Cedric met the blue eyes fixed on him without looking away.

“I wish I could say otherwise — but that is the truth.”

He did not deny the reality of it.

“And yet I find I don’t want to go.”

The low voice carried something that sounded almost like longing.

“If our first meeting had been different — would I still feel this way?”

Cedric was far more candid and straightforward than Annabella had expected. His deep dark eyes held something unmistakably sincere.

“It’s already happened, so there’s no way to know.”

“True. ‘What if’ is a meaningless question.”

Their first meeting had already left a deep impression on both of them. And in the time since, there had been several more such moments. It was reason enough that neither could deny the interest they felt in the other.

“The fact that we could meet today by ‘coincidence’ — may I take that to mean you have feelings for me as well?”

“…I won’t deny it.”

Annabella did not hide the fact that she had come to this meeting because she was interested in him too. Had she not gone so far as to arrange a chance encounter?

“I think of you as someone beyond what I deserve — and yet I find I cannot leave with nothing left unsaid.”

At his words, Annabella fidgeted with her fan.

“I won’t ask you to give me your heart right now.”

Cedric spoke with a composed expression. Yet the light shifting in his eyes said everything about what he was feeling.

“But I want us to be closer than we are now.”

At his bold words, something flickered in Annabella’s eyes. An emotion she hadn’t known during the painful years of her past life seemed to have quietly put down a small new shoot somewhere in her heart.

“For now, all I can do is hope your feelings are the same as mine.”

Cedric no longer hid what he felt. The unfamiliar, undefined feeling he had sensed vaguely became certain the moment he faced her again. It was the desire to have this refined woman before him — to have her heart.

“I cannot give you a definite answer to anything.”

The engagement with Alexis had been safely dissolved — but it had happened only very recently. And at present, she was in the midst of preparing for the investiture that would make her a princess of Elaise. Everything called for caution.

Thinking of it that way, she probably shouldn’t have arranged this chance encounter at all — but it was difficult to silence even that much of her heart.

“I’m not pressing you for an answer just yet.”

The low, careful voice resonated through the garden. And yet those pitch-black eyes were shining toward her more brightly than before.

“Only — seeing you now, I find I have certainty about what I feel.”

“What you feel?”

“Yes. I want to spend more time with you.”

In her past life, no one had ever laid bare their heart to her with such sincerity. Not even Alexis, who had been her husband.

Looking back, Alexis had never truly had a heart to speak of. From beginning to end, Annabella had been nothing more than an ornament to him. Seeing the genuine light in Cedric’s eyes made that truth cut all the more deeply.

The two men were as different as water and oil. And yet what happiness truly looked like — that, she still could not say.

“I dislike a fire that blazes brightly for a moment. I prefer a lamp that casts a gentle, steady light by one’s side.”

Annabella drew the line first — she wanted no part in playing with fire. Cedric nodded in agreement.

“I share that view. A bonfire in the dead of night goes out the moment the sun rises.”

“Yes. That sort of relationship is not what I want.”

Annabella paused briefly, then moved her lips again.

“In any case, you must leave — and I have chosen to remain here as a princess. We must walk different paths.”

The road Cedric intended to walk was arduous and dangerous. If she gave her heart to such a man, the peace she had now would come to an end. Having only just found happiness within her grasp, Annabella could not help but hesitate.

“But what if I came back?”

He couldn’t make that promise now — but it was the best he could offer.

“Then speak to me again when that time comes.”

Annabella had no intention of crossing a bridge she had no certainty of. What would be different from her past life if she did? She had only just found her freedom, and for now, she wanted to find a happiness she could build for herself.

“You are always so clear-headed.”

“Not always.”

“I can promise you I will return.”

Annabella pressed down the urge to ask when.

Her gaze kept drifting to Cedric’s composed figure, seated against the backdrop of lush greenery. When the sunlight filtered into the indoor garden, the line of his profile was thrown into sharp relief for a fleeting moment.

“Your gaze is quite piercing.”

Cedric said it as he dabbed the moisture from the corner of his mouth with his thumb, and Annabella looked away belatedly.

“Am I such a curious sight?”

“I — I was simply looking straight ahead.”

“Hmm… in that case, I shall have to make sure I am always directly in front of you.”

Cedric crossed a line so smoothly it set her heart into a commotion.

“I…”

Annabella had been about to say something more — when she caught sight of Hilda and Grace appearing behind Cedric, and startled to her feet.

