‘This time, he’s going to catch me.’

Henrietta clenched her eyes shut, bracing herself to fight back with all her might.

Suddenly—

“Really now.”

Before Benjamin’s hand could reach her, she heard a man’s voice.

Henrietta’s heart dropped.

She wasn’t sure whether it was just from the shock, or because the voice belonged to someone she least expected to see.

“Slipping and falling all on your own, then blaming someone else for it? That’s pathetic.”

Hendrik emerged from the shadows between the large trees in the garden just as night was beginning to fall.

He strode over and stopped right in front of Benjamin. Towering over him, Hendrik’s sheer height alone made Benjamin flinch and take a step back instinctively.

“Who the hell are you?”

Instead of answering, Hendrik grabbed Benjamin by the collar and hoisted him into the air.

Completely drunk and unable to resist, Benjamin dangled from his grip like a rag doll.

“You don’t need to know that…”

From her position behind him, Henrietta couldn’t see Hendrik’s expression.

Benjamin disappeared behind Hendrik’s broad shoulders, too.

Then—thud!

A dull thud rang out as wet flesh and a fist collided. The foolish noble went flying and hit the ground, rolling across the stone path.

“Look at you—so drunk you can’t even stand, yet you toss around words like ‘lowborn’ without a second thought. All bark, no bite.”

His voice was laced with laughter.

Even hearing about it was hard to grasp, let alone witnessing it first-hand.

Henrietta had never seen men fight before, let alone one being overpowered so completely, and the fact that it had all happened because of her left her utterly dazed.

When Hendrik took a step closer, Benjamin began to drag himself backwards along the ground.

Hendrik lifted his foot as if to strike again.

Henrietta knew she had to stop him before things got worse.

“Excuse me!”

Her ambiguous call, spoken in an effort to conceal her identity, rang out.

Hendrik froze mid-motion. He slowly lowered his raised leg and turned his head towards her.

The way he smiled so lightly made it hard to believe that he had just been beating someone up.

“Ah, my apologies. I didn’t mean to show such a sight to a lady…”

“…”

“I mean, really — what’s with this estate? How do these kinds of pathetic things happen so often? If I startled you, I’m sorry.”

Hendrik was definitely angry. Yet the fact that he was maintaining such gentlemanly composure still sent a chill through Henrietta that she couldn’t quite explain.

The two conflicting emotions coexisting so clearly on one face felt so natural that Henrietta didn’t even notice the dissonance.

“You.”

While they were talking, Benjamin, who had been struggling to get to his feet, froze at the sound of Hendrik’s voice.

‘This woman is going to meet another man, that’s true. But stay out of it. If something like this ever happens again, it won’t just be you who gets hurt.”

“Y-yes. Yes, sir.”

Without so much as a protest, Benjamin scrambled to his feet and ran off.

Perhaps it was the raw threat of a man who had overpowered him with his bare hands.

Or maybe it was the deep, cool blue of Hendrik’s eyes, which marked him out as someone of undeniable rank.

Hendrik brushed his immaculate outfit with one hand and checked it with a flick. At the same time, his gaze moved over Henrietta, from her arm to her nape and slowly up to her eyes.

The weight of his stare made it hard to breathe.

“Thank you. Thanks to you, I got out of a bad situation.”

“A bad situation?”

He quietly repeated her words. She couldn’t quite guess what he meant by that. But she didn’t feel like asking.

“Are you hurt anywhere?”

He was no longer smiling, and the atmosphere around him had changed completely.

It was only then that Henrietta realised just how gentle his expression had always been when he looked at her.

Whether that smile had been genuine or just a habit, she didn’t know.

“Yes, I’m fine. But are you all right, Your Highness?”

Hendrik didn’t answer. He simply looked at her in silence.

While his gaze lingered on her, everything else seemed to fall away.

The sound of the trickling fountain just moments before The faint music from the banquet hall in the distance — none of it reached her ears anymore.

Why did she only ever run into him in moments like this?

Moments of humiliation — moments she didn’t want anyone to witness.

What would he say this time? To a governess who had just been harassed by a drunk nobleman in a secluded garden late at night?

“Are you heading home now?”

“Ah…”

The unexpected question left Henrietta momentarily speechless.

The garden had been silent just moments ago, but now it was suddenly buzzing with the impatient chirping of a summer insect.

Just as she managed a small nod, a figure appeared in the distance.

Instinctively, she glanced around, looking for a place to hide.

“Miss Henrietta.”

But the familiar voice rooted her in place.

His upright posture, brisk pace, and the way he always walked with his back ramrod straight made him unmistakable, even in the dark.

‘Steward Pierre.’

Before he could approach any further, Hendrik stepped forward half a pace, positioning himself subtly between Henrietta and the approaching man, as if to shield her.

Pierre flinched slightly at the movement.

“Your Highness. So you were here.”

“What is it?”

Pierre glanced between Henrietta and Hendrik before bowing once again.

“His Grace has ordered that Miss Henrietta be escorted to the banquet hall.”

“And for what reason?”

“His Grace wishes for Miss Henrietta to accompany young Master Grayson at the event.”

Henrietta closed her eyes slowly, struck by a second wave of dismay. She had ended Grayson’s lesson early specifically to avoid being called to the ballroom.

While she could refuse the invitation for the evening, appearing at the banquet was technically part of her duties as a contracted employee.

While she hesitated, Hendrik’s steady gaze remained fixed on her.

“Understood.”

Henrietta knew Hendrik was still looking at her but for some reason, she couldn’t bring herself to meet his gaze.

Offering a polite nod, she quickly turned and began walking toward the banquet hall.