It was an early summer day when sunlight sparkled brilliantly through the thick shrubbery.

Roina visited the arena with Aila to cheer for their brother participating in the sword tournament.

Having arrived later than expected due to a delayed departure, Aila hurriedly waved a handkerchief and said.

“Sister, I’ll quickly give this to brother before the tournament starts!”

It seemed Aila really wanted to deliver the handkerchief she had embroidered for the first time to Bleon.

“Alright. Be careful and don’t run.”

At Roina’s caution, Aila beamed with a bright smile.

“Oh my, Sister, you still think I’m a child? I’ll be back soon, so don’t worry!”

Then she trotted away with a triumphant look in her eyes.

“Wait, Aila! Not that way…”

With many knights gathered for the tournament matches, Roina’s voice didn’t reach her sister.

Not knowing what to do, she watched Aila’s retreating figure with a troubled expression.

“It’s that way. I can’t believe this.”

At this rate, their brother might have to participate in the tournament without a handkerchief.

Roina imagined Bleon looking upset about not receiving handkerchiefs from his sisters.

“I should probably deliver it myself.”

With an ambiguous smile, she finally decided to search for her brother herself.

Since there was still some time left before the competition started, she thought she could quickly go and come back.

While checking the faces of the gathered knights, Roina headed toward a makeshift training ground that looked relatively deserted.

Swoosh—.

Just then, hearing the sound of a sword being swung, she lingered in front of the training ground, wondering if perhaps…

But the man with blonde hair was nowhere to be seen.

‘It seems my brother isn’t here.’

Perhaps Bleon had already met Aila and received the handkerchief.

Roina was about to turn back with an embarrassed expression.

“What brings you here?”

Startled by a low, resonant voice that sounded somewhat familiar, Roina quickly turned her head.

‘Eden…?’

The man, wiping away sweat with a towel, was looking at her with his head slightly tilted.

Barely hiding her delight, Roina composed her voice and gradually approached him.

“My brother is participating in the sword tournament.”

“Hmm, is that so.”

Wouldn’t most people be curious about which family she belonged to in such cases?

‘There it is again. That indifferent face!’

Roina had tried to learn more about this man, but the information she had was far too insufficient to discover anything.

Even when she casually asked around, no one seemed to know of his existence, leading her to think he might be from a relatively unknown family.

‘Well, even in my case, people didn’t recognize me at first.’

Compared to Bleon and Aila, who evenly resembled their parents’ hair and eye colors, Roina only shared her mother’s violet eyes.

Perhaps she felt more comfortable with this man because they didn’t know each other’s backgrounds.

Under the blazing sun, the man’s jet-black hair sparkled brilliantly.

Thinking he looked beautiful no matter when she saw him, Roina suddenly came to her senses while staring at him absentmindedly.

‘I almost committed a faux pas.’

Feeling somewhat awkward, she began fidgeting with the pendant around her neck.

“Renée, that’s a pendant I haven’t seen before.”

“Ah, this? I’ve had it since I was young.”

“The other half… is with someone else?”

The man’s expression seemed to subtly harden, so Roina answered with a puzzled voice.

“Well, I’m not sure about that myself.”

“I see.”

He seemed to raise the corner of his mouth languidly before giving a faint smile.

‘Why does he look relieved?’

Puzzled by the man’s incomprehensible reaction, Roina slightly shrugged her shoulders and casually asked.

“Are you participating in this tournament too?”

The man, pulling the corner of his mouth loosely, gently shook his head.

“Unfortunately not. Only my knights are participating in this tournament.”

“Then why are you here?”

When Roina asked with wide, blinking eyes, he murmured softly.

“Well, there’s someone I need to keep an eye on.”

Though she didn’t understand what he meant, she nodded slightly, assuming everyone had their own circumstances.

Soon, the trumpet sound announcing the start of the tournament echoed loudly.

Looking up at the blue sky, flags hoisted high were fluttering wildly in the wind.

“I should go now.”

At the man’s soft voice announcing their parting, Roina bit her lower lip firmly.

She wasn’t sure when she would be able to meet him again.

‘I don’t want to part like this…’

Suddenly remembering something, she took out a handkerchief from her pocket and shyly handed it to him.

“Next time… would you use this?”

