As soon as the greeting was offered, Richard bowed respectfully to the woman sitting before them.

“I trust Your Ladyship has been well?”

“Thanks to you.”

Unlike Vivianne who hadn’t known how to handle the butler’s formal treatment, the woman’s demeanor was quite relaxed.

As if such treatment had always been natural for her.

Even setting aside her elegant attire, her behavior alone marked her as someone of noble birth.

Though she too once had such times. Why had she become so servile since coming ashore? Her memories of the Mermaid Palace felt distant now.

The woman was strikingly beautiful at first glance. Red hair, fair skin, rosy cheeks and lips, and bright green eyes. Her striking features seemed like they would stand out anywhere.

“Who is this?”

When their eyes met for a moment, Vivianne quickly lowered her lashes.

“…I’m Vivianne.”

“Ah.”

The woman let out a small exclamation and nodded.

“What a pretty name. You must be the new maid?”

After this brief exchange of pleasantries, the woman turned to Kian and asked casually.

“The new Darjeeling has a lovely aroma, Lady Steward.”

Kian smiled faintly and naturally changed the subject.

“As expected. The Duke already knows all my preferences. To think you prepared this for me. You’re truly such a thoughtful person.”

The words from Lady Steward’s lips left Vivianne feeling dazed, as if she’d been struck in the head.

Already knowing her preferences?

Being truly thoughtful?

These were expressions typically used between people in close relationships.

“Yes. Especially prepared since my fiancée was coming.”

And Kian didn’t deny it at all. No, rather he deliberately drove the point home.

“Please take your time to savor it.”

Fiancée? When such a clear word defining his relationship with another woman came from his lips, Vivianne’s fingertips turned cold.

“Vivi?”

“…”

“Vivi.”

She must have been lost in thought for a moment. Realizing Kian had called her name twice already, Vivianne snapped back to attention.

“The tea will get cold.”

He meant for her to pour it, rather than standing there blankly.

“I’m sorry.”

Yes. Even if she felt like crying, she shouldn’t carelessly show it. That would only cause trouble for Kian.

After all, she alone had fallen in love.

She alone had wanted this.

She alone had tried to reach for him.

Kian had no stake in this at all. It was all her portion.

So bearing this devastating feeling, paying the price for this one-sided gamble—that too must be hers alone.

Even so. Why hadn’t she even imagined he might have a fiancée? Even she had had a fiancé when she was a mermaid. A storm raged in her heart.

‘…Get it together.’

Vivianne bit the inside of her cheek hard to prevent making mistakes. Then carefully lifted the teapot.

After briefly wondering whom to serve first, she slowly filled Kian’s teacup. Despite using all her strength not to tremble, her hands still shook.

Next was Lady Steward’s cup. Somehow she felt even more nervous than when pouring Kian’s. Vivianne concentrated with all her might to hide her inner turmoil.

However, the moment of being conscious about making mistakes inevitably led to one. In the blink of an eye, tea leaves fell into the cup. What should she do? Everything went dark before her eyes.

“Being new, I suppose you’re still rather clumsy with tea service.”

Though she didn’t openly show her displeasure, it was clearly a criticism.

“I’m sorry. I’ll quickly…”

“Who starts out being skilled?”

Kian, who had been sitting loosely with his legs crossed, suddenly stood up. He took the teacup with its saucer, went to Lady Steward, and exchanged it with his own. Then he whispered gently near Lady Steward’s ear.

“So I hope you’ll be understanding.”

A somewhat ambiguous smile played on his lips.

“I wasn’t trying to scold. It’s just that her trembling appearance is as cute as a newborn fawn.”

Lady Steward uttered these words that could be either praise or criticism, then carefully observed Vivianne, who stood with her head bowed and hands clasped together. Her gaze lingered a bit longer on her feet.

She must be looking at the shoes. Vivianne curled her toes slightly.

“But Kian.”

Lady Steward slightly raised her eyes to look at Kian. He didn’t avoid her gaze either.

“Please call me Penelope now. We’re to be married soon. I’d like you to speak more comfortably with me from now on.”

A bitter laugh scattered across his lips. At that smile, Penelope Steward’s previously bright face stiffened slightly.

An awkward silence fell briefly. After taking a few more sips without answering, Kian set his teacup down with a sharp sound.

