Chapter 01
A smile that seductive with just his eyes should be a crime. My eyelids trembled. When our eyes met, the way his eyes curved gently as he smiled was so dangerously charming that, even knowing what he was like inside, I almost fell for it for a moment.
“Why are you like this, Azalea?”
The name he whispered—Azalea. That was my name. And yet, the moment he called it, it felt like my heart stopped. I swallowed dryly, and my chest churned.
Something was wrong. I didn’t remember a scene like this. Fear suddenly tightened around my throat. The greatest fear was the man in front of me, smiling as if he could enchant a hundred people at once.
Why is he acting like this toward me?
Perhaps he noticed how startled I was, because he stepped closer. I wanted to step back, but there was no space behind me. I couldn’t stop him from coming closer.
“Don’t turn your head. You recognized me, didn’t you?”
His gentle voice made an awkward smile appear on my face.
Yeah, I recognized you… but haven’t you changed way too much?
I swallowed the words that rose to my throat and moved my eyes around.
The boy I remembered from childhood was like a little kitten hiding sharp thorns behind his smile. He didn’t throw around sweet words like this, nor did he smile with such overflowing temptation. What in the world happened to him during the time I didn’t see him?
As if he could read my confusion, his smile deepened. No, it felt more like he was smiling because he had read my embarrassment.
“Azalea, come here.”
“……”
With a lazy, tempting curl of his lips, he slowly stretched out his hand.
I blinked and stared at what filled my sight. A large hand, different from my memories, waved in front of me like a butterfly. It used to be pale and smooth. Now it was rough and covered with scars.
I could have avoided that hand as it came closer. But just like before, I couldn’t avoid it. I heard him laugh above my head. I shut my eyes tightly as if I couldn’t endure it, and his voice grew even clearer.
“Why are you like this? You look tense.”
I am tense. Very.
I clearly felt his hand gently brushing the stray hair near my ear. That almost-touching, ticklish contact made goosebumps rise on my skin.
“Noona. If you look at me like that, it seems like you’re afraid of me.”
“……”
“There’s no way you’d be afraid of me.”
A gasp slipped out of me. What? Noona? Noona?!
I opened my eyes wide and looked around. As expected, everyone was staring at us in shock. Judging by their expressions, they had clearly heard every word of this conversation.
My mouth slowly fell open.
Ah, I’m doomed. This wasn’t supposed to happen. There was no scene like this in the original story…?
My heart pounded as if it would burst. The man was clearly strikingly handsome, and the situation around us was very romantic. It would probably look like a reunion scene between the main characters of a movie. But I knew a chilling truth—about him, and about myself.
Just thinking about it made anger rise inside me.
What kind of trick is this?
I narrowed my eyes and took a step back. He whispered again in that dangerously sweet voice.
“Noona, where are you going? Leaving on such a beautiful day?”
His lively lips shone as if coated with sugar. It hurt my eyes.
‘Don’t call me noona.’
I ground my teeth inwardly as I looked at his curved eyes. That part hadn’t changed. He knew exactly how powerful that smile was.
As my embarrassment faded, I could only think that he was doing this to tease me. Considering his position and mine, he shouldn’t act like this. I carried him on my back, raised him, treasured him—and this is how he repays me? Maybe raising a person is useless after all.
In the end, a blunt voice slipped out.
“Young Master, why are you acting like this?”
“Noona, why are you speaking so stiffly? Between us?”
This brat, seriously.
“Between us? I’m truly bewildered. I really don’t know why you’re acting like this—”
“Lie.”
“……”
He firmly cut off my denial. His eyes burned like flames. I suddenly felt suffocated and shut my mouth tightly. He stepped closer, like a hunter cornering prey.
“You don’t know?”
“Young Master, wait—”
“Me?”
Isn’t this too, too close?
“Noona, I missed you like crazy. Several times a day… So why are you saying you don’t know me?”
His voice was deep and low, yet playful. Even the way he addressed me ignored proper etiquette.
“……Young Master.”
He was no longer in a position to call me noona. We were now grown adults, and nobles should call each other’s names carefully according to etiquette. Our gazes clashed sharply, and inside me it felt like thunder and lightning were crashing wildly.
