The one thing Claisey hadn’t considered was that Kishin had never kissed anyone before, either.
The only difference between them was that while one had only ever been rejected, the other had only ever been the one to reject.
Kishin looked down at Claisey’s eyelids and her softly trembling lashes, feeling perplexed.
He knew Claisey wanted something, but it was all so sudden.
As someone who pursued perfection, Kishin was also worried about how a kiss would feel to her. He wasn’t ready yet.
However, her lips, pressed tightly together as if she had made a firm resolution, were undeniably hard to refuse.
After a moment of hesitation, Kishin lightly pressed his lips against her forehead.
As he lingered there, she lifted her eyelids and looked straight up at him.
Her pupils, usually light brown under the sunlight, had turned pitch black. It was his favorite color.
Impulsively, he shifted his position and kissed her eyelid once more.
“Sir Kishin….”
As she whispered in a voice smaller than usual, Kishin felt the situation become difficult and agonizing.
* * *
As Claisey walked down the central staircase holding Kishin’s hand, she suddenly felt embarrassed by everything.
A thought crossed her mind that everyone in this house must know that she and Kishin had just shared a kiss on the forehead.
She knew it was ridiculous, but since the thought wouldn’t stop, Claisey pulled her hand away from Kishin entirely.
“Is something wrong?”
Kishin looked at her with a puzzled expression, but Claisey deliberately crossed her arms to keep her hands to herself and hurried down the stairs with quick, little steps.
Inside the carriage on the way back, Kishin insisted on sitting right next to Claisey. His knees were pressed tightly against hers, without a fraction of space between them.
This time, Claisey held Kishin’s hand tightly and didn’t pull away.
When the carriage swayed, Claisey leaned toward Kishin on purpose. When she glanced up, she saw the corners of Kishin’s mouth curled softly upward.
‘Was my scheme too obvious?’
Her face flushed with heat, but Claisey closed her eyes and whispered, pretending she didn’t know.
“I’m happy because I’m with you, Sir Kishin.”
Because they traveled back like this, the distance from the 3rd Street of Taywood to the 11th Street of Hod felt exceptionally short to Claisey today.
However, after returning home in high spirits, the mood inside the house was quite gloomy.
Merran, Anna, and Karen were all sitting on the sofa in front of the fireplace, and it seemed the somber atmosphere was due to Merran. Her eyes were visibly swollen.
Claisey, who had come back while still drifting in a blissful dream, sobered up at the sight of Merran’s swollen eyes and asked,
“What’s wrong? Did something happen?”
Anna approached Claisey and answered,
“Miss Merran was very worried because you didn’t come home until late at night, Miss.”
“What?”
‘That can’t be true.’
Claisey looked at Merran with a skeptical expression, but when Merran glared at her resentfully, she quickly adjusted her expression and asked,
“Merran, were you worried about me?”
Karen said in a reproving tone,
“Romance is fine, but please take better care of Miss Merran, Miss Claisey. Thanks to Miss Merran, you’ve earned high marks with the Marchioness of Gosville, and that’s why things are going well, aren’t they?”
“What did I do?”
“Miss Merran was gone for several months before returning, and Sir Kishin has been visiting frequently for months now. Besides, Sir Kishin is a stranger, while Miss Merran is your niece, Miss Claisey. And yet, you’ve cast Miss Merran aside and only look after Sir Kishin…. Even today, you went out just for dinner and stayed out so late that Miss Merran couldn’t even sleep from worrying.”
“Karen, I could understand Merran being immature, but you shouldn’t be. When Merran throws a tantrum, you should soothe her and tell her to go rest. Why are you sitting here throwing one along with her?”
“!”
“Don’t take this the wrong way, Karen, but think about it. If Merran marries Sir Dernic, she’ll become a Grand Duchess. Surely the House of Lije will already have plenty of close aides who are like their hands and feet. If you want to protect Merran there and rise in standing yourself, you need to offer advice when it’s necessary.”
Karen looked stunned, and Merran stared at Claisey with wide-open eyes.
Claisey quickly headed to her bedroom.
* * *
From the next day on, Claisey became busy.
First, on April 2nd, she wrote down the dates she wanted for the wedding in September or October and delivered them to the Marchioness of Gosville.
With this information, the Marchioness would coordinate the wedding date with her mother through urgent reports or letters.
