“Do you really have to pull pranks like that when we’re busy?”

Meriel let out a hearty laugh and smacked Luna’s arm. Honestly, this friend of hers was quite the jokester.

Just moments ago, Luna had lied to Meriel as a joke, saying the tomato stew she’d eaten for breakfast was smeared red around her mouth and looked unsightly mixed with her lip rouge. But today of all days, Meriel had taken it seriously.

If it hadn’t involved Hersion, she would have naturally known it was a prank. But since today was the first time she’d be meeting him outside after becoming his lover, Meriel had been on edge since morning.

Though she was usually carefree by nature, today she’d woken up a full hour earlier than her usual outings to doll herself up. She’d adjusted her outfit and hair countless times, checking repeatedly to make sure her makeup hadn’t smudged.

After breakfast ended, Luna had thrown that joke at Meriel. Though Meriel felt annoyed at being fooled, she thought it was just like Luna and chuckled before checking the mirror once more. 

Her makeup was satisfyingly well done. It had already been several years since she’d started doing her own makeup, so she was now accustomed to it without a maid’s help.

Meriel pursed her lips, touching up her rouge once more before pulling her gaze from the mirror.

Today was the first Saturday returning after spending time alone with Hersion. Meriel had promised to meet Hersion at Serutich Square by 1 PM.

Meriel didn’t know this, but after receiving Adrian’s letter saying he couldn’t reach Sir James, Hersion’s mind had been continuously unsettled. 

However, even amid his anxiety, he missed Meriel and sent her a letter the day before yesterday.

Yesterday, after receiving his letter, Meriel sent an urgent reply accepting. Fortunately, since Hersion was inside the royal palace and could receive the letter immediately, no one noticed the sender was Meriel. 

Meriel had been so excited she replied instantly without thinking of the consequences, but it passed safely.

“I’m off.”

“Be careful. Have a wonderful time.”

“Yeah, got it. Phew, I only wasted more time because of you.”

“Sorry. But you won’t be late.”

“I sure hope so.”

Saying that, Meriel left the shop. A hired carriage she’d reserved in advance was waiting for her.

As Meriel boarded the carriage, the driver immediately departed toward Serutich Square.

Inside the carriage, Meriel kept looking out the window. The excitement of meeting Hersion was greatest, but on the other hand, many things weighed on her mind.

Was her outfit today acceptable? Would it satisfy his eyes too? When he met Nancy before long, what would become of her and Hersion’s future…?

Of course, she believed he would choose her even then. No, she wanted to believe that.

Even when she was certain it would naturally be so, she couldn’t help but worry. Naturally, since there had been no further discussion about the marriage proposal. 

After the news that Nancy had received a marriage proposal, there had been no related exchanges.

‘The fact that there’s been no word…’

It probably meant there had been no contact from Nancy’s side either. Meriel found herself nodding repeatedly. She couldn’t think otherwise. 

Hersion would surely inform her immediately if there was news related to Nancy. She trusted him completely in this regard.

Before she knew it, the carriage had entered the village where Serutich Square was located. The farmland scenery had long since disappeared from view. Only now did Meriel truly feel that the time to meet him was approaching.

Perhaps because it was Saturday, people throughout the village were enjoying their weekend outside. Seeing the coffee shop full of people leisurely drinking tea made her want to drink coffee with Hersion. 

And seeing a clown performing on the street made her want to watch it together with Hersion. Imagining doing anything with him naturally brought a smile to her face.

Shortly after, the carriage stopped at Serutich Square. Meriel got off and paid the driver.

Soon the carriage left, and Meriel looked around Serutich Square. True to a weekend, there were quite a lot of people. Compared to the village entrance, it was bustling with crowds.

After looking around, Meriel soon withdrew her gaze and pulled out the map showing the meeting place she’d arranged with Hersion.

‘I just go straight from here?’

After confirming the location of the famous restaurant in Serutich Square, Meriel folded the map back up. She had promised to have lunch with Hersion there.

Her expectations were high since it was a place Hersion recommended. She’d heard the food was delicious enough that he often stopped by with the Rüharen Knights members. Moreover, Hersion had even made the reservation himself, so Meriel just needed to enter.

Meriel walked toward the restaurant with a light heart. When she’d left the shop, only cold wind had been blowing and the day was clear, but it was gradually becoming overcast.

