A man with a noticeably larger build than ordinary men smiled brightly when his eyes met Delina’s, waving his hand. Delina, reciprocating the smile, also waved her hand.

“Why Jen? He’s doing fine.”

“Doesn’t he seem to grow taller every time you see him? He’s not human-sized anymore. A complete bear. A bear.”

“A bear, but he’s still a person. Of course… a bit larger than others.”

“Anyway, tell him not to walk alone at night. Hunters might mistake him for an animal and shoot arrows.”

Jen, who was smaller than Delina when they first met, began to show remarkable growth. Dressmakers were always amazed at the noticeable changes in clothing size every year.

“Got it!”

“Alright, go, go.”
As soon as Jewels, who was on Jen’s shoulders, shouted as if urging, Delina left the office and went downstairs. In front of the main gate, the Duke’s carriage was waiting.

“Sorry, Jen. We got into a passionate debate about the color of Oppa’s office walls, and time just flew by… Did you wait long?”

“No. I didn’t wait long.”

When Delina apologized, Jen smiled and replied. Delina, who looked up at Jen, got lost in thought for a moment.

“Yeah, he has grown a lot. His strength has become tremendous.”

Every time Jen returned from the Duke’s mountain, it seemed like he had various injuries. However, he always had a smiling face in front of Delina. But as time passed, Jen grew, and accordingly, his injuries diminished.

“Jen, stop growing now.”

“Yeah, got it.”

“If I say ‘yeah,’ for real, what would you do?”

“Yeah, yeah.”

“Anyway…”

Delina chuckled as she looked at Jen, who was still smiling.

“Let’s go quickly. We should return before sunset.”

Even though only Jen was riding in the carriage, it felt cramped. Delina, sitting across from Jen, looked at his scarf.

“Are you going to keep wearing that scarf? I said I’d get you a different one.”

“Yeah. I like this one.”

Unlike dozens of changed outfits, Jen’s sky-blue scarf around his neck remained unchanged from before. Despite the passing years, Jen insisted on keeping that scarf.

“Okay. But if you ever want to change it…”

“Giggle!”

“You! I told you to stay quiet in the carriage!”

Interrupting Delina’s words, Jewels started leaping around. Delina tried to catch Jewels, but while she was doing so, Jen, who had been silently watching, spoke up.

“Jewels. Be still.”

“…Giggle.”

It was always a fascinating sight. Even after causing a commotion, with just one word from Jen, Jewels would obediently sit down.

“…”

Since Jen started going to the mountain, Jewels became unusually quiet in front of Jen. Delina guessed that Jewels instinctively knew about what Jen had experienced on the mountain.

“Why, Delina?”

“Oh, nothing.”

Jen always made jokes in front of Delina, who laughed as if nothing serious was happening. While looking at Jen’s smiling face, Delina patted the now calm Jewels on the head.

“You’re here, miss!”

“Yeah. You arrived earlier than I thought. I thought you would arrive at night.”

Felik and Betty came out to greet them, perhaps hearing the carriage. Delina, who got off the carriage, handed the letters she had in her arms to Betty.

“Betty, can you put these in my room?”

“Of course.”

Felix’s eyes narrowed when he saw several letters in Delina’s hands.

“Miss, could those letters be… by any chance?”

“Oh, yeah. Engagement proposals that came to me.”

“As I thought!”

Felix exclaimed with an excited expression.
“In the world, that little miss…! It feels like just yesterday when she came to the Duke’s mansion, and all of a sudden, she has come of age for marriage, and even received engagement proposals… It’s truly a touching moment.”

“What’s the big deal? I haven’t even opened them yet.”

In response to Felik’s exaggerated remarks, as if she were getting married tomorrow, Delina held out her hand and spoke. That’s when it happened.

“Who received what?”

Bellion’s voice came from behind Felik.