Chapter 25
Sienna, who had gone to bed early from the aftereffects of staying up all night and exhausting her mana, didn’t open her eyes again until midday the next day.
Just how many hours had she slept?
“Shushu. Aren’t you terribly inefficient?”
—That’s because Master is weak. Haven’t I been telling you this all along? That you need to train? This won’t do. Starting today, immediately—
“Alright, alright. So it’s my fault again today.”
Sienna cut Shushu off.
Once it got started, it never stopped.
It only ever said annoying things, yet somehow she couldn’t bring herself to get angry when she looked at it.
“You’re too cute for your own good.”
She must have chosen the wrong body.
That fluffy little baby rabbit was just too adorable!
How am I supposed to get mad at that?
From the moment Sienna woke up, Shushu kept talking nonstop.
—Master! What’s that? It’s shiny—totally my type.
—Master! What’s that one?
—Master…….
Thanks to the curious and chatty spirit, her morning was noisier than ever.
Because of that, Sienna—who usually lingered in bed—got up quickly, washed her face, finished her meal in no time, and sat down at the table.
Anna brought the materials Sienna had asked for in advance.
“What on earth are you planning to make with these?”
“A charm to filter out nightmares.”
“A charm? Are you having nightmares?”
“Not me. There’s someone I want to sleep soundly without even dreaming.”
As she said that, Sienna’s cheeks turned pink.
Anna could easily guess that it was for that certain ‘D’.
No wonder she’s been muttering to herself less lately.
It seemed things were going well.
Just whose son could he be? Sir Valencia, perhaps?
She had asked before, but Sienna only smiled shyly and said it was a secret.
Anna nudged Arthur in the side and quietly left the room.
Meanwhile, Sienna was so focused she didn’t even notice Anna leaving.
“Did I wrap it like this?”
Recalling how she had made it before, she slowly wound the thread around the ring.
She wanted a wheel-like shape, but it didn’t turn out quite the way she imagined.
—What are you making right now?
“A dreamcatcher. An ornament that filters out bad dreams.”
—Hmm. But Master, you’re not very good with your hands, are you?
“……Is it really that bad?”
—Yes.
Shushu was merciless.
“Shushu. Let’s be quiet for a while.”
Sienna laid Shushu down on the bed and tucked it in.
“Be good, okay? Just stay quiet and sleep for an hour.”
—Shushu isn’t sleepy, though.
Sienna cheerfully ignored it and focused back on the task in front of her.
After wrestling with the thread for quite some time, until her neck felt stiff, she finally managed to finish it.
“Ah! I almost forgot.”
She took out the topaz she had picked out earlier from her jewelry box.
—Oh? That’s a topaz.
“You can recognize gemstones too?”
—Shushu likes them. But why a topaz?
“There’s a legend that it protects its owner from evil spirits.”
—Do you really believe that, Master? You’re so naïve.
“I choose to believe. They say things come true if you believe in them.”
Sienna attached the topaz to the finished dreamcatcher.
“Complete at last!”
—So where are we going now?
“The library.”
—That sounds interesting.
“Hm? You’re not coming?”
—What?! How could you even say that……!
Shushu hopped off the bed and clung tightly to her ankle.
—Shushu wants to go too!
This crafty spirit had clearly already figured out her preferences.
Even when she squeezed her eyes shut and tried to shake it off, it stubbornly held on and soon started complaining.
—Shushu didn’t make a contract with you just to be trapped in this bedroom! It’s sad enough having a body that can’t move freely—now you’re telling me to just guard the room?!
“I never said that.”
—A spirit has a duty to protect its contractor! How am I supposed to do that if I’m not with you?
“Then you’ll…….”
Before Sienna could finish, Shushu shouted the answer.
—I’ll stay quiet.
It seemed to know very well how noisy it usually was.
Shushu slipped neatly into her bag.
Arthur asked with his eyes why she was bringing it along, but Sienna pretended not to notice.
Then, as she headed toward the library holding the gift box carefully in her arms, a thought struck her.
“Will he be there?”
They hadn’t promised to meet today in particular.
That was the extent of their relationship.
They barely knew anything about each other, and the library was the only place they met.
If even one of them stopped coming, it would end at any time.
And there was no magical coincidence.
“……He’s not here.”
Just in case, she went out to the back garden, but he wasn’t there either.
“Haa.”
Human greed had no end.
There had been a time when just seeing his face and exchanging greetings made her happy.
Now, in this ambiguous relationship, an unexplainable thirst welled up inside her.
She kept wanting to cross the line.
Sienna returned to the library and sat in the seat Dandelion usually occupied.
—Master…….
“Shushu, can you let me be depressed for a bit?”
—But!
“I’m sorry, but I want to be alone. Please don’t talk to me for a while.”
She seated Shushu beside her and rested her head on the desk.
She had known he might not be here, but it seemed she had expected more than she realized.
That they would meet just like that, as if by fate.
“Haa.”
An empty library was the perfect place to sink into thought.
All the worries she had put off until tomorrow came rushing in at once.
How much time had passed?
