Chapter 2.6

Helio had noticed her the moment she entered the greenhouse.  

Even with his eyes closed, he could recognize her.  

Though they had only spent a few days together, he could now even distinguish her footsteps. It was baffling, even to himself, but what could he do? It had come to him naturally.  

How had she found this place? 

She couldn’t have followed him—if she had, he would have noticed.  

With his eyes still closed, he decided to wait and see what Elena would do.  

Perhaps she thought she hadn’t been noticed, as her movements were extremely cautious.  

That faint presence soon approached him. She would probably wake him up any moment now.  

‘It’s going to get noisy again.’  

The greenhouse in the rose garden was a place Helio was particularly fond of. He enjoyed basking in the sunlight here and taking quiet moments of rest.  

With an uninvited guest arriving, his alone time was essentially over, but strangely enough, he didn’t find that thought unpleasant.  

And so, he waited silently for quite some time.  

He missed the perfect moment to open his eyes.  

He could feel it without seeing. Elena was staring at him. And from very close by.  

As her gaze lingered, he suddenly became self-conscious about his breathing.  

‘What is she doing, standing there all this time without waking me up?’  

A prickling sensation spread across his body.  

If he swallowed now, his Adam’s apple would visibly move.  

Should I open his eyes now? 

Just as he was deliberating, a small movement came toward him.  

This was too much.  

Helio’s eyes snapped open.  

“Are you really a stalker?”  

“Ahhh!”  

His brow furrowed instinctively, but not because of Elena’s scream.  

It was because of her wide, startled purple eyes that filled his vision.  

He was flustered.  

He had expected her to be close, but the distance was even shorter than he had anticipated, leaving Helio’s body stiff.  

Caught off guard, his expression hardened without him realizing it. It was a habit he hadn’t known about before meeting her.  

For someone like Helio, who rarely displayed his emotions, being thrown off like this multiple times was something only she had managed to do.  

Worried that his inner thoughts might be revealed, he quickly changed the subject.  

“Was it Dean who told you about this place?”  

“Wha… What do you mean? It was a coincidence, a complete coincidence. I found it by chance while taking a walk.”  

Was she unable to hide it, or did she simply have no intention of doing so?  

“It has absolutely nothing, nothing at all to do with Dean.”  

Did she not realize that emphasizing it so much only made it more suspicious? 

Watching her wave her hands in denial and work so hard to explain herself almost made him laugh.  

The only person in the castle who knew of his whereabouts was Dean.  

There was no way Dean would have carelessly revealed his location without a second thought.  

So, what was it about this woman that Dean liked so much?  

“If you have nothing to say, can I leave now?”  

He hadn’t planned on listening to her in the first place. He just wanted to tease her a little before leaving, even though it was obvious she was pretending otherwise.  

“Wait a moment.”  

As expected, her urgent voice stopped him in his tracks.  

What excuse would she come up with now? 

Helio’s lips curved slightly.  

“Would you like to have tea with me? I swear I didn’t come looking for you on purpose, but since we’ve run into each other, why not? I happen to have some rose tea with me.”  

Her purple eyes darted around nervously.  

The way she desperately strung words together to keep him there was… somewhat endearing.  

‘Endearing? What’s endearing? Am I losing my mind?’  

Startled by the unfamiliar word that popped into his head, Helio quickly erased the thought.  

“Rose tea is said to help with relaxation and fatigue recovery. You looked a bit tired earlier. It also boosts stamina, promotes metabolism, and even helps reduce freckles—oh, but I suppose that last one doesn’t apply to you, Your Grace.”  

Was she some sort of ambassador for rose tea? How did she memorize all its benefits so perfectly?  

They said she had an exceptional memory, and apparently, it wasn’t a lie.  

Her slender arms trembled as she lifted the large basket up to chest level.  

It had been on his mind for a while now—

What exactly was in that big basket? Did she bring an entire tea set?  

He hadn’t even realized he nodded.  

It wasn’t until he saw Elena rushing excitedly toward the table that he became aware of the fact that he had, indeed, nodded.  

“Your Grace, come over here quickly!”  

