“Aaron. Could you stay with Lady Eileen for a while?”

“I suppose……”

Eden, unaware of Aaron’s feelings, temporarily left his spot when he heard someone calling him.

‘Ah….. This is awkward.’

Left alone with Aaron, Eileen kept her mouth tightly shut and rolled her eyes around. She tried to recall how she had conversed with Aaron before, but nothing came to mind.

That was when—

“Don’t bother me. Eileen Lia de Ceres.”

A chilling voice flowed into her ears.

“Every time I see you, irritation wells up inside me.”

Last time, he thanked her and asked if she was hurt anywhere.

She had other things she wanted to ask, but contrary to his will, his mouth continued to spout cold words.

“Just seeing you smile makes me uncomfortable. Don’t smile for me, no, don’t smile at all.”

The words ‘with Eden, to Eden’ were hanging on his utterances, but they burned black at the tip of his tongue and couldn’t leave his mouth.

‘……Why is he suddenly acting like this.’

She couldn’t believe this was the same person who had saved her when she fell off the cliff, carried her when her leg was injured, and treated her rather kindly.

Now he was just like when they first encountered each other, when they were hostile toward each other, no, even worse than then.

Eileen found Aaron, who was suddenly lashing out at her with verbal whips, utterly unfamiliar.

“If you’re injured, you should stay quietly at home until you’re fully recovered. Why are you out here irritating my nerves?”

Aaron’s relentless, vicious words continued to cut into Eileen’s heart.

‘……Yes, that’s how it was. I was foolishly swayed.’

The moments when he treated her kindly, even if briefly, must have all been lies. After all, Aaron de Monston was the person who took away her precious theater simply because she interfered with his business and made him feel unpleasant.

By now, the pink scenes replaying in Eileen’s mind were turning pitch black.

How embarrassing that she had felt flutters just because he treated her a little kindly. She suddenly felt ashamed of her past self.

“……Right, this is the real Aaron de Monston.”

A self-deprecating chuckle flowed between Eileen’s lips.

“You insufferable Duke Aaron de Monston!”

Eileen stretched out one hand and grabbed Aaron’s collar. Her hand trembled with a mixture of regret and anger.

“Now that our debt to each other has disappeared,”

Her voice didn’t come out well as it was submerged in moisture. Eileen desperately tried to steady her increasingly ragged breath, enunciating each syllable clearly, doing her best to make her voice heard so Aaron wouldn’t miss a word.

“Let’s try trampling each other as we said back then.”

* * *

It was terribly meaningless.

The hot water soaking his entire body, the fragrance he had put in hoping for a pleasant scent, and even himself.

Everything was meaningless.

Aaron’s eyes, gazing at the meaninglessly overflowing water, were empty, unable to hold anything.

“Why on earth.”

The short sentence and long sigh that escaped Aaron’s lips contained many things and disappeared into the steam filling the bathroom.

—Now that our debt to each other has disappeared, let’s try trampling each other as we said back then.

He couldn’t even remember how he had returned from Lake Bonita to the Monston residence.

Only Eileen’s last words, her moisture-laden voice that kept ringing in his ears, had consumed his memory, swallowing all other memories.

“Damn it……”

Why did he feel so awful?

Why did irritation well up when Eileen smiled at Eden?

Why did one corner of his heart ache?

Numerous questions circled in his mouth, but he couldn’t easily answer any of them.

“Ha……”

Despite the hot water continuously touching his body, the deeply settled unpleasantness didn’t wash away at all.

Rather, the more he looked at the rippling surface of the water, the more Eileen’s face, which looked like she might cry at any moment, came to mind, tormenting him. Aaron rose from the bathtub and headed to the balcony.

“……”

The wind seeped in through the empty spaces because he hadn’t properly tied his robe. It didn’t feel entirely unpleasant, so he left it as it was. For several minutes, Aaron let meaningless time pass as he faced the wind.

“Master. You’ll catch a cold if you stay like that!”

It was Liam who disrupted Aaron’s moment of contemplation, hurrying over with small steps to close the window. Aaron looked down at Liam with empty eyes before turning his gaze back to the window.

“You even collapsed recently. What will you do if you catch a cold like this?”

Liam nagged with concern as he meticulously tied Aaron’s loosely bound robe to prevent even a point of wind from entering.

“Liam.”

Amid Liam’s incessant nagging, Aaron’s slightly lower voice was heard. Liam paused his hands for a moment and looked at his master.

“Do you know that feeling when you get irritated and angry when someone else smiles at someone other than me?”

“Pardon?”

Did he finally lose his mind after facing the cold wind half-n*ked? Liam frowned and let out a hollow laugh.

“Why does she make me so irritated?”

Though he had served his master since childhood, his master’s recent behavior was something he had never seen before. Yes, it was a very peculiar and strange behavior that couldn’t be seen even when he was a child.

“Who on earth is making you……”

“There is. Someone who looks like a mushy peach.”

