“What’s making you so happy, Vivi?”

Matilda, who had stopped by briefly to bring lunch, asked casually.

Vivianne seemed particularly cheerful today. It was the most excited she’d looked since the day she successfully delivered her hand-embroidered handkerchief to her master.

“Nothing special,” Vivianne replied, hugging An preciously while smiling broadly.

While her master was away, Vivianne mostly stayed quietly in his room. Despite being assigned a new escort and receiving permission to go out, she remained within the mansion the entire time.

In the mornings, she called back her writing teacher. Her daily routine consisted of staying in the master’s room completing assignments from her lessons and rolling around with her puppy An. 

After a few days, perhaps growing bored of staying only in the room, she occasionally asked Matilda to walk with her in the glass greenhouse or called for a waltz instructor to learn dancing. She even asked about frivolous secrets like how not to lose to someone who dances the waltz exceptionally well.

“Um, Matilda. From the wardrobe… could you take out the prettiest dress for me?”

“Right now?”

“Yes! I want to look pretty for a change.”

“But Vivi, you’re already pretty.”

“I want to look extraordinarily pretty. Enough to surprise him. I don’t need makeup though. Kian doesn’t like makeup.”

Want to look pretty? Suddenly?

Matilda knew Vivianne could be whimsical, but this was strange. She tilted her head in confusion.

“Oh! I should take a bath first. Should An bathe too? You got all dusty hiding under the bed this morning, didn’t you? The water will turn completely black. Right?”

Her mind was clearly elsewhere. She barely touched her lunch, completely preoccupied with excitement.

“You should eat first, Vivi. The master instructed me to make sure you don’t skip meals while he’s away.”

“Yes, yes. I’ll eat, Matilda.”

Vivianne stuffed her mouth full of bread and chewed demonstratively.

“You need to eat meat and vegetables too, Vivi. You keep eating only bread and being picky, which is why you’re always fainting and running fevers. You need to eat a balanced diet to overcome your weak constitution.”

“I’ll eat those too. Thank you for always taking care of me and worrying about me.”

Without even swallowing first, she crammed her mouth with meat and vegetables. Her mind was clearly elsewhere.

“Vivi, you’ll get a stomachache that way. You need to chew your food thoroughly.”

Matilda scolded her while wiping Vivianne’s mouth with a napkin, behaving just like a fussy mother. Shortly after, having chewed and swallowed as Matilda instructed, Vivianne jumped up from her seat like a child who had finished her homework.

“Now that I’ve eaten, I want to take a bath! And wear a pretty dress. Please tie a lace ribbon in my hair too, okay?”

She began whining pleadingly to Matilda.

“Why are you suddenly acting so restless, Vivi?”

Vivianne hesitated briefly before answering.

“I just have a feeling Kian will return today.”

“How do you know?”

“I have my ways.”

“What? What’s your secret?”

When Matilda asked again with slight bewilderment, Vivianne smiled as radiantly as a flower.

“It’s a secret.”

* * *

While taking out an elaborate dress from the depths of the wardrobe at Vivianne’s insistence, Matilda noticed something strange and stared at it blankly.

‘…Was this always here?’

The jewel-encrusted dagger was clearly valuable. Vivianne, who had no money, couldn’t have bought such a thing, nor could she have obtained it from anywhere else. It must have been in the room all along, yet somehow it felt unfamiliar.

Though she felt uneasy, Matilda was reluctant to disturb an item that had been left untouched. 

After all, Vivianne was staying obediently in the master’s room, and no one else would search through this wardrobe. Deciding it would be best to ask Vivianne about it when the opportunity arose, she pushed the dagger deeper into its place.

* * *

“How did you know, Vivi? Are you a fortune-teller?”

Matilda rushed to ask Vivianne, shocked after hearing news that a naval ship had docked at Port Erich.

After much persistence with Matilda, Vivianne was beautifully dressed in a pretty gown that revealed her shoulders and neckline, wearing tall pearl shoes, and with her hair tied back with ribbons.

“I won’t tell you. I said it’s a secret.”

“Come on, I went to all this trouble to make you look pretty. Why are you being so unkind to me too, Vivi?”

Matilda pushed out her lower lip and deliberately began tickling Vivianne. Giggling uncontrollably, Vivianne finally surrendered.

