“Ah, of course!”

At Eileen’s request, Dana began writing her address on a snow-white paper. Dana quickly wrote her address and handed the paper to Eileen.

“Lady Eileen, here it is!”

“Thank you. I’ll definitely contact……”

“Indeed, a very beautiful work.”

A pleasant, low male voice flowed into their conversation.

‘Oh, come on!’

She didn’t need to see his face; just hearing that voice pretending to be kind in an insufferable way was enough to know.

It was none other than Aaron de Monston.

How unlucky of me to run into him here again.

Eileen lightly clicked her tongue.

“Oh? Hello!”

Unlike Eileen, when Dana’s eyes met Aaron’s, she greeted him with a bright smile.

“Miss Dana’s work is the most beautiful among all the works displayed in the show garden today. The sponsorship from the Monston family was worthwhile.”

“It’s all thanks to the sponsorship from the Monston family! And someone has already shown interest in my work.”

“Is that so? That’s excellent.”

“It’s this person!”

Aaron’s gaze naturally shifted to the person who had shown interest in her work.

“Whoever it is must have a good eye……”

At the end of his slowly moving gaze stood a familiar person.

A woman with wavy golden hair full of sunlight tied up high, wearing a deep blue dress with a large ribbon at the waist as an accent.

“Tch. Hello, Duke Aaron de Monston.”

A voice beautiful despite being full of discontent.

It was Eileen, who always made all his actions painfully meaningless.

“……Eileen.”

Strangely, unlike at Lake Bonita, today he didn’t feel irritation upon seeing Eileen.

Rather, he felt glad to meet her.

“You recognized Miss Dana’s talent and sponsored her first. I must say, if nothing else, you have a good eye.”

“Thank you for the compliment.”

Even her sarcastic tone toward him.

“That wasn’t a compliment?”

Even her face contorting with irritation.

“Anyway, Miss Dana, I’ll contact you soon.”

“Yes, Lady Eileen!”

“Then I’ll be going now.”

Even her attitude of quickly dismissing him.

He found all of it pleasant, to the point where he felt strange.

What’s different?

Is it because Eden isn’t by Eileen’s side today?

Is it really just because of such a reason?

‘Ha. Whatever, do as you please.’

It was a problem with no answer no matter how much he pondered. Aaron exhaled a frustrated breath and decided to follow his instincts for this moment.

“Lady Eileen, since we’ve met like this by fate, how about having a cup of tea together.”

Aaron extended his hand with a light smile.

“I’d hate that.”

Eileen frowned and shook her head vigorously.

“Duke, weren’t we enemies?”

“Enemies?”

“We agreed to crush each other.”

“Ah, yes, we did.”

Aaron nodded as if it were nothing. Unlike her, who was full of irritation, Aaron seemed relaxed, which made Eileen even more furious.

“Why are you so relaxed……”

Just as she was about to express her irritation, Eileen caught sight of Cordelia and Luke walking together affectionately.

Why now of all times……!

Eileen bit her lip.

“Fine! Let’s go have tea! Miss Dana, I’ll send you a letter, so please reply!”

In the end, to prevent Aaron from disturbing the two, she reluctantly took Aaron’s hand. The place Aaron led her to was a tea garden. Unlike the show garden buzzing with people’s conversations, it was quiet with the fragrant scent of tea wafting through the air.

“Would warm milk tea be alright?”

“No. I’ll have Earl Grey tea.”

“As you wish.”

Aaron nodded slightly and looked at a servant standing a short distance away. The servant approached at Aaron’s glance.

“Please bring a cup of Earl Grey tea and a cup of coffee.”

“Yes. I’ll bring them right away.”

He sent a kind smile and quickly ran to the kitchen.

A few minutes later……

The servant brought steaming hot Earl Grey tea and coffee with a deep aroma.

“Why doesn’t it suit your taste?”

Aaron broke the silence, staring at Eileen’s teacup, which remained unfilled despite quite some time passing.

“I’m curious about what scheme you have this time.”

“Scheme?”

Aaron took a sip of coffee and met Eileen’s gaze. She was showing clear hostility toward him.

“We’re not exactly on friendly terms to sit face to face and chat pleasantly, are we?”

“Then why did you suddenly change your mind and follow me?”

The sound of a teacup being placed down with a click echoed between them.

“Because I have a purpose.”

“Really? I also invited you for tea because I have a purpose.”

Unlike Eileen, who was full of sharp edges, Aaron’s attitude was relaxed.

“My purpose is to serve you warm tea, not cold tea.”

“You expect me to believe that?”

“Don’t believe it if you don’t want to.”

Aaron burst into a light laugh and slightly raised his hand to call the servant. When he approached, Aaron spoke in a gentle voice.

“The same as before. And if there’s cake, please bring a slice as well.”

“Yes. I’ll bring it right away.”

The servant bowed his head and slowly withdrew.

“……”

After he left, a quiet stillness flowed between the two.

