“I don’t understand why you’re interfering like this.”

“It’s probably out of concern.”

“What concern? If I had come out alone, I would have asked why I needed to get permission for that.”

He was on his way back from asking Odin and Elaina for permission to go out for some fresh air.

In fact, the process of getting permission didn’t matter.

Both of them gladly gave permission for Clea’s sake.

However, there was a separate issue.

“I didn’t expect you two would insist on coming along.”

“I feel the same way.”

Odin and Elaina had insisted on joining them.

Admund tried to cut it off sharply, saying what nonsense that was, but it led to an argument when they said they couldn’t allow it otherwise.

Fortunately, Clea stepped in to mediate. Thanks to her, the two of them were able to safely leave the imperial palace alone.

“Still, I’m happy that we were able to come out like this, just the two of us.”

She smiled at Admund sitting across from her.

Seeing Clea’s bright expression, Admund vividly recalled her image from that day.

The lonely figure of her sitting alone on the terrace, gazing at where Lloyd was.

Admund felt somewhat relieved at her contrasting appearance now.

‘I’ll definitely find out today.’

What she wouldn’t tell him. Admund looked out the window for a moment, determined to uncover whatever she was keeping to herself.

“It’s getting cold.”

“You say that, but you’re holding my hand.”

The person who always says her hands are cold when he holds them naturally took her hand while mentioning the cold.

“I’ll let go if you don’t like it.”

“I don’t dislike it.”

When Admund made an embarrassed expression upon hearing those words, Clea laughed and held his hand tightly.

“Shall we get off soon?”

“Already?”

“We can’t spend all our time in the carriage.”

“I think we spent all our time in the carriage that day.”

Clea recalled the past event.

When he suddenly appeared before her as she was wandering on the bridge with nowhere to go.

There was no response from him.

Feeling strange at his silence, Clea looked up at Admund for a moment.

Admund was covering his reddened face with one hand, not knowing what to do.

“Are you embarrassed by that?”

“Yes, very much so.”

“If you’re so easily embarrassed, will you be able to confidently introduce me in front of others?”

“Don’t worry about that. I won’t be embarrassed at all then.”

As Admund spoke with a stern expression despite his embarrassment, Clea couldn’t help but laugh at the absurdity.

“But Oberon didn’t come along this time. Did you deliberately leave him behind?”

“His younger sister returned from studying abroad after a long time. So he left work early.”

“Your Grace has a younger sister?”

“Sometimes I wonder how much people know about the Philip family. They seem very interested, but they don’t seem to know much about the family.”

Clea wasn’t the type to take much interest in others, so she didn’t know much about the Philip family either.

She only remembered that Oberon, who had already inherited the family and become the head, was establishing his position by volunteering as Admund’s right-hand man.

Even that was something she remembered because it was part of the original story.

“Does she look like Oberon?”

“Hmm, I’m not sure about that. It’s been years since I’ve seen her too.”

“I see.”

The topic of Oberon’s younger sister quickly cooled off.

The person Clea was interested in right now wasn’t Oberon, but Admund.

She carefully got off the carriage, holding Admund’s hand.

“I’d like to peek into the Duke’s mind. I wonder why he’s so cold to you when he has such a beautiful daughter.”

“Who do you think I inherited this personality from?”

“Well, I’m not sure about that.”

“You’re quite good at avoiding such answers.”

After getting off the carriage, Clea linked arms with Admund.

While holding hands and walking side by side was nice, linking arms allowed her to get closer. She habitually snuggled into his embrace.

Admund looked down at Clea with a stiff body, but he didn’t push her away.

“You look happy, which is nice to see.”

“Yes, it seems you were right.”

“If I had known it would be like this, I should have taken you out more often.”

“You’ve made time for me despite your busy schedule. I’m satisfied with just this.”

The two walked slowly, as if wishing for this moment to last longer.

Although the cool breeze of early evening still lingered, Clea felt very warm, unlike when she was alone on the bridge.

However, Admund didn’t want to keep her in the cool air for too long.

Even though she was dressed warmly, Admund had his concerns.

