“Heh. Hurry up. Everyone is ready to depart outside.”

With that, Cloje stormed out of the room.

Watching her leave, Velia chuckled before following her.

As she stepped outside, capturing every detail of the landscape slowly, many people had come out to see her off.

“Velia.”

Herald smiled warmly and extended his hand. Velia reciprocated with a smile and took his hand.

As they approached the carriage with Herald escorting her, the king and queen looked at Velia with slightly reddened eyes.

“Take care.”

“Stay healthy.”

“Yes, Father, Mother.”

This wasn’t a tearful farewell, for it wasn’t the end.

“I will miss you, my child.”

The queen reached out and hugged Velia tightly.

“I’m not happy to send you off so hastily, but I trust you’ll do well wherever you are.”

Leaving the kingdom of Ronica now, who knew when she could return. But a tragic ending like before wouldn’t befall her.

The future was changing. Starting with her choosing Khaled over Raul, things had been changing little by little.

‘……I’ve changed too.’

Looking back, Velia realized how much she had changed. The old Velia, who had foolishly lost everything and could only cry, was gone. Though she was headed for the empire, filled with painful memories, she felt strangely lighthearted.

No, she actually wanted to arrive in the empire as soon as possible.

‘I miss him.’

She missed Khaled. He had looked at her as if she were the most precious thing in the world. Even if she brought up any topic, or pushed him away, he never changed.

He might be no different from Raul. But even if it was foolish, this was Velia’s second choice.

‘I won’t fail this time.’

She had no intention of walking down the path of previous failures. Velia waved goodbye to her family with the brightest face possible.

“Everyone, stay healthy.”

Climbing into the carriage, Velia’s face was incredibly cheerful.

As if she was actually looking forward to the uncertain future ahead.

(This is a time divider.)

“……Isn’t it time?”

Asid almost involuntarily frowned at the question. It was the fourth time he had heard the same question.

‘She’ll surely come on her own.’

But revealing such thoughts would get him severely reprimanded, so he maintained a gentle smile and gave the same answer for the fourth time.

“She’ll be arriving soon.”
Khaled was dissatisfied with Asid’s response.

Why does time flow so slowly today?

“Ah. There they come.”

At these words, he quickly looked up and saw a white carriage slowly approaching in the distance.

Khaled got up from his haphazard sitting position on the stairs and prepared to greet Velia. Soon, the carriage came to a gradual stop before him.

“Velia.”

Khaled grinned, opened the carriage door, and reached out his hand. A small, white hand slapped Khaled’s hand away. Khaled smirked, gripping the door and peering inside.

“Huh? Velia, stop joking.”

Khaled coaxed.

“That’s not it, Khaled.”

Velia spoke coldly without turning her head. Khaled chuckled and leaned his upper body into the carriage to grab Velia’s hand.

“We haven’t seen each other for a while, and this is how you act? Huh? You won’t even show your face.”

“Leave. And close the door.”

“Velia.”

“And greet me again.”

Her tone was cold and icy.

Khaled, who quickly realized why Velia was acting this way, burst into laughter and carefully closed the door.

Behind him, the atmosphere among the people of the second imperial palace, including Asid, seemed puzzled.

But Khaled couldn’t contain his laughter. Leaning against the carriage, he covered his forehead with his arm and laughed heartily for a long while. Then he stood straight, took a deep breath, and opened the door again, shouting exaggeratedly,

“My lovely Velia!”

Everyone stared at him, perplexed by the sudden behavior of the prince. What’s gotten into him?

However, Khaled didn’t stop there. As soon as Velia placed her hand atop Khaled’s offered hand, he pulled her towards him with force.

The action threw off Velia’s balance, making her almost bounce out of the carriage.

“Ah?”

Then Khaled, who had pulled her into a tight embrace, whispered softly in her ear.

“Smile. People are watching.”

Then he shouted louder.

“Velia! I’ve only thought of you every day we were apart!”

What’s with this stiff and awkward tone? If you’re going to act, do it well.

Velia involuntarily chuckled at Khaled’s shameless demeanor.

Is this how you greet the person you love the most in the world?

“Do you realize you’re not satisfying me at all right now?”

Velia murmured as she buried her face in Khaled’s neck. Khaled chuckled and said,

“I’ll give you a heartfelt greeting later. For now, smile.”

At his words, Velia immediately changed her expression and smiled brightly as if she was the happiest person in the world. Khaled then set Velia down on the ground.

“So disappointing, really.”

“As much as I’d like to kiss you, I don’t think I could contain myself.”

At his words, Velia burst into laughter.

“We can’t do it here.”

However, Velia slapped Khaled’s arm at his last comment.

How could you salvage the situation after saying that!

Khaled rubbed his arm, which didn’t hurt at all, and laughed.

“Haha. So give me a break.”

“Khaled, you lost. Admit it.”

Velia had daringly kissed him at the welcoming event. She had been looking forward to this moment, recalling his grand promises when she arrived in the empire.

“Yeah, I lost.”

“Then hold me again.”

Khaled covered his face with one hand, took a deep breath and exhaled.

“….You really want to drive me crazy?”

“Come on.”

But Velia stretched out her arms with a light smile, unconcerned.

Seeing her, Khaled seemed to suppress something, biting his lip. Then he took a step closer to Velia, growled softly, and whispered.

“….You’ll regret this.”