The surroundings were growing darker, but Meriel didn’t particularly care. Believing any weather would be fine as long as she was with Hersion, she walked and before she knew it, had arrived at the restaurant entrance.

Meriel was guided by staff to the reserved seat. The building itself was entirely a restaurant, making it a large-scale establishment, and the seat she was guided to was the VIP section with the best view and most spacious area.

“Wow.”

Meriel exclaimed in admiration as soon as she sat down. The seat was very spacious for two people to dine, and above all, it overlooked Serutich Square at a glance. 

Meriel, who had been continuously excited, didn’t hide the smile that kept blooming at the thought that it would soon be 1 o’clock and he would arrive.

‘But I arrived first?’

Belatedly, Meriel dismissed it as completely irrelevant. She hadn’t been reproaching him, she’d simply wanted to see him quickly, and they’d meet soon anyway.

Meriel didn’t want to order food first either. It didn’t seem right to do so without his consent when Hersion hadn’t even arrived yet.

If only there were magical tools like those in novels, she could communicate with him in real time, but she dismissed the fantasy since it was purely imaginary.

‘I wonder how far along he is.’

Meriel kept looking out the window. Outside had grown darker than before. Wind was also blowing, and snow or rain seemed ready to fall at any moment.

The weather forecast had definitely said it would only be cloudy. But seeing the sky looking ready to drop something, she only hoped Hersion would arrive faster. 

She wanted to meet him quickly, and she was also hungry.

In case something had happened, Meriel grew more anxious as time passed. Meanwhile, outside, snow finally began to fall.

‘First snow?’

She’d thought it felt particularly chilly when leaving the shop.

The dark surroundings gradually brightened as snow fell. Before long, the ground was turning white.

Snow was accumulating quite a bit on the restaurant’s glass windows too. The time was already approaching 1:30. A full 30 minutes had passed since the promised time, but there was no trace of Hersion at all.

She opened her eyes wide, wondering if he might be in one of the carriages passing nearby, watching the people getting off. But he showed no signs of appearing.

It didn’t seem like he’d come in a royal palace carriage. He’d probably take a hired carriage like her today.

Or perhaps if he left from home, he might come in his family’s carriage.

“Hah…”

Meriel sighed repeatedly. Her impatience visibly swelled as she kept pursing her lips.

The romance of having a meal alone with her lover on the day of the first snowfall was gradually pushed aside by anxiety to the point of near extinction.

‘What on earth is going on?’

He’s not the type to do this. Meriel’s worry boiled while anger simultaneously began to rise. 

Rage at the fact that he’d broken his promise and anxiety that something might have happened to him alternately tormented her unstable psychological state. If he was late because the roads were slippery due to snow, that would at least be fortunate.

It was then, as Meriel sat with a restless expression, shaking her leg.

‘Hersion?’

Meriel stopped shaking her leg in surprise and approached the window, lightly touching the glass. Then she opened her eyes wider than ever and looked down carefully.

It was definitely Hersion. She could recognize him at a glance even from far away. His tall height made him easy to distinguish, but more than that, how could she not recognize the person she loved most?

But Meriel experienced her heart, which had been racing with joy, suddenly sink heavily. 

Less than a minute after Hersion got off first, another carriage stopped near him. And she saw Hersion walking toward the carriage that had stopped behind.

‘What?’

As soon as that carriage’s door opened, she noticed Hersion reaching his hand inside to help someone get off.

‘No way? Who is it?’

It would be a great relief if the person inside the carriage was Mateo or a knight member. But unfortunately, the person getting off with Hersion’s assistance was a woman. A young woman at that.

Meriel was so startled she opened her mouth wide without even being able to scream. She continued watching that scene in a daze. 

Even when she rubbed her eyes repeatedly, thinking it must be an illusion, the image of those two people didn’t disappear.

Soon the two people who got off the carriage faced each other. Meriel couldn’t believe the current situation, but an even more absurd situation followed.

That woman was handing Hersion a bouquet of flowers. While exchanging some conversation, she was smiling brightly.

Though the distance prevented her from seeing the shape of their lips, the sight of them smiling was clearly captured in Meriel’s view. Meriel, shocked, found herself clutching her head as she watched them.