“I present myself before Your Majesty the Queen.”

Seeing Annabella hurry to her greeting, Cedric rose as well and offered Grace a respectful bow.

“There seem to be many chance encounters today.”

At that, Grace wore a faint smile.

“I happened to have some free time and went looking for Annabella — and was told she was here.”

“I had come out for a walk myself, and was surprised to find the young lady here as well.”

She hadn’t realized Cedric had such a shameless streak. But she had no wish for Grace to catch wind of this ambiguous and peculiar connection between them — it would surely invite a great deal of worry.

“I was surprised as well.”

The moment Annabella added that with a touch of awkwardness, her eyes met Cedric’s. It was only an instant — but the heat that rose in her cheeks was unmistakable.

“Coming from the North, the warmth of the indoor garden must be a welcome thing for you, Grand Duke.”

“It is. I remembered this as the place where we had tea last time, and came back to see it — only to happen upon the young lady.”

Not a single thing about it had been chance — and yet Cedric maintained his composure with perfect ease.

“If the Grand Duke doesn’t mind, may I take Annabella with me? There are still preparations to be made for the investiture.”

“Of course. I am looking forward to the investiture myself.”

“Oh — will you be staying at the palace until then?”

“That is my intention.”

“You always leave in such a hurry — it’s a welcome thing to see you staying longer this time.”

Grace smiled warmly and took Annabella’s hand.

“Then we shall see you again at the investiture.”

“Yes.”

Cedric answered Grace’s every word without fail — but his gaze stayed on Annabella throughout. He gathered himself, and stepped out of the garden first.

“A coincidence…”

Grace murmured, watching Cedric’s retreating figure.

“My dear — was it truly a chance meeting with the Grand Duke?”

What answer was there to give here? Thinking of Cedric’s circumstances, Grace would surely worry — which made it difficult to speak the truth.

“…Yes.”

“Well, the indoor garden of our palace is quite renowned, after all.”

“It is. It’s a truly beautiful place.”

“Even in an indoor garden, not everything stays in bloom forever.”

Grace’s words carried a strangely meaningful weight.

“Look at those roses.”

Outside the indoor garden, roses that had bloomed right on time adorned the path in vivid splendor.

“Just as important as blooming in one’s own season is where one holds the bud.”

Grace gestured with an elegant hand toward a rose that had only half unfurled.

“Choose the wrong place, and it will wither before it can fully bloom.”

It seemed she hadn’t been fooled entirely, after all. But contrary to Annabella’s fears, no further questioning came. Grace had always seen her as composed and wise — and that trust, it seemed, had held.

“I’ll keep that in mind.”

“Good.”

With Annabella’s answer, Grace released the hand she had been holding tightly all this while.

“The tiara I had sent for restoration has arrived. Come, let’s go try it on.”

“…Yes.”

Annabella answered compliantly, and yet she lingered, gazing back toward the indoor garden as though reluctant to leave. But whether Grace hadn’t noticed or was simply choosing not to, she took Annabella’s hand and drew her away without delay.

***

Left alone, Cedric felt a sudden thirst and drained his teacup in several long swallows before setting it down. Whether it was from having their not-quite-secret meeting interrupted, or from having been so entirely focused on Annabella, his mouth was parched and dry.

“This isn’t enough.”

The cup was already empty. But it wasn’t only tea that fell short.

Cedric wiped the corner of his mouth with his thumb, as he was wont to do — and the memory surfaced of doing the same thing earlier, and the way Annabella’s gaze had followed it, her cheeks flushed.

“She knows the danger of my situation — so it won’t be simple.”

He understood the reason, and yet the longing only grew, and the lingering feeling refused to let go.

“If I had held my rightful place, we might have met as a matter of course.”

Annabella had been designated as Crown Princess from the start. Which meant that had the throne not been stolen from him, she might have become the match of Cedric — who would have been Crown Prince.

“Ha.”

Even a fool like Alexis had been given such an undeserved fiancée. There was no reason it couldn’t have been Cedric instead.

But now was not the time to cling to what-ifs and indulge in fantasy. Cedric had a duty to protect the North, and he had already resolved to stay only through the investiture.

“The day is fading unusually fast.”

How long had he been sitting here? Perhaps because he had been lost in thought for so long — the blazing sunset beyond the indoor garden was settling over his heart as well.

“A shame.”

For now, those were the only words he had.