“Then I’ll see you again.”

Roen bowed her head to Lucy and then began walking toward the forest.

11:30 PM.

As she passed through the grass, Roen recalled the scene in the reception room of the Reushden duchy.

Under the sunlight streaming through the glass windows, he had been sitting in a chair.

While she was reading the love letter, his ice-blue eyes had been fixed solely on her.

Her heart tingled.

Throughout reading the letter, she had felt elevated emotions as if she, not Lucy, were the sender.

It was the first time she had felt relief at his coldness when he said he had no intention of going to the meeting place.

And now that he hadn’t actually shown up at the meeting place, the anxiety that had been boiling inside her gradually disappeared.

‘I’m a failure as a merchant. Not putting the client first.’

Roen pushed away the guilt clinging to her legs. Then she sighed as she walked through the darkness.

“I didn’t know I had such an obsessive and clingy personality.”

Her sudden possessiveness toward him was also excessive.

In fact, wasn’t she already showing greed for him as if he were hers, even though he wasn’t?

Even though she had firmly resolved to seduce him, her mood sank when she saw Lucy smiling shyly.

“Anyway, he said he had no intention of coming. So there’s no need for me to feel this way.”

Roen resolutely put her emotions away. Above all, the feelings she was experiencing now were a luxury in the face of her curse.

Her heavy footsteps, which had been entangled in nettles and unable to move forward, became light again.

Roen hurriedly headed toward Argus Cliff.

She stopped walking, exhaling rough breaths. As she approached the cliff, Roen held her breath.

The Recluse’s Forest, silent as if in deep stillness, was filled with the sound of waterfall spray shattering against the moonlight, as always.

Roen took out her pocket watch to check the time.

‘Ah, no…’

She was late. The hands of her pocket watch had already passed midnight. It seemed she had delayed too long at the forest entrance waiting for Lucy.

“So you came. First that day, and now… You’re not here to see me, are you?”

At the sudden low voice, Roen’s shoulders flinched.

A voice now too familiar. It was Duke Jean Reushden.

Her heart was strangely tumultuous.

He was in the Recluse’s Forest. Standing beneath Argus Cliff where they had first met, waiting for her.

From the moment she sensed his presence, her mouth went dry.

After steadying her breath to hide her nervousness, Roen slowly raised her head.

His ice-blue eyes immediately flew to her.

Deliberately ignoring his intense gaze, Roen spoke casually.

“They say delusion is free. That seems to apply perfectly to you, Duke.”

Fortunately, her voice didn’t tremble.

Roen lifted her chin and continued with an expression that was even somewhat arrogant.

“How could I have known you would be here? Rather, you knew I was coming here. So it’s you who came to meet me. And the reason I came here is because I need the Peacock’s Tears. It was the same reason last time.”

In truth, she had been wondering what face she should make when she saw him again.

And the conclusion was to “be brazen.”

She had planned to be bold, as if what happened at Ranke had no effect on her whatsoever.

So she needed to act nonchalant as before.

But standing in the faded light of the new moon, he looked dangerously s*xy.

His cold smile, exuding a chilling aura, was bad for her heart.

Above all, his ice-blue eyes resting on her lips seemed to be ruminating on that kiss from before.

Could it be that he’s now conscious of me as a woman? And if he deliberately came here to meet me…

The small trembling that started at her fingertips infused Roen with audacity.

“So forward.”

“What?”

His ice-blue eyes wavered as if taken aback.

‘What’s this? This innocent reaction. It makes me want to tease him.’

“Do you know? Making such an expression with that face is a crime.”

Having adapted somewhat, this time his straight, thick eyebrows only rose upward. He seemed to be watching first to see what kind of trick Roen was trying to pull.

“What kind of expression am I making?”

“A very, very seductive expression. The kind that makes me want to devour you whole.”

As Roen slowly approached him, he instinctively took a step back.

But immediately realizing his action, he frowned. He looked offended, as if his pride was hurt for being drawn into her behavior.

“I don’t know who should be saying that. You’re so much younger than me, yet you talk about being forward and seductive…”

“Wait, something seems off. You don’t actually think I’m young, do you? That’s not what I want to hear from someone who hasn’t even shown his face in society and has spent five years on the battlefield.”

Roen shook her head as if completely disagreeing.

Then, as if she had made up her mind, she stuck out her red tongue and slowly ran it over her lips seductively.

“D*mn it…”

With a curse, Jean slightly stiffened his mouth to hide his bewilderment.

