They say books not found in the Hilk Kingdom are not found anywhere else. It seemed that he was collecting books without reading them.

I wandered through the library, searching for Matthias, while tilting my head. Not long after, I found him sleeping under a pile of randomly stacked books. It looked like he had fallen asleep while organizing the books.

Since he was sleeping so soundly, it was difficult to wake him up, so I decided to wait until he woke up.

“He probably won’t get up until he comes to the office of Cahilern. It’s before he gets up, right?”

I never thought about it because he always seemed relaxed and carefree, but Cahilern was somewhat jealous.
Ah, come to think of it, Cahilern once peculiarly visited the library. And he said something as if telling me to listen to Matthias.

“We are quite intimate.”

At that time, I wondered why this crazy guy was acting like this, but thinking about it now, it was clear that he was jealous of Matthias and me being together.

“Cute.”

Even though Cahilern was jealous without knowing if he liked me or not, I smiled at Matthias, who was staring at me with jealousy.

“Oh, are you awake?”

As soon as Matthias heard my voice, he quickly raised his head and fumbled for his glasses. Although he looked decent taking off his glasses and wearing the conquest at the reception, Matthias looked even better in this state.

“I-I didn’t expect you to come so soon.”

Yeah, that shy tone was still the same. Feeling relieved that the strangely uncomfortable atmosphere from the reception wasn’t present, I smiled brightly.

“It’s been a while, Lord Matthias.”

I stopped him from being too respectful to the prince.

“Yes.”

Matthias lowered his head shyly.

Matthias, sipping the warm red tea I offered, had already emptied more than half of it, but he just looked down at the teacup and didn’t open his mouth.

Since it was almost time for him to leave, unable to wait any longer, I opened my mouth first.

“Was there something you wanted to say?”

“Ah…”

Matthias, whose words were unclear, finally raised his head as if he had made up his mind. However, even after lifting his head, he hesitated with only his lips moving for a while before finally speaking.

“Although it’s late, congratulations on your marriage, Lady Vi.”

“Thank you.”

“And this.”

Matthias took out something from the side and held it out. Smiling slightly at the neatly wrapped gift box, I expressed my gratitude.

“It’s not much, just scented candles and potpourri. I heard they are often given as wedding gifts, so I prepared them.”

“Oh, thank you. I’ll use them well.”

I was thankful, but did he go through all this trouble just to give me this? As I tilted my head, smiling, I briefly thought about whether he did this with the intention to give it or not.

Could he confess that he likes someone who is already married? He just gave me a wedding gift.

“I like you.”

“…”

“Ah, I liked you! It might be quite burdensome to say this to someone who’s already married, but I wanted to tell you at least once that I liked someone. It absolutely doesn’t mean anything, I just wanted to tell you that. Right now, Lord Renéolla, or rather Lady Vi, I only wish for Prince Lord to be happy. That’s why I prepared a wedding gift”

Matthias’s glasses seemed to spin round and round. As he tried to recover, the more he tried to straighten out his words, the more tangled and confusing they became. However, the point was that he wanted to confess to someone he liked for the first time.
It may be abrupt, but if I just casually reveal it, we might be able to become good friends again, just like before. Matthias undoubtedly spoke to me with that thought in mind.

“Thank you. It feels good to hear that someone like Lord Matthias liked me.”

Matthias lightly swept his nape as if he were cool. His face had turned red, showing embarrassment, but at the same time, there was a refreshing atmosphere.

Matthias, who had been idly stroking his neck without a word, suddenly sighed and exclaimed, “Ah.”

“Why are you like that?”

“Well, actually…”

Matthias, who was hesitant, slowly opened his mouth.

“When Lady Vi suddenly disappeared, it was Prince 1 who helped, not me. At that time, I didn’t know if you were Lady Vi; I just thought you were the guild leader.”

“What is this about?”

Upon hearing something new, I tilted my head, and Matthias, looking embarrassed, closed his eyes as if he were ashamed.

“I couldn’t honestly tell you back then because of my jealousy. I sincerely apologize, Lady Vi.”

It was not Matthias who rescued me in the secret room, but Cahilern?