He took a deep breath and gave Eileen a slight smile, assuring her everything was fine. Then he quickly erased his smile and called out to Aaron.

“Aaron de Monston.”

A deeply lowered voice echoed between them. It was so low that even the great Aaron felt his body tremble.

“Lady Eileen is worried. Hurry.”

At his brief warning, Aaron finally turned his gaze.

“……Eileen.”

Just as he said, the green eyes looking at him were wavering with concern.

Aaron clicked his tongue briefly and moved toward where Eileen was.

“Lady Eileen, are you alright?”

Eden sat down, greeting her with concerned words.

“Ah….. Yes! Thanks to Duke Aaron, I’m fine without any injuries.”

Unlike usual, the air flowing between the two was a bit heavy. Somehow feeling it was because of her, Eileen nodded with an awkward smile.

“By the way, what luck to meet Lady Eileen in such a crowded place today!”

Eden opened the conversation with a somewhat exaggerated voice, like telling her not to feel that way.

“Lord Eden. You tend to exaggerate quite a bit, don’t you?”

“But it’s true. I’m hurt that you don’t believe me, Lady Eileen.”

This time, he deliberately made sobbing sounds and shrugged his shoulders.

“Alright, Lord Eden! I believe you.”

At Eden’s playful behavior, a bright smile spread across Eileen’s face, which had been stiff until just moments ago.

However, unlike Eileen, Aaron’s face was filled with darkness.

“……”

It bothered him greatly that Eden could make her smile so easily in just a few seconds—a smile she wouldn’t readily show to him.

“Lady Eileen. Did you come to the Flower Show alone?”

“No. I have companions, but my legs hurt, so I decided to rest a bit before joining them.”

He felt angry at the same time.

At the fact that Eden, not him, was reflected in those sparkling green eyes.

The widely raised corners of her mouth, the beautifully curved eyes.

He couldn’t bear that they were all directed at Eden, not himself.

With thoughts consuming him, Aaron closed his eyes tightly.

“……”

After a brief conversation with Eden, Eileen rolled her eyes and glanced at Aaron. He had his eyes closed.

Grateful that their eyes didn’t meet, she secretly checked his condition.

It would be troublesome if he had gotten injured because of her.

Fortunately, he didn’t seem to have any injuries either.

‘Well, I should thank him, right……?’

The fact remained unchanged that Aaron had saved her again this time.

Like that day when he jumped down to save her as she fell off the cliff.

‘But what’s the point of thanking him.’

It would be a meaningless action, and Aaron was nothing more or less than an object of revenge to her…….

With these thoughts, Eileen chewed the inside of her cheek, then slightly shook her head.

‘……No, if I received help, I should express gratitude. That’s proper manners, right?’

Yes, this is about manners.

It has nothing to do with revenge and it carries no special meaning.

Having composed herself, Eileen carefully began to speak.

“Ah. Lord Eden, I’m sorry, but I have something I’d like to discuss privately with Duke Aaron. Could you possibly leave us alone for a moment?”

“Yes. Of course.”

At her request, Eden willingly vacated his seat. Even though they were left alone, Eileen’s mouth remained stubbornly closed.

Face to face with Aaron, tension rushed over her, making her mouth dry up.

Aaron also maintained the silence. His eyes, which had been closed, were now directed at her. His gaze was somewhat different, but Eileen had no time to notice.

This is the courtesy a lady must maintain.

That short sentence filled her mind completely.

“Um, Duke Aaron.”

After a little more time passed, Eileen clenched her fist and called out to Aaron with a bit of courage.

“About what happened earlier. I really want to thank……”

“Eileen Lia de Ceres.”

However, before Eileen could finish her words, a voice full of coldness cut between them.

“What? Are you happy because Eden worried about you?”

“……What?”

“Your face is blooming with smiles. It’s disgusting to see.”

Before Eileen could understand what he meant, Aaron continued with cold words.

They made her hard-earned courage seem meaningless.

“Lady Eileen, are you particularly skilled at getting into danger? Why do you keep troubling me again and again?”

Aaron frowned, seemingly  tired of it all. Seeing this, cracks began to form in Eileen’s heart again, little by little.

“Ah, did you do it on purpose to get Eden’s concern? So you’re happy because Eden worried about you?”

Eileen raised her head and looked into Aaron’s purple eyes.

The momentary kindness he had shown was all gone, leaving only the image of Aaron de Monston she had first encountered.

The image of him carelessly taking away and trampling on precious things.

“……”

Normally, she would have grabbed him by the collar and declared them enemies, just as she had in anger at Lake Bonita.

But this time, she didn’t want to do anything. Neither anger nor revenge. Everything felt pointless.

So Eileen decided to let go this time.