Eileen narrowed her eyes and glared at Aaron, who was just sipping his coffee.

His straight fingers wrapped around the teacup were calm without trembling, and he didn’t avoid her gaze.

Aaron seemed unaffected, as if he had forgotten that day.

‘He’s so annoying, really.’

Seeing this, Eileen felt foolish. While she was scheming all sorts of revenge, the person in question didn’t seem to care at all.

‘Look at him now. His face doesn’t change at all.’

With an inexplicable sense of defeat, Eileen chewed her lip.

‘Huh?’

But strangely, Aaron’s peaceful face gradually turned pale white. It was the same face he had when he watched her fall from Etoile Hill.

Of course, unlike that day, he fixed his gaze over her shoulder as if he had spotted something behind her.

“Eileen!”

Before Eileen could ask anything, she heard Aaron’s highly agitated voice. At that moment, a series of unexpected events unfolded before her eyes.  

Aaron’s chair crashed to the floor with a loud noise.  

At the same time, he strode toward her at a rapid pace.  

And porcelain shards scattered in all directions with a sharp clinking sound.

“……Duke Aaron?”

When all the events that happened in an instant ended, Eileen found herself in Aaron’s arms.

“W-what on earth……”

Was it because of Aaron’s sweet yet somewhat bitter scent flowing with his breath? Eileen couldn’t understand this whole situation.

“The servant dropped the teacup while bringing it, and you almost got hurt. More importantly, are you injured anywhere?”

“I-I’m fine. I was just a bit startled.”

Aaron slightly separated his body and looked down at Eileen in his arms. Despite her voice saying she was fine, her face was covered in cold sweat.

“Are you really alright? Did any fragments hit you?”

Aaron gently stroked her forehead.

“……!”

His touch was so tender that she unconsciously wanted to act spoiled. Moreover, his voice was full of concern.

“Wait here for a moment.”

“……Yes.”

Eileen nodded, barely managing to breathe. Aaron gave her a small smile and moved away.

“D…damn.”

As soon as the warmth that had wrapped her comfortably left, Eileen covered her face with both hands and quietly muttered a curse that wouldn’t be heard.

It was something unbecoming of a lady, but she couldn’t bear it otherwise.

The moment Aaron’s peaceful face changed to fear that she might get hurt…

The moment Aaron ran to protect her and held her in his arms…

The moment she met his kind gaze, which she thought he would never show her…

Her heart beat so wildly that it hurt, to the point where she wanted to deny it.

“I’m sorry. I’m truly sorry……”

When Aaron approached him, the servant bowed his head so low it almost touched the ground.

He had dropped the tray he was holding after losing his footing because he was distracted. It could have seriously injured someone, so it was natural for him to be angry.

For his clear mistake, the servant couldn’t raise his head.

“You should be careful.”

“I-I’m sorry……”

Aaron bent his knee and placed his hand on the servant’s shoulder. His voice and purple eyes were full of coldness.

“Especially when carrying hot tea, you shouldn’t think about other things.”

“Ugh……”

If he hadn’t seen the falling servant and Eileen had been splashed with hot tea…

If the fragments had pierced Eileen’s body…

With numerous imaginings, Aaron unconsciously continued to put strength into his hand.

“Don’t you agree?”

The longer Aaron dealt with the servant, the more the servant’s groans echoed, and the louder the whispers of people in the tea garden became.

“Aaron?”

Amidst the people’s whispers, a voice calling him was heard.

“……”

Hearing that familiar voice, Aaron released his grip and slowly raised his head. There stood his old friend, Eden.

“What on earth is happening?”

Eden asked in a worried voice, but the purple eyes looking at him were empty, devoid of anything.

Ah, could it be.

The moment he met that gaze, a thought flashed through Eden’s mind. He bit his lip and rolled his eyes to look around.

Porcelain fragments scattered everywhere and Aaron engulfed in anger.

The servant unable to raise his head and Eileen sending perplexed glances.

“It’s dangerous, so could you first clean up the broken teacup?”

“Y-yes!”

After roughly understanding the situation, Eden called a servant and gave an order, then spoke to Aaron.

“Aaron, Lady Eileen is waiting too, so shall we go back to the table?”

“……”

But despite Eden’s request, Aaron kept his mouth shut and just frowned.

Even at a glance, his anger didn’t seem like it would subside easily.

Can’t be helped.

Eden let out a small sigh and firmly grabbed his friend’s arm. Aaron clicked his tongue briefly and looked down at the hand holding his arm.

“What are you doing?”

“I understand what happened, so let’s calm down first.”

“That servant’s carelessness almost hurt Eileen, and you’re talking nonsense?”

His still cold purple eyes seemed to say that he wouldn’t spare even a friend if they interfered further.

“Yes, I understand why you’re angry. But please calm down a bit.”

“Don’t interfere.”

Eden bit his lip hard, seeing Aaron’s unchanged attitude. His head started to throb with pain.

“Hah……”