Prologue

…Ah. Ah, so that’s what it is. 

Ameline finally realized it.

It was the morning of ‘one day.’

This ‘one day’ was a morning that passed just like any other, not a single bit different from all the others before it. Ameline, not fully awake and still in her nightgown, staggered toward the drawing room. Her nanny showered her with nagging. The familiar rhythm of the nanny’s scolding was accompanied by the sound of someone clicking their tongue. That sound came from Kyle, who was reading the newspaper in the drawing room.

Led by the nanny, Ameline washed her face and changed into her indoor dress. With her eyes half-open, she took a sip of coffee. Even as Kyle glanced at her over the newspaper, Ameline paid him no mind and yawned. Into her open mouth, a small piece of bread, slathered with butter and jam, was placed.

As she savored it, her appetite grew. Only then did Ameline open her eyes wide and begin to devour the prepared breakfast. Kyle, who was also leisurely eating breakfast, seemed to intend to skip dessert as he picked the newspaper back up.

“Any new stories?”

“If it’s new, it’ll be in the newspaper, won’t it?”

“Kyle Ballader. Are you joking right now?”

“What kind of new stories would there be? It’s always the same every day.”

Just as he said, every day was exactly the same. She gave up on the conversation and picked up a small cup. It contained her favorite crème brûlée. The crisp sound of the sugar crust breaking could be heard. The soft cream melted in her mouth, spreading a blissful sweetness.

Without taking his eyes off the newspaper, Kyle turned his chin toward her. Ameline scooped another spoonful of pudding, making that crisp sound again. He opened his mouth. She could see his moist, pink tongue, still wet from the tea he had just drunk. For some reason, Ameline froze. Even though her hand holding the spoon didn’t move, she heard a faint, fragile, and thin sound as if something had snapped.

When she didn’t move for a while, nor put the dessert in his mouth, Kyle sensed something odd and looked away from the newspaper. His gaze asked, ‘What are you doing?’

It truly was a sudden realization.

Kyle and Ameline had been placed side by side in two cradles, having to promise to become each other’s lifelong partners, and had grown up together as if they were siblings. Even though their mansions were different, they always shared breakfast for two in her drawing room, as if it were the most natural thing in the world. It was a promise so firm that everyone in both families, at the Academy, and even the entire capital, knew about it.

Being together was so natural that she had never once doubted it, nor had she ever thought about the existence of a ‘husband.’ Suddenly, she realized what that meant. Kyle, who was so familiar, was about to become someone very different. For the first time in her life, she would have a ‘husband.’

“Ameline?”

He tilted his head, looking at her as she sat frozen. He leaned in to look at her face. His fine, dark brown hair, which the Academy’s girls praised endlessly, fell across his forehead. In the sunlight, that hair shimmered with gold. She had seen it every day, so she never really felt anything about it, but now her eyes lingered on it.

“What’s wrong?”

Golden eyes, filled with curiosity, looked at her. Those jewel-like eyes were sometimes said to be as cold as ice, but Ameline had never agreed with that opinion. As far as she knew, those eyes always held kindness. Sometimes, they held something burning and passionate, like a blazing fire.

His high nose bridge, his brow ridge, and his strong jawline caught her eye. In a word, he was a handsome man, as if drawn by an artist. Everyone said so, but since she had looked at his face more often than a mirror since childhood, she knew it but had never felt it in her heart. But suddenly, now…

And those lips. Those smooth, moderately full lips often curled up on just one side, which could be infuriating at times, but usually, they opened toward her with a gentle curve. And, as always, that low, soft voice flowed out. Just like now.

“Ameline?”

Along with that pink tongue she had just seen.

Snapping back to herself, Ameline pushed the spoon between his parted lips. Then his eyes, which had been looking at her with some suspicion, returned to the newspaper. She pushed the spoon in again. For the first time in her life, she found herself just staring at his chewing lips. So she pushed the spoon in again.

“Kyle.”

“Yeah.”

He answered without taking his eyes off the newspaper.

“Kyle Ballader.”

Then those golden eyes looked at her. Today, they held a strange confusion, as if wondering what was wrong with her.

“Should we sleep together?”

“Why are you talking about sleeping after you just finished breakfast?”

“Don’t you understand what I’m saying?”

“If you’re really that sleepy, go digest a bit and then take another nap.”

“I’m saying, let’s sleep together.”

“…?”

“Kyle Ballader. Let’s sleep together.”

“…!”