I shook my head.

“No. I can go out too.”

“Then let’s start from tomorrow. Take a rest today.”

“I feel bad about leaving everything to you like this……”

“Don’t worry about it between us.”

Grisha reached out with his slender, delicate fingers, smiling kindly.

As always, it was to stroke my hair.

Flinch―

But I reflexively shrank my shoulders. Because of that, Grisha’s hand also stopped abruptly in mid-air.

“……”

An uncomfortable silence passed between us for a moment. Grisha was the first to move.

“……I’ll go downstairs.”

He must have felt awkward too, as he quickly blurted out those words and swiftly turned around, leaving the room.

As soon as Grisha completely disappeared from my sight, I hit my head with my fist.

‘You fool! It’s already awkward trying to act natural, how could you flinch so obviously!’

After fluttering like that, my energy was completely drained.

I pressed both hands against my cheeks, pursing my lips like a carp.

‘I need to answer Grisha’s confession.’

The answer was already decided. Because I had come to like Cedar.

But telling that to Grisha was so difficult. Especially now that I knew about Grisha and Cedar’s relationship…

‘No! This is a cowardly excuse! It’s cowardly to use Grisha as an excuse to keep delaying the answer.’

Grisha’s feelings are entirely his own.

Whatever emotions Grisha feels about my rejection, that’s his part to deal with.

‘In fact, the longer I delay, the worse it will be for Grisha. I’ll talk to him today. I must also let him know that my cherishing him won’t change.’

Yes. Even if it’s not romantic love between a man and woman, Grisha is an irreplaceable and precious person to me.

‘If I speak sincerely, Grisha will understand my feelings.’

I clenched my fists tightly to muster up courage.

As I was so focused on pondering what to say to Grisha, I didn’t actually notice.

The dragon egg swaying back and forth like a roly-poly toy.

Hail, who was pulling weeds in the herb garden, raised his head at the presence he felt nearby.

There stood Grisha, looking somewhat pale.

“Young master?”

He always looked pale and thin, but today his expression was particularly strange.

‘He didn’t seem like this when he first entered the mansion.’

Should I say he looked cold? I couldn’t pinpoint it exactly, but it was somehow an unpleasant feeling.

To Hail, who was tilting his head, Grisha forced a smile by pressing the corners of his mouth.

“I’ll take care of the herb garden today, so don’t worry and go inside.”

“There’s not much for me to do inside. Besides, I’m enjoying this the more I do it.”

“I said I’ll do it.”

See? Even his tone was different from usual.

Since we met, Grisha had never spoken in an overbearing tone until today.

‘It seems his mood soured after meeting the lady?’

Did they have an argument? An argument between Grisha and Nelly.

It was hard to imagine, like a confrontation between a deer and a rabbit.

“……Then I’ll go prepare the meal.”

Anyway, there was no need to go against his nerves, so Hail got up from the herb garden. And went into the mansion.

‘Taking it out unnecessarily.’

Grisha ran his fingers through his hair with an anxious touch.

It was the hair that Nelly always used to tie up at the academy, but since Nelly wasn’t tying it, he naturally often left it down.

After nervously grasping and releasing his hair, Grisha sighed through his nose.

His blue eyes took in the small herb garden.

‘The herb garden is small, but well-stocked with a good variety. As expected of Nelly, I should say. Thanks to this, I’ll be able to make the magic potion I need right away. With that potion, I can put everything back in its place.’

Then Nelly will tie his hair again.

She won’t flinch when his fingers touch her.

‘If only I had that potion.’

Grisha’s eyes gleamed dangerously.

The next day, Grisha didn’t come to our house. I sighed in dejection.

‘I was determined to gather my courage and speak today.’

I had meant to answer the confession yesterday, but by the time I came out of the room, Grisha had already finished tending to the herbs and left, so I couldn’t express my feelings.

So I thought I should definitely have a serious talk the next day after sleeping on it, but this time Grisha didn’t come.

‘If I keep postponing the opportunity to answer like this, I might never be able to answer.’

I kept sighing repeatedly.

As I was huffing and puffing, Cedar, who was eating across from me, tilted his head.

“What’s wrong?”

