“I really can’t believe it.”

“I knew she was a bad person for a long time, but to think she would even attempt murder.”

“Are you alright, Lady?”

The Hersher ducal residence was crowded with people who had come to comfort Aria.

Everyone looked at her with pity, cursing Clea for how she could do such a thing to the gentle-hearted Aria.

With a pitiful expression, Aria quietly spoke to the people who were trying hard for her sake.

“I’m fine. That person probably didn’t mean to do it.”

“Lady, how could that be? We all watched that person bully you throughout our school years!”

“That’s right. She’s not even worth you defending her, Lady. I hear she’s been expelled from her family? Now that she’s not even a noble lady anymore, she’s nothing but a worthless commoner.”

Hearing their words, Aria laughed inwardly.

Aria knew.

She knew that if she just pretended to care for others like this, other people would take action on their own.

Aria felt at ease seeing people move on their own without her needing to dirty her hands.

If things continued like this for a little while, people would come to dislike Clea very much, just like during their academy days.

If that happened, she naturally wouldn’t be able to become the Crown Princess.

For a moment, she felt like she might laugh, so she turned her head.

But Aria’s lips, which were about to form a smile, quickly stiffened.

“Aria, are you alright?”

“L-Lloyd, how are you here?”

“We greet you, Young Master.”

When Lloyd appeared in front, Aria’s expression turned cold.

The people were also flustered by Lloyd’s sudden appearance.

After a moment, they began to bow their heads one by one in greeting.

In contrast, Aria could hardly even greet Lloyd.

“You shouldn’t be here.”

“Why shouldn’t I be here?”

“Well, you…”

Aria was perplexed.

At the same time, she was anxious.

When she had declared they should never meet again and cut ties, Lloyd hadn’t accepted it.

At that time, Aria had tried to persuade Lloyd somehow, but Lloyd ultimately didn’t listen to Aria’s words and returned in the carriage he had come in.

Nevertheless, Aria had been relieved.

For one, she knew well that Lloyd was under house arrest.

She had even heard news that the Duke and Duchess were so angry that they had confined him to a room alone, though she didn’t know what incident he had caused this time.

She thought they probably wouldn’t be able to meet for a while unless he somehow managed to sneak out secretly.

Yet here he was appearing before her eyes. Aria was dumbfounded by Lloyd’s presence.

“It’s a gift, Aria. I bought it on the way here because it seemed to suit you.”

Meanwhile, Lloyd handed her a bouquet of flowers with a smile.

The bouquet she received was very beautiful and fragrant.

The people watching expected Aria to be delighted upon receiving the bouquet.

But no delighted reaction came from the stiffened Aria.

The people’s reactions also began to turn puzzled.

Since Lloyd hadn’t acknowledged their greetings, the people still couldn’t raise their heads.

The entire situation was a burden to Aria.

Aria tried to suggest with a forced smile that he should acknowledge the greetings. But Lloyd’s words were faster.

“I snuck out of the mansion to meet you, Aria.”

“Lloyd.”

She almost said that he shouldn’t do this.

She barely held back, conscious of listening ears, but Aria still couldn’t change her reluctant expression.

Not realizing that expression was provoking Lloyd’s anger.

Lloyd was still looking at Aria with a welcoming expression.

‘Why did you come, just why.’

It was a place with countless people.

If Lloyd were to say something here implying there had been something between them, it could needlessly cause strange misunderstandings.

She had to avoid being romantically linked with Lloyd as much as possible.

The situation was very different from before. Now, if she were to be romantically linked with Lloyd, strange rumors would certainly circulate.

The situation was already unfavorable. Aria was extremely averse to any scandal arising before her marriage to Admund.

“Lloyd, come with me for a moment.”

“If you have something to say, we can talk here, Aria.”

“Follow me.”

Aria grabbed Lloyd’s wrist and went outside.

The people knew they were friends, so they didn’t pay much attention.

But for some reason, with an uncomfortable atmosphere, they watched with concerned gazes the path Aria and Lloyd had left through.

‘A noble lady and a young master.’

Considering their status, they were as well-matched as the Crown Prince and a noble lady.

When they were at the academy, the two had seemed like close friends.

But this place was not the academy now.

The fact that they were both still unmarried, and that affectionate gazes always came from only one side, couldn’t be ignored.

* * *

Having grabbed Lloyd’s wrist and come outside, Aria bit her lip.

