It was Kian. He was walking slowly toward her.

Her eyes widened in surprise, having never imagined encountering him here.

Instinctively, she hid what she was holding behind her back. They were cookies Matilda had given her as a snack that morning. They were delicious, melting in her mouth, but there were too many for her to eat alone.

She had thought it would be nice to share some with Theodore, so she had brought a portion with her.

“Why are you so startled?”

Kian had already approached right in front of her. Her heart pounded.

“Just like someone caught doing something wrong.”

He smoothly captured her waist and snatched the cookie package she had hidden behind her back.

“…!”

She should have just not hidden it. It probably looked even more suspicious now.

Her face turned bright red, and she couldn’t lift her head.

“It’s nothing special… just cookies.”

Vivianne answered with her eyes tightly shut. Kian had nothing particular to say.

Perhaps because it truly was nothing special. It wasn’t an extraordinary gift. She had simply placed some cookies on clean paper, wrapped them, and tied them with a white lace ribbon.

“That’s an odd response.”

Kian, who had been staring at the cookie package, spoke again.

“What?”

“I asked what you were doing here.”

“I wanted to take a walk in the garden. I need an escort for that, don’t I?”

She answered honestly, though reluctantly. She figured any lie would be quickly discovered anyway.

“When you want to take a walk, do you usually come here yourself?”

His toneless voice made it difficult to gauge his thoughts. He didn’t seem particularly angry, but she couldn’t completely relax either.

She decided not to feel intimidated since she hadn’t done anything wrong.

“No. Matilda looked busy today, and I felt a bit stifled staying in my room all the time.”

“I see.”

At that moment, she spotted Theodore hurrying over from a distance. For some reason, he was wearing his knight’s uniform.

“Are you both here together?”

Theodore, upon seeing his master, gave a brief bow and carefully asked.

“No. Separately. Vivi wants to take a walk. I guess no one informed you of today’s schedule?”

What was this about? Vivianne’s eyes widened slightly.

“Ah, and this. Vivi wants to give it to you.”

She hadn’t even mentioned giving it to Theodore. He must have already figured it out.

When the master handed over the cookie package, Theodore accepted it somewhat bewilderedly.

An awkward silence fell among the three for a moment.

“I’m sorry, Vivi. Theodore is busy today too.”

“What?”

“There’s a knighting ceremony.”

“Knighting ceremony?”

She reflexively repeated the unfamiliar term.

“Yes. It’s the day when apprentice knights receive their official qualifications. Since it’s a knights’ event, I’m sure you understand it’s not a place for you to be.”

Vivianne had nothing to say to his calm, straightforward explanation.

She was well aware that her presence could distract the knights. She curled her toes, feeling like she had acted thoughtlessly again.

He bent down to meet her eyes, “Vivi. Don’t forget what I told you in the carriage.”

His black eyes once again thoroughly traced her trembling gaze.

He must be referring to his warning not to trust other males carelessly. Though he spoke gently, this was clearly a warning.

“…Yes. I’ll go back to my room.”

Vivianne quietly lowered her eyelashes.

She could see the round toe of her shoes. Today she wore the low-heeled shoes Kian had bought her. She wanted to walk for a longer time since it had been a while since her last walk.

“Pretty shoes. Your feet are small too.”

As she became dejected and gloomy, Kian stroked her hair and tucked it behind her ear.

Their eyes met again. In that moment, his eyes curved gently, and he lightly kissed her round forehead.

“Don’t make me anxious. Go back quickly.”

She had expected him to be angry or sensitive, but why was he suddenly being affectionate and generous?

It was definitely more overt than usual. Vivianne felt a strange sense of discomfort at his tone, which seemed to be coaxing her.

“Allen. Do you have a moment?”

“Yes, master.”

“Then please escort Vivi back to the main house.”

“As you command.”

After giving this brief instruction, he moved toward the inner training grounds with Theodore.

She felt all her energy drain away.

“L-let’s go, Lady Vivianne.”

She heard Allen’s voice, tense with nervousness.

He seemed to be the person who had helped her with towels when she first worked at the laundry.

“Yes, let’s go.”

Vivianne stared at the two retreating figures for a moment before reluctantly heading toward the main house.

* * *

There was nothing particular to do after returning to her room. All her lessons had been suspended due to her illness.