When her gaze fell on his lips, he strangely felt his throat burning and had to swallow.

This was clearly… heat.

“Should I take that to mean you have a lot of experience in that area?”

Jean frowned as if displeased.

“Well, not more than you, Duke. Despite appearances, my social circle is much wider than yours. And for commoners, romance is quite open.”

Roen smiled in agreement.

As a Peirasmos of Ranke, she had even handed him a fan signifying she wanted to spend the night with him, and had initiated a kiss, so she couldn’t exactly deny it.

Jean glared at her with a disapproving expression. He looked extremely dissatisfied.

Was it her imagination that he looked jealous? It was quite a different atmosphere from when he was strangling her neck. But Roen, not being well-versed in relationships between men and women, couldn’t be certain what kind of signal this was.

Instead, Roen thought she should contact Esther soon and invite the Peirasmos to her mansion.

She intended to perfectly master all those techniques for seducing men and penetrating their psychology.

‘D*mn it.’

Jean’s teeth ground together with an inexplicable displeasure.

‘Experienced… Just how many men has she enchanted?’

There was no particular reason for him to be interested in the romantic history of the woman before him, but it strangely bothered him. He stared at Simonetta standing under the moonlight.

He never had the slightest intention of meeting the lady who had sent the love letter, whose name he couldn’t even remember.

But he kept being bothered.

He was concerned about someone else who might be waiting for him in the dark, secluded forest until near midnight.

When he came to his senses after thinking this, Jean was already in the Recluse’s Forest.

The fact that he was at Argus Cliff rather than the forest entrance, the promised meeting place, was due to his minimal remaining rationality. So her words—that he had come to see her—were correct.

Jean had waited aimlessly in the pitch-dark forest. Even though there was no guarantee she would come here.

Moreover, he had even diligently collected the Peacock’s Tears, which could only be received at midnight on a moonless night.

Because he remembered that Simonetta had come here a month ago to collect the Peacock’s Tears.

And then Simonetta appeared before him. After a brief moment of gladness, Simonetta uttered impudent words upon seeing him.

Crazy. Saying he was forward, that making such an expression with that face was a crime. It was so absurd he almost laughed mockingly.

But the maddening thing was that her words weren’t unpleasant at all. Rather, it was her romantic experience, which she had boldly claimed was extensive, that bothered him.

He was strangely intrigued.

And he was even curious about how she would act from now on.

“You seem to be taking me too lightly.”

As he growled lowly as if displeased, Simonetta’s emerald eyes wavered slightly.

It wasn’t unpleasant to see her watching his reaction, as if wondering if she had gone too far.

No, it was even more satisfying. It was much wiser to know one’s place and lower one’s tail than to act tactlessly and cause irritation.

“Oh!”

Simonetta’s eyes widened in surprise. It was because he had suddenly closed the distance between them.

His cool, refreshing breath touched her cheek.

Thump!

Her heart beat unexpectedly.

As he drew close enough that their lips might touch, Simonetta quickly put up her hands to push him away.

But she immediately regretted it. His lips had touched her defenseless, outstretched palm.

Her whole body trembled at the soft sensation that carefully touched her.

“What are you trying to do?”

“What does it look like I’m trying to do?”

“Well, that is…”

Why was it so awkward to say the word “kiss”? Just moments ago, she had been bold enough to make him flustered with her flirtations. Now, as if that had never happened, he was rubbing his lips against her palm.

“Duke, weren’t you supposed to be indifferent to women? I heard you were so ascetic that you had no interest in kissing. Seems that was just a false rumor.”

“Who do you think is responsible for this?”

Jean said with a disapproving face, as if all of this was the woman’s fault.

“Isn’t it obvious? As you said, I was the one who provoked you, an ascetic man who had nothing to do with kissing. I didn’t want to say this, but since you took my first kiss, you naturally have to take responsibility. From what I hear, you seem to have plenty of experience. Didn’t you say you were open-minded? Unlike you, I’m incredibly conservative.”

At his sarcasm, Roen could only move her lips wordlessly.

He was clearly teasing her.

And strictly speaking, it had been Roen’s first kiss as well. Though she couldn’t take back the words she had spoken while pretending to be strong.

“Responsibility? I don’t know what kind of responsibility you’re talking about. Besides, you didn’t push me away that day either.”

“That’s why I’m saying you should take responsibility. If I had disliked it, you would have died on the spot.”