“Wait! Just twenty seconds! Let me prepare myself a little more before I go greet them!”

“I’ll give you five seconds. Are you not going?”

After living in this house for five years, Nerea realized that the soundproofing throughout was terrible.

The bickering conversation beyond the front door continued for over thirty minutes. Feeling it would never end, Nerea flung the door open.

Adrian, who was just reaching for the door, raised an eyebrow. The brown-haired man holding Adrian’s arm looked startled as he gazed at Nerea.

“C-count.”

The man who had been muttering stupidly immediately dropped to one knee and looked up at Nerea.

“Johnny Hamilton greets the great war hero, Count Esteban.”

First Sir, now Count. But hearing the trembling voice, she couldn’t bring herself to correct the title.

A youthful face flashed briefly over the fully adult, likable face. It was a face Nerea knew.

“You probably don’t remember, but I used to be a servant of Lord Terban on the Kirkley Peninsula. You saved me back then too.”

There was no change in expression on the Count’s face. Johnny’s voice grew quieter.

“Of course, you wouldn’t remember since you saved thousands of people, but you shared bread and food with me too. Also, I used to…”

In the past, and in the past again… As Johnny’s voice trailed off, unable to easily continue speaking about an incident that made it difficult to go on, the corner of the Count’s mouth twitched upward slightly.

“…How could I forget the guy who nearly burned down my entire tent?”

As Johnny’s eyes widened and trembled, Nerea looked back and forth between Adrian and Johnny, mulling over a strange feeling.

The small brown-haired boy who had started following young Adrian around at some point. Johnny had helped Adrian carry hot bathwater many times and even suggested boiling water directly in the tent. Of course, this nearly resulted in not just the bathtub but the entire tent burning down.

“Stand up. Thank you for coming all this way.”

“Thank you, Count.”

Johnny stood up. Seeing him standing together with Adrian made Nerea keep smiling.

The servants who had grown up so much without her even realizing it were together now.

She felt relieved anew at the fact that at least Adrian hadn’t been alone.

“I’m sorry for coming empty-handed when I work for a merchant company, Count. I’ll be sure to prepare a precious gift next time.”

Johnny, his eyes reddening, spoke his first words. This was despite not having properly drunk the tea Heather had brought.

A merchant company, he said. At least he probably didn’t have to worry about going hungry while working there. Thinking he must have grown up well because of that, Nerea turned her gaze to Adrian.

And in the next moment, Nerea swallowed her laughter.

“But after bringing your friend along, why are you sulking?”

“…I’m not sulking.”

Yeah, right.

His eyes, which had been languidly curved just earlier in the day, were now sharp. With his lips pursed tightly as if thoroughly upset, he was saying he wasn’t sulking.

Let’s see how far this goes. Nerea spoke casually.

“Then.”

“I’m just a little miffed.”

“Why?”

For a moment, Adrian’s face contorted.

This won’t do. Feeling like she was about to burst out laughing, Nerea quietly called out to him.

“Adrian Jenax.”

At the soft call, Johnny looked at Adrian in surprise. The entangled gazes oddly grated on Nerea’s nerves, but she ignored it. Instead, she spoke as lightly as possible.

“You left because you didn’t want to restore this whole house back to its original state, right?”

“…”

“…Alright, fine. Even though Klasimen isn’t here, it would be better to keep the house as it is if you’re going to stay.”

Adrian’s expression brightened a little.

“But don’t touch my room.”

This time his expression darkened slightly. Seeing his emotions so plainly displayed on his face reminded her of when he was younger, which was welcome.

“And…”

“You’re adding more conditions after saying not to replace the bed and wardrobe?”

Adrian spoke as if whining. Because there was one more most important thing left. Nerea smiled palely. And she looked at that ambiguous place between Adrian and Johnny.

“…Don’t call me Sir or Count.”

“Then how should I…”

Johnny spoke a beat late, as if flustered. Good question. Nerea tilted her head for a moment.

“Anything is fine. There must be some appropriate and ordinary form of address.”

In truth, anything other than those two was okay.

At the words that he could call her anything else, Adrian smiled faintly and replied.

“I don’t want to.”

“…What?”

Doubting her own ears, Nerea raised her eyebrows sharply. In an instant, the atmosphere froze.

.

.

.

“Shouldn’t the young miss go in with at least a cup of tea?”

“Would you like to go in? I’ll prepare some tea.”