“Shall we go eat first?”

“Will it be alright since it’s not the imperial palace?”

When Clea first heard Admund suggest eating out, this was what worried her.

She had often witnessed it at the academy.

Nobles who had only eaten custom-made food from their family’s private chefs vomiting after eating the food provided by the academy.

Before her transmigration, Clea had tried to eat with the people from the Duke’s family, but after transmigrating, she ate the meals provided by the academy.

In that process, she had never seen Admund, the Crown Prince, eating anything in the academy cafeteria.

Admund smiled, understanding Clea’s concerns.

“You might not know, but I often come out like this and enjoy street food.”

“Is it like experiencing commoner culture?”

“It might look that way, but it’s faster to come out and see for myself like this rather than reading reports to understand how the people are living right now.”

Hearing Admund’s words, Clea thought it was unexpected.

She had never imagined he would come out like this and enjoy street food.

“How was it at first?”

“Well, it certainly made me feel bloated, but after that, I ate well.”

“At what age did you start going out?”

“Around fourteen, I came out of curiosity.”

“I think that’s when it started. When Oberon became so irritable.”

“I think that might have been the case.”

While conversing, Admund stopped in front of a store.

The store looked classic at first glance.

After waiting for a moment, a waiter appeared and guided the two.

“What is your name, sir?”

“Hill Glazer.”

“I’ll guide you to your seat.”

Clea, who had been quietly observing the scene, asked Admund.

“Did you prepare this in advance?”

“We can’t go to a street food stall, can we?”

“I wouldn’t mind, though.”

“It’s our first date, and I don’t like that idea.”

Seeing Admund’s stubborn attitude, Clea barely held back her laughter.

The seat the waiter guided them to seemed to be the best in the restaurant.

Seeing this, Clea realized that he had prepared thoroughly for today.

On the other hand, Admund felt his throat burning.

He took a sip of the wine prepared in front of him to quench his thirst.

‘How should I ask?’

Admund, carefully sipping the wine, organized his thoughts.

He intended to accomplish two things in this place.

One was to properly convey his feelings.

And the other was to ask what she was hiding.

Admund was very nervous.

Especially the latter more than the former.

‘What if she dislikes it when I ask?’

The scene of Clea putting a knife to her wrist kept circling in his mind.

It was too extreme a situation to just wait quietly.

So Admund wanted to ask today as an opportunity.

But he hadn’t thought about how to break the ice.

As Admund quietly drank only alcohol, Clea got up from her seat and approached him.

“Clea?”

“It seems a shame to spend this nice day getting drunk.”

Then she snatched the glass and downed the remaining alcohol herself.

She frowned at the stronger-than-expected alcohol.

Still, it was better than him getting drunk. Clea quietly placed the glass on the table.

And she asked straightforwardly.

“Is there something you want to say to me?”

At her question, Admund gained courage.

Swallowing, he looked at Clea and asked.

“I want to know what’s causing you pain.”

* * *

“Are you alright, young lady?”

It was truly a coincidence.

She had come out to visit a newly opened cafe with other young ladies.

Her parents expressed concern that it was too late, but she wanted to recover from the mood she had ruined at the recent tea time.

In the end, unable to break Aria’s stubbornness, the Hersher couple allowed her as she wished.

Thus, without any interference, while heading to the cafe, Aria saw with her own eyes.

‘I must have seen wrong.’

She had seen Admund and Clea arm in arm, heading somewhere.

Thinking she must have seen wrong, that he who should be in the imperial palace couldn’t possibly be out here, she tried to move on.

But somehow, her steps wouldn’t move easily.

“Young lady?”

“I’m sorry, but I just remembered something I forgot. Would it be alright if I excused myself?”

At Aria’s words, the young ladies showed perplexed expressions.

It seemed strange that she suddenly had something to do when they had already reached the cafe.

But there was no one present who could stop her.

As Aria wished, they made way for her.

Aria followed that path, apologized once more with a bow, and then pursued what she had seen.

‘You’re not supposed to be happy.’

She continued to deny this situation.

‘How can you be happy when you’re cursed instead of me!’