seems to have been a misunderstanding between this person, the rabbit, and me. There was brief contact when I tried to clear up the misunderstanding, but he also got hit pretty hard by this necklace’s magic, so it was mutual, and now that the misunderstanding is cleared up, it’s fine, right?”

Olivia intensely signaled to the man with her eyes.

‘Quickly agree and let’s resolve this!’

Fortunately, the man understood her meaning and promptly nodded vigorously while taking a step back.

“Since you insisted the rabbit has an owner, then you find the owner yourself. I’ll leave quietly, so don’t suddenly attack me, okay?”

The man, who had been watching Alois cautiously, disappeared in an instant. While Olivia looked around in surprise, Alois glared at the trajectory of the man who had leaped onto the roof with speed unbelievable for a human. It was fortunate he could appear at this location immediately. The mere fact that such a suspicious person had approached Olivia put him in a foul mood.

“We should return to our lodgings now.”

“You’re right. It seems like an unlucky day.”

Her energy had completely drained. From small mistakes to incidents. While it wasn’t strange for events with crowds to have problems, there are days when nothing seems to go right. Olivia showed Alois the rabbit in her arms.

“Let’s just find this little one’s family and go back quickly.”

One more troublesome thing. Alois, who was more generous toward animals than humans, examined the injured rabbit’s body. Even though he was generally more lenient with animals than humans, today he wasn’t in the mood to consider each circumstance.

With a brief sigh, Alois took Olivia to a large hotel. Until they entered the lobby, Olivia remained puzzled about why he had brought her here.

“If they didn’t actually abandon it, they would have left someone here.”

The ribbon the rabbit wore was made of expensive imported fabric that ordinary people would find difficult to obtain. Only a handful of people in the Empire could acquire such fabric. People like that would naturally stay only at this hotel, so there was no need to search elsewhere.

After standing in the lobby for a few minutes, a man came running hurriedly from the distance, just as Alois had predicted.

“Ex-excuse me, that rabbit, could I see that rabbit?”

The sweating man clasped his hands together and bowed his head earnestly. But thanks to the rabbit, which began bouncing excitedly as soon as the man approached, no further confirmation was needed.

“Are you this rabbit’s owner? But it mentioned a sister?”

“It belongs to our Miss.”

The man, who introduced himself as a secretary, held out a plush cushion, and the rabbit jumped onto it with familiarity. The pale-faced man finally sighed in relief and hurriedly made calls to various places.

“Thank you so much for finding the rabbit. The Miss says she wants to reward you with anything. She’s on her way here, if you could wait a moment……”

“I’ll pass.”

“Pardon?”

Alois, who had coldly cut off the conversation, pulled Olivia into his arms.

“Wait, please! The Miss really wants to, um, just a moment please!”

His heart was still racing from the shock and hadn’t properly calmed down. He was barely restraining himself from removing Olivia from the gaze of humans, and now they wanted him to wait for someone? In lieu of Alois, who simply turned away without further explanation, Olivia smiled and waved her hand behind her back to indicate everything was fine. She also quickly nodded goodbye to the rabbit, which was waving its tiny paws.

After finding the rabbit’s owner, Alois immediately returned to the mansion, where he embraced Olivia and headed straight for the bed.

Olivia occasionally stroked his head or patted his back as she waited for him to calm down. Without saying or doing anything, Alois just held her tightly, as if he might have frozen in place. Only after a long while did he exhale deeply and slightly loosen his arms.

“Are you okay now?”

“I’m trying to be okay.”

“I’m not going anywhere. If we ever have to separate due to unavoidable circumstances, I’ll definitely return as quickly as possible, so please wait for me.”

“It’s not that I don’t trust you. I can wait as long as needed. I just fear losing you to circumstances beyond my control.”

“That’s not good. I don’t want to be your fear.”

“Everything in my life now exists because of you, so what else should I fear besides losing you? It’s only natural. You have to admit that.”

Alois embraced Olivia again, expressing his discontent like a child. Although it was a bit difficult to breathe, she didn’t mind the pressure squeezing her entire body. It felt strange, as if she held all of his  happiness in her hands.

While intellectually she felt that his complete dependence on her wasn’t healthy, Olivia buried in her heart the honest feeling that his plea had momentarily thrilled her.

* * *

The expert’s touch was truly magical. Olivia, who couldn’t take her eyes off her reflection in the mirror, awkwardly turned around. Such a formal dress still felt unfamiliar, making her tense with every small movement. The shoes, hair ornaments, and light makeup—everything was new to her, and she would need time to adjust.

Like a broken doll, Olivia creaked out of the dressing room and carefully made her way to the lobby, one step at a time.

“Livi?”

“Alois?”

The two people who met in the lobby called out to each other simultaneously with similar expressions of surprise. While Olivia covered her mouth in awe at Alois in his splendid formal attire, Alois likewise couldn’t take his eyes off Olivia’s new appearance.

The ostentatious couple might have seemed merely annoying to others, but the two, lost in their own world, paid no attention to the gazes around them.

Alois’s snow-white formal wear adorned with elaborate gold decorations and Olivia’s innocent dress with an exquisite blend of white and sky blue were masterpieces created with great care by an imperial designer. This was all thanks to Alois’s determination to dress Olivia in a gown made by the finest artisan.

Alois had added a slight curl to his hair and neatly swept his bangs back to reveal his face clearly. This highlighted his straight eyebrows and nose bridge, making his handsome features shine even more. A deep navy cape that draped from one shoulder swayed elegantly behind his broad back.

In contrast to her usual style of tying her hair for convenience, Olivia had braided the sides of her hair, swept it back, and let it flow abundantly. Her lovely pink hair was sparsely decorated with sky-blue flowers similar to her dress.

When the two stood side by side, both gorgeously and beautifully adorned solely to satisfy aesthetic sensibilities, their intensity strengthened.

“Everyone at today’s party will never forget you.”

“But isn’t today about your re-debut, Alois? I don’t think I matter.”

“You’ll understand when we get there.”

At this point, Olivia still didn’t understand what Alois meant. She just smiled broadly, happy that she could stay close to the exceptionally handsome Alois and look at him all day.

With such high spirits, they arrived at the party venue.

And exactly two hours later, Olivia perfectly understood his meaningful words—what her presence signified at a party announcing Alois’s existence to the world.

‘Every single person, without exception, has greeted me.’

Not knowing that attending as a partner would have such significance, Olivia felt dazed by the attention directed at her. While she was pleased that everyone recognized her as Alois’s lover, people’s reactions seemed to treat them as more than lovers—almost like fiancés or even a married couple.

‘Why are they trying to probe me about the Schraien family’s private matters? Am I imagining this?’

She glanced at Alois’s expression as he conversed with other nobles. He didn’t seem bothered by this atmosphere at all. Instead, he responded as if it were natural and even wrapped his arm around Olivia’s waist, as if to fan their reactions. Although she appreciated how he checked on her and showed consideration even in the middle of important conversations…

‘I do have some sense of awareness!’

Olivia broke into a cold sweat as she felt the nobles’ gazes fixed on her whenever Alois spoke to her. They weren’t exactly threatening, but she could sense their burning determination to thoroughly understand her down to the bone.

“Alois, just a moment……”

Alois willingly leaned his head toward Olivia’s whisper. Covering her mouth with her hand to block people’s gazes, she whispered quietly.

“I’m going to look around the party venue for a bit.”

“Ah, if that’s the case, I’ll come with you.”

It was the expected answer. Especially after being forcibly separated from Alois unintentionally before, he was reacting more sensitively than usual. Olivia smiled and poked his waist.