“……What did you say?”

Lars’s hand, which had been tapping the glass paperweight holding down the documents, stopped. As I blinked at his intense stare, he frowned and belatedly asked as if suddenly remembering.

“What about Chester Storms?”

I couldn’t understand why that name came up in this context, but I answered diligently.

“He invited me several times to go to the Storms family’s winter villa together, but I declined because I really couldn’t find the time. Why?”

“You, I mean, with him……”

Lars, uncharacteristically pausing briefly, then spoke abruptly.

“You were thinking of getting engaged.”

His green eyes, seeming to have absorbed the darkness of night, appeared slightly darker than usual. I scratched the back of my neck.

“Rather than thinking of getting engaged, I thought he was a suitable match for marriage. If I can’t be with the person I like anyway, it doesn’t matter who it is.”

After muttering as if to myself, I bit my lower lip. My eyes automatically flew to Lars. My lips opened impulsively.

“……Is there any possibility that the person I like might like me too?”

Was it my imagination? Lars’s eyes seemed to waver slightly. In the strangely settled silence, I swallowed hard. It was so quiet everywhere that I felt I could even hear the flickering of the candles.

Lars’s lips, who had been staring at me blankly, moved faintly. It was a smile that seemed both present and absent.

“Even if unknown hardships imprison her in Ningatan, she has nothing to fear.

Dreaming of silver waves like angel feathers, I want to fall asleep with blue water lilies again today.”

I tended to display superhuman concentration whenever Lars recited poetry. But this was a poem I had never heard before.

Moreover, Ningatan? I had never heard that word, which referred to the butchers’ street, appear in a poem. As I stared blankly, Lars reached out and lightly flicked the bridge of my nose.

“It’s a poem about you. I often hear it in taverns.”

“What? A poem about me?”

“Yes. It’s a poem created after you were kidnapped in the Ningatan district. The blue water lily is a specialty of the Lukien region, used as an expression to allude to your name. Haven’t you heard the minstrels singing it?”

My mouth fell wide open. The poems I had learned were mostly about ancient heroes or some brilliant moment. But to compose a poem and sing songs about me. About insignificant me.

My whole face burned with embarrassment. I absently stroked my cheek and muttered.

“Who would do such a ridiculous thing……”

“You are noticeably beautiful and very clever. Whoever you like, it won’t be easy for him to dislike you.”

All my senses froze at his voice, which languidly colored the empty air. Lars’s gaze subtly avoided mine.

It was rather fortunate. If I had looked directly into those eyes, my heart might have stopped.

I should have asked if that applied to him too, but my tongue was frozen. It was natural since my entire body was stiff. After glancing at me briefly in the silence, Lars added with a smirk.

“Of course, handling you wouldn’t be easy either. You’re a troublemaker who commits more than whatever one imagines.”

“……If that person.”

My lips finally moved. Taking a labored breath, I resisted the trembling and firmly spoke.

“If that person likes me, I don’t care if I never marry. As long as he lets me stay by his side always.”

At last, our eyes met directly. I stared at him with all the feelings I could gather. Perhaps it looked a bit more like I was “devouring him” than usual.

Lars’s sharp eyes softened gently. He raised his hand and lightly stroked my head. His voice rang kindly, seeming to contain a faint sigh.

“I stopped by today to say hello. I’ll be away soon.”

At these bomb-like words that didn’t even give my heart time to flutter, I immediately grabbed his wrist.

“Where are you going, is it dangerous?”

Lars let out a chuckle as he saw me widening my eyes.

“What if it is dangerous.”

“Then I’ll follow you.”

This time his chuckle grew a bit louder. After laughing pleasantly, he pretended to wrinkle the bridge of his nose.

“After making such a fuss about wanting me to entrust things to you, you’d abandon the merchant group?”

“That’s……”

“Taking on work means taking on responsibility. You become less free. If you want to quit, you can let go anytime.”

