A shadow loomed over my otherwise smooth work life.
‘If I had known this would happen, I wouldn’t have taken the job in the Imperial City.’
I wished I had remembered my past life a bit earlier—maybe ten years sooner.
‘But it’s not too late yet.’
As I remained alert to every rumor about the royal marriage and got caught up in work, another week flew by.
‘It’s good that the day to meet Everett is coming quickly, but…’
Despite that, my steps felt heavy as I headed to our meeting place, weighed down by worries.
‘It seems more and more certain that the marriage between the Empire and Bellot is going to happen…’
But if the Emperor marries the Crown Princess of Bellot, what happens to the Saintess? And what about the Emperor’s character development? What will happen to my generally mundane but somewhat irritating work life?
I stopped in the middle of the road, looking up at the sky with a deep sigh.
‘For now, I should lay low and observe the situation.’
The Emperor at this time was like a natural disaster. Even Kyle, the Emperor’s closest advisor, secretly thought the Emperor was unstable.
It was like a calm sea that suddenly turns into a tsunami.
‘The Emperor’s cruel nature was meant to show how much he would change after meeting the heroine.’
But if 90% of the victims of that cruel nature were from the Imperial Palace, wouldn’t that change everything?
‘Many nobles who dared to try taming the Emperor lost their heads because they underestimated him.’
The memory of the Emperor’s brutal actions from the original story made me awkwardly cross myself.
‘I have no such ambitions. Please let last month’s donation still have some effect.’
After a short, worldly prayer, I took a deep breath and walked straight to the exhibition hall where Everett was waiting.
As soon as I spotted him from afar, my steps quickened without me even realizing it.
“Sir Roxas.”
Everett seemed so deep in thought that he didn’t notice me approaching until I called his name and gently took his hand. Only then did his distant gaze refocus on me.
“Miss Diaz.”
Everett was startled, realizing I was there. He hesitated, as if he wanted to pull his hand away, but when he saw my slight disappointment, he stopped.
‘What’s with this reaction? This behavior?’
I pouted playfully.
“Should I not hold your hand?”
Though I had no intention of letting go, I exaggerated a pouty expression, watching as Everett grew visibly flustered and watched my reaction anxiously.
“It’s not that…”
Everett avoided my gaze, his cheeks unusually red, and his golden eyes slightly hazy, but he didn’t seem to dislike it.
‘Is he suddenly getting shy again?’
Why?
We’ve held hands several times already. We even linked arms last time, so why is he suddenly shy now?
I tilted my head in confusion but kept holding his hand.
After a moment, Everett, who had regained some composure, mumbled a small excuse.
“I was just surprised because you suddenly grabbed my hand.”
As our eyes met, Everett’s words trailed off, and his cheeks flushed again. He must have realized his face was heating up because he closed his eyes tightly for a moment.
“Really, it just surprised me.”
Everett emphasized again, as if trying to convince himself.
“Alright, I won’t grab your hand suddenly next time.”
I nodded obediently and smiled sweetly at him.
At that, Everett quickly averted his gaze, his hand warming in mine.
But I only held his hand a bit tighter.
‘As long as it’s not sudden, it’s okay, right?’
I had set a tiny, mischievous trap, so I couldn’t help but smile to myself while glancing at his reddened ears.
‘So, Everett is the type to get easily startled, huh?’
His appearance gave off the impression of someone with nerves of steel, but it seemed there was more to him than met the eye.
‘It’s kind of a surprising charm.’
Realizing that I was interpreting everything about Everett in a positive light, I felt my cheeks flush. Fortunately, Everett was still staring into the distance.
I turned my gaze in the opposite direction from him. We stood there for a moment, back to back, still holding hands.
The cool breeze brushed my cheeks a few times, helping the blush fade away.
“Shall we head inside now?”
I lightly shook Everett’s hand.
“Yes.”
Everett nodded, his cheeks still a bit pink.
* * *
The fourth exhibition, being the last one, had a lot to see.
“They say there are artifacts related to Ego Swords today.”
Since Everett was a knight, I thought this topic might interest him, so I entered the exhibition hall with a bit of confidence.
However, the section dedicated to Ego Swords turned out to be smaller than expected.
“There were a lot of pages about them in the catalog, but there aren’t many artifacts on display,” I said, feeling disappointed. Everett smiled faintly.
“But it was still enjoyable.”
His gaze felt similar to how I looked when watching a puppy playfully barking at a stick. The expression on his face was probably the same one I had when handing out chicken jerky.
The warmth in his spring-like eyes made me want to scratch my entire body from the sudden ticklish feeling.
I avoided his gaze and tugged at the hand I was still holding.
“Then, shall we check out that section over there?”
My ears were burning, making me wonder if I had made a mistake by tying my hair up.
I dragged Everett around the exhibition, him following obediently behind me. Initially, it was just to distract myself, but soon enough, the exhibition had me completely captivated.
“They used different colored gems depending on the type of magic engraved into the ancient artifacts. This later influenced the color theory of mana in subsequent generations….”
The tiny print on the description of a particularly interesting artifact caught my eye, so I leaned in close and read it quietly to myself. From behind, I could feel Everett chuckling softly.
“Why are you laughing?”
I turned to face him, asking curiously.
Caught laughing, Everett looked a bit embarrassed as he replied, “Because you’re cute.”
He seemed surprised by his own words, as if they had bypassed his brain entirely. Flustered, he stammered, “No, I mean…”
After a few failed attempts to find the right words, Everett finally gave up, hiding his face in his hands, looking as if his mind had gone blank.
But I wasn’t in much better shape.
‘He thinks I’m cute.’
The exhibition hall, usually cool because of the stone walls, suddenly felt as hot as a summer day.
I waved my hand in front of my face to cool down.
‘I don’t know what to say.’
The tension between us made my heart race.
‘Sir Roxas, you say the strangest things…’
I couldn’t help but feel a little annoyed at Everett.
Neither of us said a word.
But despite the crowded exhibition hall, it felt like we were the only two people there.
My fingers fidgeted as if they had developed a mind of their own.
“Um, well, we’ve seen everything here!”
“Uh, right. The highlight of this exhibition is just next door. Shall we go check it out?”
After standing there in silence for what felt like an eternity, we finally moved towards the next exhibit, awkwardly making our way there without holding hands this time.
Normally, I would have been fascinated by the artifacts, but nothing seemed to catch my eye.
* * *
We wandered around the exhibition hall twice more, not really paying attention to anything.
‘I need to suggest we leave, but I’m too embarrassed to start a conversation.’
Everett seemed to be in the same boat, and we both pretended to be deeply engrossed in the artifacts while blushing in silence.
Eventually, it was Everett who broke the awkward silence.
“So, that tea room we didn’t get to visit last time…”
Was he referring to the tea room we missed out on because the restaurant reservation ran late and it was too crowded?
“Yes, the tea room.”
I quickly responded before the silence could take over again.
“I remembered that you said you go there often.”
Everett spoke as if he had just thought of it, but his slightly off-target gaze and awkward tone gave me a sense of déjà vu, reminiscent of when he memorized the exhibition catalog.
“I used to go there occasionally. Lately, it’s been too crowded, so I haven’t been able to.”
“Would you like to go back?”
Encouraged by my interest, Everett suggested it more confidently.
“That sounds great.”
I smiled, deciding to postpone the date I had planned for this week—one that I thought Everett would enjoy—until next time.