‘I missed you?’
I bit my lip as I stared at his beautiful face. The liar wasn’t me—it was him. If he was going to lie, he should at least try harder. The boy from my childhood had grown into a truly wicked man.
“Noona. Come on.”
“……”
As he reached out his hand, his steady voice sounded like a threat not to move away. As if it had all been a lie that he once left without hesitation, he now demanded me with obsession.
Why.
I stared blankly at his gently curved eyes and shivered as if cold water had been poured over me. At the same time, like a hawk catching fleeing prey, he moved his hand.
“No. Our conversation isn’t over.”
“Ugh.”
His hand grabbed my gloved wrist. The touch was strangely hot and unfamiliar. Thick fingers, burning skin, and a desperate plea not to let go. It was a soft grip, yet I couldn’t shake it off. A tremor spread across my skin.
“Let go, Young Master.”
“Oh?”
My voice trembled miserably, but he remained relaxed. His deep gaze slid from my wrist back to my face. Then he smiled gracefully, as if soothing an innocent child.
“You shouldn’t avoid me like this. Others can, but not you. Do you know how I endured?”
I truly didn’t know why not. Our connection had clearly ended. He knew it, and I knew it. Just as I was about to open my mouth in disbelief, he laughed lightly.
“That’s right. Noona, you made me like this.”
What does that even mean?
“Take responsibility.”
What responsibility?!
“Take responsibility for me.”
I barely suppressed the urge to shout. My hand trembled as I quickly slapped the hand holding my wrist like a bracelet. I don’t even understand what nonsense you’re whispering. I just want to run away—because of you! So let go.
“Young Master. Let go.”
“Then shake me off.”
It felt like standing on an execution platform.
He, who had been quietly watching me, spoke. Surprisingly, his voice sounded moist.
“Noona, are you really going to abandon me?”
The moment I heard the word abandon, my chest ached sharply. His expression looked sincere. But inside my heart, a voice whispered not to be fooled. I knew the man in front of me far too well. So I suppressed the small sprout of hope rising inside me.
It’s all an act. No matter how sweet he looks, if I even taste it, I’ll be in serious trouble. He’s more dangerous than a fox with a hundred tails. He’s definitely teasing me right now—
“Are you going to push me away?”
Definitely—
“Me?”
So smiling like that won’t work—
“Are you going to abandon me?”
Won’t work… me?
‘Huh?’
I suddenly opened my eyes. Maybe it was because of the medicine I took during the day—I must have dozed off. Even when I frowned, I couldn’t remember what I had dreamed.
Hmph. It must have been a pointless dream.
“Ah, that’s refreshing.”
Blinking my sleepy eyes, I turned toward the wide-open carriage window. The fresh green scenery cleared my vision. A cool breeze blew softly. One good thing about reincarnating was that the air in this world was incredibly clean. Just breathing felt like my lungs were being purified.
“……The view is nice. You’d never see something like this in the city.”
Looking at the wide landscape made my chest feel open. My hair fluttered in the wind coming through the window. Just as I tried to fix it, someone’s hand touched my messy hair. I heard a gentle laugh like the wind.
“Did you have a good dream?”
“Yeah. A pointless one.”
When I turned while yawning, I saw my maid, Sasha, smiling kindly. Just seeing her dark brown hair, almost chestnut-colored, made me smile.
“Hehe, your hair is messy. I’ll fix it for you, my lady.”
“Thank you, Sasha.”
Thinking about it, every difficult and painful moment since I woke up in this unfamiliar place, this maid had helped me a lot. Her sparkling brown eyes looked at me warmly. The feeling of the comb brushing through my hair was pleasant.
“How was this trip?”
“Trip? Not really.”
“Still, if you travel around to several places, it’s a trip. I stayed at the estate and missed you, my lady. Please tell me about it.”
Kind Sasha. Like she said, I hadn’t gone on a trip. I had gone to recuperate because of my weak body. But Sasha always cared for my heart with such gentle words.
“It was just… ugh!”
“My lady!”
At that moment—
The carriage suddenly shook violently.