While saying he was irritated, a warm smile settled on his master’s lips.

Could it be….. No, it couldn’t be?

Liam suppressed his rising suspicion and left the bedroom, saying he would prepare dinner and for Aaron to come down.

* * *

“……This is really irritating.”

Even though she ate, it didn’t feel like she had eaten, and even beautiful paintings looked like a child’s scribbles—it was literally a chaotic day. Eileen grumbled softly as she boarded the carriage.

“Then Miss. We’ll return to the Ceres residence.”

“……Please.”

How could she express this hatred, this desire for revenge? Eileen pressed her brow firmly and sighed.

Since Aaron likes Cordelia, using that method would be best.

“Hmm……”

Eileen frowned and fell into her own thoughts.

At that moment, a scene from 『Oh, My Beautiful Countess』 flashed through her mind.

—I’m so happy to attend the Flower Show with you, Count Luke!

—I’m also very happy that you’re pleased, Lady Cordelia.

Cordelia and Luke enjoying a date at the Flower Show, holding hands affectionately.

It was a scene universally praised by readers for being so lovely.

Moreover,

—Lady Cordelia, I like you.

There, the male protagonist, Luke, confessed his love to the female protagonist, Cordelia.

‘If I take those two to the Flower Show that will be held in Ritz soon……’

As her thoughts gradually organized, Eileen’s lips, which had been downturned, began to curl up little by little.

“Veil. Please go to the Royton mansion instead of the Ceres residence.”

“Pardon?”

At this unexpected request, Veil tilted his head and looked at Eileen.

“I need to meet Lady Cordelia.”

Eileen slightly tilted her head back, feeling heat spreading throughout her body.

“Ah….. Yes, understood.”

Seeing her like that, Veil didn’t add anything more and drove the carriage to the Royton mansion.

“Um, Miss, did something happen?”

“No, nothing happened.”

“Then why suddenly……”

Daniel rolled his eyes as he observed Eileen, who was unusually calm compared to the morning, not only changing their destination from the Ceres ducal family to the Royton mansion after finishing her appointment with Eden at Lake Bonita.

“Daniel. Have you ever been to the Flower Show held in Ritz?”

“Pardon? The Flower Show?”

“Yes. The Flower Show.”

Eileen giggled and let out a low laugh.

‘Just wait, Aaron de Monston. I’ll make that meaningless one-sided love even more meaningless.’

Meanwhile, the carriage rushed toward the Royton mansion.

“If it isn’t Lady Eileen!”

Upon arriving at the mansion, the head butler, who had met Eileen once before, greeted her warmly.

“Is Lady Cordelia here by any chance?”

“Yes. I’ll bring her, so please go to the reception room first.”

Following the butler’s guidance, Eileen went to the reception room and sat quietly on the sofa, waiting for Cordelia.

A few minutes later, the reception room door opened, and Cordelia entered.

“Ah! Lady Eileen.”

“I’m sorry, Lady Cordelia. For coming suddenly without an appointment.”

“Not at all. Rather, I’m truly happy to be able to meet you, Lady Eileen.”

Although Eileen had suddenly come to the Royton mansion without any notice, Cordelia welcomed her with a bright smile, showing no signs of being flustered.

“I was on my way to de Wellington and thought it would be nice to go together with you.”

“De Wellington?”

When the words ‘de Wellington’ came out of Eileen’s mouth, Cordelia’s cheeks turned bright, and her orange eyes began to tremble back and forth.

“Yes, when you came to our house last time, something came up and I had to send you off like that, which I found very regrettable. So, though it’s late, I wanted to treat both of you to some delicious desserts.”

Eileen tilted her head at Cordelia’s visible change.

Perhaps, could it be? Does Cordelia like Luke?

Eileen felt like she might burst into laughter at this unexpected situation.

“T-Then, I’ll get ready quickly and come down. Could you wait just a moment?”

“Yes, Lady Cordelia.”

Eileen hummed a tune as she saw Cordelia off, who was leaving the reception room, then took a sip of the lukewarm tea placed in front of her. Somehow, the tea tasted especially sweet today.

Eileen savored the tea while waiting for Cordelia to finish her preparations. Aware that she was waiting, Cordelia finished her preparations quite quickly.

“Lady Cordelia, shall we go?”

“Yes, Lady Eileen.”

The two took a carriage to de Wellington.

“Welcome…… Ah! Lady Eileen, Lady Cordelia!”

When the closed door of de Wellington opened, Luke’s voice resonated along with a subtle woody scent.

“Count Luke. So you were at the shop!”

“Lady Eileen, are you feeling better?”

“Yes. I’m planning to remove the bandages soon.”

Eileen nodded with a light smile. Though her smile was full of schemes hoping for the quick success of her plan, neither Cordelia nor Luke could know that fact.

“Ah, Count Luke, are you available? I’d like to treat you both to some delicious desserts.”

“Of course.”