The garden party was a success.

Though there was a slight issue between Duke Sayer and Duke Chamberg at first, the party atmosphere became warm and friendly as if nothing had happened.

But that was only on the surface.

The party host, Marquis Landrofil, approached Clayton with an apologetic expression.

“I apologize on behalf of the unpleasant incident earlier, Duke.”

“There’s no need for you to apologize, Marquis.”

Clayton tilted his champagne glass with an expressionless voice in response to the Marquis’s apology.

However, contrary to his calm exterior, Clayton was quite concerned about the earlier situation.

‘Where on earth did the information leak from?’

The fact that black carriages were coming and going to the mansion was a secret known only to a few people in the family.

Yet Duke Chamberg knew about it. In other words, it meant there was a rat hiding in the family.

As the thought occurred to him, an unpleasant feeling quickly flashed by.

At the same time, he glanced at Dalia, who was chatting with other ladies not far away.

Surrounded by other noble ladies while briefly going to get a drink, Dalia was wearing a forced smile while hiding her apparent annoyance.

Finding Dalia’s expression somewhat amusing, he let out an inadvertent chuckle.

Dalia had changed recently. It felt as if someone else had put on Dalia’s skin.

Her behavior, speech, and even her gait had all changed, but Clayton didn’t mind the change. Above all.

‘Today confirmed it.’

Now he could be active during the day when in contact with Dalia.

The uncertainties before coming to the picnic were all clarified today.

He pulled at the corners of his mouth with a slightly relaxed face. Then he recalled what he had done before departing for the garden party.

‘What? You want to take a different carriage? As you may already know, all the carriages in the mansion are currently under repair, so only a single-person carriage remains. It would be too small for both of you to ride in.’

It was an uncharacteristically childish act, but for the sake of confirmation, such a thing was nothing.

He deliberately rode in a small carriage without curtains to conduct a kind of experiment on whether it was okay to be exposed to sunlight when in contact with Dalia.

And that experiment was quite successful. Originally, when Clayton had to move during the day unavoidably, he had to draw curtains in the carriage to block out as much light as possible.

Even the sunlight coming through the glass windows was enough to make him uncomfortable.

But today was different. Thanks to his body touching Dalia’s in the cramped carriage, there were no unusual symptoms even with sunlight coming through the glass windows.

Clayton’s mood was lighter than ever, having become certain of Dalia’s ability even before arriving at the garden party.

But there was one problem. The duration of this effect was ridiculously short.

‘It hasn’t even been 5 minutes since we were apart.’

It had been barely 5 minutes since Dalia left his side on the pretext of getting something to drink.

Once again, the familiar discomfort was creeping back into its place.

At this, Clayton’s gaze gradually darkened. At the same time, thousands of thoughts rushed in simultaneously.

Could the effect vary depending on the duration of contact? Or if the intensity of contact changes, or if different body parts touch?

For instance…

He raised his gaze that had momentarily sunk while lost in thought.

Then it fell on Dalia, who was drinking water. More precisely, on her lips.

The clear water in the transparent glass and Dalia’s lips, now moist, were enough to catch his attention.

Clayton, who had been staring at Dalia’s wet lips with an seemingly intense gaze, moistened his throat with champagne.

It was an unfamiliar thirst.

And the Marquis, noticing that Dalia was at the end of Clayton’s gaze, suggested.

“Duke. I was thinking of showing you the pond I couldn’t show the Duchess earlier, what do you think? It’s a very quiet and atmospheric place, unlike here. It’s the pride of our Landrofil mansion.”

As he introduced the pond, the Marquis took a step closer. As if conveying a secret message.

“We plan to guide the distinguished guests attending today’s party there in the late afternoon. So how about taking a quiet walk with the Duchess before then? If you decide to go, I’ll make sure no one disturbs you two.”

“A walk…”

Clayton, who had been quietly listening to the Marquis’s suggestion, swirled his champagne glass.

“That sounds good.”

Curiosity just needed to be resolved.

“This is the pride of our Landrofil family, the pond.”

