Afternoon tea with refreshments was prepared in the Grand Duchess’s room. Aidel and Bien sat across from each other at the table after a very long time.

“Bien, have you been well all this time?”

“Of course, young lady! I mean, Your Grace the Grand Duchess.”

Bien smiled brightly, correcting the unfamiliar title. Though she had to endure hardships after Aidel left the Count Fluor’s household, she didn’t want to let her know.

Knowing that if Aidel found out, she would be heartbroken with her delicate and gentle nature… For now, she was just overwhelmed with joy at meeting Aidel again like this.

“Bien…”

Aidel too couldn’t suppress her delight, as Bien was the only one she could open her heart to in the Count Fluor’s household.

“I’m truly glad. Seeing you become such a splendid Grand Duchess in person makes me so happy and moved…”

Bien’s eyes welled up with tears that had been building up for a while. The eyes of the grand ducal household’s servants attending to their mistress were filled with deep trust and respect for the Grand Duchess.

‘Above all… I can feel the Grand Duke’s deep affection for Her Grace.’

The sight of the Grand Duke and Grand Duchess together at the entrance earlier was like a brilliant masterpiece. They were a perfectly matched couple that one couldn’t take their eyes off.

Bien could clearly see the Grand Duke’s vivid affection as he couldn’t take his eyes off the Grand Duchess while escorting her.

A flower that grew up receiving abundant affection naturally bloomed more fragrantly.

Though Aidel had possessed a dignity that couldn’t be concealed even by modest dresses in the Count Fluor’s household, the one she met again in the grand ducal household exuded an incomparable solid elegance compared to before.

It wasn’t simply because of the different dress Aidel was wearing. Bien thought it was probably due to the sense of security she felt within the solid walls of the grand ducal household.

‘I’m glad… that you came to the grand ducal household…’

Bien, who had always wished for Aidel’s happiness since childhood, let out a sigh full of joy, feeling as if her wish had come true.

“Now you must be happy for a long, long time in the grand ducal household.”

Seeing Bien speak with a bright smile as if making a request, the radiant light on Aidel’s face was suddenly overshadowed.

‘Should I tell Bien the truth…?’

That she was just a temporary Grand Duchess bound by a contract.

Aidel lowered her troubled gaze to the table. It was difficult to tell the truth to Bien, who was so happy wishing for her well-being like that.

The heavy guilt she usually felt towards Marlin and the other servants who cared for her surged into her heart.

“Your Grace…?”

As Aidel’s expression suddenly darkened, Bien called out to her with a concerned voice. Aidel quickly raised her gaze to meet Bien’s eyes. She nodded with a forced smile.

“Of course. I’ll be happy.”

Even if she couldn’t stay in the grand ducal household for long…

With a faint smile on her lips but sad light in her eyes, Aidel swallowed her following words.

She was here to find complete happiness in life. When she left the grand ducal household after three years, she would surely be happier than now, having achieved perfect independence… Aidel inwardly reassured herself.

Yet, recalling that peaceful time she spent with the Grand Duke today, Aidel bit her lip with wavering eyes.

“Your Grace…”

Hearing Bien’s worried voice calling her again, Aidel spoke up, as if clearing away her complicated feelings, to change the atmosphere.

“Bien, welcome to the grand ducal household. I’m so glad you came. Actually, I’ve been feeling heavy-hearted all along for not being able to tell you properly before leaving for the grand ducal household.”

“You didn’t have to tell me, I knew everything. That you did it for me. So please don’t worry about it anymore.”

Bien waved her hands at Aidel, who was looking at her with an apologetic face. Smiling gratefully at such thoughtfulness, Aidel turned her gaze to the letter of recommendation from the count’s household that Bien had brought.

“I didn’t know I’d see you again like this. That the count’s household would send you to my side like this.”

“It feels like a dream to me too. Actually, I’ve been missing Your Grace so much… After you left, I’ve been checking the newspapers whenever I could. To see if there were any articles about Your Grace.”

Bien usually didn’t care for newspapers, finding them boring. The fact that she purposely read newspapers to keep up with her news touched Aidel’s heart.

“I also saw the article about you proceeding with the water control project. These days, when people of the empire gather, they’re all praising Your Grace! You’re really amazing!”

Bien’s eyes sparkled as she spoke with an admiring face. Aidel’s face softened at Bien’s transparent and unfiltered praise.

Afterwards, perhaps because there was much to catch up on, Bien, who usually opened up first in conversations with her, chattered on endlessly.

‘Are there any difficulties in the grand ducal household?’, ‘How is university life?’, ‘Are you alright with your duties as Grand Duchess?’ and so on. Answering Bien’s storm of questions, Aidel found herself reflecting on her life since coming to the grand ducal household.

After leaving the count’s household and stepping out into the world, she met various people not only in the grand ducal household but also at the Imperial University and Ellios territory. Facing them, she experienced emotions that touched her for the first time in her life within experiences she encountered for the first time.

