“Kaern?”

Calling Kaern again, but he remained silent without any response.

‘Why is he like this?’

The air around him felt unusual just as a moment ago, but I couldn’t understand why.

Internally shrugging, I once again initiated the conversation.

“We made eye contact earlier, didn’t we?”

This time, I added a light smile to ease the atmosphere.

However, he still kept his mouth shut with an impassive expression.

“Kaern, well…”

“Sit over there.”

“Yes? Oh, okay.”

His mouth, seemingly sealed shut forever, finally opened, and a low voice spoke to me.

Feeling relieved yet puzzled, I sat on the sofa without fully comprehending, looking towards Kaern.

Slowly rising from his seat, he approached me.

Even while walking, he never took his eyes off me.

After a while, as usual, Kaern sat across from me.

“Well, is there something on your mind?”

Observing his demeanor, undoubtedly something was wrong.

Concerned that something dangerous might have happened to him again, I couldn’t resist and asked him directly.

“Something wrong?”

“Yes. You don’t seem to be in a good mood…”

“Do I look like I’m not in a good mood?”

“…Isn’t it?”

Worried that I might have misunderstood, I cautiously asked, and for a moment, Kaern’s expression seemed to show a trace of bitterness.

‘What could really be happening?’
Having never seen him behave like this before, I couldn’t grasp the situation at all.

Adapting to this atmosphere was challenging, so I concentrated as much as possible, trying to figure out why he was acting this way.

As I closed my mouth, heavy air and silence soon filled the surroundings.

Engrossed in my thoughts for a prolonged period, we stared at each other.

Breaking the extended silence, Kaern’s deep sigh was the first to pierce through.

“Haah.”

“Kaern, do you have something to say to me?”

Quietly contemplating, the conclusion I reached after various thoughts was that he had something to say, but he was hesitant to express it aloud.

Considering his usual self, it wasn’t a straightforward answer.

Kaern Lavellion hesitating to speak to someone.

Thinking in that direction, the conclusion I reached seemed clearly incorrect.

However, if it wasn’t that, his attitude remained inexplicable.

The way he had been gazing at me in the garden for a long time.

The tense silence felt upon entering the study.

His eyes continuing to scrutinize me without uttering a word.

All of these hinted at something he wanted to convey.

“Do you have nothing to say to me?”

Surprisingly, he questioned me instead.

“Yes?”

“You asked if I have something to say to you.”

“Well, I…”

What should I say?
Naturally, I always had a lot to say to him, words I wanted to express. It’s truly a happy thing when someone you like listens to your stories. From trivial matters to things I recently learned, I had an overwhelming desire to share everything with him. However, there were limits to the stories I could share with Kaern.

“Now, is your body really okay now?”

So, as usual, I inquired about his health.

“Besides that.”

He coolly brushed off my words.

“Yes? Uh, then are you busy these days? You’ve been away from the capital for two months, and you were injured too.”

“Is that all you have to say to me?”

What is this?

It’s not a riddle.

Without saying anything, he kept trying to draw something out of me.

But I couldn’t stand it any longer and was about to ask him directly when he was quicker than me.

“How have you been lately?”

“Oh, I’m the same. As I mentioned, I’m working in the garden, and… doing personal things as well.”

I momentarily considered mentioning the encounter with Blake but decided to include it as a personal matter and kept my mouth shut. It wasn’t a secret, but if he asked why I met Blake, it could lead to an awkward situation. After hearing my response, his brow seemed to slightly distort.
In the midst of that, a low-pitched voice emanated from him, and I was momentarily startled.

“Meeting Lord Warren, is that also a personal matter?”

For some reason, Kaern knew that I had met Blake.

‘Ah.’

Perhaps there was surveillance due to potential danger.

Fortunately, I quickly understood, but I pondered how to respond to him. Kaern might think I knew nothing, so it seemed best to show a normal reaction to avoid arousing suspicion.

So, I feigned surprise as if I genuinely didn’t know and asked him:

“How did you know that I met Lord Warren?”

However, he didn’t seem surprised by my question at all. There was almost no change in his expression, as if he already knew how the conversation would unfold.

“Did you think I wouldn’t know?”

Wasn’t that the case?

Nevertheless, he remained nonchalant, as if it were only natural.

“Yes? That… I mean…”

So, I became even more flustered and couldn’t find the right words.

“Why did you go to meet him? Was meeting Lord Warren truly a personal matter for you?”

In the midst of my tangled thoughts, Kaern pressed me.

“No, it’s not. It’s not like that.”

Without gathering my thoughts, I denied his assumption.

“Not like that? Then why did you meet Lord Warren?”

“That is…”

What should I do?
Where should I start and where should I end the story?

No, is it right to tell him the story?

Amidst such thoughts, as I suddenly lifted my head, his figure came into view.

In an instant, my heart sank.

So…

With an icy cold face, he had eyes full of deep wounds.

Why, why is he making such an expression?

Confusion deepened at his appearance, as if he had been betrayed by me.

‘No.’

Then I quickly snapped out of it.

Kaern wouldn’t act like that.

He doesn’t love me.

So, it was obvious that what seemed that way to me was just a misconception.

It could be discomfort over the fact that his fiancée secretly met another man.

Anyway, even if it’s not love, it’s a fact that we have a fairly intimate relationship.

Of course, it could be my misconception, but I wanted to believe that.

Anyway, whatever it was, I didn’t want to see him making such a face.

I hadn’t done anything wrong to him.

That was true for him as well.

We were just thinking of each other to protect one another, keeping our mouths shut.

The only difference between him and me was one thing.

He didn’t know that I knew everything.

If he hadn’t known the truth until now, loving him, I would undoubtedly be in a helpless state, feeling too painful and sad.

“I have something to tell you.”
In the end, unable to ignore the situation any longer, I decided to confess the truth and opened my mouth.

“As you mentioned, it’s true that my visit to Lord Warren was related to a personal matter.”

“…It is?”

As I admitted, Kaern’s expression contorted noticeably.

“Ha.”

While letting out a self-deprecating laugh, he swept his hair back.

“You still have no intention of telling me what that personal matter is.”

“No.”

“What?”

Unexpectedly, Kaern looked at me with a visibly surprised expression when I said no.

Seeing that reaction from Kaern, I carefully organized the words I needed to say to him in my mind.

I wanted to speak well, avoiding any confusion in the middle and ensuring that he wouldn’t misunderstand.

“Harena.”

Impatient, Kaern stared at me with a face that showed frustration, as I hesitated to speak.

I had rarely seen his emotions so clearly displayed before.

He had always concealed himself perfectly.

But now, restlessness, anxiety, worry, despair, anger, and many other emotions were palpable in him.

Thinking that I shouldn’t make him wait any longer, I immediately began to speak.