“No. Still, since you’re the maid of the Count, I mean Sir… Anyway, since you’re Nerea’s maid, you’d be much better than me.”

“I’ve never seen our young miss make that kind of expression before. I can’t go in.”

The voices from outside the door were audible in their entirety. Wondering why she only realized the poor soundproofing now, Nerea shrugged her shoulders briefly.

That sound proved that there had been no visitors to this cabin until now. In a place with just Heather and herself, all she would have heard was Heather’s humming blended into daily life.

Nerea didn’t want to ruin this situation any further.

“I’ll give you one last chance to go out now and chat happily with Johnny.”

The jet-black hair with curly ends swayed lightly. Adrian, seated in the chair, looked at her with dark eyes.

His kind face that didn’t reveal his inner thoughts felt incongruous. Nerea spoke impulsively.

“…You can even tell me how you’ve been doing, if you’d like.”

“I don’t want to do that either.”

The corners of Adrian’s mouth turned up slightly. Below his noble and strong jawline, his Adam’s apple moved softly. All those scenes seemed to flow by very slowly. At that moment, Adrian stood up from his seat.

“How I’ve been…”

Two spans. Once, he had been two spans shorter than Nerea, but now he felt more than two spans taller than her.

“I’ll only tell my knight.”

My knight.

At his tone that drew a line, Nerea’s heart plummeted. Not confident in her ability to maintain her expression, she turned her head away.

If I’m not a knight, does that mean this relationship no longer needs to continue?

As she tried to swallow the bitter feelings, Adrian’s face was suddenly reflected in the window.

It was a strange face. Perhaps due to the convex part of the glass, Adrian looked… yes, as if he resembled her current expression.

It was then that Adrian, who had been quietly staring at her back, continued speaking.

“Even so, if you look at me now, I’ll tell you one interesting fact.”

“…”

“I’m no longer Adrian Jenax.”

Could this be related to the rumors of his death? Nerea unconsciously turned to look at Adrian.

“Adrian Rosa.”

Nerea’s eyes widened. A surprised breath escaped between her lips.

“You’re a Rosa? What do you mean?”

Could there be anyone living in the Empire who didn’t know about Rosa?

Rosa, Isolde Rose Castarty.

How could Adrian bear the nickname of Isolde Rose Castarty, who was worshipped as the noblest princess of the Castarty Imperial Family, as his surname?

As if pleased by that reaction, Adrian’s eyes curved into a smile. His jet-black eyes sparkled like jewels. His captivating low voice drew a little closer to Nerea.

“So now I can proudly call you Rosa Nerea. Since everything of mine belongs to my knight, my surname would also be subject to you. Above all…”

It was a statement that couldn’t be discerned as false or true, but Nerea knew. The fact that Adrian wouldn’t lie about something like this.

That’s why her breath trembled even more.

“You are the noblest lady in the world, my knight.”

Ah. Come to think of it, there was someone who didn’t know about Rosa. The twelve-year-old Adrian.

“Rosa Nerea. Adrian Jenax, second son of House Jenax, greets Count Esteban. It is an honor to meet you. I will serve you with all my loyalty from now on.”

The twelve-year-old Adrian, who thought ‘Rosa’ was a title for addressing the most precious lady in the world, stubbornly called Nerea ‘Rosa Nerea’ every time he addressed her.

As carefully and preciously as if calling the noblest name in the world. That’s why Nerea deliberately didn’t tell him otherwise.

A moment of sweetness. Those small situations had broken the curse on her name that Brianna had hurled like a curse.

Of course, it was stopped a few days later by another knight who disliked Nerea, but still.

“Rosa, you say? Surely you’re not referring to Count Esteban as Rosa right now? That’s an insult to the imperial family, you fool.”

“Adrian.”

Nerea called out to Adrian.

Her voice trembled slightly, so she cleared her throat once with a cough. Adrian smiled faintly.

“Yes?”

“You, really… How did you become a Rosa?”

As large, sturdy hands gained old scars and his height shot up dramatically, what on earth had happened to Adrian?

Just thinking about it made her dizzy. Feeling overwhelmed by burdensome thoughts rushing in, Nerea stared only at Adrian’s lips. As she overcame the feeling of her blood running cold, those lips holding secrets parted docilely.

“The rest is a secret. If you want to know, please order me to tell you.”

“You really!”

Nerea was about to get angry, but she swallowed her words because Adrian slowly knelt down.