Cedar, who had learned all the truth, could no longer speak about that incident.

Meanwhile, the Duchess’s condition deteriorated rapidly, and she quietly passed away a few days later.

The funeral was modest. It was natural since her husband, the Duke, had no intention of holding a grand ceremony.

And shortly after, Lady Briar officially became the Duchess.

Cedar was too ashamed to face Grisha and kept his head bowed in front of him the entire time.

‘I’m sorry, Grisha.’

In the end, the words of apology remained deep in his heart.

[This is the timeline separator]

As Cedar recalled the events from long ago, he rubbed his face.

‘Back then, being powerless, I couldn’t find any evidence.

Father stepped in and covered up the evidence that Mother had done it… So I vowed to repay my debt to Grisha someday.’

He didn’t expect things to turn out like this. Grisha’s words echoed vividly in Cedar’s mind.

[She’s someone precious to me. Give her back.]

What Grisha demanded from Cedar when they met after a long time was a divorce from Nelly.

He even said he had kept her in his heart for a long time.

But Cedar was equally burning inside.

‘Why did it have to be Nelly!’

It was a first. Someone whose mere presence made him feel at ease.

Although it started as a contract marriage unrelated to their will, he thought it would be nice to spend the rest of his life like this…

[If you feel sorry for me, you should step back. Isn’t that right?]

Grisha pointed her out specifically. He said he didn’t need the duke title or wealth, just her.

Cedar couldn’t bring himself to answer. Grisha turned away, looking at Cedar with contemptuous eyes like he did sometime in the past.

[See? Elder brother is all talk this time too. Then and now.]

It was painful to be hated by Grisha. It felt like the burden in his heart was getting even heavier.

But he simply couldn’t agree to hand over Nelly. Unable to understand himself, Cedar asked himself several times.

‘Why couldn’t I nod?’

What is that woman to me? Wasn’t it just a contract to solve each other’s troubles?

It wasn’t even a good situation to maintain a contract marriage.

‘Because of the contract marriage, Nelly has become even more dangerous. It might be safer to entrust her to Grisha. He seems sincere too…’

Soon it will be Nelly’s inheritance day. She will no longer have a reason to maintain this contract marriage.

Now that someone has appeared who would protect her with his life, it would be better to set her free.

‘But I don’t want to.’

A fierce feeling of rejection rose from a corner of his heart.

He could have known the source of that rejection if he had just looked into his heart a little.

But Cedar deliberately turned his eyes away.

‘Let’s bury my feelings for now. There’s not much time left in the contract period anyway.’

Let’s take her to the academy as usual, treating her as always. After all, the fate of the contract marriage and her whereabouts depended on her heart.

It wasn’t something he could decide alone to hand Nelly over to Grisha.

‘After the inheritance, her heart might change.’

So Cedar gave his emotions a grace period.

However, no sooner had he resolved to bury them than Nelly kicked open the lid of his carefully covered heart.

Completely drunk, she hugged him and poured out the sweetest confession.

[Cedar, I like you.]

Because of the burden in his heart when facing Grisha, he had been avoiding her too. But she didn’t let him run away.

[Why do you keep avoiding me?]

If she were really just a stranger with no meaning, he could have left her alone no matter what he did.

‘Why do you keep shaking me?’

To her, who asked him not to turn away, not to distance himself, saying she would correct herself if she had done something wrong, there was only one thing he could say.

[You didn’t do anything wrong. The problem is you’re too beautiful.]

Why is she so lovable? Making it impossible to open his clenched hand.

And today.

Finally, Cedar’s heart opened wide. It didn’t work to avert his eyes and run away from her.

[Because I’ve fallen in love with you.]

He was already defeated before her.

[This is the timeline separator]

Is this what it feels like to be hit on the head with a hammer? I blinked blankly.

‘What did Cedar just say?’

Even though it was our language, it was as hard to understand as a foreign language from a distant country.

After slowly recalling what he had said for a while, I finally couldn’t understand and asked him back.

“What do you mean you’ve fallen in love? What does that mean?”

“It means exactly that. I’ve fallen in love with you.”

“…?”

I froze, with only question marks floating in my head.

To like. That means having positive feelings towards someone, right? So Cedar has such feelings for me.

