Chapter 7

Phyllis, who had just returned to his seat, looked up at her. Karina moved her feet, determined not to leave any room for conversation.

“Alright. Are you going alone?”

“I just want to walk for a bit. I’ll be back soon.”

Laura, who looked puzzled, nodded after glancing at the now-still wind.

Karina stepped off the mat and began walking around the tree. Beyond the hill stretched an endless field of grass, just like when they had first arrived.

‘I’ll have plenty of time to kill.’

Karina, who had no intention of returning anytime soon, slowed her steps. The forest to her left swayed as if welcoming her with the wind.

Although her goal was to move far away from the mat, she found herself admiring the scenery as she walked.

Her purposeless steps came to a halt when she reached the edge of the hill.

A faint sound of water mixed with the wind reached her ears. Karina turned toward the source of the sound. As she rounded the hill, a stream that hadn’t been visible before came into view.

“There’s a stream here.”

Near the stream, white and pale pink flowers were blooming. The flowers swayed gently in the soft breeze.

Drawn by the sight, Karina walked closer and crouched next to a large rock. Her reflection appeared clearly in the clear water.

“Isn’t it cold?”

As soon as her fingertips touched the transparent surface, a familiar voice rang out from behind her. Phyllis was walking toward her.

“You’re too old to enjoy playing in the water. Not to mention the season.”

Phyllis, who had approached her, offered his coat. Karina didn’t take it and instead stood up.

“What about Mother?”

“She told me to follow you. Besides, it seems the guards are patrolling nearby.”

Looking around, she saw what appeared to be guards walking along the path outside the hill.

Even as Karina tried to avoid the situation, Phyllis didn’t withdraw his outstretched hand. Only then did Karina acknowledge it and respond.

“I’m fine. It’s not that cold.”

Her tone and voice were quite natural. However, Phyllis, who had been staring intently at her neck, shook his head with a stern expression.

“There’s no point in refusing when you look like that. It’s not like you’re wearing that handkerchief as decoration.”

“This is just something I put on.”

“There’s no such thing as doing something ‘just because.’”

“I’m telling the truth.”

When she stubbornly insisted, Phyllis adjusted his grip on the coat and stepped closer. His arms wrapped around her as he gently draped the coat over her shoulders.

Karina froze in place. Whether he noticed her reaction or not, Phyllis carefully adjusted the collar of the coat to make it more comfortable.

Trying to step back was a futile rebellion. In the end, Karina closed her eyes and bit the inside of her lip.

‘I shouldn’t have come out for a walk.’

She had tried to avoid a small problem, only to end up facing a bigger one. Although, deep down, she had known this might happen.

‘Here, take mine. It’s your favorite, isn’t it?’

‘I’m fine. You have it, Karina.’

‘I bought this because it reminded me of you.’

Phyllis was that kind of person. No matter the situation, he always thought of the person next to him before himself.

She had simply been lucky to be by his side. From the moment they first met until now, that was all it had ever been.

“All done. You’re not cold anymore, right?”

Phyllis stepped back after fixing her coat. Karina, without realizing it, reached out and grabbed the hem of his jacket.

Phyllis, who silently watched her, gently lowered her hand.

“Wait a moment.”

With those words, he walked toward the flowers blooming nearby. Karina quietly watched his back as he moved.

With careful hands, he plucked a white flower. The way his thin shirt fluttered in the breeze made him look like a flower himself.

Just then, the clouds parted, and sunlight illuminated Phyllis and the area around him.

‘Are you okay, Karina?’

Karina recalled the first time she met him. It was in the garden where her unpleasant connection with Celine had begun.

‘You’re Karina, right? Karina Edelin.’

Seven-year-old Phyllis, who had reached out to her as she sat on the grass, smiled brightly, just as he did now.

Young Karina had been unusually shy for her age. She didn’t know how to talk to others or make friends.

Phyllis said he had been watching her for a while. He led Karina to where the other children were.

‘Come with me. Everyone’s waiting for us.’

That was how Karina left the garden where she had always been alone, holding the hand of her first friend.

“Do you remember the day we first met?”

“…Yes, I do.”

Phyllis approached her and asked. Karina responded with an expression that was neither a smile nor a frown.

“You helped me up when I fell, didn’t you?”

“That’s right. I happened to be chasing a butterfly and wandered further inside.”

As he added to the memory, Phyllis nodded with a faint smile. The flower crown in his hand swayed with his steps.

“There weren’t many people in the garden that day. That’s probably why I found you so quickly.”

Phyllis, who had come close, touched a particularly white and striking petal as he spoke.

Karina’s gaze never once shifted toward the flower crown. Unaware of this, Phyllis looked down and murmured softly.

“I still think about it. I’m glad I decided to chase that butterfly back then.”

With those words, he smiled as brightly as a flower and placed the flower crown on Karina’s head.

