“I want to marry Lionel.”

Ah, once she impulsively said it, she felt certain. Ariel wanted to marry that boy. So she bowed politely to Duke Frenderick, his father, and said once more.

“I, Ariel Tenia, want to marry Lionel Frenderick.”

When the only daughter of Marquis Tenia declared this with more determination than ever, her round golden eyes shining, the adults just laughed heartily.

“Ariel seems to like Lionel.”

“How cute.”

Lionel, sitting among the others in the drawing room, also sent her a calm gaze. Ariel looked at Lionel fervently and spoke.

“I’m going to be your bride, Lionel.”

“Is that so?”

Lionel simply responded maturely and sipped his tea with perfect posture. His face was too indifferent for a boy who had just been proposed to. In fact, Ariel wasn’t the only young lady who had declared her intention to marry Lionel.

Duchess Frenderick, Lionel’s mother, laughed behind her hand and said.

“Ariel, you’ll have to try very hard.”

“Try hard?”

“About ten girls have already said they want to marry Lionel before you.”

“What?”

“And right now, he’s playing with Rayen.”

“Rayen is kinder than Lionel.”

“Some of them even changed their minds and said they’d marry Rayen instead. Why don’t you talk to him too, Ariel?”

The duke and other guests responded playfully to Ariel. Among the adults, the conversation continued in a formal tone.

“With both the eldest and second sons being so outstanding, you must be very proud, Duke.”

“Haha. Lionel is not as charming as Rayen, though.”

“Marquis Tenia also has such an adorable daughter…”

The adults’ conversation didn’t reach Ariel’s ears. What overwhelmed her mind was one sentence.

‘Not just one, not even five, but ten?’

To young Ariel, it felt like ten wasn’t just a number but might as well be a hundred or a thousand. She wasn’t the only one who recognized Lionel’s worth early on.

Momentarily anxious, Ariel quickly came to a simple conclusion.

‘It’s okay. I’ll just try harder.’

Born into a family that was neither particularly good nor bad, Ariel had lived a life that rolled along moderately without much effort. In a country where priests were more important than nobles, she planned to enjoy moderate benefits, find a suitable marriage partner, and get married.

With such a life planned, Ariel Tenia had handled most things in life half-heartedly. But from that point on, she decided to make an effort.

“Eat this… Lionel.”

First, she tried to change her way of speaking. Since they were to be a respectful couple, she thought she should use polite language with Lionel, just as he did with her. And…

“Lionel, where are you going today? Can I come too?”

“Lionel! I heard you like this type of tea! Here, it’s a gift…!”

She decided to claim her share in Lionel’s life in advance. She memorized everything he liked and adjusted all her schedules to match his. It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say her world revolved around Lionel.

Years passed, and Ariel persistently followed Lionel.

Even the adults of both families, who hadn’t expected her persistence to last so long, showed some discomfort, but it was still a time when such things were tolerated under the pretext of them being children. Ariel wasn’t the only one so infatuated with Lionel.

“Let’s go together today, Lionel!”

“…This place is for men only.”

“But wives can accompany their husbands!”

“You are not my wife.”

“‘Yet’! I will be in the future!”

By then, Lionel’s face would harden whenever he saw Ariel.

“Don’t hold my hand, Ariel.”

“Then what about this?”

“…Kissing on the cheek is even worse.”

Eventually, Lionel began to show frustration towards her. He maintained a proper and polite smile with other girls, but only with Ariel did he show such honest emotions.

Ariel was actually happy about that. It felt like he was being honest only with her.

He even said this to her.

“Please stop following me, Ariel.”

Of course, it didn’t work on Ariel at all.

“You haven’t called my name in a while!”

“If that’s so important to you, I’ll call it as many times as you want…”

“Liar. You hardly ever call me by my name.”

“If you stop following me, I’ll call you by your name.”

“Hmm. No. I can hear my name later.”

“…Can you please let go of my hand?”

“Oh my, are you embarrassed, Lionel?”

