“I’m truly sorry.”

Cedric bowed politely to apologize to Deborah. He didn’t look like someone who had been laughing and wiping away tears just a minute ago.

“Oh my. It’s alright.”

Deborah replied with a small laugh.

“There have hardly been any people who didn’t laugh at my singing until now.”

She added those words to comfort him, but it was true that few people didn’t laugh at her singing.

At best, only Dia and Irene here, Charles, Sage who worked with her at the Heather house, and lastly that boy?

“By the way, what brings you here?”

“Ah, I came to bring you this.”

Cedric held out an antique-looking can that he had been holding all this time to Deborah.

“Please take it.”

With that, the can Cedric had been holding in one hand was placed on both of Deborah’s hands. Tilting her head at the considerable weight, Deborah asked.

“What is this?”

“It’s candy.”

Cedric answered with a kind smile.

‘Candy?’

Sensing the puzzlement in Deborah’s smile, Cedric added an explanation.

“The master sent it.”

Still smiling, Deborah furrowed her brow. At her obvious bewilderment, Cedric continued his explanation.

“He said Deborah seemed to be lacking energy today, so he insisted I deliver this to you.”

“Ah. I see.”

Deborah gave an awkward smile. At that moment, Dia, who had been nervously clasping her hands together, gathered her courage and asked.

“Are you not feeling well?”

“No. I didn’t sleep well, so I made a mistake when I met Mr. Baker, and it seems he was worried.”

Deborah answered like that and thought to herself.

‘I wonder if it’s that I’m not trustworthy or if Mr. Baker is overly suspicious. Or maybe it’s both.’

And why give candy when someone is lacking energy? Could it be that Zen also feels energized when eating sweets? Considering how he fed her lots of desserts on the day they first met, it might be possible.

Judging by Zen’s face alone, he doesn’t seem like he would enjoy sweets much, but one shouldn’t judge people by appearances.

“Anyway, I should thank Mr. Baker.”

“I’ll convey your message.”

“Oh my, then I’ll gladly accept your offer.”

Deborah, with her eyes gently creased, grasped the lid of the can. However, it was so stiff that it wouldn’t open easily.

“Let me open it for you.”

Cedric said, extending his hand. Deborah handed over the can with an embarrassed smile.

“I’m sorry. I’m usually quite strong, but strangely, it won’t open.”

“Haha. Sometimes canned products can be like that, right? This one might be defective…”

As he said this while receiving the can, Cedric opened the tightly sealed lid with a light gesture, as if turning a page in a book.

Deborah looked at Cedric with surprised eyes.

“Hmm. It is indeed defective. The inside is bent.”

Cedric casually commented after confirming that the part that interlocks with the lid was bent outwards.

“It might be better to transfer the contents to another container for storage. Shall I prepare one for you?”

“Haha. Thank you for your consideration. But this can is sufficient. It’s not like I’ll be carrying it around.”

The candy can returned to Deborah’s possession. A sweet and tangy scent lingered at the tip of her nose.

“By the way, Mr. Redford, you’re incredibly strong.”

“Haha. Not that strong, just a bit above average.”

Cedric replied with a soft laugh. Deborah thought that he was definitely not just a bit above average.

“Anyway, thank you for opening it. Would you like to have one before you go?”

Deborah held out the can.

Cedric was still smiling, but inwardly he was flustered.

‘He’d really dislike it if he knew I ate some.’

Cedric didn’t want to be disliked by Zen. It would be troublesome. But he also didn’t want to refuse the offered candy. He didn’t want to make the offering hand feel awkward.

“Then, would you choose one for me?”

“Ah, in that case…”

Deborah examined the inside of the can. Perhaps because it was dark, the colors all seemed to look the same.

‘Is it just my imagination?’

Deborah tilted the can and poured a few candies onto the inside of the lid. They were all pretty yellow candies.

Deborah unconsciously widened her eyes.

‘I didn’t expect them all to be yellow.’

Usually, such cans contained a mix of various flavors. But now her hands were full of yellow candies that smelled even more fragrant than ones she had never eaten before. Was last night’s dream a premonition that she would receive candy?

“There wasn’t much to choose from.”

Cedric picked up a candy and put it in his mouth. His brow instantly wrinkled.

“Mm! It’s very sour.”

“Oh my, is it?”

Deborah also put a candy in her mouth. It was more tangy than sour.

“Are you alright?”

Seeing Deborah’s expression brighten rather than frown, Cedric asked with a chuckle.

“Yes. I find it delicious.”

“You must handle sour things well, Deborah.”