‘Why did those words come out in this situation?’

We were chasing monsters in a deep forest. Moreover, there was a dead dark wolf at Cedar’s feet right now.

‘And weren’t we just disagreeing about my health management until a moment ago?’

More precisely, I was trying to stop Cedar from making me eat vegetables and exercise.

In this contextual situation, I couldn’t understand why the word ‘like’ suddenly came out.

Above all.

‘If you like something, you just like it, but what does it mean to have fallen in love?’

Does it mean he fell in love when he shouldn’t have? Or that he fell in love even though there was nothing to like?

The more I thought about it, the more it seemed like a negative intention rather than a good meaning.

But looking at that seemingly dejected smile, it didn’t seem to be the meaning I was thinking of.

‘Then does it really mean he feels affection as the language suggests?’

As I was busy trying to guess his true feelings and couldn’t respond, Cedar’s face gradually darkened.

He messed up his hair and said as if giving up.

“If it’s uncomfortable, just pretend you didn’t hear it.”

“Why would it be uncomfortable? I like Cedar too.”

“What?”

His silver-gray eyes stared at me, all scrunched up. I shrugged my shoulders.

“I like Cedar, and I like Hail. No, all the people in the Dragon Knight Order seem like good people. I feel at ease when I’m with them.”

Cedar stared at me blankly for a moment, as if dumbfounded. Then he laughed slowly, as if exhaling a sigh.

“…It’s not that you’re uncomfortable, you just don’t know.”

“What don’t I know?”

“Never mind. I thought you were a grown lady, but you’re just a child who’s only aged.”

“What does that mean! Are you insulting me now!”

Cedar’s large hand lazily ruffled my hair.

I tilted my head, my cheeks puffed up like a blowfish. Logically, Cedar’s words didn’t quite add up for such a simple interpretation.

“But you can’t be jealous of liking something. I like meat, but I don’t get jealous of vegetables that come instead of meat.”

At my point, Cedar’s eyebrows rose slightly.

“What kind of comparison is that?”

“Because meat is what I like best right now?”

“So I’m on the same level as meat? If meat and I fall into the sea at the same time, who would you save?”

“That…”

Do I have to be the one to save them? I don’t even know how to swim.

‘Even if I could swim, it’s the same. I wonder if I could lift even one of Cedar’s legs. In the end, it means I’d have to save him with magic, not strength.’

Is it possible to evaporate seawater? Or should I use levitation magic?

While I was pondering the technicalities, Cedar’s face got worse and worse. Cedar muttered while brushing his hair back.

“Ah, this is hurting my pride in its own way.”

Oh no! A misunderstanding arose because I took too long. Only then did I answer cheerfully.

“Of course I would save Cedar! Even if I saved raw meat, I can’t cook anyway.”

“Stop. The more we talk, the more miserable it gets. Please forget it.”

“But it’s strange.”

I firmly held onto Cedar’s clothes as he was about to turn away.

And carefully, I pushed out an interpretation that I thought might be self-conscious but couldn’t bring myself to say.

“Your words of liking sound to my ears as if you’re saying you love me.”

“…”

Cedar silently looked down at me.

But even though I could feel his gaze fully, I couldn’t bring myself to meet Cedar’s eyes.

‘I guess I said something unnecessary.’

I should have just laughed it off as a silly joke.

It was already awkward, and with Cedar keeping his mouth shut, the awkwardness kept growing.

Finally, unable to bear it, I looked up at Cedar with a reddened face.

“Cedar?”

As soon as I raised my head, this time he turned his head away, avoiding my gaze.

And he answered in a deeply lowered tone.

“…Think as you like.”

Think as I like.

“That means my thought is correct, doesn’t it?”

I firmly held onto the arm of the man who kept avoiding me. And asked in a serious tone.

“Do you really love me?”

“I…”

His silver-gray eyes with a hint of blue wavered back and forth.

It looked like the moon in the night sky was blurred, hidden by clouds.

He, who always hid his emotions behind an expressionless face, was now fully revealing his feelings.

Confusion, hesitation, yet a desire shining clearly like a twinkling star.

It was an emotion that even I, who was dull to others’ feelings, could recognize at a glance.