“That can’t be.”

The black hair and red eyes came into sharp focus in her vision again.

That was the description from the novel.

In the Amondi Empire, people with black hair and red eyes were virtually nonexistent.

And a man with such deep, captivating eyes and a face that drew gasps was even rarer.

Kyle personally removed the pendant from his neck and showed it to her.

The imperial crest with the eagle emblem was clearly engraved on it.

‘How can this be?’

Shiloh stood frozen with her mouth open.

‘Of all people, my investor……’

This was a relationship where drawing a line was simply not possible.

She could only keep letting out hollow laughs.

‘I thought as long as I worked myself to death, there was absolutely no way I’d get tangled up with him……’

Shiloh immediately dropped to her knees and bowed her head.

“Please forget everything about last night. I wasn’t in my right mind…… it was a mistake. I am truly sorry.”

Shiloh closed her eyes tightly and apologized with full formality.

“……”

Kyle looked down at her with an expression of disbelief.

“Is this something to apologize for?”

“Pardon?”

“I don’t think it calls for an apology…… we both consented.”

“……”

“You didn’t force yourself on me.”

“That’s…… true, but……”

Shiloh could only move her lips without getting any words out.

“Get up. It’s uncomfortable to look at.”

At Kyle’s frowning words, Shiloh rose awkwardly from her knees.

“Do you want to pretend it never happened?”

Kyle squeezed his eyes shut and sighed.

Shiloh poured out her words in a trembling, flustered rush.

“I must have been very emotionally fragile after losing my mother. And with the robbery last night on top of that…… I truly had no intention of doing that. It was a mistake. I wouldn’t normally fail to separate my personal and professional life like this.”

“So…… you want to pretend it never happened?”

Kyle asked again in a drained voice.

Shiloh hesitated for a moment, then nodded.

“Yes……”

Kyle had been looking at her with something almost like reproach, and then spoke coldly.

“That makes two of us.”

Shiloh bit her lip and rolled it inward.

It was true that she had asked if he could stay the night, but she had only wanted someone nearby because she was frightened, not to go as far as sharing her body. It had happened because her reason had shut down and she had been swept along by the moment.

He had probably been swept along too.

On top of that, getting personally entangled with Kyle was the last thing she wanted.

Kyle was a figure who, as in the original story, could send her to her death.

Shiloh let out a breath and continued.

“Don’t worry, Your Majesty. I won’t make things difficult by clinging to you over one night. I’ll put last night cleanly behind me as well.”

Kyle’s expression went rigid.

Shiloh bowed her head and spoke with careful courtesy.

“I won’t forget the grace of your investment, and I will work hard at the business without causing you trouble. Please tell me anything you need. I will follow your instructions.”

Shiloh drew a line with every ounce of propriety she had.

After a long pause, Kyle’s dry voice came with a sigh.

“Clean is good.”

A brief, uncomfortable silence followed.

Shiloh broke it and asked carefully.

“There’s something I’m curious about. May I ask?”

“……”

“Why did you choose to invest in me, of all people?”

Shiloh was puzzled.

From what she had read in the novel, Kyle clearly disliked bread because of his past trauma.

Kyle without a dislike of bread simply wasn’t Kyle.

“……”

He gave no answer, and she grasped at a thread of hope and asked carefully.

“Do you perhaps…… like bread?”

While she waited for his answer, she thought to herself.

‘Please say you like bread.’

That way she could reassure herself that he wasn’t Kyle.

Kyle drew in a slow breath and answered a beat late.

“Eating your bread puts me at ease. Even when something makes me angry, or when I’m on edge. Strangely.”

“Ah……”

Shiloh’s lips fell open in dismay.

She dropped her gaze in resignation.

She could no longer insist he wasn’t Kyle.

The banana bread with its calming properties amplified by the pabua powder was probably soothing him when he couldn’t control his anger.

But based on the original story, his episodes of violent rage would only grow more uncontrollable with time.