Alright, time to go. No—just ten more minutes, she told herself.
Just then, footsteps approached.
Sienna slowly lifted her head.
“Ah…….”
He looked slightly disheveled compared to usual.
One button of his shirt was undone, and his hair wasn’t fully dry.
As if he had rushed over.
Startled, Sienna looked for Shushu.
—Shushu! You scared me. Why didn’t you tell me?!
—Hmph. You told me not to talk to you.
That mouth of its was always the problem.
—……I’ll be careful with my words from now on.
—Nice posture.
For a moment, forgetting Dandelion in front of her as she talked with Shushu, Sienna came back to her senses at the sound of someone calling her.
“Sienna?”
He was carefully touching his hair, as if self-conscious.
“What were you thinking about?”
“……Dan.”
Her lips curved into a smile.
“I was thinking about you.”
Sienna had no habit of speaking indirectly, and his ears—still not used to that—burned red.
“Uh…… about me…….”
She had only answered honestly, yet she’d flustered him unintentionally.
While Dandelion froze, Sienna looked at him properly.
Did he just take a bath?
His black hair still held moisture, a faint scent of soap drifted from him, and his cheeks were tinged with peach.
The most shocking moment of her life had been when she first saw Dandelion—but today was just as devastating.
So, so adorable!
Breathing felt unnatural.
It’s like someone just punched my heart.
Every time he looked like that, Sienna had to clutch her chest.
While she caught her breath, he finally calmed down enough to continue.
“What exactly were you thinking about me?”
“When you might come.”
“You were waiting for me?”
“Yes.”
She answered as if she had been waiting all along.
His lips stiffened slightly.
“I might not have come.”
“Then I’d just come again tomorrow.”
“And if I didn’t come tomorrow either?”
“Then I’d probably wait a few more days.”
“And after that?”
“Well, I don’t know. I haven’t thought that far…….”
She trailed off, studying his face.
He looked unusually anxious.
What answer was he hoping to hear? What did he want to know?
Unable to figure it out, she said what she truly felt.
“Dan. Unless you tell me you dislike this suspicious little meeting of ours, I’ll probably keep coming here.”
“…….”
“That’s just how I am.”
She was good at pushing, but she tried pulling just a little too.
“Well, if I get really hurt, I might stop coming for a few days.”
“That won’t happen.”
Seeing Sienna make a sulky face, Dan smiled softly.
“I was just a bit frustrated.”
“…….”
“That someone has to wait, that you can’t meet when you want to, and that even if you have something to say, you can’t say it right away.”
He looked toward the window awkwardly, fiddling with his nails for no reason.
Meanwhile, Sienna fell into thought.
I-Is this a green light?
Should she take this as pure friendship and affection—or was it okay to read more into it?
She was already incapable of objective judgment.
No getting ahead of yourself. It’s not that. It’s definitely not that.
Steeling herself, she suddenly grabbed his hand.
“I’ll solve that problem for you!”
“Pardon?”
She pulled him toward the deepest shelves of the library.
It was where dictionaries were kept.
Running her eyes down the shelves, she took out a plant encyclopedia with a green leather cover from the very bottom.
“Let’s use this as our mailbox.”
“A mailbox?”
“We can’t meet every day, so if you have something you want to say, or something to give, you leave it here. After all, we’re the only ones who come here.”
It was something she had been thinking about for a while.
In a world without smartphones, messages were sent through letters or people—both costly in time and effort.
They didn’t even know what surnames the other used.
Most of their conversations were about flowers, travel, books, and sweet desserts—nothing to do with their families.
“What do you think?”
“How did you come up with something like this?”
“With you…….”
She had meant to say, Because I was thinking the same thing as you.
But as she turned her head, she couldn’t continue.
He was too close.
The space between the shelf and the wall was narrow.
And she was still holding his hand.
“…….”
An awkward silence hovered between them.
A beat too late, Sienna let go of his hand.
“I’m sorry.”
“No, it’s fine.”
To break the suddenly awkward mood, she pulled out her trump card.
“Oh! I have something to give you.”
“For me?”
She returned to her seat and handed him the carefully wrapped box.
“It’s a gift.”
Surprised, he opened it right away.
The giver felt more nervous than the receiver.
“This is…….”
“A dreamcatcher.”
“A dreamcatcher?”
“A charm to filter out your nightmares.”
“…….”
“I hope only beautiful dreams pass through.”
Dandelion was silent for a moment.
She couldn’t tell whether he was happy or not.
Still, having started, Sienna decided to do everything she had planned.
“And one more thing.”
“There’s more?”
“Ahem.”
She cleared her throat lightly and raised her index finger.
“Mahakenda Ppeldomun.”
With a feeling like ‘abracadabra!’, she drew a circle with her finger.
Is this how it’s done?
After the short incantation, silence fell again.
……Was that wrong?
As she narrowed her eyes to observe him, a short laugh escaped his lips.
“Huh? You laughed.”
Unable to hold it back once it started, he turned his head and covered his mouth.
“They say it’s a spell that makes you forget sorrow and pain.”
“How do you even know something like that?”