Helio couldn’t bring himself to move, even as she called out to him.  

Her bright, beaming face as she turned to look back at him seemed to stand out more than usual today.  

While he stood there, dazed, Elena began unpacking the contents of her basket onto the table.  

A glass teapot, a pair of teacups, a pot of hot water, several tins of tea, cookies in various colors, macarons, and even a two-tiered plate to hold them all.  

‘She carried all that here by herself? Without a single attendant?’  

From the basket emerged a flawless afternoon tea set, piece by piece. The weight of the basket must have far exceeded his expectations.  

“Oh my, how perfect. There are exactly two teacups here. Hehe.”  

Elena spoke naturally, a bashful smile spreading across her face.  

“Hah.”  

He was at a loss for words.  

It was so absurd that he couldn’t help but laugh.  

At this point, she should have felt embarrassed about claiming it was a coincidence, but her expression showed she didn’t care in the slightest.  

Shaking his head in disbelief, Helio approached Elena as if he had no choice.  

Helio still hadn’t realized it. That whenever he was with Elena, he ended up smiling in the end.  

* * *  

She felt a little dazed.  

Inside the greenhouse, filled with warm sunlight and beautiful flowers, the Grand Duke sat across from her at a white wrought-iron table.  

This couldn’t all be some illusion I had conjured up, could it?  

“Weren’t you going to serve tea?”  

“Huh? Oh, yes. I’ll brew it right away.”  

Snapping out of her thoughts at the sound of the Grand Duke’s voice, she quickly began preparing the tea.  

Dried rose petals slowly bloomed in the teacup.  

The Grand Duke silently savored the tea.  

Whenever he took a sip, she mirrored his actions, bringing her own cup to her lips.  

Should I just remain quiet today? 

Seeing how tired the Grand Duke looked, she felt a twinge of guilt for disturbing his solitude.  

The sudden increase in marriage candidates, who had previously been reluctant, must have added to his stress.  

For her, moments like this weren’t bad at all. No, she was more than content with things as they were now.  

“You’re unusually quiet today.”  

“I thought you were enjoying the tea, so I figured I’d stay quiet for once.”  

“Spare me the odd gestures of consideration and just act as you normally would.”  

Odd gestures of consideration? He could have at least called it thoughtful consideration.  

In any case, it seemed this silence wasn’t helping the Grand Duke much.  

“Does the tea suit your taste?”  

“It’s not bad.”  

By now, she had a good grasp of how the Grand Duke chose his words. When he said “not bad,” it could safely be interpreted as “good.”  

“This rose tea was given to me by Lady Diana. She brought so many different kinds—chamomile, marigold, and what else? Anyway, she had an impressive variety of teas.”  

All of them were flower-based, of course. When she had politely complimented the flavor, Diana had been delighted and shared her teas with her, one by one.  

“The aroma is quite pleasant.”  

“Isn’t it? I tried it for the first time recently, and it was so pretty that it was a feast for the eyes. Honestly, I can’t really tell about the taste, though.”  

To be frank, flower tea wasn’t really to her liking.  

Perhaps it was because she thought it might be the secret to beauty, so she kept drinking it diligently. Over time, she had at least come to enjoy its fragrance.  

“Oh, but it’s true that it helps with fatigue recovery and calming the mind. Since I’ve tried it first, I can guarantee its effects. Maybe it’s just my imagination, but I feel like my skin has gotten better too. What do you think, Your Grace?”  

“Hm.”  

A small laugh escaped from the Grand Duke.  

“Why, why are you laughing?”  

Caught off guard by his unexpected laughter, her words came out stammered.  

“I was just wondering how you managed to stay quiet when you have so much to say.”  

Had I been too noisy? 

It seemed she had gotten a bit carried away after he told her to act as she normally did.  

When she tried to sit quietly again, the Grand Duke’s eyes curved gently.  

Her heart thumped loudly, and her face flushed with heat.  

‘He seems a bit different today.’  

She couldn’t quite pinpoint it, but the Grand Duke was definitely different in some way.  

His gaze seemed softer than before, and the sharp atmosphere around him had mellowed.