“You are finally smiling. Do you like me now?”

There was a beautiful woman with flowing red hair as captivating as a rose, and a young man who still had a hint of youth about him.

The woman smiled a ripened smile without answering, and the young man’s face turned a deep red.

Despite his rather innocent-looking face, the young man’s hand had slipped around her waist, away from the eyes of those around them.

Astrid watched the scene with narrowed eyes.

Rosa Nadantin.

She was the flower that represented high society, so much so that there was a rumor going around that any party that failed to invite her was a dead party.

And she was also the fiancée of Bartholomew, who had concealed himself in the shadows over there.

The young man pressed himself behind a large decorative planter and buried his face in Rosa Nadantin’s neck.

The nobles standing nearby stole glances discreetly, but she only smiled without stopping the man’s every move.

Bartholomew, too, simply watched.

Seeing that, Astrid was taken aback.

‘Is he turning a blind eye to his lover’s affair? Why on earth?’

Having witnessed such a surprising scene at her very first debutante ball, Astrid spread her fingers and covered her eyes.

It was because she felt sorry for the accomplished man who had been so openly cheated on, and it also felt like someone else’s private moment she ought not to be seeing.

Just then, a low voice came from behind Astrid.

“What are you looking at so intently?”

It was not as though she had been enjoying someone else’s misfortune as gossip, but she had indeed been observing closely, and so she felt caught and spun around with a startled cry.

“I, intently, you say!”

The other person was tall enough that Astrid had to crane her neck all the way back to see their face.

Having forgotten she was wearing high heels, she jerked her head back hastily and momentarily lost her balance, stumbling.

“Ah……!”

The moment of falling felt incredibly slow.

‘Oh dear, how undignified. I shall become a laughingstock as the princess who fell flat on her face at her own debutante.’

She was squeezing her eyes shut and thinking such thoughts when it happened.

She felt thick, firm arms wrapping around her waist.

Thanks to the strong grip of the man who had caught her as though pulling her into an embrace, Astrid was spared the embarrassment.

In her startled eyes, the man’s jet-black pupils were reflected.

When their eyes met, the sharp corners of his eyes curved gently.

“Thank you……”

“Are you interested in the young lord of the Hennessy earldom?”

“Pardon?”

Even as Astrid asked back, she could not tear her gaze away from him.

She could see his white forehead with glossy black hair, as lustrous as the night sky, falling naturally across it.

With an impossibly handsome man wearing a warm smile looking back at her, her heart could not help but sink.

“Duke Haimenwar.”

“Yes. I am Lindenel Haimenwar. Your Imperial Highness.”

Watching Lindenel speak with a gentle eye-smile, as though teaching a child his name, her heart beat so powerfully that she feared something might go terribly wrong.

As Lindenel’s handsome face turned toward her, for some reason the dream she had had the night before came to mind.

It was a pounding so strong it felt almost frightening, as though the excitement had grown too great.

Flustered, Astrid pushed away the arm Lindenel had wrapped around her and shook her head vigorously.

“Th, that could not be. Absolutely not.”

“And yet you were watching for quite a long time for someone who says that.”

The man’s voice, with his gaze cast downward, carried a faint note of amusement.

Feeling as though he was teasing her, Astrid reacted even more dramatically.

“I said it is not like that!”

A shrill sound escaped from her throat.

She had cried out in excitement, but she had perhaps been too sensitive.

What if he thought something was strange?

Just as that worry set in, Lindenel spoke without dropping his smile.

“Very well. If that is the case, then I beg your pardon.”

He was, as always, kind, gentle, and warm.

Even though it had been quite a long time since they had last met, seeing him treat her with such ease, as though they had seen each other just yesterday, made her heart feel full.

‘I wonder if Lindenel would call me beautiful if I smiled like that.’

No, she thought she would simply look foolish, or worse, that the feelings she had been carefully hiding would be laid bare for all to see.

“It has been a while…… We are seeing each other after half a year.”

“I present myself before Your Imperial Highness.”

Lindenel’s voice as he greeted her neatly was so low that Astrid’s toes curled of their own accord.

She needed to find something to talk about.

She could not simply exchange greetings and part ways like this.

“Y, Your Grace has changed quite a bit since I last saw you. You look more splendid, no, you were splendid before too, but you seem to have grown taller.”

At that, Lindenel raised one eyebrow.

Even knowing it was simply a sign of mild curiosity, seeing an expression she so rarely got to see made her heart flutter.

“Is that so? Your Highness looks just the same.”

“How could that be? I am an adult now.”

Pouting her lips in mild indignation, Lindenel smiled and played along.

“So you are. It feels like just yesterday when you were so small, and yet you are already an adult.”

Now, just what era was he referring to?

Astrid clenched both fists and voiced her grievance.

“I was not that small. I was already ten years old when I first met Your Grace.”

Lindenel let out a small puff of air and raised his large hand, moving to pat her on the head.

At that, Astrid’s face flushed red and her shoulders drew inward.

Noticing the unusual color of her face, Lindenel suddenly withdrew his hand.

‘It was not that I disliked it and was nervous…….’

As if to make her sense of injustice feel all the more futile, Lindenel not only withdrew his hand but took a step back as well.

“Ah, my apologies. I ought to stop doing things like this.”

At words that sounded almost like he was distancing himself, Astrid’s large eyes filled with disappointment.

She did not know how to conceal her emotions, and so they tended to show plainly on her face.

One moment she seemed to be brimming with anticipation, and the next she was deflated simply because he had pulled his hand away, and it was quite pitiable.

Lindenel found himself letting out a small laugh without realizing it.

When his sharply upturned outer corners folded into a straight line and curved gently at the ends, the first impression of a man who had seemed too cold to approach vanished in an instant, like snow melting away.

The wonderful smile that made one want to say something, anything, felt strangely unfamiliar, and Astrid’s face turned as red as a beet.

‘How strange. Lindenel is a person generous with his smiles, yet his smile feels unfamiliar.’

Astrid gazed at him quietly before opening her mouth.

“You find it amusing to tease me, Your Grace?”

“Not at all.”

“You have been smiling like that since long ago whenever I acted foolishly.”

“Hmm, is that so? I will admit that your flustered appearance from a moment ago did catch my eye…….”

The man who had been laughing softly met Astrid’s eyes.

“But rather than that, it is simply that I am glad to see you, Your Highness.”

“…….”

Was it sincere? Or was it merely a polite thing to say?

She did not want to become a fool intoxicated by her own expectations alone.

Lindenel is kind to everyone.

He is warm to everyone and loved by everyone.

Astrid did not know how not to love him.

But what of Lindenel’s heart? Did he think of her as someone special as well?

If she asked him outright, he would say yes.

But she was afraid that what was special to him and what was special to her might mean different things.

The further her thoughts went, the more melancholy she felt.

When Astrid’s expression darkened, Lindenel bent slightly at the waist and tilted his head to meet her eye level.

“Have I offended you?”

“No.”

“It seems that way.”

“I said no.”

“This is a problem. How might I make amends for my foolish mistake?”

His ambiguous manner, half playful and half sincere, made her heart flutter.

Hoping desperately that her obvious scheme would not be found out, Astrid released the lip she had been chewing on and answered with a composed air.

“You can just think about it and tell me next time.”

“Next time. Hmm…… I see. Then I shall think of a way to make amends by the time we meet again.”

Her heart swelled like a bubble.

It felt as though it might float away with a single breath, just like a bubble.