And she realized again.

‘The person who made all these moments possible was…’

Caeron. If she hadn’t taken the hand he extended… They were probably experiences she could never have achieved and emotions she could never have felt on her own.

“Is the Grand Duke treating you well?”

Receiving that question, Aidel carefully recalled Caeron’s words deeply engraved in her heart.

− I’ll support you. Not the Grand Duchess, but Aidel, you.

− You can do it. From now on, move forward in the direction you want to go like this.

− You’re not alone. I’ll be right behind you like this. Go as far as you want. Wherever that may be.

Recalling his words, Aidel calmed her quickening breath due to her heart swelling up again. Feeling as if her throat was choking up, she opened her mouth.

“Yes. He treats me well. Without His Grace’s support… I wouldn’t have been able to accomplish what you saw in the newspaper articles, Bien.”

“I see. I heard that the Grand Duke was a cold and scary person… But the way he looked at Your Grace was different. It was full of affection!”

At Bien’s words, Aidel’s face quickly turned red like the evening glow fading outside the window.

‘Is that really so…?’

She had thought that his affection expressed towards her was only due to external courtesy towards the Grand Duchess… The sight of him looking at her not as the Grand Duchess but as herself once again threw her into confusion.

Since he acknowledged her existence itself, not as the Grand Duchess… Aidel could feel that the lock on her heart, which she had forcibly closed to avoid getting hurt, was unlocking again.

Seeing Aidel’s reddened face and trembling eyes, Bien was convinced that the Grand Duchess felt the same way about the Grand Duke.

“Your Grace feels the same way about the Grand Duke, right?”

At Bien’s final question, asked in a voice full of firm belief, Aidel felt as if her breath had stopped for a moment.

‘My feelings for him…’

The proposition she had deliberately turned away from and avoided came rushing in deeply in the form of Bien’s innocently thrown question. Aidel froze blankly, unable to even blink.

‘It’s just as I expected.’

Looking at Aidel, who for the first time didn’t know how to answer her question, Bien let out a small sigh with a regretful look.

‘With Her Grace’s nature, she probably couldn’t express her feelings properly.’

If Aidel couldn’t express herself even in front of her long-time maid, how much more difficult would it be for her in front of the Grand Duke?

Moreover, Bien had grown up with Aidel since childhood. She knew well what kind of environment she had grown up in.

For Aidel, who grew up without receiving proper affection amidst the cold contempt of her family… she would inevitably be clumsy and passive in relationships where she had to give and receive affection with others.

Bien clenched both her fists as if she had made up her mind about something. Though it might be presumptuous, she decided to give advice for Aidel’s sake just this once.

“Your Grace. Forgive my impertinence, but they say feelings need to be expressed to be understood. Especially between a man and a woman.”

Bien continued in a gentle tone, carefully observing Aidel’s face.

“Wouldn’t it be good if Your Grace expressed yourself like the affection you receive from the Grand Duke? I’m sure the Grand Duke would be happy too.”

Hearing Bien’s words, Aidel’s eyes widened as if she had realized something. Looking back, she had only been receiving from Caeron… she had never properly reciprocated.

She was more preoccupied with hiding and controlling her feelings towards him. Aidel’s eyes sank deeply as she reflected on her past actions.

“I read in a novel that most lovers regret not properly expressing their feelings. I hope Your Grace will express yourself freely without regrets. Because time that has passed doesn’t come back.”

Bien’s words resonated strongly with her once again. Aidel felt as if she had clearly awakened. She clasped her trembling hands tightly together.

‘When three years pass… this moment will never come back.’

In truth, she had been secretly afraid of the predetermined farewell under the contract relationship. However, rather than being confused while deliberately hiding her feelings for that reason… it would be better to face the other person with honest feelings to avoid regrets later.

‘Yes. I… don’t want to have regrets.’

As she realized this, she recalled what Caeron had said on the night she pushed away and denied their relationship.

− Even without adding a clause to the contract… I have no intention of forcing myself on you.

− …!

− Express it clearly if you don’t want it, like now. However… express it clearly in the opposite case as well.

As his blue lava-like eyes that had captivated her from the first sight came to mind, Aidel couldn’t help but close her eyes, her eyelashes trembling.

She knew what she wanted him to express in his flickering gaze that enveloped her whole body. She also knew why she had tossed and turned all night, unable to sleep, in the room left alone after he had gone.

What she thought she had emptied out all this time was a deception towards herself. In fact, she had already clearly realized.

The true nature of that emotion she couldn’t empty out and had hidden deep in her heart. Her feelings for him.

‘I…’

His gentle tone, his seemingly yearning gaze, his eyes that sometimes seemed to bind her strongly, his firm embrace…

‘…want it.’

Everything about him directed towards her.

‘Yes. I… want Caeron.’

Aidel slowly opened her eyes after fully acknowledging that fact. Her blurry and unfocused heart had become clear like the focus in her eyes as she reopened them.