‘She became prettier while I didn’t see her.’ Such words seemed meaningless. Roxiana was that beautiful.

‘I gave another meaningless kiss.’

Even though Roxiana looked very healthy, he ended up kissing her. The moment he saw her getting angry, surprised by Floyd’s crazy action, the impulse that he should do it overwhelmed him.

Although he kissed her for quite a long time, although he savored her, although he drank in her scent to excess, he felt it wasn’t enough. An inexplicable thirst wouldn’t stop.

Fearing he might end up doing something he shouldn’t, he hurriedly pulled his lips away, but his heart sank when he saw her eyes looking up at him were so moist.

“I’m sorry. Don’t cry.”

“I’m not crying……”

“It looks like you are.”

Floyd wiped her eyes with his thumb, but no tears came off on his thumb.

Floyd let go of her shoulders and stepped back. The hard-to-name impulse wouldn’t go away, and he felt like something big would happen if he stayed close to her.

The sight of the wind passing through and brushing her hair seemed distant. Roxiana brushed her hair back as if annoyed and said.

“If you don’t want to see me crying, don’t do such crazy things ever again.”

Floyd had already forgotten about jumping off the cliff, so at first he thought she meant never to kiss her again and felt deep despair.

“Jumping from such a high place…… How could you think of doing that?”

If she hadn’t added right away, he was about to beg her to let him keep kissing. Floyd cleared his throat awkwardly and said.

“I was glad to see you.”

“No matter how glad you were……”

Roxiana put her hand on her chest and glared at Floyd.

“I was really surprised.”

Seeing her reveal her raw emotions, Floyd felt delighted.

Yes, you were that kind of girl. The Roxiana Franche I knew was that kind of girl.

I’ve finally gotten my Roxy back.

‘Huh? My Roxy?’

Floyd was taken aback by the sudden thought.

My Roxy, really.

Of course, he had met and remembered Roxiana from that time, but the lovely girl they called ‘Roxy’ had never been Floyd’s even once.

“Answer me quickly. Say you won’t do it again.”

Looking at her glaring stubbornly, Floyd smiled faintly.

“I won’t. Forgive me.”

Seeing him speak somewhat playfully, Roxiana’s heart suddenly thumped, so she turned away abruptly. Floyd quickly followed behind her and asked.

“What did I do wrong again?”

“Nothing. I just wanted to walk a bit.”

“Then let’s walk together. It’s nice to see the sea after so long.”

Roxiana took a deep breath and let it out, trying not to let him notice. She glanced at him, and he was brushing his hair back while looking at the sea.

His straight forehead, hidden under his disheveled hair, was revealed, making his strong facial features stand out more clearly. His deep-set eyes under his dark eyebrows were beautiful.

Roxiana looked away from him and asked, looking down at the sand crunching under her feet.

“Are you hurt anywhere?”

“No. The monsters couldn’t harm me.”

“That’s good.”

“How about you, Princess? Are you not hurt?”

“No.”

“Is your heart alright?”

“It’s normal.”

“Normal……”

“I’m feeling hate, resentment, joy, and happiness in equal measure, like anyone else.”

“That’s good.”

“Yes, it is.”

There was a brief pause in the conversation, but it wasn’t awkward. The two walked along the beach in silence, using the sound of waves as music. Suddenly stopping to watch a small crab carrying an even smaller twig pass by, Floyd said.

“It seems you had a good conversation with Karan’s merchant guild leader.”

“Yes, thanks to you. She was clever and nice.”

“Clever yes, nice no.”

Roxiana smiled a little, thinking of Nelly’s sharply upturned eyes.

“Nelly must be on her way to Gania’s Kingteren now. Rumors about the royal guest at the Lily Palace are spreading too. It’s time for us to move as well.”

“Good. No changes to the plan?”

Roxiana recalled the plan she and Floyd had put their heads together to make.

Will there be any problems? I don’t know. I’ve never experienced it before.

She had never even imagined herself trying to bring someone down. She didn’t know a day would come when she would try to ruin someone’s life with things she had learned out of mere interest.

So she didn’t know. Whether it would go well or not. What would be at the end of the path she was walking, she had no idea.

Because she knew nothing, she had no choice but to believe in herself. And she had no choice but to trust those who had reached out to her.