On top of that, continued consumption of pabua powder would build a tolerance, gradually diminishing its effects.

According to the book, the one who could permanently stabilize his instability was Rowella.

Being the adult novel it was, once he married Rowella and they had a passionate life together, Kyle would find permanent mental peace.

So all she had to do was keep making ‘healing bread’ for him until he met Rowella and fell in love.

She didn’t love the idea of the selfish and self-centered Rowella thriving, but that was a secondary concern.

What mattered most was her own survival.

The more cooperative she was with Kyle, the less likely he was to treat her carelessly.

“Should I make bread every day that will ease and calm Your Majesty’s mind?”

Shiloh looked up at him with wide blue eyes.

Kyle gave a single nod.

“And remember this. If you breathe a word of this conversation to anyone, you will be held responsible.”

Being held responsible sounded like being told to offer her life, and her heart constricted.

“Of course. I will keep it absolutely secret.”

She pressed her hand over her racing heart and spoke in a faintly trembling voice.

Kyle brought up something else entirely.

“I’m going to have a warp gate installed here.”

“A warp gate?”

A warp gate was a device that allowed instant travel.

“I’ll make it a secret station. Whenever you give your consent, it will be a station only I can use.”

Shiloh’s mouth fell open.

‘I’m done for.’

A direct line to my nemesis……

“You won’t need to worry about your safety anymore.”

Kyle said it with a self-satisfied air and glanced at Shiloh.

“Thank you. I don’t know how I’ll repay this kindness……”

Shiloh watched his expression and forced the corners of her mouth up.

But while she saw him out as he finished putting on his coat and turned to leave, she furrowed her brow the moment his back was turned.

Shiloh sighed repeatedly as she watched Kyle grow smaller in the distance.

He left the shop, walked with steady steps, turned the corner of the alley, and vanished from her sight.

Shiloh dropped into the chair alone.

Unable to believe what had just happened, she pinched the inside of her forearm again, but the sharp, immediate pain made her face crumple.

“Ow! That hurts.”

It was reality, not a dream, and she pressed her fingers to her forehead with drooping eyebrows.

*

Peter and Rowella took their seats in the audience of the large theater in the main street.

The two of them, dressed to impress, watched a romance play featuring the popular actress Cordelia.

Midway through the performance, Rowella’s mouth fell open in shock.

It was because of a scene where the male lead gave Cordelia a cake he had bought from Shiloh’s Bakery.

“How does the cake taste?”

“Mm…… moist, with a rich chocolate flavor and a dense texture…… why are the strawberries so fresh?”

“Of course they are. Shiloh’s Bakery uses only the finest ingredients.”

“I could eat this every day. You’ll buy it for me forever, right? I love you.”

The actress delivered the line that veered slightly from the play’s flow and fell into the male lead’s arms, and the two kissed with cake-stained lips pressed together.

Rowella’s eyes went wide as saucers and she let out a hollow breath.

The fact that Shiloh, whose family had fallen into ruin, had spent money on advertising in a popular play was proof that her business was doing well.

She turned to look at Peter, who was pathetically drooling in his sleep.

Rowella’s expression soured.

A short while later, Peter opened his eyes and watched the actors perform, then suddenly grinned and whispered to Rowella.

“Rowella, how about horse meat after the play? I know a place that does it really well.”

In an instant, Rowella’s face hardened and she yanked her hand out of Peter’s grasp.

“……”

Peter’s face darkened at her cold reaction.

Rowella had been acting strange lately.

When he had been with Shiloh, Rowella had been the one to express her feelings first and had been physically forward as well.

He had done what she wanted and broken things off with Shiloh, and yet he felt more distant from her than ever.

She had become noticeably more irritable and avoided physical contact.

Above all, she seemed to have no respect for him whatsoever.

‘Does she really love me? Or…… is she afraid of being abandoned herself, since she abandoned her friend?’

He wanted to bring up marriage soon, but it didn’t feel like the right time yet.

After the play ended, the two of them walked side by side through a park in the city.