Meanwhile, the heat that had started again in her cheeks continued to spread.

Feeling satisfied at this sight, Aaron cupped Eileen’s cheek once more.

Yes, since it’s the last time, just once more.

This time, he kissed the other cheek a little longer. Then he quietly whispered in Eileen’s ear.

“Goodbye, Eileen.”

I don’t care if your last memory of me is as a madman.

I’ve had my fill of seeing that embarrassed face of yours when I tease you, enough that I won’t miss it anymore.

Aaron chewed and swallowed his inner thoughts. So he wouldn’t accidentally blurt them out.

Well then, forever.

“Farewell.”

After saying his final goodbye, Aaron stood up and headed straight for his office without looking back.

So that no lingering attachment would remain.

* * *

“Huh?”

Cordelia, who had just stepped out of her carriage, tilted her head.

The man guarding the door of Patisserie de Monston looked very familiar.

Where had she seen him before?

As Cordelia pondered, a memory suddenly flashed in her mind.

“Ah!”

Sir Daniel, Eileen’s knight!

Cordelia clapped her hands lightly. Then she approached Daniel with a bright smile.

“Sir Daniel!”

“Lady Cordelia. Hello.”

Daniel gave a slight bow, then rolled his eyes slightly to look at Patisserie de Monston.

“Is Eileen inside?”

“Yes, she is……”

Though very slight, a tremor could be felt in Daniel’s voice.

“Why aren’t you going in with her and standing out here?”

“Well, um……”

Daniel trailing off like that was suspicious itself. Cordelia looked at him with eyes full of doubt.

“Did something happen?”

“No. Nothing happened……”

As Cordelia continued to press him, beads of sweat began to form on Daniel’s forehead. Being poor at lying, Daniel rolled his eyes back and forth, hoping Eileen would come out soon.

“Really?”

Cordelia sent him a doubtful look, but Daniel kept repeating that nothing was wrong.

Of course, he still couldn’t meet her eyes and his hands trembled slightly.

“I see.”

Further questioning seemed pointless.

It would be faster to find out directly.

Cordelia nodded briefly and opened the door to the shop.

Ding.

The door opened with a cheerful sound, but unlike usual, the interior was very quiet.

The staff who should greet customers, and the customers who should be seated. Everyone was focused on one spot without making even a breath of sound.

“Huh……?”

After a moment of confusion, Cordelia turned her head toward where everyone’s attention was directed. She felt like she should do so.

“Huh?”

There were two people sitting there. To be precise, one person was sitting while the other had risen and was cupping the other’s cheek.

No matter how she looked at it, they were clearly lovers.

I thought it was something serious.

“I’m watching someone else’s romance…… huh?”

Cordelia’s face, which had been snorting lightly, instantly turned pale.

“Lady Eileen and Duke Aaron?!”

The protagonists were none other than people she knew, which was why.

“W-wait a minute……!”

Just as Cordelia was about to shout something, a smacking sound spread through the room.

“Oh my! Duke Aaron and Lady Eileen really are in a secret relationship!”

Soon after, as if they had been waiting, exclamations of admiration were heard.

‘……No way, that can’t be true. A secret relationship?’

Cordelia shook her head as if she had heard something wrong. Even though she had clearly seen and heard everything with her own eyes and ears, she simply couldn’t believe it.

So she looked at the two of them again. Wondering if she had seen wrong. But making it impossible to deny any further, Aaron was now whispering something in Eileen’s ear.

Like affectionate lovers to anyone watching.

‘Oh my goodness!’

Just as she was thinking she should approach them and offer congratulations, a memory flashed through Cordelia’s mind.

— Those two fought after that. The lady left with tears streaming down her face, and the gentleman couldn’t say anything.

‘Wait a minute……?’

As her suspicion grew, another conversation reached her ears.

“I heard someone spotted those two at the Flower Show.”

The moment she heard this, suspicion turned to certainty.

‘Then that man from back then was Aaron de Monston!’

A grinding sound came from Cordelia’s mouth as her teeth clenched tightly.

The memory of that day was so intense that her anger, once ignited, rose uncontrollably.

‘How dare you make Eileen cry and hurt her?’

To Cordelia, the fact that Aaron had recently rescued the kidnapped Eileen was a rather useless detail. That was simply what a lover should do.

‘Shameless human……!’

She wanted to grab him by the collar right then and there, but she couldn’t. If Eileen had kept it a secret from her too, there must be a reason.

Cordelia clenched her fists, hiding herself and waiting for Eileen to return.

* * *

A week had already passed.

Since the incident at Patisserie de Monston, Eileen had been even more focused on her work.

No, she had tried to focus.

But frustratingly, she couldn’t. Today again, the scratching sound of her pen didn’t last long.

Above that name, written who knows when, memories of that day surfaced.

— I won’t appear before you anymore, and then the rumors will naturally die down.

That day, why did Aaron look as if he was hurt again?