Trusting like that, the things Roxiana could do increased quite a bit, and if she could do many things, the possibility of reaching the end of the yet unseen path in the way she wanted also increased.

So Roxiana nodded without hesitation.

“Yes, no changes. I heard Cassar Pelur went to Kanta. Let’s start there.”

+++

Although he had left work to the Prime Minister, there were still things that only Floyd could handle. After concentrating on his work until late, Floyd took a moment to catch his breath and looked out the window.

The Lily Palace wasn’t visible from his office, but his mind was still unsettled. After kissing Roxiana earlier, Floyd couldn’t escape one thought that was invading his mind.

Jumping off the cliff as soon as he saw Roxiana and trusting her. Kissing her even though she no longer looked ill. Stepping back one step, captivated by an impulse hard to explain to others. That impulse not disappearing even after stepping back.

A bitter smile appeared on Floyd’s lips.

“Unless I’m a fool……”

In fact, he knew he hadn’t just been strange on the beach earlier.

All those actions he had taken after saving her on the merchant ship were bizarre, suspicious, and strange.

Feeling good every time he saw her. Overreacting to her matters. Getting angry beyond worry when she was sick. Feeling relieved at her smiling face.

Floyd rubbed his face with both hands and then banged his forehead on the desk.

“I am a fool indeed. To realize this only now.”

It was love.

From the beginning until now, without a single moment left out, it was love.

So that beginning means.

−”Take this and go. You’ll catch a cold if you get rained on.”

−”Don’t get sick.”

When he received an umbrella from that cheerful and lovely girl. From then until now, when he was too busy just surviving to even look back at his own feelings.

It was love.

That’s why he recognized her at once, the woman he hadn’t met for over a decade, trapped in a narrow box and in a mess. Roxiana Franche, the princess of Kanta.

Because of what happened with Christine Pelur, the Queen of Gania, in his childhood, because of the voice with which she whispered pointing at her mother, women were burdensome to him. Since Christine had an outwardly elegant, kind, and coquettish personality, when women approached with flirtatious eye smiles, it reminded him of Christine and made him nauseous.

Most women, when facing Floyd, would smile similarly to Christine and speak in a similar voice, so Floyd came to detest women.

So he thought he would never love a woman, and because of that, he couldn’t think of this obvious feeling towards Roxiana as love.

‘So it was love.’

The reason for falling in love wasn’t important.

‘So I do all this love thing.’

Floyd suddenly found this situation so absurd that laughter burst out.

‘A woman who seemed about to die soon is now finding the strength to live with only revenge in her heart, and I’m in love with such a woman.’

Floyd didn’t believe Roxiana’s words about living like others. He couldn’t believe it.

Because he was the same. He laughs as if he’s cheerful, but in reality, he hasn’t escaped from the past at all, feeling nauseous and getting goosebumps just seeing a woman who resembles that woman. Even after more than a decade has passed, when memories of that time occasionally surface, his breath gets caught by the heart-wrenching pain.

Although there’s no more or less in misfortune, what happened to Roxiana was more terrible than what Floyd had experienced. At least that woman had buried Floyd’s mother Adelia in a coffin.

So how could Roxiana be alright?

She must be enduring every moment, forcing herself to smile because of Floyd’s words to smile somehow, while rotting inside.

Knowing this, he still fell in love.

‘No, in this case, should I say I had been in love?’

After naming the confusing emotion, things he had passed over carelessly until now approached with new meanings one by one. His heart tightened anew, and Floyd banged his forehead on the desk several times, thump, thump, thump.

Still, his mind wouldn’t calm down.

Usually, when his heart is this unsettled, the crazy being inside his body would sympathize with Floyd’s emotions and act up on its own, showing its presence, but strangely, it was quiet now.

‘Today, I’m the only madman.’

As Floyd was rubbing his reddened forehead with a bitter smile, the voice of the head chamberlain Jenail was heard from outside the door.

“Your Majesty, the night has deepened. Why don’t you retire to your bedroom now?”

“Jenail, you were still here?”

“How could I go to sleep first when Your Majesty is still awake?”

Unable to disturb the sleep of the aged head chamberlain, Floyd left his desk and came out of the office. Floyd stared down at Jenail, his longtime friend, family, and most trusted servant, and said.

“Have a drink with me, Jenail.”