Chapter 1.7

Three days had passed since the engagement between Young Master Bannon and Miss Bailey, the Earl’s daughter, had been announced.

Kaiden Bannon’s mornings were busier than anyone’s.

Though the two families had agreed to skip the engagement ceremony, Melosi’s change of heart meant preparations had started again overnight.

Having spent a sleepless night writing invitations, Kaiden looked over the next list with tired eyes.

His blue eyes stopped at one name. After pausing for a moment, Kaiden put down his quill and rubbed his face wearily.

…Brienne Ford.

Come to think of it, he hadn’t received a single letter from her. Normally, she would have come crying to ask what happened…

Somehow, it felt strange. Just thinking about it made his lips go dry and his stomach twist with anxiety. But Kaiden couldn’t figure out why.

Why?

Wasn’t this exactly what I had wanted? What was the problem…

After fiddling with the stationery for a long time, Kaiden finally decided to blame Herace for it. If he hadn’t shown up that day and said those ridiculous things, he wouldn’t be like this.

“Kaiden?”

Then, perhaps sensing that he had stopped working for once, Melosi, who was sitting on the sofa, turned her head.

She snapped shut the catalog of engagement dresses with a loud sound, and only then did Kaiden snap out of his thoughts and pick up his pen again.

“Is something wrong?”

Melosi rose from her seat and approached him. Her light sky-blue eyes, searching Kaiden’s face, quickly landed on the list he had set aside on the desk.

“It’s nothing.”

Kaiden replied with a gentle smile and naturally slid the list under a pile of documents.

But it was already too late.

Melosi’s previously calm eyes sparkled for a moment. She smiled sweetly and laid her hand affectionately on his shoulder.

“You look really tired. Hand me the list. I’ll write the rest of the invitations myself.”

* * *

At the same time.

‘Ugh, my head…’

After a night spent battling alcohol, Brienne barely managed to finish breakfast and enter the library. A splitting headache throbbed in her skull, and she couldn’t remember how much she had drunk at all.

‘How did I even get back to my room?’

Did Shylo bring me?

She asked Marie what had happened during the night, but Marie only smiled shyly and quietly avoided her. Brienne sighed and brushed her hair back.

Having failed to uncover Herace’s intentions, all she wanted now was to read something to clear her mind.

‘What should I read to feel refreshed?’

A romance novel I could get lost in for hours? Or perhaps a work of humanities that would let me encounter various thoughts?

Brienne strolled between the bookshelves, leisurely running her fingers along the spines. She liked the feeling of different textures catching at her fingertips. This had been her habit when choosing books since she was a little girl.

‘The bottom shelves are all things I’ve read several times already. When I was younger, I couldn’t reach any higher, so I never saw anything else…’

Her careful steps stopped at a certain spot. Gripping the shelf lightly, Brienne stood on tiptoe to examine the very top row. Her pale green eyes, moving along one side, landed on 『The Myth of Roeta』.

‘…That’s the book Kaiden and I were reading at the bookstore that day.’

As if hypnotized, Brienne reached for the book. But no matter how she fumbled around, her hand couldn’t quite reach. Just as she was about to jump up for it—

“Do you need help?”

Since when had he been there? 

Herace Belif was leaning against the innermost bookshelf, and their eyes met. Brienne was so startled that she took a step back.

“…Don’t tell me you followed me?”

“Of course not. I’ve been here since before you came in, Miss Ford.”

Herace answered calmly and held up the book he’d been reading. Judging by how far he was through the thick volume, it didn’t seem like a lie.

“I see…”

…Why does this man look so perfectly fine?

Feeling embarrassed for no reason, Brienne cleared her throat and edged away. Then Herace closed his book and took a step toward her.

“I’ll get it for you.”

“Ah, no! I can do it myself.”

Brienne waved her hands to refuse, but Herace, without the slightest sign of embarrassment, simply reached for the shelf. Watching his broad back, Brienne bit her lip and stepped closer to his side.

“…Thank you for the help, but it’s not that book, it’s this one.”

Maybe she was just resentful that she’d been the only one to get drunk. She didn’t want to accept his kindness so easily. Brienne glanced quickly around the shelves, then stepped onto the lowest shelf and pulled out a book with a red velvet cover.

It was the closest to the book he had just taken down, and above all, it stood out.

But then, a laugh escaped from the man’s lips.

What was that?

Brienne furrowed her brows and glared at him. Herace’s gaze was fixed on the book cover.

“Why are you laughing?”

“Are you sure you meant to pick that book?”

“Of course. I came here to read this book.”

Unexpected situations always threw her off balance. Normally, she would have checked the title first, but Brienne deliberately held the book out confidently. The man’s dark gray eyes, which had been lowered for a moment, curved gently. He smiled mischievously.

“I see… I’ve gotten to know your tastes well, Miss Ford. You’ve been surprising me since yesterday. I never imagined you’d read ‘something like that’ first thing in the morning.”

…‘Something like that’?

Only then did Brienne’s gaze drop down. In an instant, not only her pale cheeks but even her neck turned bright red.

『Practical! One Hundred Bedroom Techniques for Sensual Affairs』

No, who on earth put a book like this in the library…!

Brienne, shocked, hurriedly shoved the book back onto the nearest shelf. It was more like throwing it than putting it away.

“Ah, th-this is…”

“This is?”

Herace tilted his head as he looked at Brienne, whose lips were trembling. Brienne clutched her skirt tightly with a face that looked about to cry.

“This is, um…”

Unlike her usual self, who was always confident in speech, her words trailed off. Her mind went blank, and she couldn’t come up with any excuse.

Again.

She’d shown this man something strange again.

Watching the flustered Brienne, Herace leisurely reached out and took the offending book out again. Brienne recoiled in alarm.

“Wh-why are you taking that out?”

“…Don’t misunderstand. I’m just putting it back in its place.”

Herace glanced at Brienne and spoke in a low voice. In the meantime, Brienne took several more steps back, widening the distance between them.

“I-I’ll just be going now…!”

She hurried to escape, but Herace reached out his arm. In that large hand, Brienne was caught all too easily.

“….”

A faint sunlight streamed into the cozy aisle. He took a few steps closer and stopped right in front of Brienne’s nose. With the distance so tight, she could barely breathe. Because Herace bent his upper body, their faces were far too close.

“Miss Ford.”

A dazzling smile bloomed on his face, which had been shaded by a light shadow. Only then did Brienne really look at Herace Belif’s face.

A face she had never paid attention to before, never looking at anyone but Kaiden.

“You should take this book with you.”

Her body was pulled forward by the large hand gripping her wrist. At a distance so close they were nearly touching, he overlapped his hand with hers and slowly pressed the book into her grasp.

A fox…

Up close, not only his face but even his actions were just like a fox.

Meeting those mysterious dark gray eyes, Brienne’s face turned bright red in an instant. After taking a few steps back, her small feet quickly turned away.

Brienne dashed out of the library, clutching the book she’d received in confusion tightly to her chest, not even realizing it.

Watching Brienne flee as if being chased, Herace let out a low laugh.

He thought she looked just like a rabbit.