I expressed my dissatisfaction with my mouth tightly closed, but I couldn’t be stubborn. This wasn’t something I could win by insisting. As I lowered my gaze glumly, Lars spoke in a light tone.

“I’m going to Freemont. I should be back sometime in February.”

Freemont!

Was he going to check on matters related to the merchant group? At least it didn’t feel as dangerous as last time. Because his expression was calm, I wasn’t particularly tense either.

“Is this your first time going there too, Lord Lars? I heard spring comes earlier there than in Edmus. Will it be very different from here? I haven’t been to many places even within Edmus. I heard there are beautiful……”

My voice, which had been excited without me realizing, soon sank glumly. I cleared my throat with a “ahem” and rolled my eyes.

“I heard there are many beautiful women there.”

Lars raised his eyebrows. He nodded as if finding it quite interesting.

“I didn’t know that. I’ll have to look carefully this time.”

Why do you need to look carefully!

“Someday.”

As I was widening my eyes and twitching the bridge of my nose, I automatically listened to his voice flowing quietly. Lars was smiling like a mischievous boy.

“You’ll have your chance to go too. The duchy is indeed a beautiful land. Once things stabilize, you could go for a vacation in summer. By then, the purple Karanja flowers should be in full bloom.”

“You’ll go with me, right?”

I don’t know his status, but perhaps he could be more free in Freemont than in Edmus. Maybe we could walk the streets together or watch people. We could ride horses across vast plains to a beautiful lakeside for snacks, read books, or recite poetry. Just imagining it made me happy like a dream.

Lars let out a hollow laugh as he looked at me, not even blinking once. With his arms crossed and eyes narrowed, he shrugged.

“Well. It seems the Nix merchant group would need to earn quite a lot of money to cover my travel expenses too.”

“You think I can’t do it? If I can just go with you, I’ll use any means necessary to become more famous than Folluk. Ten times, no, a hundred times more than now would be no problem.”

As I clenched my fist and held my head high, Lars tapped the bridge of my nose.

“You really would accomplish it, if it’s you.”

His crooked smile made my heart feel like it would melt like a snowman in midday. However, Lars soon added with a serious face, as if admonishing.

“But remember. The most important thing is your safety. Don’t let greed blind you and make you jump into danger on your own.”

It didn’t seem like something someone who had made me blind with greed should say, but I nodded obediently for now. His gaze felt so sweet that I didn’t want to break this moment. Only then did Lars rise with a satisfied expression.

“I should go now. Then I’ll leave the merchant group in your care.”

“Ah, wait a moment.”

The thought of not seeing his face for a while made me feel urgent. I quickly untied the perfume bottle I had been wearing at my waist. It was something I had always carried since recovering it. I wanted to give it to him whenever I met him.

Lars turned toward me. I hastily reached out and pushed the perfume bottle into his waist string. After passing it through the loop and hanging it, the perfume bottle swayed lightly. I pulled it tight again to make sure the knot part wasn’t loose.

“Don’t lose it again.”

As I whispered while caressing the delicate carved part with my hand, suddenly his body tilted and cast a deep shadow. I was about to raise my head but stopped. I felt something soft gently pressing on top of my head.

At that moment, I died twice. My heart stopped once when I realized what he had done, and after barely reviving, it stopped again when I raised my head after a couple of beats and our eyes met.

Lars was smiling with his incomparably beautiful face.

“I’ll be back.”

After flicking the bridge of my nose as usual, he opened the door. His weighty cloak fluttered elegantly. Having lost my senses, I belatedly chased after him and shouted.

“So why is anything else not allowed!”

But there was no trace of Lars, who had already disappeared into the shadows. My revived heart was so full of vigor that it was pounding as if it would jump out of my mouth.

My face felt hot as if sparks had caught on it. Clutching my chest, I exhaled my surging breath. I could only hope that this willful heart would endure while I counted the days until his return.