‘Could that woman possibly be Nancy?’

That was the only way she could interpret it. Starting with the expensive-looking coat she wore, it seemed to clearly show she was of a different status than herself.

Meriel’s eyes welled up with tears. Quickly wiping her tears, she called for staff. As soon as the staff approached, she shouted, unable to contain her excitement.

“Cancel the meal, please!”

“Pardon?”

When the staff asked back, wondering if they’d heard wrong, Meriel shouted again to definitely cancel.

“Miss, canceling the reservation is difficult.”

The tall male staff member spoke politely, but Meriel insisted. Since he said it wasn’t possible, she had no choice but to be stubborn. She wanted to rush out of this place immediately, so there was no other way.

She felt she absolutely couldn’t eat alone like this. She was someone who normally went to coffee shops and restaurants alone just fine, but right now she felt she’d get indigestion no matter how luxurious the food.

She hadn’t known he was that kind of man. Even the story about secretly going on escort duty last time seemed like a lie. 

No, even if the mission itself was true, she had no way of knowing whether he’d met another woman or Nancy after the escort ended unless she saw it with her own eyes. 

She hadn’t seen him as that type of person at all. He was definitely the one who’d said he wasn’t pleased with the marriage proposal with Nancy.

Meriel kicked out of the restaurant and hurriedly descended the stairs to the first floor. Belatedly, a staff member reached out to stop her, but it was already too late.

While rushing down the stairs, forgetting how fast her steps were, Meriel ran forward with tears dangling in her eyes, looking only ahead. 

It was a dangerous situation where she almost fell, wearing high heels and with tears obscuring her vision.

Nevertheless, whether her luck was incredibly good… or whether it was divine revelation to run like this and slap Hersion’s cheek hard, she even let out a scoff at the absurdity when she made it safely.

Meriel pushed open the restaurant entrance with all her might and charged straight at Hersion. 

Hersion, who discovered that the person running out as the restaurant door opened noisily was Meriel, was startled and quickly turned toward her.

Before Hersion could even approach, Meriel ran at full speed and, ignoring his delight, immediately raised her arm with all her strength to slap his cheek. At that moment, Meriel slipped on the snow, missed her footing, and screamed.

“Ahhh!”

In an instant, as her body tilted backward and she faced a crisis situation, someone grabbed her body and pulled her into their arms. It was Hersion.

His reflexes were so fast that everyone forgot the bouquet in his hands had escaped his grasp and was buried in the snow-covered ground. Belatedly, the woman standing behind Hersion quietly picked up the carelessly thrown bouquet.

Meriel, knowing Hersion had saved her, resisted at the top of her lungs while sobbing.

“Let go!”

Today of all days, this broad embrace felt terribly cold and hateful. And as the face of the woman presumed to be Nancy standing behind him kept catching her eye, Meriel squeezed her eyes shut and struggled, resisting with all her might to escape Hersion’s embrace.

“Let go, I said!”

“Calm down, Miss Meriel. What on earth is the matter?”

Even at Hersion’s voice asking in a tone full of concern, Meriel immediately shouted.

“I can’t calm down! Because of you!”

“Pardon?”

Hersion was flustered and couldn’t continue speaking. His lips trembled.

“How dare you… how dare you meet another woman while seeing me? That person behind you.”

Meriel shouted openly for her to hear. She was already in such an excited state that she didn’t know what she was saying or how.

“Of all places, here! Did you never once think I’d naturally be looking down from inside the restaurant?”

Only then did Hersion realize why Meriel had lost her reason to this extent.

“You’re misunderstanding.”

Meriel found this man still holding her so hateful that she made every effort to break free. But strangely, her heart was pounding like it wanted him, and the embrace she’d thought was cold felt full of warmth.

‘This won’t do!’

She needed to come to her senses. She wanted to somehow calm at least her heart, which was throbbing without tact. Should she calm her excitement? 

Perhaps it was beating because her emotions were so intense.

Even though she was clearly aware her body was reacting because it wanted Hersion, Meriel tried hard to deny it by shaking her head. Since she was pressed close to his warm embrace, even her head shaking was a small motion like a child would make.

Contrary to the agitated Meriel, Hersion calmly explained.

“The woman standing behind is my younger sister, Nereida.”