Vivianne stared at Theodore, who arrived running breathlessly.

“This way first.”

He urgently gestured toward Vivianne.

“What?”

“Quickly.”

Theodore, who typically walked behind watching over her, now strode ahead. Vivianne struggled to keep up with his pace in her high-heeled shoes.

Still, believing he must have his reasons, she tried her best to follow.

“Um, Theo. Wait a moment!”

Walking quickly to catch up, Vivianne suddenly stopped Theodore.

When he turned around startled by her voice, she stood with one foot raised, her shoe having fallen off.

“…Ah, I’m sorry.”

He ran his hand over his face and came back. Really, he couldn’t take his eyes off her for a moment. Theodore picked up the fallen shoe and crouched at Vivianne’s feet, holding it out.

“Put it on.”

“I’m sorry. I’m still not used to these kinds of shoes.”

“Why did you wear such high ones today of all days?”

“I just wanted to wear something pretty. I wasn’t thinking. I’m sorry.”

Vivianne put the fallen shoe back on with an embarrassed face. She kept apologizing repeatedly.

This made Theodore feel even more awkward. It didn’t seem like something she needed to apologize for. Perhaps he had pushed too hard in his haste.

He scratched the back of his head and slowed his pace. He started following slowly behind her as usual, watching over her.

“Are you perhaps angry with me?”

“What?”

“If something’s bothering you, please tell me.”

“Ah, you must have misunderstood. I’m not angry or anything like that at all.”

“That’s a relief. I was worried.”

Hearing it directly from him brought some relief. Theodore bowed his head and apologized formally.

“I’m sorry for rushing. I was distracted. I apologize.”

“Oh, no. Don’t apologize. I came suddenly without notice.”

“The knights were being quite noisy. I was in a hurry to take you somewhere less visible.”

“Did I cause trouble for the training?”

“No. It’s just that they’re always among men, so when they see a pretty woman… well, you know.”

He seemed embarrassed by his own words. Theodore couldn’t quite meet her eyes.

Caught by the word “pretty,” Vivianne’s face became thoughtful.

“Hmm, am I pretty? Theo?”

“…From a, uh, general… most people’s perspective. Well.”

His reddened face and stuttering speech. She wondered if the heat affected him like that knight earlier. The sunlight was too strong for training.

“Are you hot? Should I help if you’re not feeling well?”

“Ahem, n-no.”

He started fake coughing while staring into the distance.

He really didn’t seem to be feeling well. She couldn’t help but worry.

“What do you think?”

“Yes…, ah, what?”

“Matilda says I’m pretty. I wondered if you thought so too.”

Though she kept looking at him thoughtfully, he found it hard to meet her eyes even once. Theodore shifted awkwardly and forced a smile.

“Well, I’m… her son. Maybe I inherited her taste too.”

“Thank you. Hearing compliments gives me courage.”

I wish Kian would think so too. Vivianne smiled brightly like sunshine.

“Where should we go?”

“The beach.”

There was no particular reason. She just wanted to hear the sound of waves.

* * *

Walking on the beach in high-heeled shoes proved impossible. Vivianne kept having trouble with her feet sinking into the sand.

“Should we go back if it’s too uncomfortable?”

Theodore asked worriedly. Just walking was difficult, so the stroll wouldn’t be easy.

“No. There’s something I want to try. Just a moment.”

Vivianne quickly took off her shoes and started walking barefoot on the sand.

The feeling of sand crumbling under her feet fascinated her, leading her to twirl in place.

“Was this what you wanted to try?”

“Yes. I was curious about how it would feel on bare feet.”

“Won’t the sand be too hot?”

Under the blazing sun, the sand was full of heat. He seemed concerned about her walking on it with her soft, delicate feet.

“It’s warm and nice.”

Vivianne walked toward the waves with her shoes in one hand.

She enjoyed the gentle waves tickling her feet. Sand would stick between her toes, but the seawater would wash it clean as it rolled in.

“Do you have friends, Theo?”

“Do I look like I don’t?”

He responded playfully.

“No. I just thought you might have many since you’re kind to everyone.”

Kind, she says. If only she had seen what orders he’d given the knights before coming here.

That’s what Theodore thought.

“Matilda says if Sophie were alive, she could have been good friends with me. You must have been a good brother to Sophie too, right?”

“No. When we were young, I always hit her and teased her. Sophie cried all the time because of me.”

“Boys do that because they like someone, right? That’s what Matilda says?”