‘Why didn’t you let me know you were coming?’

If Aria had at least known Lloyd was coming, she wouldn’t have been so relaxed.

She would have avoided meeting people as much as possible, even if she had to make excuses about being sick.

But thinking about it, there had been too many people who came to the mansion after hearing the rumors.

It would have been impossible to distinguish Lloyd, who had purposely hidden himself among the crowd to sneak in.

That’s how many people had come out of concern for Aria, to the point that even the ducal family couldn’t handle it.

Aria confirmed they had reached a place with few people and turned to look at Lloyd.

Meanwhile, Lloyd was smiling at Aria with a happy expression.

“Why did you come?”

“Why? I told you, to see you.”

“I said we shouldn’t meet.”

Aria made a tearful expression.

When she made this kind of face, Lloyd would show a weak side.

This time too, she hoped Lloyd’s heart would weaken.

“I never agreed to that.”

“Lloyd!”

However, the corners of Lloyd’s mouth did not drop at all.

Rather, seeing Aria’s tearful face, his mood was elevating.

“Why are you doing this? I said I don’t want to meet, so why are you coming here!”

Aria raised her voice, irritated at the thought of being interrupted at the most crucial time.

She had thought that if time passed like this, she could surely connect with Admund.

Lloyd, far from being disgusted by Aria’s behavior, moved even closer.

“I heard you were ill.”

“I’m not. So please go back right away.”

“How can I believe that? And I heard Clea did something terrible to you.”

“That’s a thing of the past. You already knew about it too.”

A thing of the past.

These words came from the mouth of someone who had dug up an incident from years ago.

However, the part Lloyd was focusing on was precisely the past.

He became anxious, thinking that if she considered the incident with Clea as the past, she might soon treat what happened between them as just something that happened once too.

“Aria, what kind of relationship do we have?”

Lloyd carefully asked her.

He was asking what kind of relationship he and she had all this time, if she had ever seen him as a man even once.

Although his heart was not fully healed from the words he had heard from her before, he still wanted to confirm.

He wanted to know what kind of relationship they had maintained since their academy days.

To Lloyd’s question, Aria still had a frowning expression.

She answered without much thought after hearing the question.

“Of course we’re friends, why are you asking?”

“Friends……”

At the word ‘friends’, Lloyd felt something sinking inside him.

“You have a fiancée too.”

“Why do you keep saying I have a fiancée? You know too. I’ve broken off the engagement now!”

Seeing Aria answer without a moment’s hesitation, Lloyd’s face rapidly hardened.

Aria was momentarily flustered seeing Lloyd’s sudden change in attitude.

Just like that night, Lloyd was hardening his expression.

After confirming Lloyd’s expression, Aria tried to leave her spot.

Before, there were iron bars between them, but now even that didn’t exist.

She thought, feeling fear towards the Lloyd in front of her.

That she needed to get away from this place somehow.

But Aria couldn’t escape.

“Where are you trying to go?”

“Lloyd, let this go.”

“You’re the one who grabbed me first and led me here, Aria.”

Lloyd was holding Aria’s wrist and not letting her go.

Aria tried to break free from him, but the more she did, the tighter Lloyd held on.

The more she tried to push him away, the more unbelievable this situation became to Lloyd.

He had clearly thought she would welcome him happily when he came to see her.

But it wasn’t so. She was trying to run away from him with a frightened expression.

Lloyd held onto Aria so she couldn’t escape.

As Aria’s expression gradually twisted from the pain in her wrist, she was finally pushed against the wall.

“Move away! I said move!”

Aria regretted making the wrong judgment.

It was a complete misunderstanding to think he would have understood her intentions well enough.

Other men, when Aria drew a line, couldn’t dare to come close thinking of the difference in status.

But Lloyd was different. He was from the ducal family, of even higher status than Aria.

That’s why she hadn’t expected it. That Lloyd would act like this.

There was no one around to help her.

Pushed against the wall like that, Aria looked up at Lloyd while pushing him away as much as she could.

Lloyd, not budging at all, looked down at Aria and confessed.

Aria felt chills hearing that confession.

“The person I love is you, Aria.”

Following the confession that paid no heed to others, Lloyd lowered his head towards where Aria was.

“I’m sorry, but I don’t love you, Lloyd. So stop it.”

However, what came back was a clear rejection and Aria’s hand blocking his lips.