After sending Violet to the banquet, I made my way to a secluded area.

The place I barely reached wearing Violet’s long dress was a secluded terrace in the banquet hall.

I had given advance notice to the information guild.

I asked them to arrange for me to meet one of the two potential husbands here.

With Serdis visiting every day, it was difficult to even go out, let alone make appointments. The banquet was the only place to secretly meet the young nobles. Since I was also a key protected target for the family, considering how much trouble the request caused, the banquet was a golden opportunity for me.

Hoping to have the wedding as soon as possible, I opened the terrace door. My heart pounded at the sound of the door in the silence.

‘What kind of person will he be?’

Even though it’s a contract, I hope we get along well since he’ll be my husband.

But contrary to my worries, the terrace was empty.

“Is anyone here?”

I went back to the banquet hall to check the location again.

“This is the right place, isn’t it?”

Even looking at the note from the information guild, this is the correct place.

“Is anyone here?”

But inside the terrace, only the sound of my heels and the chirping of autumn insects echoed.

What’s going on? Did the message not get delivered properly?

They definitely said the other party had accepted.

“Ugh! Uuugh…!”

As I was looking around the terrace, I heard a person’s voice beyond the railing.

“Wh-What’s that sound?”

After hesitating for a moment, I went to the railing and looked down.

Outside was just dense foliage.

But hearing the strange sound again, along with the rustling of leaves being brushed aside, I became a bit suspicious.

“Is that the young noble?”

Wondering if they might have slipped and fallen.

I blinked my eyes trying to adjust to the darkness, but there was no sign of a person in the bushes.

Right. Why would the young noble be down there?

I decided to stop looking and wait a little longer.

But after more than ten minutes passed, my anxiety overpowered my patience.

“This won’t do. I should go look for someone else first.”

I couldn’t just keep waiting here indefinitely.

When I returned to the banquet hall, the last song had started and all the young ladies and gentlemen with partners were out dancing to the lively tune.

I squeezed past them and headed to the second location, the royal garden.

“What? No one here either?”

With no sign of anyone, I gazed at the royal garden where only red roses were in full bloom.

A sense of frustration washed over me.

This was an appointment I had set up even deceiving my parents. It was also a meeting arranged with difficulty, avoiding Serdis’ eyes that barged in every day.

“If I wait, they’ll come.”

If they don’t show up, I might have to slip out of the banquet hall and head straight to the guild headquarters. As I was calmly turning things over in my mind, I heard someone approaching.

“Found you.”

Instead of the young noble I was supposed to meet here, the person who shouldn’t be here at all appeared.

Serdis. This clingy bastard,

“Why are you…”

Here to block my path?

“Anette. I followed you.”

He let out a rough breath.

I had checked that he was dancing with Violet before I came out, but it was my fault for feeling at ease about that.

“What are you doing here alone?”

I wanted to scream at him that I was here to find a husband because of him.

“I just came out for some fresh air, but it’s cold so I was about to go back in.”

I replied as coldly as the night air. Despite showing my dislike, Serdis interpreted it differently.

“I knew it. You said you refused with words, but you were waiting for me, right? This is the garden where we talked that time.”

Serdis’ cheeks turned peach-colored.

“Let’s talk all night like we did then.”

Serdis caught his breath, roughly took off his white gloves and threw them on the ground. His hand reached out to me without hesitation.

“I told you I just came out for some air. Don’t misinterpret and misunderstand on your own.”

I cut him off, rejecting his call. Just as I was about to look around the garden and move away.

He pulled me into his arms.

“Aah!”

Just before my face touched his firm chest, I struggled with all my might as I sensed the danger.

“Anette. Were you very surprised?”

When I screamed, Serdis easily let me go. His approaching touch felt threatening, especially since he was already so obsessive that I couldn’t stand it.

“Your Highness. Why are you doing this to me!”

My voice trembled terribly. While I was serious, Serdis smiled brightly as if nothing was wrong.