“I thought I was average, but maybe that’s the case.”

Deborah then offered the candy to Dia and Irene as well. Dia carefully picked one, while Irene politely declined with a smile.

“…”

Dia just quietly looked at the candy, not making any move to put it in her mouth. Worried that she might have reluctantly accepted it due to the atmosphere, Deborah asked.

“If you’d like to eat it later…”

“Ah, no.”

Startled, Dia quickly put the candy in her mouth. Watching Dia’s expression as she focused on the slowly melting candy in her mouth, Deborah thought that perhaps this might be the first time Dia had ever eaten candy in her life.

Also, how pretty it was to see her initially furrowed brow from the surprising tanginess quickly melt away.

Deborah gently smiled.

Dia, who had been enjoying the tangy and sweet taste in her mouth while staring into space, turned her gaze to Deborah. Dia’s face blushed a shy pink as she blankly stared at Deborah smiling at her in the sunlight.

‘She must be embarrassed that our eyes met.’

As Dia lowered her head, Deborah naturally turned to Cedric.

“Please tell Mr. Baker that I’ll definitely repay him for the candy.”

“This candy must be expensive, are you sure?”

“Oh my. Really? Then I’ll cancel that.”

“Haha.”

Dia once again gathered her courage to look at Deborah, who was making light jokes with Cedric. Her mature attitude, elegant smile. Everything sparkled, but what sparkled the most was her kindness.

‘How can she be so kind?’

Everyone around Dia, including Countess Blaise, found Dia frustrating. It was understandable. Dia was slow to learn and clumsy. But Deborah was consistently gentle.

‘Everyone working here is kind, but…’

Cedric, Irene, and even the maid in charge of Dia were all kind. But somehow, Deborah’s kindness felt special. Why was that? Dia couldn’t find the reason.

‘It’s probably because I’m dull-witted.’

Dia wondered when she would be able to understand the special quality Deborah possessed. Would she know by the time she left this mansion?

‘I hope I can.’

Dia quietly wished.

In an empty corridor. Cedric, who had been walking gracefully with his long legs, suddenly stopped.

“…Pfft.”

He tried to hold it in, but Cedric couldn’t resist anymore and finally covered his face and laughed heartily.

“Hahaha.”

Deborah’s singing voice had been lingering in Cedric’s mind all this time. How could someone sing like that?

‘Her voice trembled like a sick sheep!’

It was a special timbre that he wouldn’t dare try to imitate. And why was she so confident with such terrible singing skills!

‘Don’t most tone-deaf people try to hide their skills out of embarrassment?’

But Deborah seemed perfectly fine. Not pretending to be fine, but genuinely so.

‘She doesn’t look it, but she’s surprisingly brazen.’

Cedric didn’t think that was a bad thing. Rather, it felt comfortable.

Just then, a voice came from the end of the corridor.

“Why are you grinning there?”

It was Zen. Despite his displeased tone and expression, Cedric couldn’t completely erase his smile.

Cedric pondered. Should he say he was laughing because of Deborah’s singing?

‘Hmm. I think it’s better not to mention that reason.’

Having made up his mind, Cedric said.

“Just because?”

“Hah.”

Zen made a sound as if in disbelief and strode over. When he reached a distance where he could touch Cedric if he stretched out his arm, he asked seriously.

“Is it because of Deborah?”

“What? No.”

Cedric furrowed his brow and answered immediately. Zen studied his expression closely, and then, seeming to believe him, sighed and said.

“How’s Deborah? How did she seem?”

“She seemed fine? Oh, and she liked the candy too. She also asked me to convey her thanks.”

Cedric, who had been speaking casually, suddenly frowned.

“But why did you buy only one flavor? That’s so unimaginative. It’s fun to choose when there are various flavors, you know.”

“Deborah likes yellow candies.”

“Huh? Yellow candies? Did you perhaps mean to say lemon-flavored candies?”

“No. I said it correctly.”

Zen still remembered vividly. The yellow candies that Deborah dropped because of him. They sparkled and were pretty.

And Deborah’s eyes, looking at the scattered candies on the floor with a pouting expression, were also pretty. Enough to make him hesitate for a moment in the midst of his busy schedule.

‘I couldn’t apologize.’

If he could go back in time, he wouldn’t bump into Deborah’s shoulder. He still wasn’t particularly pleased that that was their first meeting.

But if he were to go back to the moment right after bumping into her, he would probably act the same way. Like a fool, captivated at first sight and then, embarrassed by his shabby appearance, only asserting his pride – the Zen of then and now weren’t much different.