Diana smiled bitterly as she recalled the day of their engagement.

On the day she held the engagement ceremony with Edwin, his expression hadn’t been bright then either. It wasn’t exactly dark either, but it had remained stiffly rigid throughout.

While it was a fitting expression for a knight captain, it didn’t suit a man getting engaged at all. This made her feel pathetic for being the only one excited on their engagement day.

Of course, no one who attended the engagement ceremony would have expected Diana to feel such emotions. The engagement ceremony was held in the garden, and throughout that time, she had kept her head deeply bowed with her face completely flushed.

Occasionally glancing up to gauge Edwin’s reactions was all she did. Perhaps because of this, she couldn’t recall the faces of the people invited to the engagement ceremony at all. She could only know who attended through the guest list.

Still, back then she had harbored hope that her relationship with Edwin would progress, but now even that hope felt distant, so what should she do?

Was he still unable to forget the woman he held in his heart?

Diana couldn’t help but think that Edwin couldn’t give his heart to her because he couldn’t forget the woman he loved unrequitedly.

“Are you perhaps uncomfortable?”

“Pardon?”

Diana, who had been lost in thought, was awakened by Edwin’s voice. Her gaze naturally turned to Edwin, who sat across from her.

“Every time you meet with me, your expression doesn’t look good, so I wondered if I had done something wrong.”

His appearance as he savored his tea with elegant gestures looked incredibly beautiful. However, his attitude toward Diana still wasn’t natural.

He must be asking such questions because he too felt awkward.

“Un, uncomfortable? How could I be? You treat me well enough.”

Since spending time alone with Edwin felt like a dream, she was extremely tense every time she met him. Her expression had stiffened because of this, but he seemed to misunderstand.

That wasn’t it. She should smile and tell him he was mistaken, but the corners of her mouth wouldn’t rise at all.

Contrary to her intentions, her face grew increasingly frowning. Diana felt like crying. She worried that he might misunderstand and stop making time for her.

“Really.”

“I’ll think of it that way.”

No matter how honestly Diana spoke, he didn’t seem to believe her, but Edwin didn’t ask any more questions. This left her feeling unsettled.

“Th, the awkwardness will decrease as we meet more often, won’t it?”

Diana indirectly revealed her feelings. If she didn’t do this, it seemed her relationship with Edwin would become even more awkward. Having been rejected once before, Diana couldn’t approach him aggressively, so even saying these words wasn’t easy for her.

“Let’s make it so.”

Despite his answer, Edwin’s expression also stiffened completely. Seeing his expression, Diana couldn’t take his words at face value.

* * *

‘Am I really making her uncomfortable?’

Edwin could feel that Diana wasn’t enjoying her time with him as their dates increased.

It must be because this was an unwanted engagement.

When His Majesty the Emperor told him to get engaged to Diana, he couldn’t describe how shocked he was. It was so completely unexpected that at first he thought His Majesty was joking.

But it didn’t take long to realize it was reality. His Majesty the Emperor kept adding praise about how wonderful the Winchester ducal family was.

Even though he already knew this fact, he couldn’t willingly accept the engagement. Edwin had thought Diana couldn’t possibly want an engagement with him.

‘Become my personal knight.’

What happened after he rejected that proposal? Hadn’t Diana blatantly avoided him? So after that, it was difficult to even exchange greetings, let alone have conversations.

The eye contact at the recent banquet hall was all they had. This was because Diana still avoided him due to the memory of being rejected by him.

Edwin had no choice but to reject the proposal because of Duke Winchester. He had earnestly requested that Edwin definitely refuse if Diana ever made such a proposal.

‘You’re not a man who should remain here. You need to play in bigger waters.’

Duke Winchester wanted Edwin to become an Imperial Knight and work hard for the empire. So Edwin had simply followed that command.

Even now, after so much time had passed, he felt sorry, but he couldn’t explain to Diana the circumstances that forced him to refuse. How could he bring up what happened that day?

As a result, Edwin felt his heart sink heavily every time he saw his fiancée.

Unaware of his feelings, Diana asked Edwin nervously.

“You must be busy, but is it alright for you to make time for me so often?”

She was afraid he might say it was difficult because he was busy. Even so, Diana wanted to know Edwin’s thoughts.

“No matter how busy I am, making time for you is natural.”

What should she do? She was so happy that she might cry.

Whether he was sincere or just being polite, she was so delighted that the corners of her mouth rose automatically.

She bowed her head deeply to hide those feelings. Unaware that her attitude was causing Edwin to misunderstand even more, Diana enjoyed her time with Edwin.

Just spending time together was so wonderful that when she was with him, an hour felt like a minute. However, separate from such feelings, she felt a bit wistful every time they parted.

“Then please go home safely.”

When parting, Edwin always gave Diana a light kiss on the back of her hand. Today, he had done the same.

Only after repeating the same farewell each time did Diana realize the reason for the emptiness she felt. The only physical contact they’d had so far was kisses on the back of her hand. That was all.

While it could be seen as restrained and courteous behavior, it was a greeting that could be done even between people who weren’t lovers. Perhaps that’s why dissatisfaction had built up.

Lady Cavan had her first kiss recently.

While other ladies were gradually progressing with their fiancés, only Diana remained in the same place every time.

Nobles generally seemed like they would consummate after marriage, but in reality, it wasn’t so. People whose hearts were connected sometimes shared their bodies even before marriage.

Diana’s previous life wasn’t a marriage of love, so before marriage, she had only touched hands with Clive.

Duke Winchester’s joke-like threat that he wouldn’t let it slide if they did anything before marriage was one reason, but more than that, she simply hadn’t felt the desire to share bodies before marriage.

So Edwin’s behavior wasn’t wrong. Since this too wasn’t a marriage of love, it was a natural attitude. Only Diana was restless by herself.

She didn’t wish for a deep relationship like others. Just a kiss at least. She hoped for at least that much, but since Edwin wouldn’t even do that, her impatience could only increase.

It might be natural for her anxiety to grow at Edwin’s appearance of not wanting to let her close and maintaining a certain distance. After all, she had pushed out Clive, who was Diana’s original husband, and forcibly made Edwin her partner.

Of course, Diana was grateful just to be engaged to Edwin. But what could she do about growing greedy as the time she spent with him increased?

Originally, Diana wasn’t the type to be faithful to such desires. Rather, she was on the side of not having a strong libido. But now it was different.

She was engaged to the man she had admired, and since he was within arm’s reach, her dormant dark desires had awakened, and those feelings were growing.

‘Someday he’ll look at me with eyes full of desire, won’t he?’

Waiting for that day, Diana worked on her figure without missing a single day. To make fragrant scents linger long, she scattered flower petals in her bathtub once a week to bathe, and to maintain smooth skin, she often had her body washed with milk.

Moreover, aromatic oils that maintained skin elasticity. She had barely managed to obtain something that was difficult to acquire and was using it to care for her body.

It wasn’t to hear praise about being beautiful. She groomed herself like this to boost her confidence.

The guilt of forcibly holding onto a man who wasn’t originally her partner using power. The fear that he might be taken away by the woman he admired made Diana anxious and restless.

“Please, at least a kiss…”

She wanted to feel peace of mind by connecting with Edwin even a little more deeply. Could such feelings be called great greed?