Loren approached the small tangerine trees densely planted beneath the open window and tilted his head to the side as he asked,

“Do you like it?”

Bercheria, unable to take her eyes off the beautiful green lizard, replied,

“No.”

Loren lightly smiled and held the lizard, the owl, closer to her.

“Do you want to touch it?”

If Lakrahan’s voice was extremely soft and gentle, this man’s voice had a fresh vitality that was both healthy and vibrant.

“No, I’m fine.”

Bercheria said so, unconsciously reaching out towards the window.

With a flick of its long tongue, the extended lizard moved its tiny arms as if wanting to come to Bercheria, and wiggled its legs.

‘It’s so cute it hurts my heart.’

Bercheria had never found anything cute before in her life, but strangely, she was continually drawn to the lizard.

“Ah.”

As Bercheria reached out towards the lizard, the redhaired man subtly increased the distance between them.

Unaware that her body was leaning out of the window, Bercheria continued to move forward.

And sure enough.

“Huh?”

Her body wobbled below the window, losing balance and falling.

Loren, who had been waiting for that moment, easily caught her.

“Got you!”

“……!”

Loren looked at Bercheria, who had fallen into his arms like a princess, with a sly smile, but his face gradually became serious.

He had imagined this, but her delicate features and innate gentle aura seemed to grip his heart tightly.

“You are much more beautiful than I imagined, Bercheria.”

The moment she heard her name from the stranger’s mouth,

Bercheria felt as if a huge rock had dropped on her heart.

The silhouette of a man who fell in the forest after their eyes met while pretending to be her mother, looking for her, kept coming before her eyes.

A lifeordeath game of hide and seek.

From the moment her mother discovered Bercheria’s location, there would be no escape.

Her mother would continue to search for her with different faces.

It could be a familiar face or an entirely unfamiliar one.

Perhaps Bercheria would suspect everyone nearby and suffer until she finally fell into her mother’s hands.

At such a moment, hearing her name from a stranger’s mouth filled her with fear.

The only other possibility was,

“Are you someone sent by Lakrahan?”

“No.”

The man who answered without even a slight delay blew his floorlength red hair with a puff of his lips.

The hair, shining in the sunlight, seemed to radiate its beautiful color.

Bercheria momentarily forgot that she was in the man’s arms and stared at his red eyes.

The halfcurved smiling eyes with bright red pupils felt both alien and somehow familiar.

“I’m not from here. I’m Prince Loren of Deransis, protected by the sea deity Belophae…”

“Prince Loren, what are you doing there?”

An abrupt voice intervened, and Loren, annoyed, puffed again.

“Some bi… Haha, don’t worry about it, Bercheria.”

With elegant eyes, he looked again at Bercheria, who was expressing her desire to get down.

“Now, listen carefully. I am protected by the sea deity Belophae of Deran…”

“Prince Loren of the Deransis Empire.”

Loren narrowed his eyes to a buttonhole size and turned around.

Lakrahan was looking at him, having appeared out of nowhere.

It wasn’t hard to tell that this man was Lakrahan.

With sincerity, Loren greeted Lakrahan.

“Your Grace Duke Lakrahan, could you give me a moment to finish speaking with this beautiful woman?”

Lakrahan’s eyes narrowed, but Loren’s lips curled, showing no concern for what Lakrahan might think.
When Loren turned his head back to Bercheria, Lakrahan opened his mouth again, wearing a kindly smile.

“I think I’ve already introduced myself, Loren Cranstone Aron, the prince.”

Loren finally lost his composure, and his lips turned into a straight line, but when his eyes met Bercheria’s, he smiled charmingly again.

“Then we will meet later, my beautiful lady.”

He stood Bercheria up straight and bowed one knee in greeting.

Bercheria stared fixedly at Loren’s face, almost to the point of rudeness.

She had looked for strangers with her eyes that had turned into her mother’s before.

Her mother had that unique look in her eyes.

Cold and sharply lined.

For a moment, she doubted when her name was called, but Loren’s eyes were pure, filled with confidence.

From the beginning, she had been relieved that he was a different person from her mother.

Furthermore, given her mother’s characteristic of detesting animals and other creatures, there was no reason to doubt Loren.

Startled by the unfamiliar situation, she stood still as Loren gently took one of her hands and brought it to his lips.

“It was an honor to meet you, lady.”

While looking into her eyes, Loren brushed her white hand with his lips as if it were a feather.

It was a sincere greeting, unlike his sentimental action.

After greeting her, Loren straightened up and placed the owl that had been on his shoulder onto the back of the hand he had just kissed.

“Owl.”

As Bercheria looked at Loren with a bewildered face, he leaned his head as if whispering once more.