Karina opened her mouth as if to say something but gave up and smiled instead.

Phyllis probably didn’t know. He didn’t know that back then, Karina had wandered the garden alone and sat down on the grass by herself. Nor did he know that now, after all this time, she regretted that moment.

What would have happened if they hadn’t met there? If the only friend who had helped her up hadn’t been him? If their beginning had been different, would their relationship now have changed even slightly?

“If it hadn’t been you, I wouldn’t have gained a friend like you.”

“…”

“A friend like you, Karina, who always understands me as I am.”

Phyllis, with a gentle gaze, shattered an unattainable hope. That was enough. Karina, though she had steeled herself countless times before, forcibly embraced her wavering heart once more.

As she adjusted the flower crown that was swaying due to the wind, soft blades of grass brushed against her hand.

“I… feel the same way, Phyllis.”

The voice she barely managed to squeeze out was embarrassingly hoarse. Karina took a deep breath, determined not to show such a vulnerable side again.

“You don’t need to say it. We both already know, don’t we? You and I.”

“That’s right. So, Karina.”

After meeting her gaze for the last time, Phyllis turned his head as if to say something but stopped.

It didn’t matter. Whatever he might say, the best choice for Karina at that moment was not to hear it.

At least in that moment, nothing else mattered.

Not Phyllis’s behavior throughout the outing, as if he were watching her carefully. Not the events from the recent party.

‘When you two get married. You’ll both be of age next year.’

She didn’t even want to face the reality she needed to resolve. After a moment of silence, Phyllis nodded slightly.

“Let’s head back. Mother must be waiting.”

At that moment, a gust of wind blew from the opposite direction, enveloping the two of them. Karina, who had lowered her head, felt her now-empty head and raised her hand.

As expected, the flower crown was gone. Phyllis glanced at her and let out a small chuckle.

“It flew away in the wind. Should I make you another one?”

“No, there’s no need…”

Karina, who had been about to force a smile to match his, stopped mid-sentence when she noticed something. Behind Phyllis, amidst the swaying flowers carried by the wind, someone was standing. In their hand, a flower crown fluttered lightly in the breeze. As if searching for where it had flown from, the person’s gaze landed on Karina and stopped.

“What’s wrong, Karina?”

Phyllis, noticing Karina staring blankly over his shoulder, turned to look behind him.

By then, Karina had already averted her gaze from the man she had locked eyes with. More precisely, her gaze had shifted to the silver horse he was riding.

‘A knight? No, his outfit doesn’t match.’

The man, dressed lightly despite the season, held the reins with the flower crown hanging from his wrist.

Soon, the man approached and dismounted. Phyllis instinctively moved Karina behind him and asked cautiously, as if on guard.

“Who are you? Please state your identity.”

Though his attire was simple, the aura emanating from him was far from that of an ordinary commoner.

“I apologize if I startled you. There’s something I must ask.”

The man scratched his cheek while still holding the flower crown on his wrist. Strangely, Karina felt a sense of familiarity from him.

Under the silver-white hair covering his forehead, his clear sky-blue eyes shone with a steady light.

‘Are you alright?’

As she absentmindedly searched her memory, a familiar voice echoed in her ears. Startled, Karina lowered her gaze.

“By any chance, have you seen a wild boar?”

“From where you’re asking…”

Both men spoke at the same time, but Phyllis stopped mid-sentence, looking utterly baffled.

Karina exchanged glances with Phyllis, doubting her ears. A wild boar? There was no way both of them had misheard.

The man blinked innocently, as if wondering what the problem was.

“I don’t think we’ve seen a wild boar…”

Phyllis answered uncertainly. The man nodded with a regretful expression.

“I see. If you haven’t seen it, there’s nothing to be done.”

After replying calmly, the man mounted his horse again. Karina let out a sigh of relief internally. She wasn’t someone who remembered faces well, but she was certain this was the man she had met in Duke Russell’s household garden. Since it had been dark that night and her heavy makeup had altered her appearance, it seemed he didn’t recognize her.

As he took hold of the reins, the man suddenly looked at the flower crown hanging from his wrist, as if he had just remembered it. His unreadable gaze slowly shifted to Karina, and his lips parted.

“Then please return the handkerchief next time we meet.”

As the conversation neared its end, another gust of wind blew. Karina brushed aside the hair that had fallen into her field of vision.

The man, who had placed the flower crown on her head, moved off in the direction he had come from with an expression that was hard to read—whether it was a smile or not.

Realizing only then that she was wearing a handkerchief around her neck, Karina’s mouth fell open.

‘This is a disaster.’

The silver horse’s tail swayed leisurely, just like when it had first appeared, as Phyllis stood with a strangely stiff expression.

Karina’s dazed eyes followed the man’s retreating figure until the end. Her fingers, which had been untying the knot of her handkerchief, helplessly fell to her side.