Even as she relayed Matilda’s words, Vivianne’s eyes still held some confusion.

“Is that really true?”

“What?”

“You’re a man too, Theo. I’m curious if it’s really like that.”

While he was wondering how to answer, Vivianne continued.

“…Kian always torments me. He says he likes making me wait.”

He stayed quiet, unable to answer carelessly.

Likes making her wait. What a bad habit. Vivianne kept chattering like a songbird, her words flowing endlessly.

“Matilda says he does it to get attention. But I’m not sure. It feels like I’m the only one paying attention.”

Though she seemed to mean it as a joke, her voice trailed off. She even looked quite lonely.

Actually, he had just read the article about the master in the newspaper. About the good atmosphere with his fiancée. Kian, who had been adamantly proving otherwise to her, wouldn’t do that. Though he was certain it was just gossip, it wouldn’t be easy for the person involved.

Kian von Larson probably encompassed her entire world. She seemed somewhat anxious.

Whether she knew about the article’s contents or not, she kept talking only about the master afterward.

“The other day, I had a meal with Kian in the greenhouse. The bread was really delicious. It was shaped like a crescent moon. Have you tried it?”

“You mean croissant?”

“I didn’t ask the name, but I’ll make sure to ask next time. Oh, I’ll ask them to prepare it separately. I’d like to give some to Matilda, and I want you to try it too.”

Does she like bread? Her face brightened noticeably at the mention of bread.

“And then I went for a walk with Kian, but unlike when I walk with you, his steps were so fast. It was hard to keep up.”

“…I see.”

“Thanks to that, I realized you deliberately match your pace with mine when we walk. I’m always grateful, Theo.”

Theodore met the bright blue eyes looking up at him.

He felt somehow at a loss for words.

“Ah, I must have been rambling too much. I’ve always wanted a friend my age who I could talk about these little things with. I’m sorry.”

“There’s nothing to be sorry about.”

“What?”

“I’ll listen to whatever you want to talk about while we walk together.”

Her face lit up.

* * *

The ball had ended. Kian departed for his territory only after completing several days of remaining schedules. He arrived at the mansion in the early morning hours when everyone slept.

“Welcome back, Master.”

The main building was dark and quiet. Only Richard, the Larson butler, stood alone to greet his master’s return.

“I’ll handle the rest myself. Go rest.”

“Please call if you need anything.”

Richard, taking the luggage, quietly withdrew as his master ordered. In the late hour, only silence filled the corridor where lights had already been turned out.

In his childhood, the main building he viewed from the servants’ quarters always glowed with bright lights. But living here now, he found it remained the same after all.

Dark, lonely.

And empty.

His bedroom was on the fourth floor. While climbing the stairs, Kian suddenly stopped at the third floor. Visiting the third floor at this late hour with the lights out was purely impulsive.

Walking down the long corridor, he reached a certain door. Opening it, he looked around the room. The room without its owner remained surprisingly unchanged.

It was the room used by the Larson heir. It was the room Kian used before receiving his title, and before that, it belonged to his brother Joshua.

Joshua von Larson.

When the previous Duke died and even Larson’s firstborn disappeared, the previous Duchess wanted Kian to fill that vacancy. What did she expect from a mere illegitimate child born of a maid? It was bizarre.

Kian, who had been staying in the servants’ quarters, inherited this room, the heir’s position, and even the position of Viscount Steward’s fiancé overnight.

And even now as Larson’s master, the suffocating air of this room remained hard to bear.

He opened the balcony and took out his cigar case. After lighting it, he drew on it somewhat urgently.

The acrid smoke and damp night air filled deep in his lungs. Still, he couldn’t do anything about this nauseating, choking feeling.

Some say the previous Duchess’s ghost lingered here.

Since that woman hanged herself here, perhaps she intended to kill him the same way.

“Just you wait. Even in death, I will never, ever forgive you!”

He recalled that woman’s final scream echoing in this room on that night when lightning flashed.

“…Do as you please.”

Kian von Larson laughed mockingly.

He never wanted forgiveness.

He had already died once in that stormy sea anyway.

Whether drowning in the sea or slowly suffocating to death on land. Death was death all the same.

The mermaid’s song faintly heard in the waves. Yes. Everything stemmed from that mermaid, that damned mermaid.

Kian roughly stubbed out his cigar on the side table and left the room.

Suddenly, when he thought of Vivianne, that woman, his feet already moved toward her room.