Chapter 2

When he spoke, Yvette let out a small sound of wonder.

‘Wow, even his voice is good.’

His voice was a low mid-tone, pleasant in exactly the right way.

She had not heard it properly earlier, with her mind in such chaos, but now that she had noticed it, she wanted to keep listening.

‘So even dead drunk, I still had the presence of mind to judge a face.’

Yvette looked at him with complicated feelings.

He was handsome enough to make her eyes spin, but the fact remained that they were strangers.

“…Um, might I ask your name?”

“My name?”

“Yes. Given the situation, I think I should at least know your name.”

Yvette asked, forcing herself to stay composed.

Perhaps it was an unexpected question, because the man’s expression shifted strangely.

“…Noel. Call me Noel.”

After a moment’s deliberation, he gave his name.

Yvette took a short breath and pressed on.

“All right, Noel. I’ve never been through anything like this, so I’m a little flustered. Would you mind explaining?”

“Explaining?”

“Yes. Explaining.”

Yvette pointed at Noel with a grave face.

“Why am I in the same room as you, dressed like this?’

“…Don’t tell me you don’t remember?”

Noel asked, one eyebrow arched.

When Yvette nodded without a word, the corners of his mouth slowly curled upward.

“I see.”

He muttered briefly and thrust his hand crookedly into his pocket.

“Perhaps it would be better if you didn’t remember.”

At his murmur, which sounded almost like a thought spoken aloud, Yvette swallowed dryly.

“Why? Did I do something wrong?”

When she asked, uneasy, Noel shrugged.

“Who knows. Whether you’d call it a mistake…”

He let the sentence trail off on purpose, then grinned.

“Last night, you threw yourself at me.”

“…What?”

Her eyes rolled slowly.

Yvette ransacked her memory in desperate haste.

And the memories of last night surfaced, faint and blurred.

[No. Don’t go.]

[…If you do this, you’ll be in trouble.]

[It’s fine. Just… give it to me.]

Yvette stopped there and buried her face in both hands.

Whatever else she might not know, one thing was certain: she had been the one to grab hold of Noel.

The moment she realized it, her face burned bright red.

It felt as though all the heat in her body was rushing to her head.

“I’m sorry. I must not have been in my right mind last night, with all that drinking.”

“You certainly did seem thoroughly drunk.”

Noel nodded, his expression unreadable.

Unlike Yvette, he did not look the least bit flustered by the situation.

“…I’m asking just in case, really.”

After a brief pause, Yvette gathered her courage and spoke again.

“Did we… go all the way?”

Noel faltered at the blunt question.

“…Do you want an honest answer?”

When he asked meaningfully in return, Yvette hurriedly shook her head.

“No. Please don’t answer that. I’ll just decide for myself.”

Faintly, the memory of being held in his arms surfaced.

It was so blurred that she could hardly tell dream from reality.

But given the situation, the latter was far more likely.

‘Let’s not think about it.’

Yvette shook her head.

Dwelling on it would only embarrass her further.

‘…Still, thanks to meeting him, the curse is broken, so I suppose I should count that as a stroke of luck.’

Once the shock of spending a night with a stranger had faded somewhat, she found she could think rationally again.

‘If it’s someone like him, he wouldn’t be a bad destined partner…’

That was when it happened.

A thought struck her, and Yvette’s eyes flew wide open.

‘Come to think of it, didn’t they say flowers bloom on the tattoo when you meet your destined partner?’

Yvette spun around and ran straight to the bathroom. Then, with a heart full of surely not, she checked the mirror.

“The flowers bloomed…”

Looking into the mirror, Yvette caught her breath.

The slip she wore was sleeveless, leaving her nape and arms bare.

Thanks to that, she could easily see the tattoo that climbed to her nape.

On the branch that had been empty, a single flower the size of half her palm was in bloom.

Its color was the pale silver-blue of Noel’s eyes.

‘So he really was my destined partner.’

Yvette stared blankly into the mirror.

What were the odds of meeting the destined partner she had not encountered in twenty years within a few hours—and not just anywhere, but in a cheap tavern?

At first, she had thought it impossible.

But the impossible had happened.

‘…So this is what a destined partner means?’

Just yesterday, she had been certain she would never meet him.

It was too extraordinary a timing to write off as mere coincidence.

“…I’m telling you just in case, but I didn’t leave any marks.”

Noel, who had come to stand beside her before she knew it, spoke.

At the sound of his voice, Yvette flinched and turned.

Noel was leaning against the doorway, watching her.