On April 3rd, she went to meet the designer, Miss Ibje, with the Marchioness of Gosville to order the wedding dress.
However, the designer had been suddenly summoned by the Empress and hadn’t returned, so they had to wait for three hours before leaving, even though they had made an appointment in advance.
The Marchioness of Gosville bought her a meal at a nearby restaurant and complained,
“This is the disadvantage of using the same designer as the Empress. Her top priority is always the Empress, the Empress Dowager, or the Princess. Even if you make an appointment in advance, this is how it goes.”
“Do the royals not make separate appointments when they call her?”
“Appointment? What appointment. They just call when they need her. And then she has to go, no matter what.”
The Marchioness looked very anxious, so Claisey tried her best to comfort her.
“Even if the wedding is on September 1st, we still have several months left. Don’t be too anxious. We don’t have to prepare the dress this quickly.”
“To make a dress without any flaws, you have to spend three months on it, Claisey. But Miss Ibje won’t be working exclusively on our dress all day long, will she? That’s why we must commission it as soon as possible.”
‘So, the atmosphere of the Capital’s high society is definitely different because of the imperial family.’
Claisey thought it was fascinating and asked the Marchioness a few more questions about the imperial family.
On April 4th and 5th, she was busy preparing for Merran’s birthday party.
Although it was a small party inviting only a few close friends, it took more work than expected because she wanted to decorate the entire house.
Still, Claisey put in the effort to decorate so Merran wouldn’t feel slighted, and she sent out party invitations to friends in the Capital.
As for these “close friends,” she couldn’t invite Florence, so for Claisey, there was only Kishin.
Merran naturally invited Dernic and even received a firm reply that he would attend.
Seeing Merran so triumphant, Claisey thought that Dernic must have feelings for her after all. When Claisey had invited him before, hadn’t he taken a long time just to reply with a rejection?
And finally, on April 6th, it was Merran’s birthday.
Claisey was fixing her hair one last time in her room. Outside the window, she heard a bright voice say, “Sir Dernic!”
‘It’s not time yet, is it? Already?’
Surprised, Claisey walked to the window and saw Kishin and Dernic getting out of the same carriage, with Merran standing beside it.
Claisey hadn’t called out, “Sir Kishin!”, but he seemed to know somehow; he lifted his head toward the window where Claisey was, right in the middle of greeting Merran.
When Claisey waved back, accidentally still holding the ribbon she hadn’t tied yet, Kishin pulled a handkerchief from his pocket and waved it back, too.
Claisey burst into laughter.
‘I never would have thought it, but he surprisingly likes to joke around.’
But Kishin’s actions gave energy to Claisey, who had been exhausted for the past few days.
Claisey quickly finished tying her ribbon and went down the stairs.
Kishin, Dernic, and Merran were just entering the front gate at that moment.
Claisey greeted Kishin and then welcomed Dernic warmly.
“It’s been a while, Sir Dernic. Have you been well? I heard you and Merran had a fun time in Greengold City?”
Although she had rejected his proposal for a political marriage, it hadn’t been a proposal made out of affection on his part anyway. Since both she and he acknowledged that fact, Claisey didn’t feel particularly uncomfortable seeing Dernic.
“Ah, yes.”
“?”
To her surprise, Dernic’s answer was much shorter than usual.
Moreover, he had clearly been smiling just a moment ago, but as soon as Claisey spoke to him, all traces of that smile vanished from his face.
‘Uh… what is this? Is he angry with me?’
Claisey couldn’t understand why Dernic was acting this way, so she looked at Kishin.
However, Kishin also wore a surprised expression. It seemed he didn’t know why Dernic was suddenly acting so cold toward Claisey either.
Though she was completely bewildered, Claisey tried to speak to him in a friendly manner once more.
“Sir Dernic, why have you become so reticent since I last saw you?”
She intentionally plastered a smile across her face, but it was to no avail.
“Because I don’t like it.”
“!”
Dernic’s response was once again very short, intense, and unpleasant.
Claisey dropped her smile and asked,
“What don’t you like? You don’t mean to say you dislike me, do you?”
Not once since their first meeting had Dernic ever shown such an attitude. They had often bickered and he had always been headstrong, but wasn’t he, at his core, a kind person?
“That is correct. So, do not speak to me.”
“!”
Claisey looked up in shock and made eye contact with Merran, who was smiling.