“I just had a good dream… That’s it. Kian was in it.”

She answered firmly while catching her breath.

“A dream?”

“Yes!”

Of course, it was a lie. If she said she could tell with her compass, even someone as kind as Matilda wouldn’t believe her. Because like making a contract with a witch to get legs, it was something so magical that even she found it hard to believe.

Vivianne decided to use an excuse that humans would find plausible. Perhaps because of Kian, she had grown accustomed to telling harmless lies.

“And before Kian left, he said it would take about ten days. He kept his promise to me.”

This might actually be true. She hoped it was. Just imagining it made her heart swell.

“Can I go to the harbor to greet Kian?”

“Wearing that dress?”

“Yes. With An. Oh wait, An can’t go out. Sorry, An. You’ll have to wait in the room.”

“Hmm…”

After petting An gently and placing him on the floor, Vivianne studied Matilda’s expression. She looked somewhat troubled, suggesting it wasn’t a good idea. How embarrassing. Vivianne smiled awkwardly, trying to smooth over the situation.

“I’m joking. Instead, I’ll wait quietly and just go to the entrance to greet him.”

What a foolish thought. Kian would be with his soldiers. She remembered being told that soldiers had seen her collapsed n*ked on the beach. If she stupidly went to greet him, it might cause trouble for Kian.

“I wasn’t thinking clearly. I’m sorry, Matilda.”

“You have nothing to be sorry for, Vivi. Going to the entrance to greet him is fine. Let’s go together.”

“Yes!”

Vivianne deliberately turned up the corners of her mouth. Being with Kian was sometimes painful and difficult to endure, but she had promised Annabel she would never run away. She would take responsibility for her own choices and find happiness here no matter what.

She would endure and overcome whatever happened. Though Kian could be forceful and difficult at times, he cherished her and took care of her attentively. He had said he disliked seeing her hurt or in pain.

Thinking about it, all of this was because she liked him as a female. Not taking contraceptive chocolate and diligently mating day and night, she would likely become pregnant soon. Plus, she had An with her. How could she leave this adorable creature behind?

There was no other way. She had to believe in all of this.

Honestly, she couldn’t say there wasn’t a mix of resignation and circumstantial issues involved. What Vivianne had learned since coming ashore was that “happiness doesn’t come on its own; you have to work for it.”

She was making the effort. She would definitely find happiness.

Vivianne cast this sweet self-hypnosis upon herself again today. It was a fragile spell that could be broken by something as simple as someone snapping their fingers.

* * *

When Vivianne spotted Kian entering the mansion entrance, she rushed out of the room.

“Vivi, you’ll hurt yourself if you hurry! Be careful and slow down!”

Matilda called urgently from behind, but Vivianne didn’t hear. Walking down the stairs carefully in the high shoes he had given her as her first gift wasn’t easy, but she was willing. She had always greeted him in the room after hearing his footsteps, but would he be pleased to see her waiting in the lobby?

Her heart kept pounding.

Hurrying her steps, Vivianne finally reached the lobby and caught her breath. Not too late. The door opened, and Kian entered in his military uniform. She had arrived just in time.

‘…He really is handsome!’

It had taken a long time then, but it was worth it. He looked immaculate, exactly as she had dressed him.

Kian walked in without any particular expression. Even when their eyes met, his face remained unchanged. Had he not missed her at all? Though she felt a little disappointed, this was nothing new. It was a kind of habit for Kian.

“Welcome home, master.”

When Richard greeted him respectfully, Kian silently nodded. Then he stood still for a moment, staring at the elegantly dressed Vivianne.

‘…I’m so nervous.’

Vivianne stood on her tiptoes. She felt Matilda, who had followed behind her, gently stroking her back. That touch gave her a bit more courage.

“I… I missed you, Kian.”

To h*ll with it. Despite her embarrassment, she threw her arms around his neck. Kian always loved when she clung to him like this.

“……”

“……”

Had time stopped? For a moment, there was a deathly silence.

She felt Kian’s chest expand and contract. He seemed to be taking a deep breath. His strong arm briefly wrapped around her trembling waist before quickly pulling away. The fleeting glance he gave her was empty.

“Go upstairs.”

Had she frozen at his cold voice?

Her wildly beating heart suddenly felt like it had stopped dead.