“Nothing……”

I, who was about to blurt out the confession thoughtlessly, closed my mouth.

‘Should I tell Cedar about being confessed to by Grisha?’

He is my husband, so he should be allowed to know if someone has expressed interest in me.

My answer is directed towards Cedar anyway, so there’s nothing to be worried about.

But given that the two of them weren’t complete strangers, and it also felt wrong for Cedar to know this fact before Grisha himself knew the answer.

‘We don’t even know how our relationship will be after I reject him. Telling Cedar might just create unnecessary preconceptions.’

I intend to convince Grisha that even if I can’t accept his confession, he still has great significance to me.

But that’s just my intention, and there’s no guarantee Grisha will act according to my thoughts. Grisha’s feelings are his own.

‘He might leave my side forever the moment I reject his confession.’

It still felt uncomfortable to tell Cedar in advance when I didn’t know how the situation would unfold. I ended up lowering my eyes while swallowing a sigh.

“……It’s nothing.”

At my answer, Cedar’s eyes narrowed.

“It doesn’t seem like nothing.”

He got up from his seat, bent over, and reached out towards my cheek.

He was tall with long arms, so he could caress my face just by doing that across the table.

His gray eyes reflected my face like a mirror.

“You know what? All your emotions show on your face.”

“R-Really? That can’t be. Even the professors said I don’t express myself enough to be cute.”

“That’s because those people are strange.”

Cedar dismissed it lightly and asked again in a serious tone.

“So tell me. What are you worrying about so much?”

“That……”

I couldn’t even avert my gaze because Cedar was cupping my face. My heart was pounding. I bit my lip.

As we were facing each other like that, there was a commotion from the entrance.

It was a very good escape for me, who was feeling uncomfortable with the situation.

“Ah! Looks like someone’s here.”

I exclaimed as I jumped up from my seat. Cedar frowned.

“You haven’t even finished your meal. Sit down.”

“It could be an important guest.”

“Nelly.”

Before Cedar could stop me, I ran out of the dining room.

It was possible because my seat was close to the dining room door.

Running to greet guests in my life. It’s absolutely impossible, but I had no choice this time.

‘I’d rather run than face an angry Cedar.’

But as I stood panting in front of the entrance, I immediately regretted it.

Because a beautiful woman outside the front door said to me in a sweet voice:

“Darling, could you open the door for me?”

‘Mother-in-law!’

Cedar’s mother, Lady Briar, had come to visit.

I should have pretended not to be here and stayed quiet.

Lady Briar, who already knew I was behind the door, showed no signs of turning back.

At first, Cedar told me not to open the door at all and to ignore her, but when Lady Briar stood outside the door calling for me for over 30 minutes, he finally couldn’t stand it and opened the door.

Lady Briar pushed her body through the open door gap with a bright smile.

Her friendly tone showed no sign of the rift between her and Cedar.

“If you were awake, you should have said so. Are you happy surprising your mother like this?”

“Mother.”

Cedar called his mother with a sigh in his voice.

And he naturally blocked Lady Briar, who was trying to come inside.

“Go back. I have nothing to say to you, Mother.”

“Even if you have nothing to say, you should introduce your wife to me. Do you think it helps to separate us like this when we’ll be seeing each other often in the future?”

“We won’t be seeing each other.”

“Don’t talk nonsense. Are you saying you’ll stay in this small mansion even after becoming the Duke of Granite?”

“Mother.”

Cedar drew the line in a cold voice.

“I have already clearly expressed my intention to His Majesty that I have no plans to become the next duke. I think I’ve already told you clearly as well. I’m tired of saying the same thing every time. Stop it.”

“You really……”

At Cedar’s firm attitude, the smile disappeared from Lady Briar’s face as well.

I thought they didn’t resemble each other at all, but the side profiles of the two people glaring at each other looked similar.

I nervously fidgeted with my fingers, looking down at the floor.

It was then that the sparks flew in my direction.

Lady Briar criticized me in a shrill voice.

“Hey, why are you keeping your mouth shut? Don’t you have anything to say?”

“Huh? Me?”

What should I? I blinked in confusion.

She scolded in a cold voice.

“If your husband seems to be going down the wrong path, you should say something!”