The place they were guided to by the Marquis was the pond he had praised.

Although they had expected to see at most a few koi fish when he said pond. What lay before the two was large enough to be called a lake.

That’s why Dalia expressed genuine admiration.

“Wow, it’s not a pond, it’s just like a lake!”

Moreover, the area around the pond was densely covered with trees, giving the illusion of walking deep in the mountains.

“Yes. It’s large enough to float a small boat. It’s difficult now because the boat is under repair, but later, let’s enjoy boating here together.”

He seemed quite satisfied with Dalia’s reaction, his shoulders rising slightly.

In fact, when he first said he would show the pond, she hadn’t expected much. But seeing the unexpectedly beautiful scenery, Dalia found herself unconsciously excited.

“Then, enjoy your intimate time together.”

“What about you, Marquis?”

Dalia, surprised that the Marquis was leaving after just guiding them, held him back.

“I would like to guide you all the way, but as the host of the party, it’s difficult for me to be away for long. Please enjoy yourselves comfortably and leave when you’re ready.”

“Ah…”

As there was no particular reason to hold him back, Dalia saw him off with an awkward smile.

With that, only Clayton and Dalia were left in front of the pond.

‘Uh, this is awkward…’

After refusing to sleep with Clayton on the pretext of being sick, Dalia found it extremely awkward to be with him. At least in the carriage, she could pretend to be sleeping.

Being alone with Clayton in this place where not a single presence could be felt, she was overwhelmed by the feeling that she should do something.

So Dalia deliberately wandered around the pond, examining the flowers blooming nearby.

Though she seemed to be trying to act as naturally as possible, Clayton let out a laugh as he watched Dalia’s face, which clearly showed how uncomfortable she was.

There was only one purpose for coming here deliberately.

An experiment on how far Dalia’s touch could exert its power. Nothing more, nothing less.

But.

“Do you know, Duke? This flower is incredibly sweet and delicious?”

Dalia, who had picked an unnamed flower, began to arrange its petals with a look of nostalgia.

“When I was young, I used to eat a lot of nectar from this flower. First, you pluck the petals and arrange them, then like this, you put it in your mouth…”

Dalia, who had been pursing her lips as if concentrating, put the end of the flower in her mouth. Then she sucked hard on the nectar the flower was holding.

Dalia’s eyes sparkled as she tasted the sweet nectar.

“Would you like to try it too, Duke?”

Dalia smiled brightly towards Clayton, picking another flower and holding it out to him.

At the same time, the wind blew. Long strands of white hair danced before his eyes.

“…”

Clayton, who had been standing dazedly as if entranced by something, looked at the flower held out in front of him once, then at Dalia’s face once more.

The bright smile he had never seen before, the scent of flesh carried by the wind, began to nudge somewhere in his chest.

“Duke?”

But Dalia, thinking that the man’s appearance was due to his aversion to eating wildflowers, urged him again.

“Trust me and try it just once. It’s really sweet…”

Tap.

Before she could finish her sentence, he caught Dalia’s wrist.

Then, pulling her wrist, he slowly lowered his head and put the flower in his mouth.

“Uh…”

Dalia, who hadn’t expected Clayton to take the flower with his mouth, stiffened.

But Clayton, regardless, imitated her actions.

“It’s not very sweet.”

Only after his indifferent voice came out did Dalia come to her senses and quickly pulled her hand back.

“R-really? That’s strange, mine was sweet. Then I’ll get another flower…”

“I’d like to try the same one.”

“What? But I’ve already eaten all of this one?”

Clayton took a step closer to Dalia, who was staring at the flower already scattered on the ground with bewilderment.

“Not that one.”

“Then how…”

He gently pulled Dalia’s nape and tilted his head.

“Like this.”

At the same time, Clayton swallowed Dalia’s lips. Like a child slowly tasting a sweet lollipop.

After a moment that was a bit too hot to be called warm and a bit too slow to be called short had passed.

Moving away from Dalia, he murmured lowly.

“It’s sweet.”

With a smile that seemed a little regretful.