Chapter 47

The forest remained in its place, unchanged. As the Emperor’s Forest came into view, Vivian pressed her hands together in anxiety.

“Vivi. Are you alright?”

At Rosie’s words, Vivian slowly nodded.

Ian, who had unintentionally witnessed the accident, had worried Vivian. She was concerned that Ian might have been shocked, but his calm demeanor made Vivian feel awkward instead.

Even during breakfast this morning, Ian hadn’t mentioned anything about Louis or his visit to the palace.

After the accident, Vivian had been worried about how to face him. Hearing that Ian was meeting Louis, she had rushed into the carriage without looking back. Only now did the worry start to flood in.

A while later, the carriage slowed down and eventually came to a full stop.

“Young Lady, we’ve arrived.”

At the coachman’s words, Vivian opened the carriage door.

“Sis!”

A very cheerful voice called out to Vivian from afar. The sound came from the field stretching to the east of the forest entrance.

Vivian looked towards the direction of her brother’s voice. Rosie, who was getting off the carriage behind her, also turned her head in the same direction.

Three horses emerged from the tall grass, which was about the height of an adult. The horses, neither too fast nor too slow, were running towards the spot where Vivian and Rosie had alighted from the carriage.

As the three horses drew closer, Ian, riding with Louis on the foremost black horse, waved at Vivian. Louis, who was holding the reins and surrounding Ian, was also visible.

In Vivian’s ears, the sound of the horses’ hooves striking the ground mixed irregularly with her own heartbeat.

The large, muscular horse stopped gracefully in front of Vivian and Rosie.

“Greetings, Your Highness the Crown Prince.”

Vivian and Rosie greeted Louis. Louis jumped down from the horse, which was breathing heavily and exhaling hot air, and opened his arms towards Ian.

Ian, who embraced Louis without hesitation, ran to Vivian as soon as his feet touched the ground.

“Sis! That horse is amazing! It’s so fast!”

Ian, still excited, pointed at the horse. Vivian followed Ian’s hand with her eyes. She met the gaze of the horse looking down at them, and she flinched, stepping back, only to meet Louis’ eyes.

His hair, usually neat when in the palace, was naturally tousled from riding.

It was Louis, not Vivian, who first looked away.

“Rayden.”

Louis called Rayden, who was behind him, and handed over the reins. After a brief conversation, Louis approached Vivian.

“It’s been a while.”

He greeted Rosie and Vivian, rubbing his neck with his fingers. Although it had indeed been a while since he saw Rosie, it hadn’t been long since he last saw Vivian, making the greeting somewhat inaccurate.

However, neither Vivian nor Louis seemed to notice this.

Rosie shifted her purple eyes and observed the two of them. Something had clearly happened between them. Suspecting it might be something romantic, she had to resist the urge to immediately ask Vivian what had happened.

“Sis. Can we also ride the horse…”

Ian’s voice cut through the awkward air between Vivian and Louis. As Ian waved Vivian’s hand and spoke, she seized the moment to bend down and meet Ian’s eyes.

“Ian. When did you come to the palace?”

At Vivian’s question, Ian flinched noticeably. Hastily letting go of Vivian’s hand, he approached Rosie.

“Sis. Hello.”

“Pfft. Yes, hello.”

Rosie greeted, struggling to suppress her laughter at Ian’s clumsy attempt to handle the situation.

“Ian.”

Vivian called her brother’s name in a low voice, prompting Louis to step in.

“Let’s move to a different spot for now. The wind is getting chilly.”

As Louis said, the wind was growing stronger. With winter approaching, the wind was quite cold.

The swaying grass and leaves of the forest created a haunting sound.

The clouds were moving quickly. Vivian, who had been looking up at the sky, nodded. Ian, temporarily escaping the situation, took Rosie’s hand and climbed into the carriage.

They moved to a small cabin where Aitor had stayed. It seemed someone had anticipated their arrival, as the fireplace inside the cabin was lit.

Ian, with sparkling eyes, entered the cabin and began to explore every corner.

Rosie, curious about the Emperor’s Forest she was visiting for the first time, stepped out for a brief walk.

“Have a seat.”

Louis pointed to a chair, inviting Vivian to sit. She nodded and sat down, letting out a small sigh as she watched Ian busily exploring the cabin.

“Why did Ian request an audience with you, Louis?”

Vivian asked, and Louis shook his head.

“I haven’t heard the reason yet…”

Given the time that had passed since Ian met Louis, it was surprising that Louis hadn’t yet heard why Ian had requested the audience.