“I apologize.”

His first words were a simple apology.

“Let’s save that for when we become more comfortable with each other.”

He was being very politely rude. Penelope raised her eyebrows and repeatedly moistened her lips with tea.

“But My Lady.”

Kian rested his elbow on the table and propped his chin up, looking amused.

“How do you find the tea I prepared?”

Vivianne took a deep breath. The overwhelmingly strong rose fragrance felt suffocating.

There had been times when she felt she could do anything if only she could reach him, no, if only she could get close to him.

But that had been a perfect illusion. The more she got to know him, the clearer it became that he was someone she could never get closer to.

* * *

The back of her ankle had been stinging constantly. When she checked after returning to her room, her skin had been rubbed raw by the new shoes and was bleeding. It stung so much that one eye automatically winced every time she wiped away the blood.

She was about to apply herbal ointment but stopped, remembering that Kian found the smell bothersome. Then she stared blankly at the removed shoes.

Was it because they were beautiful? Even in the pitch darkness of the late hour, they were clearly visible. Like that time when she secretly watched Kian from behind a rock in the dark night, thinking of him as a ‘brilliant male’.

‘…Pretty but painful.’

That was her honest assessment of the shoes. Though tempting to own, they were too much to wear.

It felt like sharp teeth biting into her ankles, and honestly, she wasn’t sure if she could wear them again.

She didn’t know how she had managed to compose herself and leave. It felt like walking on tiptoes. After that, Kian and his fiancée drank their tea without further words and didn’t even glance her way.

She was told there would be no additional duties now that the special task was done. Richard brought dinner himself, saying she should rest well in her room, but she declined, having no appetite.

Her insides felt heavy and churned with thoughts that defied expression. There was no space left to fit anything else. Vivianne sat tightly curled up, hugging her knees.

‘To think he has someone he’s promised to marry.’

Though shocked at first, quietly observing them, it didn’t feel like a relationship with much affection. Come to think of it, wasn’t she the same? Her father had chosen her marriage partner, and far from being close, she barely knew him.

So a fiancé is just a fiancé. Even after defining it that way, she hated herself for feeling such meager satisfaction.

What difference did it make if there were no feelings? If she hadn’t made that prayer, if she hadn’t contracted with the witch, she too would have married her fiancé.

So Kian could marry Penelope too. When her thoughts reached that conclusion, even just thinking about it was painful.

Her father had said that the union of nobles wasn’t merely a love game. He said it strengthened various understandings and trust by choosing to become blood relations.

In the end, even if Kian didn’t love Penelope, if he needed to marry her, he would.

Therefore, she could never have Kian. This unchangeable proposition clawed and bit at her heart.

‘Then what happens? Will I end up becoming sea foam?’

Though she hadn’t been completely thoughtless about the possibility of failure, she hadn’t expected to have to give up so quickly. Perhaps she had avoided facing reality by putting vague optimism first. She felt completely drained of energy.

Was there no other way? No matter how hard she thought, she couldn’t find any good solution.

Should she prevent the marriage? How?

Did she even have that kind of power?

What about just bearing his child to survive? To lie with a man who would marry another woman and bear his child? Wouldn’t that be too great a sin just to survive?

It was all unreasonable selfishness. While claiming to like him, she was despicably plotting ways to trouble Kian.

This was bound to happen anyway.

Why had she been so desperate?

Thinking about how she had struggled and floundered for a week just made her feel blank.

Only her body was human; like a fish stranded on land, she had been flapping around and now was only waiting for the moment her breath would stop.

Tears dripped down her dry cheeks.

‘I should return them.’

Vivianne roughly wiped away her tear tracks with the back of her hand. Then with trembling hands, she put the shoes back in their box.

If she left tomorrow after Matilda returned and she received her wages, she would never see Kian again. It was too late at night to request a meeting. So she planned to quietly leave them in front of Kian’s room.

Would she really never see Kian again? When that reality hit her, her heart crumbled.

In the cycle of self-pity and self-hatred, she felt the urge to just turn into sea foam and disappear right now.

Before being devoured by the monster of self-justification, she should return them.

As she left the room barefoot, holding the shoebox to her chest, she came face to face with a large figure standing in front of the door.

“Where are you going at this hour, Vivi?”

It was Kian.