“It’s because you keep running away.”

“We’re just from the same academy. Nothing more, nothing less. I don’t want any relationship beyond that. I hate it all.”

Though I knew I should firmly push him away and run, the words wouldn’t come out properly. It was because he seemed like a different person from the male lead in the original story and the Serdis I had seen at the academy.

“My lovely Anette. What can I do when I go crazy because you keep playing hard to get.”

“…”

“Now if I don’t have you, I might die.”

That’s right.

It seems trying to leave the original story was a big mistake.

Seeing how the male lead has gone mad.

Looking at Serdis’ half-crazed eyes, my jumbled thoughts turned completely blank.

The person in front of me is not the male lead. Not the male lead, but a person who has gone mad unable to do anything with me. My hands and feet trembled. I felt my eyes burning instantly.

“Go away…”

“Stop playing hard to get and come to me. I know everything about you secretly looking for a husband through the information guild, so stop struggling needlessly.”

For a moment, my breath caught.

How does he know about this?

“I thought something was strange when the count’s words and yours differed, so I looked into it and found out easily.”

“You investigated me…”

“It was all out of my desire for you. My feelings are pure.”

His expression changed strangely. After looking uneasy and at a loss, now he stared at me intently.

“Anette.”

His lowered voice quietly called my name. A chill ran down my spine. Serdis, who had finally come right up to me, suddenly traced my lips with his finger.

“What are you doing…!”

“To prevent you from going to the convent, no, to make you breathe by my side for life, shouldn’t I take you here?”

My body, which had become comfortable by Serdis’ side, breathed more heavily.

“You’ll understand, right? Even if I do that?”

He was serious.

I pushed him away with all my might as he approached closer. But it was impossible to push away a huge adult man with my body that couldn’t even be considered average.

Serdis’ smooth chin tilted slightly and his hands firmly wrapped around me. A fast and repetitive heartbeat, whether mine or his, resounded from our pressed bodies.

“Please… don’t do this!”

“You like this kind of thing. Stop playing hard to get now.”

“I don’t like it… I don’t like it…”

Tears that finally burst out flowed uncontrollably. A sense of fear washed over me that I would never be able to escape from his arms no matter how much I tried to run away. Just as I was floundering in despair like that.

Clang!

Serdis, who had been like a huge wall, crumbled.

And in his place stood an unfamiliar man. The man whose face I couldn’t see clearly in the moonlight spoke firmly in a low voice.

“Run away immediately.”

It was a helping hand that came to me as I stood on the edge of a cliff. But I couldn’t do anything as if the world had stopped. Finally, unable to bear it, the man raised his voice.

“Quickly!”

At that voice, my frozen body finally moved. In my panic to run away, I had no time to thank him. I just wanted to escape from here safely.

The tall entrance of the imperial palace came into view. Family carriages were lined up around it. Even rubbing my tear-stained eyes, I couldn’t see the count’s carriage.

But I didn’t have the leisure to look for it one by one. Because I didn’t know when and where Serdis might chase after me. In the end, I left the imperial palace with nothing but my body.

***

I walked aimlessly down an unknown road.

Only when the heel of my shoe broke did I stop walking. In the pitch-black darkness of the street. Only my rough breathing spread in the silence.

If I went a little further, there was a carriage rental shop. But I couldn’t bring myself to take another step.

‘What if Serdis is there when I return to the mansion?’

After a brief deliberation, I decided not to return to the mansion either. Instead, I moved towards the alley at the end where I could hear people. It was a bar street. I could hear the cheerful laughter of men. As soon as I entered the alley, I collapsed in a sitting position.

‘I can’t walk anymore.’

Kneeling down, I buried my face. An unwanted face tried to appear in the black view. I shook my head while rubbing my face hard against my dress.

At that moment. Someone lifted me up. It was a rather careful touch.

“It’s dangerous to be here.”

