“Dragons can’t even tell different foods apart.”

“But he hasn’t even tried it.”

Ariel grumbled beside Merrien.

The two had long since left the pudding shop and were now by the lakeside.

The carriage was packed with well-wrapped puddings after they had bought out all the remaining stock from the store.

Even though it was already done, he still wouldn’t let it go.

“We could have eaten them all ourselves.”

His lips protruded in a pout.

“You already ate five at the store……”

Sigh, what to do about this ridiculous jealousy.

She felt the urge to push those pursed lips back in but held back.

Merrien knew exactly how to soothe him when he got like this.

“We should share them with Agnes and the servants since they haven’t tried it yet. They’re our people, after all.”

When she emphasized ‘our’ while fixing him with a serious gaze, he quickly closed his mouth.

His protruding lips not only softened but began to twitch into a smile.

‘He’s so simple, really.’

Merrien’s own lips curled up at one corner as she took Ariel’s hand.

His eyes widening instantly was exactly what she had expected.

“Wow, the lake!”

She pointed ahead, pretending not to notice.

With each step forward, Ariel followed along dreamily, like a piece of paper floating in the wind.

Soon, the two stood before the lake. Still holding hands.

“……It’s really beautiful.”

Merrien expressed her genuine admiration.

She had thought it would just be sparkly when they said it was a pretty lake.

But the lake was so clear that the clouds were perfectly reflected on its surface. Flowers around it seemed to bloom on top of the clouds.

The reflected sky was suffused with sunlight, looking just like orange pastel paint had been dissolved in it.

The blue lake. Merrien squeezed the hand she was still holding.

Then slowly turned her head to the side.

And as always, she met the blue eyes of the man who was watching her.

“Just as I thought.”

Yes, whenever she looked at Ariel’s blue eyes, they always reminded her of a lake.

“What?”

“Your eyes are prettier.”

[♥ 142]

[♥ 145]

Ariel’s heartbeat, which had seemed undisturbed, gradually quickened. Even though he knew his heart was racing madly, Ariel didn’t avoid Merrien’s gaze.

“Merri.”

“…Yes.”

“For our people’s sake too, you should stay at House Hartez for a long time. Right?”

“……”

Merrien couldn’t say anything to his words that seemed to know something.

“No, stay forever. By my side.”

What came back wasn’t a request but almost an order, yet Ariel’s voice was trembling finely. As if he might cry at any moment.

Perhaps caught up in the atmosphere.

Even though it wasn’t dawn, Merrien felt choked up too.

‘How could I ever leave this person?’

An overwhelming emotion suddenly rushed in, crushing her heart.

Ariel brushed Merrien’s cheek and tilted his head slightly.

Soon, their lips met.

Merrien’s vision blurred. As she closed her eyes, something trickled down her cheek.

Chu-

After the brief kiss ended, Ariel gave one more quick peck before pulling away.

He gently wiped away the tears that had rolled down to her chin while softly whispering.

“Don’t cry.”

…How could she not? Even when trying to look away, the healing gauge in the air kept flashing as if demanding attention.

At this rate, with just healing alone – let alone physical contact – they had less than a month left together.

In the end, Merrien avoided his gaze while sniffling.

Until just now it was Ariel whose voice trembled like he might cry, but she was the one actually crying.

“…I don’t have much healing left.”

“No, cry some more.”

“Are you crazy?”

Really, he couldn’t be serious for even a moment.

Merrien, whose ears had turned red, lifted her head, forgetting that she had been deliberately avoiding looking at him.

Despite having just cried, a deflating sound escaped her lips.

When she met Ariel’s eyes again, they were prettily crinkled.

“I’m saying I need to return to reality soon?”

“Your red eyes are pretty too.”

No, are you even listening to me?

Surely one should listen when someone is talking this seriously.

He wasn’t focusing at all.

He seemed more interested in gently tucking Merrien’s hair behind her ear.

“Ah, really!”

Shouldn’t he be serious at times like this?

Merrien irritably swatted his hand away while rubbing her eyes.

“Merri, you said before that healing those who go against the flow reduces healing power.”

Just when she thought they were returning to normal conversation, even this was out of nowhere.

Now even sniffling from crying felt embarrassing.

‘Suddenly becoming so emotional.’

She vowed never to get choked up in front of Ariel again.

Anyway, she had to answer, but since it wasn’t important anyway, Merrien casually waved her hand.

“The Tower Master is probably such a person, but I’m not sure. I don’t want to risk running into him and having something happen.”

I need to fill up my healing power… to cure you completely. She swallowed those words.

“Really?”

Ariel tried to put his hand on Merrien’s waist but got slapped with a sharp sound instead. For an instant, his pupils narrowed vertically.

Unfortunately, Merrien didn’t see this.

Despite having just kissed, she spoke words that felt quite distant.

“Anyway…. I’ll do my best to heal you, but let’s gradually distance ourselves.”

“No. We don’t have to.”

“……?”

“Let’s do it one more time.”

“What?”

Merrien hesitated as Ariel suddenly approached aggressively.

Yet she couldn’t reject him when he leaned in and closed her eyes…

“…Merrien?”

They froze at someone’s voice.

Even though the mood had been building, what could they do?

Merrien hurriedly pushed Ariel away and turned her head toward the voice.

The grumbling sound beside her entered one ear and left through the other.

Soon, Merrien’s eyes widened as she recognized who had called her name.

“…Charlotte?”

“Oh my, it really is Merrien!”

Charlotte, who had been studying Merrien with an uncertain expression, clasped her hands together and exclaimed joyfully. Her face was glowing.

“Haah.”

Now instead of grumbling, a deep sigh could be heard from beside her.

I’m sorry about that. But what can we do?

No matter what, they couldn’t show Charlotte them kissing.

Merrien forcefully fixed her gaze forward and hurried over to her.

Meeting after a long time, they both grabbed each other’s hands.

“Merrien, what brings you here?”

Ariel surveyed their clasped hands with a displeased expression.

Everything had gone wrong since that Saint had interrupted. There wasn’t a single thing he liked about this.

Regardless of his attitude, Merrien looked toward the lake.

“Ah, I had some business nearby and remembered Charlotte saying the lake was pretty, so I stopped by.”

“I never imagined Merrien would be here! …Oh my, greetings, Duke Hartez.”

Charlotte, who had belatedly noticed Ariel, gave him a polite greeting.

However, he barely acknowledged it with just a slight nod of his head.

A flustered Merrien led Charlotte by the hand to stand before Ariel.

Haha, she laughed awkwardly while pretending to pat the back of Ariel’s head as she whispered in his ear.

“How could you greet her like that.”

“The mood was good before.”

“……”

Really, there are things you can and cannot say. How embarrassing.

Merrien turned her head sharply away and smiled pretending nothing happened.

Fortunately, Charlotte didn’t seem to be offended.

But….

“I also had business nearby, what a coincidence! There’s an incredibly delicious pudding shop over there. But they said everything was sold out right before I arrived.”

What she heard was enough to prick her conscience.

Charlotte’s face clouded with worry and the atmosphere suddenly turned gloomy.

A startled Merrien opened her mouth.

‘Charlotte couldn’t buy pudding because of me!’