She was someone who prided herself on having broad, if shallow, knowledge.
Dandelion held her gift carefully.
He even held it up to the window, where the sunset had just begun, letting the light shine through it.
Resting her chin on her hand, Sienna watched him openly and whispered softly.
“I wanted my friend to sleep well.”
“…….”
“The effect will be certain.”
“Thank you. Truly.”
As he smiled warmly, his expression suddenly darkened.
“Ah, but I have nothing to give you in return…….”
“I didn’t do it expecting anything.”
“Still……”
She quickly cut in.
“If you really want to repay me, then—”
She didn’t refuse twice.
“Grant me a wish?”
“A wish?”
“Yes. But not now.”
“You just said you weren’t expecting anything…….”
He replied playfully.
“No. I just didn’t want you to feel burdened.”
She widened her eyes innocently and shrugged once.
“Alright. I’ll grant it. Anytime. Whatever it is.”
“Shall we take a walk?”
She had originally come to the library to research possible places to flee abroad, but somehow she was drifting farther and farther from books.
Learning about Dandelion and strolling through this rarely visited back garden had become far more enjoyable.
Except in midwinter, Stern boasted a mild climate, and all kinds of flowers bloomed there.
“What kind of flower is this?”
Sienna asked, and Dandelion answered.
“It’s called forget-me-not.”
“How do you know?”
“My mother liked flowers.”
“Hm, you were a sweet son.”
“……She was a gentle mother.”
They gazed at the small sky-blue flowers.
With him, she noticed wildflowers that could only be seen if you lowered yourself.
Walking slowly, stopping like this, they soaked in spring.
But there was another reason Sienna loved these walks the most.
As she looked at the flowers, she turned to look at Dan.
Which one is the flower, really?
She truly couldn’t tell.
Under natural light, he shone even more.
It was as if vitality was breathed into his delicate features.
And when the wind blew, it became perfect.
When his refined, dark eyebrows and sculpted forehead were revealed, it was strangely sexy.
She was admiring him absentmindedly when their eyes met.
Sienna casually shifted her gaze to the distant Hermit Mountain.
Good. That was natural.
She kept staring at the far-off mountain when suddenly his hand covered her view.
“Dan?”
He carefully brushed her hair aside.
It wasn’t only his hair the wind had disturbed.
“This scar is…….”
Sienna touched her forehead, searching for it.
“Oh, this…… I fell when I was little.”
In truth, Pierre had tripped her.
The wound healed quickly, but the scar remained even ten years later.
That bastard…….
With uncommon restraint, Sienna bit her lip hard.
He didn’t ask further.
He realized she didn’t want to talk about it.
Instead, he changed the subject.
“Are you attending the debutante ball?”
It was the most splendid event of this flower-filled spring.
Both of them believed the other to be nobility, and it was customary for unmarried young nobles to attend.
From the fact that he was practicing dancing, she had already guessed.
Sienna nodded.
“Then we’ll see each other in three days.”
At his words, her expression darkened slightly.
“Will that be the end of this ‘library friend’ we met by chance?”
“Would you regret it?”
“Very much.”
She knew better than anyone what kind of reputation she had.
Despite being a princess, some even called her the shame of Stern.
Rumors always grew exaggerated, and Pierre was always the one to fan the flames.
One tiny mistake, mixed with malice, was enough to make her a loner.
Ominous red hair. Weak crybaby. Ugly princess.
She didn’t think he was someone swayed by such rumors, but still—
“Um, Dan…….”
She thought now was the time to confess the truth.
She didn’t want to nurture the seed of misunderstanding.
“Actually…….”
My real name is Sienna Stern. I’m the princess of this country.
She was about to say it.
Why is this happening to me now?
“Sienna?”
She turned his body around and hid tightly behind him.
“Hide me!”
In the distance, she saw Jad.
His silver hair shimmered in the sunlight, announcing his presence from afar.
Jad—why are you here?!
She didn’t understand, but she had no time to think.
I’m not ready yet!
She wasn’t ready to face him—especially not at this timing.
Sienna clutched the hem of Dandelion’s shirt tightly.
Behind his broad back and wide shoulders, she was completely hidden.
Her heart had been pounding wildly for some time now.
Jad came close enough that they could hear his footsteps.
“Jad?”
“Dan.”
“Why are you here?”
“I’ve been looking for you.”
“For me?”
“Yeah. I stopped by the castle and heard you were here.”
“How did you even know I’d be in the library?”
“Have I known you only a year or two? It was obvious. I figured you’d be in the most boring, least crowded place. But…… you’re not alone?”
Huh? He wasn’t here for me?
Something about the situation felt off.
Unbeknownst to Sienna, Jad had been watching the edge of a skirt peeking out beside Dandelion’s leg from the start.
“And the lady hiding behind you?”
“Oh, that is…….”
“She must be shy.”
Without giving Dan time to explain, Jad greeted her.
That was just his nature—bold and unreserved.
“Hello, unknown lady. I’m Jad Valencia, the closest friend of Sir Mont.”
Sienna nearly collapsed on the spot.
……T-They’re friends?