Vivianne took an early bath, put on her negligee, and lay down on the bed. She knew the maids pointed fingers at her, calling her hateful. She also knew those emotions were based on jealousy of her comfort.

But having nothing to do was far from happiness. It was boring and meaningless, sometimes making being awake feel like a torment.

There was a limit to how much she could sleep. When she sat blankly on the bed, strange thoughts kept growing, and she felt like she was being consumed by them.

She decided to stop waiting eagerly for Kian. It wasn’t that she didn’t love him. Somehow, since the chocolate incident, her heart hadn’t been the same.

Now there was a crack in her heart, and the overflowing desire was leaking out somewhere. So it couldn’t be as full as before. That was natural.

Kian doesn’t want a baby.

To ask why he didn’t want one would require great mental preparation on her part.

Whatever the reason, the conclusion was the same.

Just confirming the fact that he didn’t want a baby would surely hurt her heart.

She didn’t have the courage yet, fearing she would break down in tears again like she had in front of Matilda.

It was a fundamental problem. She knew avoiding it was irresponsible.

…But she needed time to catch her breath.

Only then did she feel she could withstand the emotional turmoil that would come again.

Vivianne lay on the bed and pulled the blanket over herself.

I want to see the ocean.

She closed her eyes, imagining walking along the beach.

Splash, whoosh.

Splash, whoosh.

She could almost hear the waves breaking on the sand.

Following the sound of waves in her mind, she breathed in and out, and her troubled heart became a little more peaceful.

Sleep came over her like a lie.

* * *

“…Vivi.”

In her dream, she heard a familiar voice. She had just fallen asleep and didn’t want to wake up.

Vivianne curled up on her side, hunching her shoulders more.

“Vivi.”

A large hand covered her forehead. It moved around, seemingly checking for fever, then neatly brushed back her disheveled hair.

Warm, soft lips touched her forehead and then pulled away. Vivianne drowsily opened her eyes at the familiar sensation. She met the gaze of the man looking down at her from the head of the bed. It was Kian.

As soon as their eyes met in the air, he gave her a long kiss. Testing if the kiss was welcome, he sucked on her upper and lower lips alternately. It didn’t develop into a deep kiss, but he pressed her lips briefly, yet repeatedly.

When he seemed to grow impatient and tried to suck deeply, Vivianne groaned and pushed against his collarbone.

Their lips separated with a wet sound. His eyes looking down at her were sensual but even that seemed tired. She wanted to hide somewhere, not liking how he acted this way as if nothing had happened between them.

“I don’t want to. Not today.”

“Mate?”

“Yes.”

She had expected a sharp reaction if she refused, but again, he seemed unbothered.

“I wasn’t planning to either. Not today.”

He pulled her hand and tied something around her wrist.

It was a white lace ribbon.

“What is this?”

“I took it from Theo.”

“What?”

So he was pretending to be fine but ended up being petty and punishing her after all.

When Vivianne’s face fell, he chuckled.

“Don’t be surprised. Just the ribbon. I didn’t take the cookies, so don’t worry.”

“Just the ribbon?”

“Yes.”

He gently pulled the knot of the ribbon, finishing it nicely.

“You like these, don’t you? I thought it was something special, so I was upset.”

Vivianne stared at the ribbon tied around her wrist.

It was pretty.

Kian was good at even things like this. She had practiced for a long time to manage it. It felt unfair.

Or perhaps he had tied many ribbons somewhere before?

“Have you tied many ribbons before?”

Oh no, she blurted out exactly what she was thinking.

It had taken her a long time to tie ribbons. It seemed she needed more practice to get used to hiding her thoughts.

“No.”

Kian whispered, fiddling with the ribbon ties on the front of Vivianne’s negligee.

“I’m actually better at untying them. If I untie this… I don’t think I can keep my promise to you.”

“……”

It felt strange. Was it because of her special situation?

She felt relieved that he backed down when she refused to mate, but wondered if it was because she couldn’t take the contraceptive medicine.

Her anxious mind kept getting caught in suspicion and delusion.

“Let’s go out, Vivi.”

“…What?”

“You said you felt stifled. Let’s take a walk together.”

Vivianne’s eyes widened when Kian pulled her hand.

“Shall we go to the beach?”

That was what she had been thinking about before falling asleep.

How did he know?