Amusement flickered in the man’s eyes as he stared at Roina’s face, which had turned crimson.

He nodded slightly and accepted the handkerchief.

Then he unfastened the brooch he was wearing and handed it to her.

“Then please keep this.”

The citrine gem, seeming to contain gold, reflected various colors in the sunlight.

“Why are you giving this to me…”

The man, with an elegant smile on his lips, simply gazed at her instead of answering.

˗ˋˏ ♡ ˎˊ˗

“Should I really give this…”

A shallow sigh escaped Roina’s lips as she gently handled the golden ribbon tie.

The silk fabric ribbon tie was embroidered with the Asheter family crest in black thread.

Though ribbon ties were usually exchanged on the day of the hunting competition, Conrad probably wouldn’t want to receive anything from her publicly.

‘I should give it to him today after all.’

With a bitter smile on her lips, Roina decided after much deliberation to seek out her husband.

Putting the ribbon tie inside her garment, she was walking down the corridor leading to his room.

Harrison, carrying a pile of documents, spotted her and respectfully showed his courtesy.

“I greet you, Madam.”

Nodding slightly, Roina glanced toward the study and asked.

“Is Conrad in the study?”

“His Grace should be at the training ground.”

Since it was usually the time when he would be reviewing work in his study, Roina thought he must be training for the hunting competition.

“I see. Thank you for letting me know.”

After briefly expressing her gratitude to the aide, Roina hurriedly made her way to the training ground.

Passing by knights who were training, she headed to the archery range at the end of the training ground, where she heard the sound of arrows hitting targets.

Thwack—.

As expected, Conrad was training there.

Roina intended to wait quietly so as not to disturb his training.

But at that moment, Conrad’s dry gaze fell upon her.

As the man put down his bow and approached her, Roina was momentarily flustered when he raised an eyebrow obliquely and asked.

“What are you doing here.”

“Ah… I have something to give you.”

After hesitating, Roina took out the golden ribbon tie from inside her garment.

Though it was an embarrassing display of skill to others, she had to be on edge for days to make this.

Nevertheless, seeing the loose threads of her clumsy embroidery, she clutched the ribbon tie tightly in her hand out of embarrassment.

Conrad, who had been about to accept it silently, slightly narrowed his brow and asked.

“Didn’t you just say you were giving it to me?”

“Y-yes, but…”

Roina’s violet eyes trembled as he hit the mark. Finally, reluctantly handing over the ribbon tie, she clenched her hands.

Then she slowly raised her head to gauge his reaction.

Conrad looked at the ribbon tie with a dry gaze before tilting his head obliquely.

“Is it a crow?”

Despite it being the Asheter family crest of an eagle soaring high in the sky, he didn’t seem to recognize it readily.

Feeling awkward, Roina answered in a small murmur.

“…It’s an eagle.”

At those words, Conrad raised one eyebrow as if incredulous.

‘My embroidery skills are pretty terrible.’

Roina bit her lower lip firmly.

But fearing he might throw away the ribbon tie, she tried to appear nonchalant and spoke calmly.

“If you don’t need it, you can give it back to me.”

“With the family crest on it, who else would you give it to besides me?”

Unable to refute this, she opened and closed her mouth before suddenly thinking of someone.

“I heard Sir Astor is also attending the hunting competition.”

“……?”

Conrad’s brow twitched as if he had heard a completely unexpected name.

Then, with a sneer as if finding it absurd, he answered in a low voice.

“I’ll keep this.”

Thinking he had probably accepted it out of courtesy, Roina nodded slightly.

“Yes, I wish you good luck.”

˗ˋˏ ♡ ˎˊ˗

Conrad, who had been silently drawing his bow, exhaled a deep sigh as he watched the arrow miss the target.

Unable to concentrate at all, he narrowed his brow and put the bow back in its case.

It seemed he should finish his training here. He wasn’t aiming for victory anyway.

As he was about to take out his pocket watch but accidentally pulled out the ribbon tie instead, Conrad’s golden eyes sank deeply.

‘Why on earth did she give me this?’

The Asheter family crest embroidered with black thread had loose threads sticking out.

Was it because he suddenly recalled a handkerchief he had received long ago? A bitter smile spread across his lips.

“Her skills seem unchanged.”

As he had felt before, Roina’s embroidery skills were terrible.