Khalif, as if comforting her, gently caressed the back of her hand, slowly leading her toward the corridor. Evelia’s legs, which seemed like they would never follow him, moved along with his strength.

The place he led her to was the drawing-room. Evelia, who was turning her head in the opposite direction without knowing the reason for suddenly coming here, finally looked straight ahead. However, she couldn’t help but narrow her eyes as she saw what was on the table in front of her.

“What is all this?”

She asked in a surprised voice. On the table in front of her were various sweet-looking desserts.
Even to her question, he sent a signal to the maids to wait outside and closed the door. Only then did he turn towards her and answered.

“Something I really wanted to do for you.”

Evelia still looked at Khalif with a surprised expression. It was not entirely clear why he wanted to prepare all these desserts for her.

He, reading her inner thoughts just by her expression, smiled gracefully and seated her at the table.

“I’ve always felt bad about that time when you were at the tea party with Relia. You pretended to be Riulian and asked for desserts for Lady Relia, knowing you were listening.”

It was an explanation without any flaws. While saying that, he handed her a fork.

“Of course, it wasn’t sincere, and I had no choice but to do that. But now, I want to apologize. I’m sorry for back then.”

“……. ”

“I’ve prepared much more than back then, so if your feelings were hurt in any way, I’d like to ask for your understanding now.”

While saying this, he never took his eyes off Evelia, and there was no trace of the mischievousness from earlier.

Evelia felt as if all the grudges that had filled her heart were melting away like snow, just by this sincere apology.

It was an unexpected turn of events. Although the feeling of hurt at that time couldn’t be expressed in words, she hadn’t kept it in her heart until now.

Even if she had kept it, she knew very well that it was not Khalif’s decision but Riulian’s decision. Even for that reason alone, the feeling of hurt would have been washed away.

However, he still remembered that incident and showed such delicate consideration, which stirred her tear glands.

“Giving a disease and then giving a cure… Really nasty.”

Evelia looked at him disdainfully with a choked voice. If he was willing to show this to her before arriving at the Crown Princess’s Palace, it meant that he had already finished his preparations. Then, perhaps…

“Did you do this on purpose?”

“What?”

“From the moment you saw me, you kept teasing me. Did you do that on purpose?”

Evelia asked in a tone that unconsciously became more comfortable. It was not a difficult question, but he couldn’t answer immediately. Just with that, Evelia’s feelings, which had been somewhat relieved, quickly turned into certainty. Only then did he give a slightly delayed response.

“If I suddenly suggest going to the Crown Princess’s Palace, you might expect something, so I thought it would be more fun not to notice in advance. It wouldn’t be as touching and less entertaining.”

So, in the end, it was true that he did it on purpose.

After hearing his answer, Evelia couldn’t figure out what to say for a moment. It felt strange.

“I wanted to see your surprised look. It seemed perfect to have you surprised and happy when you find out.”
“……. ”

“But looking at your expression, you seem surprised, but you don’t seem to like it as much as I thought.”

He, scrutinizing Evelia, spoke with a disappointed tone. Only then did Evelia come to her senses and looked at him.

Khalif had a rather cool expression. It seemed like he thought he had done something unnecessary.

While pursing her lips, Evelia quickly replied, “You fool.”

“……. ”

“How can it not be good? This table is so full of consideration for me.”

“……. ”

“Just the fact that you think of me and care for me so delicately is so overwhelming and thrilling…”

Evelia, who started off confidently, blushed shyly while looking at him.

She was so happy. As much as she was happy, she felt good, and she was irresistibly excited. However, since it was the first time feeling this way, she didn’t know how to react.

Only after hearing her answer did he regain his laughter. He slightly pulled the hand he had caught to give her the fork and gently kissed the back of her hand.

Evelia couldn’t help but smile shyly. He pressed his thumb on the spot where he had kissed, then recommended her a dessert.

Nodding happily, Evelia moved her hand. Although she didn’t particularly like sweets, strangely, every dessert he prepared suited her taste perfectly.

Even though the number of desserts he prepared was too much to replace a meal, Evelia felt like she could eat as much as she wanted.

With each bite, as the dessert melted sweetly in her mouth, it felt like her heart was melting too.

Consistently meeting his eyes, she dared to think that there might not be greater happiness in the world than this.

It was a perfect afternoon.