Even though I arrived at the destination, the villa, I was dazed like a crazy person after kissing Askan.

No, on the outside, I might have seemed dazed, but my mind was in complete chaos.

‘What on earth?’

I was ready to give Askan any gift he wanted. But what he wanted was something I never expected.

─ May I kiss you?

I don’t know why he said that to me.

No, precisely, I was denying it because it made no sense, but no matter how much I thought about it, there was only one answer.

‘Could it be, he likes me?’

But it couldn’t be. In the original novel, Askan hated Tanashia. So, he killed her in the future.

Askan was the villain in the novel , but he was also the one who conquered the Arwen Empire and killed Tanashia.

‘But he likes me?’

Does that make sense?

Thinking from the original, it was an impossible thing.

Is the original distorted and the content changed because of me?

‘If so…….’

If Askan, who never spared a glance at Tanashia in the original novel, started to like me, there was only one conclusion.

‘That means he really likes me, not Tanashia.’

When my thoughts reached there, my face heated up as if it were a lie.

I held my hot face in both hands and bowed my head.

‘I’m crazy. The age difference is…’

In reality, I was 27 years old. Of course, as Tanashia, I was 15 years old……

When I thought about it, I didn’t know which age to consider. It wasn’t that I wasn’t 15 just because I had memories of my previous life.

When I realized it, there were more than one or two suspicious points about Askan all along.

I don’t know exactly when, but he was too nice to me. I thought it was just loyalty, but it wasn’t.

It was affection.

If I think about it, his gaze at me was always full of desire.

‘What should I do?’

So far, I was only thinking about survival. I was in a complete panic about what to do now that I’ve suddenly realized Askan’s feelings.

That’s when it happened.

Knock, knock, with the knock, the door opened and someone entered the room.

Just by the sound of their footsteps, I could tell who it was. Only Askan stepped so regularly and quietly.

I was covering my face with both palms. I didn’t have the courage to lift my head towards Askan here, so I stayed frozen.

The person I’ve been thinking about so far appeared in front of me. I didn’t know how to look at him.

“Will you not go swimming?”

“I, I don’t feel like it right now.”

“I heard that the temperature drops a lot in the evening and you can enjoy the hot springs. I’ll prepare soon, will you go to the hot spring bath?”

“Not today, next time.”

“What about dinner?”

“I’m not hungry.”

“And my face, will you continue not looking at it?”

I couldn’t say anything.

Even at times like this, I thought I should act like an adult and stay composed, but I was very conscious of Askan.

Step by step, Askan’s footsteps approached me.

Askan’s feet entered my field of vision as I lowered my head. He, who stopped right in front of me, spoke in a lower voice than before.

“Do you regret promising me a gift?”

“……no.”

Regardless of what anyone says, it was an accident.

The swaying carriage, Askan’s face too close.

I lost my balance for a very short moment and my lips touched Askan’s first.

‘Yeah. That was a kiss that wasn’t even a kiss, it was a childlike peck.’

If he had kissed me first, there might have been something to say, but I couldn’t argue because I was the one who leaned in first.

What on earth was that short moment, the touch still remained.

“So I warned you. A greedy someone might want to take advantage of Miss’s kindness.”

“I said I don’t regret it.”

“But why aren’t you looking at my face?”

When I didn’t respond again, he, who had been standing in front of me, moved his foot.

I could see Askan taking a step, a step away from me.

He did nothing wrong. It was me who offered the gift first, and I urged him to speak up if he had any desires.

Of course, I had hoped for something I didn’t even think about, but it wasn’t his fault that Askan’s emotions that I hadn’t noticed until now were surprising.

Suddenly, I raised my head and grabbed the hem of Askan’s clothes.

At my touch, Askan turned his head. And his golden pupils that saw me began to shake slightly and expand for a moment.

I could guess the reason without saying it.

Right now, my face felt burning hot. My face would probably be flaming red in his eyes too.

This time, I spoke first.

“When people talk, listen. I said I don’t regret it. I’m just embarrassed.”

Askan’s pupils, who were surprised to see my face, narrowed as if they didn’t understand.

It seemed like he was curious about what it meant, so I explained.

“So how could I look at you indifferently after such a thing happened. I’m thinking about the meaning of why you said that, reflecting on my feelings… Anyway, my head is complicated.”

“…You didn’t hate it, did you?”

“What?”

“Do you really not regret it?”

I thought Askan was as usual, but that was my mistake. His eyes crumbled in a moment, filled with a desperate light.

“Askan…”

He seemed to have been anxious by himself, looking at my suddenly cold attitude.

Before I could say anything, he touched my flushed face. It was a careful touch, as if he was touching something fragile.

“Miss blushes because of me, I’m touched somehow.”

“That’s why I didn’t want to show you.”

“I didn’t know you would be so conscious of me. Looking back, it must have been quite hard if you were too indifferent.”

“…Ugh.”

“Can I see it as a possibility?”

Even without asking what kind of possibility, I knew.

He was asking about the potential for development in the relationship between Askan and me. Whether it is possible beyond a lady and a slave.

Before I could answer, Askan smiled with his eyes crumbled.

“No. If you show me such a face and say there’s no possibility, you can’t.”

“What’s with this face? Is it too pretty?”

It didn’t fit the serious atmosphere, but I was too curious not to ask.

At my joke, Askan laughed harder as if he couldn’t bear it.

“It’s a face so lovely, I think I’m going crazy.”

The way he looked at me, his expression, his touch, all seemed to tell how sincere his emotions were.

He was expressing his affection for me with all his body.

I don’t know how I didn’t notice that until now. I must have been too believing in the original story that Askan didn’t like Tanashia.

Then, a sound of knocking on the door and a man’s voice came.

“Miss, it’s Baron, the villa manager.”

I couldn’t sort out the relationship with Askan right now, so I asked Baron who came outside the door in a calm voice.

“What’s up?”

“A carrier pigeon came from the capital, what should I do?”

“Oh, bring it in.”

There was only one reason why a carrier pigeon would come to the villa. Because I ordered before the trip to relay the news of the Kresha family without omission.

But Baron’s voice didn’t stop there.

“And there’s one more thing. A man named Decain is said to be coming here quickly.”

“Who sent that news?”

“Decain, himself.”

“…What?”

I couldn’t help but make a confused face. I couldn’t understand why Decain, who I parted with in the lab, followed me here.