His calm gaze rested on her nape.

“I didn’t want to put you in an awkward position over what happened yesterday.”

“…Ah.”

Yvette, realizing his meaning a beat late, flushed.

She hastily covered her nape and backed away.

‘Wait. Now that I think about it, I’m wearing nothing but a slip!’

Unlike Noel, who was fully dressed, she had on a single thin slip.

As Yvette hurriedly turned her back, she heard a soft laugh behind her.

“Isn’t it a little late to be shy?”

“Enough, get out this instant!”

“If that’s what you want.”

At her outburst, Noel withdrew obediently.

Just before the bathroom door closed, a voice tinged with laughter slipped through the gap.

“There’s a robe inside, so put that on first.”

“…Where are my clothes?”

“It got dirty because you spilled your drink.

I sent a knight to buy you a new one, so wait a little.”

‘I must have caused every kind of scene imaginable.’

Yvette looked down at her own attire with a troubled expression.

She felt as if she would crawl into a mouse hole that very moment if one existed.

“……Maybe it’s actually a relief that I don’t remember.”

Yvette muttered as if sighing and slipped into the robe hanging in the corner of the bathroom.

The generously sized robe hung loose, as if it might slip off at any moment.

Yvette pulled the robe’s sash tight and tied it, then poked only her face out through the gap in the door.

“Do you happen to know when the knight will arrive?”

“Who knows.

He left about thirty minutes ago, so he should be back soon.”

Noel, who was perched on the edge of the bed, answered lightly.

He tilted his head slightly and looked at Yvette.

“By the way, are you planning to stay in there?”

“I feel a bit awkward about coming out, thanks to someone.”

When Yvette answered as if grumbling, Noel laughed aloud.

“This is the first time I’ve seen you get so shy.”

At those words, Yvette tilted her head.

It was because the nuance felt strange.

“Didn’t we meet for the first time yesterday?”

She had naturally assumed they were strangers who had only just met.

When Yvette asked in confusion, Noel’s expression stiffened slightly.

But only for a moment.

Noel quickly smoothed his expression and shrugged.

“……Ah.

That came out wrong.”

Then he naturally changed the subject.

“It must be cold staying in the bathroom.

Are you sure you’re okay?”

“I can handle this much.”

No matter that they had spent a night together, she did not want to be with him in such an embarrassing state.

Yvette leaned her back against the bathroom door and slid down to sit.

Once she had grasped the situation to some extent, all the tension drained from her body.

At the same time, curiosity about Noel stirred.

‘By the way, who on earth is that man?’

Judging by his attire and manner of speech, he was certainly a noble.

But from his name alone, she could not tell exactly who he was or which family he belonged to.

‘Still, he is supposedly my destined partner, so it would be best to find out exactly who he is.’

Of course, she was not planning to do anything just because he was her destined partner.

Because being ‘destined partners’ was, in the end, something decided regardless of her will.

Just because Noel was so handsome that one could lose one’s senses did not mean she could rashly grow close to him.

“Um, Noel.”

“What is it?”

When she cautiously began, the answer came back as if he had been waiting.

‘Asking directly will be faster than worrying about it alone.’

Yvette took a breath and continued.

“Noel, you’re a noble, aren’t you?”

It was a question asked with half certainty.

But for some reason, no answer came even after waiting a long while.

“Noel?”

When calling his name brought no answer, Yvette poked her head out through the gap in the door.

Then she saw Noel looking at her with a serious expression.

“……Are you really asking because you don’t know that?”

Noel asked in a low voice.

Yvette was momentarily flustered by his more serious-than-expected reaction.

‘Did I just make a mistake?’

Wondering if she had wounded his pride, Yvette hurried to explain.

“I’m sorry.

I’m bad at remembering people’s faces.”

“……So you can’t remember people’s faces.”

Noel narrowed his eyes and studied Yvette as if sizing her up.

Yvette met his gaze without knowing why.

At last, Noel let out a soft laugh as if amused.

“I didn’t expect you to say you don’t know the face of the Duke of Averon.”

At that moment, Yvette felt her heart drop.

It was because the name from his lips was terribly familiar.

‘Wait.

The Duke of Averon means, surely…….’

Yvette covered her mouth without realizing it.

She was so shocked that she could not even speak properly.

‘That man is the male lead?’

Noel Averon.

He was the young head of House Averon and known as the richest man in the empire.

He was also the male lead of the novel [Loving Fate].

‘No wonder his air was so extraordinary!’

What with his excessively handsome face and the name ‘Noel.’