Winter stood where she was and slowly lowered her head.

Ever since visiting the unfamiliar estate, she had expected a moment like this to eventually come.

This was why she was able to remain calm, even after seeing Eden Mayer.

She had never imagined they would meet at the salon.

However, she had prepared herself for this possibility.

“Hello.”

Unlike Eden, who was too stunned to speak properly, she greeted him as though she had just met up with an old friend.

Lost in shock, Eden never noticed the difference.

It was the voice he had longed to hear more than anything.

The voice of the woman he had thought he would never see again.

Never meet again.

And yet here she was, standing right in front of him.

But why had she been listed among the victims of the train accident?

How had she ended up here?

None of those questions mattered anymore.

It was Winter.

Alive.

Breathing.

Speaking.

Eden covered the distance between them in a single stride.

His heart pounded wildly, beyond his control.

Still unable to believe what he was seeing, he reached out, breathing unevenly.

His trembling hands grasped her slender arm and shoulder.

There was no hesitation.

Eden pulled Winter tightly into his embrace.

“…You were alive.”

His voice cracked and a shaky breath escaped him.

His hands trembled.

His arms shook.

His entire body shook uncontrollably.

Longing.

Despair.

Helplessness, born of belated regret and self-loathing.

All of these feelings were intertwined with overwhelming relief and joy.

Eden held her as though he would never let go.

“I… all this time… I…”

Burying his forehead in her long hair, he struggled to steady his ragged breathing.

It felt as though his heart was being ripped to shreds.

The Winter in his arms was warm.

She was alive.

That one fact alone was enough to make everything inside him crumble.

The moment he buried his face in her shoulder, the tears he could no longer hold back poured from his eyes.

A stifled sob escaped his tightly pressed lips, his warm breath dampening the coarse fabric of her clothing.

This wasn’t an impatient plea.

Nor was it an impulsive outburst.

He stood before the miracle of seeing Winter again.

This was the only response he could offer.

Winter said nothing.

As soon as he wrapped his long arms around her shoulders, her body flinched.

It was a familiar embrace.

A familiar scent.

Before the man could finish saying that he had believed she was dead, Winter lowered her eyes.

She had loved him.

That was why, whenever she stood beside him, all her defenses crumbled so easily.

Perhaps that was why she had fallen into such a foolish illusion: the illusion of someone admired by everyone…someone who seemed to possess everything and loved her.

She was special to him.

She had clung to that beautiful but foolish fantasy for far too long.

Spring.

Summer.

Autumn.

Then winter.

So much had happened.

Memories of the days she had shared with Eden rose unbidden to the surface.

But Winter slowly lifted her hand, which had been hanging limply at her side.

The past was gone.

Now she had to live in the present.

Here.

This was the life she had chosen.

Her expression drained of all emotion as she gently but firmly pushed Eden away.

“Please stop, Duke Mayer.”

Her voice was quiet.

But unwavering.

Every syllable drew a clear line between them.

The moment those words reached him, Eden’s ragged breathing faltered.

Winter pushed him harder.

His strength seemed to leave him all at once.

“I’m living a new life here. Day by day, I’m living honestly… in my own way.”

Lifting her head, Winter met his eyes.

The brown eyes that had silently endured so much held neither tears……nor resentment.

As Winter stepped back, Eden instinctively moved toward her.

There were far too many things he wanted to ask.

“So… you’ve been here…”

“In Santero?”

“Since when?”

“…”

“But why…”

The rest of his words were lost in silence.

Why had she disappeared without telling anyone?

He wanted to ask, but he never did.

But it never left his lips.

Then, amid the chaos consuming his thoughts, one memory surfaced: Winter had been pregnant before the accident.

Eden stared blankly at her.

She looked no different to how she had before she left Vartz.

In that moment, he realized that when the shock became too overwhelming, a person could lose the ability to speak.

His mind had stopped working, producing nothing but broken, disjointed thoughts.

Eden’s breathing became more uneven.

Until then, Winter had remained silent.

Finally, she looked at him and asked,

“…Does that matter?”

Ultimately, she had disappeared as though she were dead.

She couldn’t deny that she had deceived him by doing so.