The man I could faintly see looked similar to the person who had just saved me. Since I couldn’t see his face properly, I lowered my gaze and saw armor inside his rough cloak.

A mercenary?

“I’ll take you.”

Ah, he must be from the guard.

He seems to have approached after seeing a noble lady wandering the streets at this dawn. I blinked my swollen eyes and asked.

“Where are you taking me?”

“You’ll catch a cold if you stay here. You must go.”

At the end of his gaze, I saw a carriage. I shook off the hand holding me. The lightly gripped hand easily let go.

“…I don’t want to go home. I’m going to stay out today and go in later.”

“Then I’ll take you to a place where the young lady can rest safely.”

“…”

With no strength left to speak, I followed where he led.

Despite the late hour, it was an unfamiliar space with brightly lit signs thanks to magic. I turned my gaze away from the flashing sign lights for a moment.

“A casino is a safe place?”

“That’s right.”

The man spoke plainly and went in first.

‘Is he really from the guard?’

Bringing me to a casino. But the doubt didn’t last long. I had no leisure to worry about trivial matters.

I followed him inside.

The casino was a place that young ladies used not infrequently. However, due to the nature of gambling, it was difficult to completely erase the uncomfortable feeling, so I had never been here before.

As I entered the casino after pulling back the red curtain, a gasp escaped.

“Wow.”

The interior of the casino, which was open in one large space, was entirely gilded.

The floor was covered with velvet sheets to prevent disturbing the gambling, so no footsteps could be heard. Moreover, what caught the eye were the various games located in different sections.

“Everyone went to the banquet. Tsk.”

However, there was no one in the casino that should have been bustling.

Except for the dealers standing like robots in front of each game machine.

I stood in front of a nearby game, dragging my swollen legs and uncomfortable dress. The man who brought me here kindly pulled out a chair.

“Please sit and wait for a moment.”

The man left me sitting and disappeared somewhere. I stared blankly at the roulette game board in front of me.

Then, the man who had returned at some point spread out a large blanket.

“May I cover you?”

The man was tall. And his appearance, which I couldn’t see in the dark outside, naturally drew admiration.

Firm lean muscles not hidden by the cloak.

A fair face not tanned at all under the sun.

His black hair, in contrast, matched perfectly without any sense of incongruity.

‘A handsome guard.’

That was the extent of my appreciation.

To me, who had just been hurt by a handsome man, men were now just annoying beings.

Instead of answering, I nodded my head slightly.

A warm and comfortable sensation quickly warmed my body.

“It’s warm.”

“It’s a blanket with magic on it. Please have some tea as well.”

Is it because it’s a place where large sums of money change hands? It was a space full of expensive magic.

Maybe that’s why it also had a dreamy atmosphere.

“Is this magic too?”

“That’s right.”

The tea, which I didn’t know when it had been brewed, was steaming.

A fragrant scent of chamomile.

It’s calming. I closed my eyes, smelled the tea aroma, and smiled faintly.

“It’s the tea I like.”

“I’m glad.”

He was kind, unlike his appearance.

His gentle tone had a knack for making people comfortable somehow.

Thanks to that, the tension eased. Enough to slightly fade what had just happened to me.

I looked straight ahead. The metal ball in the roulette game board, drawn alternately in red and white, sparkled.

“It would be nice if life were a game that could be reset.”

If so, I wouldn’t have gotten involved at all.

“It seems something happened.”

“It’s embarrassing to talk about.”

I fumbled with the warm teacup. It’s not a story to tell someone I just met today.

A few minutes of silence passed. Only after finishing a cup of tea did he open his mouth.

“I’m like that these days too.”

I turned my head slightly at his words. It just sounded like words of comfort.

“…I see.”

As I trailed off, he continued.

“I’ll only tell the young lady.”

“You don’t have to…”

“Due to circumstances, I’m looking for a marriage partner.”

The exact words I needed.