Chapter 11
When the night breeze brushed against her hair, he hesitated for only a moment before taking off his jacket and handing it to her.
Shallen accepted it, paused briefly, then slowly draped it over her shoulders.
“Thank you.”
Kardin sat down beside her, leaving a small distance between them.
“It’s nothing. As you said, the sky is very clear.”
They both looked up at the sky in silence.
Keeping his gaze fixed above, Kardin spoke again.
“Do you dislike banquets?”
At his question, Shallen thought for a moment, then lowered her head slightly and answered with a faint smile.
“It’s my first one.”
Kardin recalled how she had looked earlier at the banquet.
For someone attending her first, she hadn’t looked nervous at all—the way she smiled while speaking to the king and the gentle lines of her dancing were vivid in his memory.
When he didn’t respond, Shallen turned her head slightly to look at him.
Even sitting with her legs crossed, she carried an air of dignity.
As she stared absentmindedly, she suddenly turned her head when voices and approaching footsteps reached them.
“Did you see that earlier?”
“See what?”
They were palace servants, walking by with empty bottles in their hands.
“What do you mean, ‘what’? The Grand Duke and the Saintess!”
The other woman nodded as if finally remembering.
“Oh! I think that was the first time I’ve ever seen the Grand Duke dance.”
“That’s not all! After the saintess left the hall, the grand duke followed her out!”
“Right? Did you see the way they looked at each other while dancing? I thought I was reading a romance novel.”
As their excited, giggling voices grew louder, Kardin grabbed Shallen’s wrist and quickly pulled her behind a pillar where the moonlight didn’t reach.
Shallen understood immediately.
If rumors spread, it would trouble him.
After all, gossip always bloomed from conversations like these.
Only then did she realize how close they were, pressed together as his quiet voice came from just above her.
“If that conversation upset you, I apologize.”
Shallen shook her head gently.
His voice and actions carried no emotion—but her heart still raced on its own, foolishly.
Her resolve from earlier felt meaningless now.
Perhaps it was a small blessing that, under the dim moonlight, her feelings weren’t laid bare.
Kardin held her arms lightly and waited until the footsteps faded.
When the presence disappeared, he lowered his head slightly.
Being suddenly trapped like this might have startled her, yet she asked him nothing—
as if she naturally understood the situation, her expression calm.
Her already pale skin looked even whiter against her blue eyes.
A small, straight nose. Red lips.
A woman who looked young, yet somehow mature at the same time.
It was the same face he had seen when they first met—
Yet seeing her again after leaving the banquet, she felt different.
No… Even from the first moment he saw her here, she had carried a presence unlike anyone else.
“Do you think they’re gone now?”
Her red lips parted as she lifted her head slightly.
As moonlight quietly illuminated the dark corner, only she was reflected in his eyes—
and only he was reflected in hers.
Kardin stared at her silently for a moment, then quickly stepped back and released her arms.
“It seems they’ve left.”
Shallen nodded slowly and took off the jacket resting on her shoulders.
Standing on her toes, she draped it back over his shoulders—just as she had been moments before.
“That’s a relief.”
“The night air will still be cold on your way back.”
As he placed his hand on the jacket, Shallen smiled faintly and shook her head.
“It’s close. I don’t like it when you’re cold. Then… I’ll go in first.”
“……”
Shallen stepped out into the brighter part of the garden and turned around.
Looking at him still standing there, she lifted the corners of her trembling lips into a bright smile, bowed briefly, then turned her back and left the garden.
Don’t look back.
She told herself that firmly.
She decided to think of today as a sweet illusion—
one that felt like it might melt everything away.
After she left, her favorite scent lingered in the air.
Kardin walked back and sat down again, lifting his gaze to the sky.
With an uncharacteristically absent look, he traced Shallen’s face in his mind, then suddenly wondered why he had come here in the first place.
His gaze drifted to the seat where she had been sitting.
What had he come to say to her?
Staring at the spot she had occupied, Kardin recalled the image of her crying.
Had he come to tell her that a handkerchief wasn’t meant just for looking at?
Just that?
Or had he come to ask why she was crying here again?
No matter how he thought about it, his own actions made no sense.
He let out a quiet, incredulous laugh.
Why was he so curious about that woman?
He felt ridiculous.
He could have simply dismissed her as a woman who cried easily.
Kardin looked back up at the night sky.
Deciding that he had come out merely to get some air, he stood up.
With long strides, running a hand through his hair, he crossed the garden—not toward the palace rooms, but toward where the Grand Duke’s carriage was waiting.
* * *
Everything was over.
Early the next morning, the temple delegation and I boarded the carriage and left the Helen Kingdom, heading back to the temple.
As I stared out the window, a bright voice made me turn my head.
“Saintess! How was your first banquet as a Saintess?”
“Well… I’m not sure.”
Amy bit her lower lip and fidgeted with her hands.
“It looks like our Amy has something else she really wants to ask.”
Amy’s eyes widened like lanterns.
“Huh?! How did you know? Is that also one of your Saintess powers?!”
“Of course not. What are you so curious about?”
Smiling gently, I waited for her to speak.
After hesitating, Amy finally blurted out, her face flushed.
“Well… I heard you danced with the Grand Duke Ferdian.”
“I did.”
“Everyone’s talking about it! They say it was the first time the Grand Duke ever danced at a banquet! The first time! Do you think he fell for you at first sight?!”
So that was what she’d been holding back.
Strangely enough, the fact that I had been Kardin’s first dance partner made me happy.
But the one who fell at first sight wasn’t him—
“Actually, I was the one who asked him to dance.”
“What?! You did, Saintess?!”
Amy covered her mouth with both hands, eyes wide.
Seeing her, I smiled and continued as if reminiscing.
“He was handsome. And very well-mannered.”
“But the rumors say he’s cold and indifferent.”
I chuckled.
“Rumors are just rumors.”
“Then, to you, Saintess…?”
“Though it was a short meeting, he was a man who left a strong impression.”
I answered her question with a faint smile and turned my gaze back to the window.
Amy blushed and covered her mouth again, her voice slipping through her fingers.
“S-so is that why you came back late last night?! Because of the Grand Duke?!”
The memory of dancing with Kardin—and seeing him again afterward—surfaced in my mind.
I needed to forget it.
Staring at the unremarkable greenery outside, I answered quietly.
“Maybe.”
“Huh?”
As the green-lined road came to an end, the carriage slowly began to slow down.
Looking at the puzzled Amy, I spoke.
“It seems we’ve arrived at the temple.”
At my words, Amy pressed both hands to the window and looked out.
“Oh! You’re right!”
I had returned to where I belonged.
As if I had turned back time just for that single day.