However, she didn’t want to explain herself now.

This wasn’t a place where she could continue talking to Eden Mayer.

Joanna or another customer could come upstairs at any moment.

Just as Winter was about to speak again, a strained voice interrupted.

“How can you say that? Winter… I thought you were dead. Are you really saying that means nothing?”

It was a harsh accusation utterly unlike the composed Eden Mayer.

Winter’s eyes trembled ever so slightly as she looked at the unfamiliar expression on his face.

But she soon steadied herself and looked away.

“At the very least… it has nothing to do with you, Your Grace.”

“…Winter.”

“If you need assistance from a staff member, please let me know. Otherwise, I’d appreciate it if you left. I don’t want to find myself in trouble because of someone else ever again.”

Her calm composure made the turmoil inside him feel even more overwhelming.

Eden couldn’t find a single word to say.

The distance between them was tiny. One step would take him to her, within touching distance.

Yet all he could do was stand there, silently staring at the face he had longed to see again, even in his dreams.

Winter met his gaze for a moment before quietly turning towards the corridor wall.

The next instant, the service bell rang.

Its clear, metallic chime echoed through the hallway.

The message was unmistakable.

She wanted no more conversation.

No more scenes.

Not here.

Not in the salon.

All Eden could do was watch.

A moment later, footsteps could be heard coming up the staircase below.

Winter recognized the familiar rhythm at once.

When Joanna reached the top of the stairs and saw the two of them standing in the corridor, she stopped abruptly.

Without offering any explanation, Winter simply lowered her head in a slight bow towards Eden.

“Goodbye.”

The polite farewell—one that sounded no different from how she would address any customer—made the tears lingering in Eden’s eyes waver.

Assuming only that the quiet guest had finished viewing the paintings, Joanna spoke warmly.

“Have you finished looking around?”

Eden tilted his head slightly.

He wanted to stop Winter right then and there to ask her about everything that had happened.

If he really wanted to, he could.

But what then?

His instincts told him that if he pushed any harder against the firm boundary she had created, he would lose her completely.

He would lose the chance to reach her again.

Suppressing his desperate urge to reach out to her, Eden reminded himself that he couldn’t do anything here.

His gaze lingered on Winter, who had quietly stepped aside to let him pass.

Then his gaze slowly fell.

“…Thank you for showing me around.”

“You’re very welcome. I’ll escort you to the entrance.”

As she always did, Joanna went to see her guest out.

The sound of his polished shoes gradually faded as he walked away down the corridor.

Before going downstairs, Eden stopped and looked back over his shoulder.

Winter had already gone.

The spot where she had been standing only moments earlier was now empty.

Misinterpreting the meaning behind his lingering gaze, Joanna cheerfully added,

“If you’d like to come back and see more paintings another time, Thursday is the best day to visit. That’s when we put up new works every week.”

The sound of their footsteps soon faded into the distance.

Winter slipped into the nearest exhibition room.

She couldn’t move for a long time.

Only when every trace of their footsteps had disappeared did she finally exhale.

It felt like waking from a fleeting dream.

No matter how much she had prepared herself…

She never imagined that she would bump into Eden by chance at the salon.

Only then did she realize how much he had changed.

His features had become much sharper.

It was as though the past year had left its mark on him.

Winter stood in front of a large, framed painting and exhaled slowly and shakily.

The memories she had struggled so hard to bury began to surface, one after another.

Sometimes, she would be overwhelmed by guilt whenever she thought of her father.

He must have believed that she had vanished from the world as though she were dead.

She had never once tried to find out how he was doing back in Ceres.

She knew nothing about the life he was living now.

The weight pressing against her heart grew heavier.

Before she realized it, her head had lowered.

Just then—

Soft footsteps drew near.

A familiar, comforting scent drifted towards her.

Joanna stopped beside her, already holding a cup of tea.

“So here you are. Drink this while you work. It’s been so quiet today that I finally feel like I can breathe.”

“Thank you, Joanna.”

Winter composed herself and answered as naturally as possible.

Meanwhile, Joanna leaned casually against the wall, looking as though she was holding back a long list of things she wanted to say.