“That could be true. However, no one has ever said to me the words I wanted to hear the most.”

“…”

What words? Is he telling me not to die in front of him?

Unable to comprehend, I mechanically chewed the food in my mouth.

Ashton, facing me with frozen eyes, delicately raised his eye corners.

“I can’t understand the face that says you can’t hear what I’m saying.”
Ashton delicately narrowed his eyes at me, blinking like a goldfish.

“It looks like you have no idea what I’m saying.”

“…To be honest, that’s true. It’s just too embarrassing.”

If you could quantify the favor this person currently holds for me like a dating simulation game, I wonder what the numerical value would be.

Even though I wasn’t going to poke into it like a zero, I suddenly became curious.

In my confusion, Ashton reached out to me. Not only that, but he also leaned forward.

“Pardon the intrusion.”

“What, what is it?”

As I shrunk in embarrassment, he paused the hand he was reaching out to me, and his eyes melted into a warm smile.

“There’s sandwich sauce on the Duke’s lips.”

‘Oh. Did sauce get all over my lips?’

As he touched the area around my lips, indeed, a sticky sauce was smeared.

‘But that doesn’t mean I should wipe it off with my bare hands, right?’

It was my duty not to soil the noble Crown Prince’s hands with such trivial matters, even if it wasn’t to the point of the finest silk.

“I, I can wipe it off with a handkerchief.”

As I hurriedly tried to take out a handkerchief from my inner pocket, Ashton stopped me.

“No, there’s no need for that. …I want to wipe it off myself.”

‘What, what…’

Without a chance to refuse, he withdrew his hand, took out a handkerchief from his pocket, and gently swept around my lips.

Ashton’s fingers were as pale and slender as snow. The only difference from expectations was the warmth I felt from his hand.

As expected of someone who had lived in cold places, his handkerchief was thicker than others.

However, the warmth transmitted through it stirred my heart.

His hand, which seemed so sharp like a frozen ice wall, was surprisingly warm.

As if his body temperature alone could imprint on me that he was not just a figure on paper but undoubtedly a living, breathing person.

Sitting dumbfounded in front of me, Ashton tucked the handkerchief stained with sauce into his pocket.

“…Sorry for touching your face without permission, Duke.”

“Uh…uh…”

My mouth repeated the sounds of uh-uh like a broken doll.

Apparently, my disheveled appearance left some embarrassment for him too, as crimson flower petals bloomed on his pristine face.

“…I’m sorry for being rude. However… I don’t want to ask for forgiveness for this rudeness.”

He mumbled like that and hastily left the office, stealing glances at his reddened face.

“Th… this is…”

What on earth is this?

I groped around my already cleaned lips.

Damn it. Even my face felt hot, and the skin on the surface was tingling.

‘What on earth is happening!’

I could feel my heart pounding fiercely, forgetting to control even my heartbeat.

I remained with my head on the desk until the return of the nonchalant Zero Lulu La. Blocking my ears to avoid hearing the sound of a heartbeat that seemed unfamiliar.
Zero, who had escaped to the kitchen, returned with a well-rounded belly like a full moon and looked surprised when he saw me.

“What’s up? What happened while I was gone? Why are you acting like that?”

“It’s nothing… You don’t need to know.”

“What’s going on? Tell me too!”

I ignored Zero’s whining voice. He could understand even without him whining.

‘Surely… what Ashton said earlier.’

Could it be interpreted as him having romantic feelings for me? Why, oh why. The sirens in my head wailed even though there was no system notification.

‘No… It can’t be. It shouldn’t be.’

It must not be. Having someone who likes me struggling to go back was not good for either of us. A predetermined farewell would come eventually.

The one who must leave and the one who must stay. I hoped all my party members and everyone in this world who knew me would completely forget about me.

That way, when I disappeared, it would be less painful. My selfish desire was not to become the source of sorrow for losing a loved one, even if unintentionally.

〈I have to go to the residence of the Kitten Duke in Duo 1 area.〉

〈First, observe the dynamics while blending in with them.〉

〈Act like a human.〉

〈In case things get complicated, find out who is under divine protection and ask that person.〉

‘I must fulfill my father’s orders…’

Repeating this thought desperately, the woman moved her steps.

Walking incessantly towards the forcibly input destination, she had been doing so for several days now.

If the woman were a ‘human,’ it would be an impossible task.

“I have to hurry…”

Father is waiting.

She didn’t want to disappoint her father, who pulled her up from the abyss.

There was no room for questioning blind loyalty and obedience in her mind.

Repeating the act of walking, her clothes torn and worn out, the woman’s eye color, resembling the summer sky, was the only vivid thing about her.