Chapter 10:
After hearing that the princess had gone out to the temple with her personal maid, Adrian hesitated for a moment.
He could always come back later when she returned to the palace, but for some reason, he felt restless.
He wanted to ask why she had worried about him.
Or at least confirm whether she really had.
If not, then he wanted to properly understand what had changed in her heart this time.
When Adrian arrived at the temple and was heading toward the main hall, he saw Giselle sitting in the garden, talking with a young priest.
They were sitting quite close, focused on each other, as if sharing something private.
While waiting for their conversation to end, he observed her.
In her white muslin dress tied with a yellow ribbon, she looked especially pure and fresh today.
The person she used to be was timid and shy, but now Giselle was bold and unpredictable.
That difference naturally drew his attention.
Soon, he heard her cheerful laughter. The priest smiled, turned his head—and met Adrian’s eyes.
It was a familiar face.
Adrian recalled that the priest had once come to pray for his mother when she was ill.
Seeing their conversation winding down, Adrian walked straight toward Giselle without hesitation.
Hearing his footsteps, she turned around.
The moment he saw her surprised expression, he gave a slight bow.
“Greetings, Your Highness.”
“What brings you here?”
“I came to see you.”
“Me? Why?”
“I have something to say.”
Giselle bit her lip briefly, then leaned toward the priest.
“Lurbihi, I have a lot to ask you, but I’ll have to go for today. May I send you a letter?”
The priest, Lurbihi, stood up, briefly greeted Adrian, then nodded to her.
“Of course. I’ll be waiting.”
Giselle gently took his hand with her gloved one.
“Goodbye, Lurbihi.”
“Please return safely, Your Highness. And… Sir Adrian, farewell.”
Lurbihi looked at Giselle with slight concern before leaving for the main hall.
As their eyes met briefly, Adrian felt something sharp in that gaze—and frowned. It was unpleasant.
Giselle turned back to him, looking annoyed.
“What could be so important that you came all the way here? Do we even have anything left to discuss?”
“Why did you send Prince Lucas to me?”
He sat beside her and asked directly.
If she had been even a little kinder—and if he hadn’t just seen that look from the priest—he might have spoken more gently.
“W-what do you mean? I just heard that the beer at that tavern was famous, so I asked him to bring some. I like beer.”
“You’ve never been able to drink well your entire life.”
Giselle scoffed.
“What? Who lives their whole life without drinking? I can drink wine just fine now.”
“Then tell me the name of the tavern.”
Adrian crossed his arms and stared at her lips.
Her eyes drifted upward, and her lips fumbled for an answer.
“The tavern name? Uh… J… no, maybe S…?”
“I heard you said it was a place I, Hugo, and Prince Lucas often visit. Yet you don’t even know its name. Where exactly did you hear such praise about its beer?”
“Well… I fell off a horse and hit my head, so my memory—”
“Your Highness, please stop using that excuse and answer properly.”
His tone grew sharper, almost like a teacher pressing a student for an answer.
“Excuse? I really don’t remember! Have you been fooled your whole life or something?”
“So you truly don’t remember the name?”
“I told you—wasn’t it J? Or K?”
“So you were worried about me?”
“Yes, I was worried—wait, no! That’s not what I meant!”
Giselle jumped in frustration, her tongue getting tangled by his rapid questioning.
She snapped back angrily.
“What is this, an interrogation? You keep firing questions like that, of course I’m going to mess up! Anyway, I don’t know anything. And even if I did—he didn’t die, so isn’t that what matters? Why are you questioning me like this?”
Only then did Adrian smile faintly.
Good. It wasn’t a misunderstanding.
He uncrossed his arms and smiled at her—brightly, for the first time in a while.
“Don’t smile like that. It’s not because I still have feelings or anything. I just acted out of basic human compassion. But seeing how you’re questioning me now, maybe I should’ve just left you alone. Looking at your face… tsk, you look like a smashed persimmon.”
“A smashed… what?”
“It means you look like a mess.”
Adrian touched his face, wondering if his bruises were really that bad.
As Giselle stood up to leave, a faint scent of osmanthus drifted toward him.
He stared absentmindedly as her golden hair fluttered in the breeze.
“If you’re done talking, let’s go. I’m tired after praying so much. If I collapse here, you’ll have to carry me again.”
“If you collapse, I’ll carry you again.”
Giselle’s eyes widened.
For a moment, her amber eyes reflected the sunset, glowing like gold and starlight.
Unaware of how she looked, she spoke quickly,
“Are you crazy? I almost died from the guilt last time, and you want me to go through that again?”
“You felt guilty toward me?”
“Well… I’d be lying if I said no. Anyway, let’s call it even. I helped you, you helped me. So don’t come bothering me again just to show me that smashed-persimmon face.”
With that, she turned sharply and walked down the steps.
As he followed behind her, Adrian smiled faintly, still catching her lingering scent.
***
How did he figure it out? Why did he jump to the conclusion that I was trying to save him just because I asked my brother to buy beer?
The way Adrian asked, as if I had saved him, kept bothering me.
Maybe I shouldn’t have interfered…
But I saw his face. If Lucas had arrived even a little later, he would’ve been completely beaten up.
And how much did he even drink to end up like that?
Honestly, why would a grown man get into a fight at a tavern in the first place?
I paced around my room, replaying yesterday’s events.
When Adrian came to the temple, I thought he was there to argue about our broken engagement again.
Because usually, it’s considered polite not to show personal emotions in front of a priest.
But he had walked toward me with a clearly uncomfortable expression when he saw me with Lurbihi.
Yet instead of the engagement, he focused on something else entirely.
He asked if I had tried to save him—and didn’t believe my denial at all.
And strangely, he didn’t seem curious at all about my foresight abilities.
Most people would ask where that power comes from, how I know things, or about their own future.
But Adrian didn’t care about any of that.
He only cared whether I had been concerned about him.
So what if I was?
What difference would that make?
You don’t like me, and I don’t like you—so what does it matter?
Like I said, it was just basic human decency.
I snapped out of my thoughts and pulled the bell cord.
“Your Highness, did you call me?”
Lin rushed in.
I stood in front of the mirror and took off my indoor robe.
“Yeah, can you help me get dressed?”
“Yes. Are you going somewhere?”
“Not exactly. Sir Christoph is coming to the palace later.”
Lin brought my chosen outfit and asked carefully,
“Your Highness… may I ask something?”
“Hmm?”
“Are you really going to… you know, date freely?”
Did she read my declaration or something?
How does she already know?
“Why? Is that weird?”
“No, it’s amazing. It used to be frustrating watching you focus on just one person, but now it feels refreshing—even for me.”
Lin’s eyes sparkled with excitement.
In this era, most people meet one person and marry them.
But did I really have to do the same?
“Well, there are benefits to loving just one person—but my situation is different. Now I need to meet someone truly decent. So I should choose carefully.”
“Then… does Sir Christoph count as that kind of person?”
“Christoph? No, he’s just a friend.”
“A friend?”
Yeah… that’s what I thought.
We shared childhood memories, and I figured he was just a decent friend.
But then… what’s with that huge gemstone ring?
