Seeing Ael stiffen up every time they touched, Kalon asked her to practice more actively, saying, “From now on, I’ll do it properly. I’ll act like a real fiancé.”

She wondered what that meant, but immediately after saying that, he changed his manner of speaking.

Kalon no longer called Ael “Miss Ael.” His attitude also changed.

He who used to keep his distance and maintain formality now stood next to Ael as if it was the most natural thing. Enough to look like a much more personal relationship than just work colleagues.

His voice and attitude now had a familiarity that wasn’t there before. Even affection seemed to seep through.

If a stranger saw them, they would look like a close married couple.

Of course, Ael was on the verge of fainting at first. It was embarrassing enough just to touch, but being called by name so intimately made it impossible to keep her composure.

His voice, speaking so nonchalantly, was so annoying at that moment.

But Ael couldn’t say anything in response to his attitude, which seemed so natural without any hint of playfulness.

The only fortunate thing was that since the visit to the Count was officially a secret, he didn’t act like this in front of other employees.

However, the only times Ael spent with other employees were breakfast and lunchtime.

Outside of those times, Ael had to endure the affectionate torture Kalon gave her.

‘There’s no way I’ll ever get used to this.’

That’s what she thought, but…

Humans were animals that adapted to change faster than one might think.

A week later, today, even Ael could now call him Kalon without trembling.

“You’ll do well. Cheer up!”

As they got into the prepared carriage, Nisha waved and greeted them.

If it were the usual Nisha, she would have said not to worry too much even if things didn’t go well.

But today she said to cheer up. In other words, today’s task was something that absolutely must not fail.

The pressure of the mission, which had been momentarily forgotten while focusing on Kalon’s attitude for a week, weighed down on her shoulders.

That was only for a moment. As the carriage passed through the square, traveled along familiar roads, and then passed outside the capital’s gates, Ael couldn’t take her eyes off the window.

“What’s wrong? It’s not like you’ve never seen such scenery before.”

“It’s my first time.”

“……?”

“I just realized that this is the first time I’ve been outside the capital.”

It was true. When she was young, it was difficult to even go outside the house.

It was only when their family fortunes suddenly declined and they reduced the number of servants that she started to go out more.

As she began to take on the tasks that the servants used to do and run errands, she was able to move around more freely, but that was still only within the capital.

For Ael, outside the capital was as much an unknown world as across the sea.

Of course, when looking from the hill where her house was located, she could see far away, and books often described the appearance outside the castle with illustrations, so she knew what it looked like, but she had never seen it up close.

Even after passing through the capital’s gates, it seemed similar to inside the capital for a while, but as they traveled further, houses began to appear sporadically.

The stone-paved road eventually ended, and the carriage ran on a dirt road.

Even though the carriage was shaking, Ael was just happy.

She remembered Elize complaining about having to ride in a carriage for a long time before leaving home.

How could she dislike it when they were traveling while seeing such beautiful and fascinating sights? If she traveled frequently like Elize, would she eventually get bored of the outside scenery?

But just seeing a single tree in the distance or a horse in a field made her heart race.

Without a doubt, it seemed like she would never get bored of traveling.

Kalon was observing Ael, who was absorbed in looking outside.

He was tired of this kind of travel.

Even though traveling on land offered more diverse scenery than the sea, it was all the same to him. It was meaningless either way.

So he thought this journey would be another boring time. The only consolation was that the distance wasn’t too long by carriage.

But from the moment the carriage departed until now, he hadn’t been bored for even a second.

‘How can her expressions keep changing like that?’

Kalon’s gaze was fixed on Ael, who was sitting across from him, looking outside.

When they first departed, she seemed tense with the pressure of what they had to do today, but after leaving the capital, she was completely absorbed in looking outside.

So when he asked why she was looking so intently, she gave the shocking answer that it was her first time leaving the capital in her life.

She really is different from me.

That was the first thought that came to his mind at Ael’s answer.

He had traveled everywhere in the world. From the southernmost island nations of the continent to the northernmost Denertum here.

He had been to the highest mountain and seen the deepest sea.

He had crossed the most prosperous cities and now had seen the cursed land of a fallen nation where not even a blade of grass grew.

Because of this, Kalon no longer felt much excitement no matter what scenery he saw.

Perhaps that’s why. It was more interesting to look at someone else’s face than the scenery.

As the carriage traveled further, a particularly dusty road appeared.

Kalon reached out to catch Ael’s flying hair and then hung the window cover.

“The dust is bad. I’ll close the window for a moment.”

“You’re right. We can’t meet the Count covered in dust.”

Ael, no longer surprised, naturally took her hair that he had tidied once and tucked it behind her ear.

“You’ve gotten used to it now.”

“Pardon?”

“When I first brushed your hair back, you almost fainted.”

“I was really surprised then!”

“Then what about now?”

“……”

“Why aren’t you surprised now?”

“That’s because Kalon kept……”

“Kept?”

“……touching me!”

As he kept prompting her with questions, Ael answered quickly and then turned her head away.

Looking at her reddened nape, Kalon felt satisfaction. Not just because her reaction to his mischievous teasing was amusing.

It was because the clear bruise marks that were visible when she first came to the company had now disappeared without a trace.

Kalon found Ael’s changes interesting.

Now, the bruises and scars on Ael’s body had almost disappeared. The company doctor said that her malnutrition had improved a lot and there was no longer any major concern.

It wasn’t just the physical wounds that had disappeared. The dark fear that had shadowed Ael’s face was also gone.

When they first met, Kalon clearly remembered the darkness that fell over her face the moment he offered to take her home.

It was also what had completely enveloped her when she came to the company.

But now, that darkness was nowhere to be seen on Ael’s face.

When going home, although she showed some regret, there was no hesitation in her steps.

As if she was no longer afraid of where she was going.

Perhaps because the oppressive darkness had disappeared.

Now Ael no longer walks looking at the ground. When he saw her walking with her head held high and a straight posture, with dignity, Kalon realized that she was taller than he had thought.

And now she would meet his eyes more often and up close, and sometimes reveal her emotions without hiding them, like just now.

Her laughter was heard more often, and sometimes she would grumble. The habitual “I’m sorry” and “I apologize” that she used to say also decreased. Those were words she never needed to say in the first place.

Ael was changing little by little in every way.