The simple dinner held in the quarters of the Crown Princess was overflowing with warmth that belied the season.

“Greetings to Your Highness, the Crown Prince.”

Lucas arrived with a face that clearly showed he had waited and waited until 5 o’clock. He personally helped Serena up as she greeted him with courtesy, and headed towards the dining hall.

“Are you truly alright now?”

As soon as they sat facing each other across the table, Lucas inquired about Serena’s well-being.

He had asked the royal physician and the chief lady-in-waiting, and even though he could see the color returning to Serena’s cheeks with his own eyes, he felt like he needed to hear it directly from her to be satisfied.

“Yes. As you can see.”

Seeing Serena’s calm smile, the last of Lucas’s worries finally disappeared.

“I’m glad. I… I thought you were going to…”

“I’m sorry for making you worry.”

Lucas blinked slowly for a moment. He had felt something was off when he received the dinner invitation, but the Serena before him now was somehow different from the one he knew.

“From now on, I will fulfill my duties to ensure such a thing doesn’t happen again.”

Clang, Lucas dropped his silver utensil.

“Serena…”

They say people who have suffered from high fevers often change. Seeing Serena so gentle, not losing her temper or coldly retorting, made his heart pound.

“Are you sure you’ve fully recovered? Do you remember how we were the last time we met?”

When Lucas asked with a face full of worry, Serena couldn’t help but burst into laughter. This time, it was Lucas’s eyes that wavered.

“Serena?”

He was so startled that he tried to stand up from his seat, but she gestured for him to stay put until her laughter subsided.

“I’m fine. I remember everything.”

“Then… why are you acting like this?”

Lucas’s eyes still looked at Serena with unease. It was a strange thing to say, but her gentle smile only made him more anxious.

“If I may ask, could you get angry at me all at once?”

“Why?”

Lucas furrowed his brows at Serena’s still innocent-looking face.

“I mean… you said you remember the last time you saw me.”

“Yes.”

Serena answered very readily.

“When I briefly regained consciousness after losing it, you called my name while looking at me, Your Highness.”

Lucas asked again in surprise.

“You… remember that?”

“Yes. I remember that moment.”

She couldn’t possibly forget Lucas’s earnest eyes at that time. And as she began to remember that gaze, the walls Serena had built around her heart also started to crumble a little.

“I may not fully know your thoughts, but I know that you were… very worried about me.”

His gaze and voice were literally filled with desperate concern. To the point where Serena doubted if she deserved to receive such deep feelings from Lucas.

“Of course, I also remember what happened on the night of the first day of the month.”

Lucas silently nodded his head.

“I was being rash. I’m so relieved that wasn’t our last time together.”

“I was being sensitive too.”

It was much easier to say when the other person admitted their faults first. Come to think of it, Serena had never faced Lucas like this before.

“No. I not only boasted about your achievements in the council as if they were my own, but I also did that to you again…”

Strictly speaking, it wasn’t a method that Serena had devised. It was simply something that anyone from a more advanced civilization would know.

“I think I was a bit jealous for a moment.”

Serena interrupted Lucas’s words.

“Until now, I only had Astel and I considered that my everything. So when I thought you were implementing that idea… I felt jealous.”

“Of course it’s yours.”

“No, it’s something that people created together, I can’t claim it as solely mine. Besides, you thought of it with good intentions to save the people, Your Highness.”

What had changed so much in five days? Lucas was dumbfounded but pleased to be able to face Serena’s honest feelings.

“And I couldn’t easily accept that my role had changed.”

Laying out all her emotions, her heart felt refreshed. It was much better than having a hard time at first, needlessly being hostile to Lucas, and falling into self-pity.

“But I’ll try to adapt to my new role little by little.”

“Does that mean we can truly become a married couple?”

Skipping all the steps, Lucas pointed out the conclusion.

“Well.”

Serena was still honest. Just as Lucas had always looked at her directly, from now on she would also be truthful.

“Not right away, but I’ll keep the possibility open.”

Now that she had acknowledged her role, she could also acknowledge Lucas’s feelings. And she was truly grateful for those feelings.

“Almost like… dating?”

It was a uniquely Lucas-like idea, but not a bad one.

“Sure, something like that.”

Despite her coy words, a smile also formed on Serena’s lips.

“We’re even in a secret relationship.”

There was no one who didn’t know that the two were married, but there were very few who knew they were still dating.

“I see.”

One corner of Lucas’s mouth curled up. For the first time, Serena looked back at him who had always unilaterally courted her.

“May I ask one more thing?”

When Serena didn’t answer, Lucas couldn’t wait and opened his mouth.

“Do you see me as a man now?”

Serena paused for a moment at the unexpected question. But even if she tried not to be conscious of it, words once heard didn’t disappear.

“Yes.”

With just one word, the gaze between the two wavered. They were more unfamiliar and vivid to each other than when they first met.

“That’s all I need.”

Lucas smiled more contentedly than ever.

“As long as I can be a man in your eyes, I’m confident about the rest.”

It wasn’t just arrogance, his handsome face and confidence shone. Serena finally took a good look at his face. Across the silver candlestick, her husband was wearing a rather dashing smile.

The man she had never properly tried to see seemed determined to grow a new sprout in Serena’s heart.

“I’ll be watching.”

Even at Serena’s ambiguous answer, Lucas didn’t hide his delight. If someone who had seen him on the battlefield in the past saw this, they would have doubted their eyes.

“My feelings won’t change.”

How could one person’s heart be so unwavering towards another?

“For a lifetime, and forever.”

Now it was hard to call Lucas’s words a mere immature confession. Because in that fleeting moment when she was wandering in and out of consciousness, she had already seen his sincerity.

“But don’t make me wait too long.”

In the dark eyes that looked at Serena, as he had asked, a man’s desire could be felt.

“Because I want all of you.”

Serena had been mistaken all this time. Lucas’s change wasn’t after six years had passed. It wasn’t just because he had grown much taller and stronger than her.

“How are you always so certain?”

“To me, you were a woman from the beginning. And only now do you finally see me as a man.”

His instinct and desperate desire for possession, filling his gaze as he looked at Serena now, truly made her see him as a man. And that heat reached Serena fully with just a glance, making her avert her eyes without realizing it.

“I don’t break my promises.”

For the first time, Lucas’s low voice felt threatening yet sweet.

“I told you that someday you would want me too.”

“…Not to that extent yet.”

Serena tried hard to find her composure.

“I’ve only opened up the possibility.”

“That much is enough for me.”

Certainly tonight, the current emotions were more than enough for both of them, overflowing even. Lucas inwardly counted the nights to come, and Serena confirmed the uncontrollable desire in his eyes.

And the feelings that had awakened once could not easily disappear now, taking root in each of their hearts. Although they were not yet a complete married couple, their romance had begun.