— Thank you so much.

Why did he have such a happy expression while kissing someone who was his enemy?

— Farewell.

And why did he leave without showing his final expression? Even though he didn’t hide his sad voice.

“Why on earth……”

Eileen buried her face in her hands and muttered.

“It’s true that I told him not to appear before me, but……”

Now that Aaron was acting like someone she would never see again, Eileen didn’t know how to express this feeling.

Unsettled, strange.

……Sad?

“No, that’s not it!”

Eileen shook her head vigorously.

Yes, it was actually a good thing, wasn’t it? He would keep his promise, and thanks to that, the false rumors would die down, so thinking about it again, it was a good thing.

But…….

“Why do I feel this way?”

Eileen was ruminating on this indefinable feeling when she picked up her pen and drew black lines over the name.

Just then, a clear knocking sound, knock knock, was heard.

“Hello, Mary.”

The visitor was Mary, her maid. Eileen put down her pen and greeted her with a smile.

“Miss, please have this while you work!”

Mary responded with a smile and held out the tray she was carrying. On it were refreshing lemonade and buttery cookies with a savory aroma, snacks well-suited for the increasingly humid weather these days.

“Mary, are you busy?”

Her work wasn’t progressing, and she definitely didn’t want to think about Aaron. Eileen asked with expectant eyes.

“Not at all! I’ve finished everything I needed to do.”

“Then let’s eat this together.”

“I thought you might say that, so Mr. Dwayne prepared two cups for us!”

When Mary replied with one corner of her mouth raised in a grin, a light laugh escaped from Eileen’s lips.

“The weather is nice, shall we eat on the balcony?”

“Yes, Miss!”

Mary hummed a tune as she placed the snacks she had brought on the table arranged on the balcony.

“Miss, everything is ready”

“Okay”

Eileen put the papers in the drawer and headed to the balcony. The sunlight pouring onto the balcony was pleasantly warm. Eileen offered a cookie to Mary, then took a bite of one herself.

The rich buttery taste filling her mouth automatically improved her mood.

“Oh, that’s right!”

Eileen, who had been eating cookies for a while, turned her head at the sound of clapping hands beside her.

“I heard something at the market today.”

“Yes.”

Eileen put down her cookie for a moment and focused on Mary’s words.

“That person who proposed to you before you went to study abroad……”

“Mmm.”

As much as she wanted to, she couldn’t even use honorifics for someone like that…….

Mary shuddered at the memory that was still vivid and continued speaking.

“What was his name again……”

Mary slightly frowned as she tried to recall the name that seemed just on the tip of her tongue.

Then, as if she suddenly remembered, she exclaimed loudly.

“Dylan de Benting!”

“Dylan de Benting?”

“Yes, that’s it! Dylan! That guy who went abroad has returned, they say!”

Despite Mary’s continued explanation, Eileen simply couldn’t recall anyone named ‘Dylan de Benting.’

And a proposal?

Wasn’t that impossible since she hadn’t even had her debutante ball then?

Eileen tilted her head and asked.

“Someone proposed to me?”

“Just one person.”

“Goodness, really?”

“Yes.”

Mary giggled as she took a sip of lemonade.

“Is it such a funny memory?”

“Yes, it’s funny, strange, and infuriating all at once.”

At Eileen’s look urging her to tell more, Mary nodded and began speaking.

“The day that guy proposed was the day you lost that pocket watch.”

“He proposed that day?”

Eileen asked again with wide eyes.

“Yes, specifically when you and I were looking for the pocket watch, he approached us.”

Mary adjusted her posture and began the story.

“Then he said his name and suddenly shouted at you to marry him.”

“Really? But why don’t I remember this?”

All Eileen remembered was looking for the pocket watch with Mary. As her expression turned serious, Mary spoke in a gentle voice.

“You probably couldn’t hear anything because of the pocket watch. I didn’t want to relay such a rude proposal to you either.”

“I see.”

Eileen nodded and handed Mary another cookie. Mary didn’t refuse and continued speaking while eating it.

“Well, when he got no response from you, he just left.”

“But why do you hate that person so much, Mary?”

When you think about it, it seems partly my fault for not hearing properly.

When Eileen asked, Mary finished the rest of her lemonade and took a deep breath.

“It’s because of what he muttered as he left.”

“What did he say?”

“He said things like you seduced him first, played with his feelings, and then pretended not to know him when he proposed… he used unspeakable curses and insults.”

Her fist clenched so tightly at the still-infuriating memory that it turned pale white.

“When he was the rude one!”

“Mary……”

“So I reported it to the master!”

As Mary proudly stated, as if expecting praise, Eileen burst into cheerful laughter.

For quite some time, pleasant laughter echoed across the balcony.

“Anyway, now that that gloomy guy has returned, you might meet him in society, so always be careful.”

As the laughter subsided, Mary cleared her throat and spoke. She was especially worried since Eileen had been getting involved in dangerous situations lately.