The young ladies nearby broke into quiet laughter. They had just heard from Lilia that Roderick was interested in Nate, and Roderick, perhaps because he was still young, had no idea how to hide what he felt. His face went red.

“Ah, I… I didn’t mean to single anyone out. I was going to say to set some aside for everyone, of course……”

Nate wasn’t sure how to react. She spent so long loving Damon that finding herself on the receiving end felt unfamiliar. She was also conscious of Damon’s presence.

But the truth was, Nate knew she had no reason to worry about Damon’s reaction. They were nothing to each other, and more to the point, he almost certainly wasn’t paying any attention.

“I should be going.”

Damon’s voice came low and quiet. Only then did Roderick, who was stealing glances at Nate like a cat eyeing something it shouldn’t, belatedly look back at him.

“Oh, I’m sorry, Young Lord. I’ve wasted too much of your time.”

“It does seem that way.”

Damon replied with an easy smile. Most people would have politely said otherwise, but the immediate agreement caught Roderick off guard and he apologized several times over.

As the two men moved to leave, McCoy, who was sitting beside Nate, jumped to her feet.

“Young Lord Damon.”

Damon stopped. He turned his head, and McCoy continued in a shy voice.

“Would it be all right if I saw you out in Young Lord Lovitz’s place?”

Nate, seated right beside McCoy, went still. Damon’s eyes moved briefly to Nate, then back to McCoy. McCoy pressed on, her cheeks flushed pink.

“We happened to meet like this, so I’d love to have even a short conversation with you on the way out.”

Nate spent five years in love with Damon, and she lived through scenes like this more times than she could count. There was never a shortage of young ladies with their eyes on him.

Of course, Nate herself was one of them. To him, that was all she was. One of the many young ladies who harbored private feelings for Damon Preston. Or one of the many who wanted to spend a night with him. Not that Nate knew anything about that territory, so she never thought of herself that way, but she felt that was how Damon likely saw her.

Then Damon’s voice rang out.

“A conversation…… That doesn’t sound bad.”

Nate wanted to cover both her ears on the spot. She was trying to erase Damon from her heart, but feelings did not flip like the palm of a hand.

McCoy’s face brightened at his words.

“Then you’re giving me the chance to see you out?”

“No.”

But the word that left his mouth was not a yes. Damon added with a calm smile.

“No need for the send-off, Miss.”

“Oh…… All right.”

McCoy nodded, visibly disappointed.

Nate felt a quiet sense of relief, and assumed Damon would simply continue on his way.

“Miss O’Hara.”

But unexpectedly, he shifted his gaze and called her name.

Nate looked at Damon with wide, startled eyes. Not just Nate, but the other young ladies too were taken aback as they looked between Damon and Nate. Damon spoke in an even tone.

“To be honest, I felt we didn’t get to talk much yesterday, and I found that a little unfortunate. Would you walk with me while I leave the Lovitz estate?”

The young ladies nearby began to murmur. Roderick stared at Damon in surprise, then turned his head toward Nate.

Every gaze in the garden was on her. Nate looked flustered.

“I……”

Her small, trembling voice drifted out into the garden.

“I’m afraid that would be difficult, Young Lord Preston.”

The other young ladies made a fuss and looked at each other. They clearly heard Nate say she intended to erase Damon from her heart, yet they never imagined she would actually turn down his request.

Damon watched Nate with an unreadable expression. She parted her lips again, carefully.

“If you need someone to see you out, walking with Miss McCoy doesn’t seem like a bad option.”

McCoy, at Nate’s words, wasted no time making her case to Damon again.

“Yes, Young Lord Damon. What do you say to walking with me? I promise you won’t be bored.”

Through all of it, Damon’s gaze remained on Nate. She steadied herself and held her emotions in check.

A few days ago, Nate would have been on her feet the moment Damon asked. But she made up her mind to let go of her feelings for him, so she forced herself to act as though none of this was happening.

Yet somewhere beneath her awareness, she assumed Damon would decline McCoy’s offer. He clearly turned her down politely just moments before.

“Then let’s walk together.”

With those words, Damon extended his hand to McCoy. McCoy’s eyes went wide, and she hurried forward and took his hand. Damon naturally allowed her to take his arm, and McCoy, flushing with shyness, followed his lead.

Damon gave Lilia and Roderick only a parting nod and walked away with McCoy.

Nate watched them go, then dropped her head with an expression that looked ready to crumble into tears. Her heart felt terrible.

“Miss O’Hara, are you all right?”

Roderick, who was nearby, came over and asked. Nate finally lifted her head and forced a smile.

“Of course. I’m fine.”

Roderick hesitated, then slowly opened his mouth.

“Miss O’Hara, would you by any chance be willing to attend tomorrow’s imperial palace party with me as your partner?”

His question made Nate’s eyes go wide. The other young ladies watched the two of them with the look of people enjoying a show. Lilia smiled and spoke up.

“Miss O’Hara, give it a try. Not just because he’s my brother, but by all accounts Roderick is quite popular himself.”

Roderick went red, embarrassed by her words.

Nate looked at him for a moment, then stole a glance at the spot where Damon just left. She sat with her thoughts for a moment, then turned back to Roderick and answered.

“All right.”

Nate decided to take Lilia’s advice and spend some time with Roderick to help herself forget Damon.

Roderick broke into a bright smile. Nate somehow couldn’t quite meet his eyes, so she gave an awkward smile and brought her teacup to her lips.

* * *

Damon walked out of the Lovitz estate alongside McCoy, his eyes blank and indifferent. McCoy chattered away, subtly pressing herself against him. But Damon seemed entirely unaware of her advances.

‘I’m… afraid that would be difficult, Young Lord Preston.’

‘If you need someone to see you out, walking with Miss McCoy doesn’t seem like a bad option.’

Her lashes were trembling like she was about to cry at any moment, yet Nate O’Hara still managed to say those things. Damon could not understand, even to himself, why that frail little voice grated on him so much today.

‘Does she actually think she can forget me? After all this time acting like no one else would do.’

But he did not believe for a single moment that Nate could follow through on yesterday’s declaration and truly let go of her feelings for him. She was a woman who kept coming back to confess season after season, no matter how many times he turned her down. It seemed like after yet another full turn of the seasons, she was wandering a little now that spring came around again.

Spring is short. Damon figured Nate could wander for a season or so. And he had not the slightest doubt that come summer, she would be back confessing to him as though nothing ever happened.