The strange relationship between Aaron and her that she had foolishly been holding onto……

“……I just wanted to thank you for saving me. Even though we said we were enemies, it’s still a fact that you saved me.”

Eileen clenched her fist and painfully spat out each word. Her hand trembled from how tightly she was gripping it.

“But why do you say such harsh words whenever I start thinking you might be a better person than I thought?”

“……”

“Ah, is it on purpose? Do you want the foolish me to get my hopes up and then get hurt by your words?”

Eileen tightly clenched her fist and rubbed her eyes hard to suppress the emotions welling up.

But she couldn’t stop the tears that fell, defying gravity.

“If that was your goal, it’s a petty but very effective method. It hurts like hell.”

Eileen roughly wiped away the tears that were falling and blocking her vision. She didn’t want to show him her crying face.

Rather, she wanted to see his contemptuous expression. Then, she felt she could let go completely.

‘Huh……?’

But contrary to her thoughts, Aaron’s eyes were trembling slightly.

Just like someone who was hurt.

Eileen didn’t want to see that kind of expression from Aaron, so she turned her body away. Otherwise, her firm resolve would waver.

“I’m tired of fighting with you now. I don’t care about the theater where you liked Cordelia or anything else.”

“……”

“Just disappear from my sight, please disappear from my life. I hope you never appear before me again.”

Then she deliberately spat out sharp words and left the show garden.

* * *

“Hah……”

When he saw Eileen’s tears, Aaron’s mind went blank, and he couldn’t do anything.

He neither held her back, nor said it wasn’t true, nor apologized…….

“Damn it.”

Why on earth did he say such things?

Eileen had stood up to Duke Andrew twice for his sake.

She had taken his side.

“……”

Why am I like this?

Eileen had done nothing wrong, yet once again he lost his temper and crossed the line.

Aaron found himself utterly disgusting for always showing his twisted heart.

“Crazy bastard.”

Since when had he become such a mess? Since the moment he was left alone?

No, even if he had changed, he shouldn’t have said things he didn’t mean.

Aaron blamed himself over and over. But the image of Eileen shedding tears sorrowfully seemed engraved in his mind and wouldn’t disappear.

While Aaron was spending his time in agony, footsteps approaching from afar stopped in front of the table where he was sitting. Aaron slowly raised his head.

Holding the vain hope that perhaps Eileen had returned.

“Aaron? Why are you alone?”

But the owner of the footsteps was Eden, who had temporarily left his seat.

“……Eden.”

Aaron bit his lip and muttered quietly. He bit so hard that he tasted something metallic.

“Where is Lady Eileen?”

When he heard Eden’s voice filled with concern, one fact came to Aaron’s mind.

Eden was someone who could make Eileen smile, while he was someone who only made her cry.

In the end, he couldn’t make her smile.

He only gave her pain.

Looking back, it was so obvious that it was almost ridiculous he had only realized it now.

“……”

When his thoughts reached that point, he felt he could no longer endure being here. The scent of flowers were so sweet, but ironically, it made him feel suffocated.

“Aaron? Wait, are you unwell?”

As Aaron’s face grew darker, Eden opened his eyes wide and examined his condition.

Yes, with a personality like Eden’s, of course he could make Eileen smile brightly.

“……I’m sorry, but I’ll head back first.”

Aaron brushed off his concerned hand and stood up. He wanted to escape as soon as possible.

* * *

“Master. You’ve returned already?”

Seeing his master’s unexpectedly early return, Butler Liam tilted his head and asked.

But  what came from his master’s mouth was completely different from what he had anticipated.

“……Prepare some alcohol.”

“Pardon?”

Liam blankly stared at his master, who ordered alcohol with an expression like he had lost everything.

“……I’ll wait upstairs so  bring it right away.”

He wanted to ask what had happened, but seeing that familiar expression—one that looked as if it might crumble at any moment—he couldn’t bring himself to say a word.

In the end, Liam headed to the underground wine cellar with only a sigh left behind, and Aaron went up to his room.

A few minutes later……

With a knock, Liam came to the room. Wine and a simple table were set up.

Though he hadn’t asked for it, whiskey was included as well.

“Master. It will harm your body. Please drink moderately.”

“I know. I know, so just go now.”

Aaron nodded roughly and then poured wine into a glass.

“Yes….. Please call if you need anything.”

Liam quickly left the room, swallowing the sigh that was about to burst out.

When the door closed carefully, a stifling silence lingered.

“Why on earth……”

Aaron, who had been staring at the wine glass for a long time with his mouth tightly shut even after Liam left, swept up his bothersome bangs and exhaled a low breath.

“What exactly is Eileen to me.”

Did his heart feel torn to pieces when Eileen shed tears?

Why did he get so angry when Eileen smiled at Eden?