“……”

For Lionel, who was mature and rarely showed dislike, this was probably his most polite rejection. And it was only natural that such a gentle approach didn’t work on a girl blinded by her first love.

“I told you, we’re going to get married.”

“Ariel.”

“A couple is of one heart and mind. I should go wherever you go, Lionel.”

Of course, neither the Tenia marquisate nor the Frenderick dukedom had ever confirmed their engagement. But to the young Ariel, it was a truth as certain as the sky being blue and the earth being brown.

At least there was some progress. After persistently following him, rumors spread among their peers.

“Lionel, did your bride come with you again?”

“They’re going to get married later!”

The immature boys their age were busy teasing them whenever they appeared together. The only ones who didn’t join in were the young ladies who were also aiming for Lionel. There was a reason they hadn’t given up on him.

“…Ariel is not my bride. We haven’t had a wedding.”

“But you will in the future, right?”

“That’s not something to say lightly. Marriage is a sacred union between families. The elders of our families should discuss it…”

To others, Lionel’s words sounded like he was drawing a line with Ariel. Whenever she mentioned marriage, bride, or groom, Lionel would sigh deeply. But Ariel was too busy staring at his face to notice.

Why did his slightly raised eyebrows look so pretty when he was speaking maturely? How rosy and delicate did his tightly closed lips look? How beautiful were his lilac-colored eyes?

‘So beautiful.’

No matter what he said, that was the first thought that came to Ariel’s mind. Lionel, looking at her with a troubled expression, was beautiful, and Lionel, unable to meet her eyes and turning his gaze away, was beautiful.

And when Lionel happened to smile, young Ariel’s world would change with a bang. Like a kaleidoscope reflecting light in all directions, Ariel’s heart was the same.

Lionel’s ‘Stop it’ sounded like a sweet whine to Ariel at the time. It didn’t stop her from following him.

It was during the summer when she was ten.

“Lionel?”

That day, Lionel suggested they play hide-and-seek. He argued that they hadn’t properly played together and that if they were to be a couple, they should know each other’s play preferences.

Just as Ariel had gotten to know Lionel well, Lionel also knew Ariel well. She followed him, saying she liked anything he did…

“Lionel! You’re really good at hide-and-seek!”

A few hours later, she was circling the empty grounds of the duke’s estate, shouting.

“But hiding for an hour and not coming out! I lost!”

“……”

“Lionel? You’re not planning to hide for two hours, are you?”

After walking and shouting for a while, Ariel plopped down on the spot. If the maids of her family saw her, they would have rushed over, saying it was unladylike. She was out of breath after wandering around the vast estate.

“Where did he go?”

Until then, Ariel thought she hadn’t known Lionel was so good at hide-and-seek and that she should add this to her list of information about him.

Whoosh.

An unusually cool breeze blew for the season.

“If you stay outside for too long in this weather, you might catch a cold.”

By now, she was starting to worry about Lionel, but he was still nowhere to be seen. Ariel let out a small sigh.

“Lionel is so shy.”

She decided to rest a bit before looking for him again. As she sat in the middle of the open space, listening to the wind and dusting off her crumpled dress, she heard someone shouting.

“Damn! Johnny is missing!”

“Where did he go?”

The voices were familiar. They belonged to the duke’s kennel keeper and servants.

“Johnny! Johnny!”

“Someone bring some jerky treats.”

“The young master will be furious if he finds out!”

“Did he go outside?”

Hearing the kennel keeper’s words, Ariel’s ears perked up.

‘Treats? Are they talking about a dog?’

The Frenderick dukedom owned several well-bred hunting dogs and guard dogs. Some of them were too smart or too temperamental to be easily tamed. Such dogs usually only listened to Rayen.

‘One of the dogs must be missing.’

Then Ariel panicked.

‘Could it be?’

What if Lionel was caught by that dog and that’s why he was missing?

The hunting dogs here were all strong and agile breeds. If Lionel had been caught by one of those dogs…

‘That can’t happen!’