Seeing Vivian’s puzzled expression, Louis began to explain.

“We went to see the horses after hearing about their arrival during Ian’s audience, and we ended up here.”

Louis’ explanation was somewhat fragmented.

Vivian still looked unconvinced. Seeing her expression, Louis was about to explain further when he accidentally glanced at her red lips.

“Louis?”

Suddenly standing up, Louis walked over and threw open the cabin window.

“It’s a bit warm.”

Ian, who had finished exploring the small cabin, muttered, 

“It’s not warm…”

At that moment, Rosie’s voice came through the open window.

“Ian! Can you come out for a moment?”

At Rosie’s call, Ian ran to the window.

“Why!”

“There’s something interesting here!”

“Alright! Wait a moment!”

Excited by the mention of something interesting, Ian quickly left the cabin. This left Vivian and Louis alone once more.

The awkward air between them began to settle again. Feeling the uncomfortable atmosphere, Vivian hurriedly searched for a topic to change the subject.

The last day in this place.

“That day…”

Recalling the day Aitor left the cabin, Vivian began to speak.

That day.

Hearing those words, Louis, startled, slammed the window shut. The loud noise caused Vivian to blink and look at Louis.

“T-that day?”

“Pardon?”

“Ahem. Well…”

Seeing Louis’ reddened face, Vivian realized that the “that day” she was thinking of and the “that day” Louis was thinking of were different.

“I didn’t mean that day!”

Vivian stood up from her chair.

“I mean… it was an accident!”

Vivian’s voice filled the small cabin.

“An accident…”

“Yes! I told you not to look at that book. But you kept trying to see it, so I tried to stop you…”

“…”

“In the process, I slipped!”

Vivian’s face turned red, as if it would burst. Seeing Louis remain silent, she fanned her face with her hand.

She wished he would say something, anything.

Vivian pressed her still-warm cheeks with her cold palms. She took a deep breath to calm her racing heart.

“Let’s pretend it never happened.”

“Pretend it never happened?”

“Yes. It was an unintentional accident…”

Vivian approached Louis with a determined expression.

Louis swallowed as he watched her approach. Vivian stopped three steps away from him.

“People can trip and fall, right?”

Vivian explained, mimicking a fall and lightly tapping Louis’ arm.

“Like this. Understand?”

“I don’t get it.”

At Louis’ words, Vivian’s peridot-green eyes shook intensely. She opened the window Louis had closed and began to explain again.

“I tripped, and you just happened to be there, so we collided.”

Louis, watching her gestures and explanations, suddenly felt a small discomfort.

Was it necessary to explain so hard that it was nothing?

“Alright. I understand.”

At Louis’ words, Vivian smiled brightly. The light freckles she had in Raspol were now hidden by makeup.

Louis found this slightly displeasing.

“In that storage-like room, you found an *rotic book by chance. You didn’t want to show it to me and tried desperately to hide it, resulting in your lips and mine colliding.”

Louis began to slowly explain the incident. As he continued, Vivian’s jaw gradually dropped.

“An accident, a mistake. So let’s pretend it never happened, right?”

As Vivian blinked, her mouth opening and closing like a fish, Louis smiled and sat on the windowsill.

A breeze that entered through the window brushed Louis’ hair. A few strands of his black hair fell over his neat forehead.

“It was my first kiss, but since you want to forget it, I will. Alright, Vivian. I’ll do as you wish.”

Louis stood up, brushing his fallen hair back.

“And as for why Ian requested an audience with me, I haven’t heard the reason yet, but it seemed like he wanted to warn me.”

At the word “warn,” Vivian, who was half-dazed, flinched.

“He probably didn’t like the idea of his beloved sister being taken by a strange man. So I took special time today to win your brother’s favor by letting him ride a horse. The Dinever family is not an easy one.”

Louis shrugged and pulled out a pocket watch. After checking the time, he stared at the closed cabin door.

“He’s a bit late.”

Louis muttered softly and walked towards the door. Just before leaving, he turned back and said,

“Wait here for a moment.”

Leaving those words, Louis exited the cabin.

Now alone, Vivian walked over and slumped into the chair Louis had offered earlier.

“Seriously…”

Vivian buried her face in her hands.

She was shocked that Louis knew exactly what kind of book she had tried so hard to keep him from seeing, and the word “first kiss” from his mouth was also shocking.

Vivian couldn’t shake off the shock.

At that moment.

A warm breeze blew over Vivian’s head. She slowly lifted her head and couldn’t believe her eyes.