Chapter 19

Yvette had not expected him to counter in the same manner, and Noel’s eyes widened for a moment.

Then a deep smile rose to his lips.

“I should have come to find you sooner. I’m sorry for making you wait for nothing.”

“Not at all. Time flies when I’m waiting for you.”

Yvette and Noel exchanged cringe-inducing words as if competing.

Perhaps because they both knew it was acting, they felt even freer saying them.

But Habert, who had no way of knowing that, ended up playing the tactless supporting role wedged between a lovey-dovey couple.

“Ahem, ahem. Then I’ll excuse myself now.”

Habert cleared his throat like someone who had choked and hurriedly retreated.

It seemed he had been fooled by their method acting.

Yvette, who had watched Habert leave with a suspicious eye, let out a sigh.

Once they were alone, a sense of shame washed over her belatedly.

“……Do we really have to go this far?”

“We’re engaged because we love each other, so isn’t this much only natural?”

When Noel muttered as if he were enjoying himself, Yvette shook her head as if there was no helping him.

She did not have the energy to argue with him.

“I heard Veri stopped by a while ago. Did you like her?”

“Yes. Just as you said, she’s very skilled. Her designs were exactly my taste.”

“I’m glad you liked her.”

Noel smiled subtly and lifted his teacup.

Yvette waited until he took a sip before continuing.

“So, why did you come today? I doubt it was because of Veri.”

“It seemed about time we met.”

Noel’s gaze turned to Yvette’s nape.

At his obviously meaningful look, Yvette fiddled with her innocent collar.

“……You’re like a ghost. As it happens, the flower has been withering since yesterday.”

“I’ve always been told I have good instincts.”

Noel let out a soft laugh and then moved to sit beside Yvette.

As he suddenly closed the distance, Yvette unconsciously shifted away.

“……Why are you coming to my side?”

When she sent him a wary look, Noel raised an eyebrow instead.

“Then did you plan to have physical contact while sitting far apart?”

“Ah.”

Only then did Yvette return to her spot, embarrassed.

“Are we holding hands again this time?”

Unlike the somewhat tense Yvette, Noel still looked utterly composed.

When he gestured to his hand with his eyes, Yvette slowly shook her head.

“I think it would be better to move to the next step this time.”

“What’s the next step?”

“Well, obviously, a hug.”

Yvette looked at Noel as if asking why he was stating the obvious.

At that, Noel tilted his head crookedly.

“Isn’t a hug something we already did on our first meeting?”

“That’s true, but still. After holding hands, it’s usually a hug……”

“Repeating an experiment that’s already been done seems like a very inefficient method.”

Noel smiled brightly and met Yvette’s eyes. The slightly upturned corners of his mouth felt mischievous.

“If we’re going to conduct the research properly, we should start from the next step.”

“……”

Yvette quietly shut her mouth.

When you thought about it, Noel wasn’t wrong.

‘……But I’ve never thought about what comes after a hug.’

Yvette lightly bit her lip and let go.

Normally, when people talked about the stages of physical contact, they thought of holding hands, then hugging.

And after that……

“What is my fiancée thinking about, with such a heated gaze?”

Noel raised one eyebrow as Yvette stared only at his lips.

Only after being called out did Yvette snap to her senses.

“Ah, it’s nothing.”

She hurriedly looked away and rose from her seat.

Her face, which she had failed to compose, burned red.

‘I must be crazy. What on earth am I thinking?’

Yvette fanned her face with one hand and spoke to Noel.

“……Let’s move somewhere else first. There are too many eyes here.”

When Yvette rose first, Noel obediently followed her up.

‘Come to think of it, he didn’t style his hair today, for some reason.’

As Yvette walked ahead, she glanced back at Noel.

Noel, who usually dressed impeccably, was wearing a more relaxed outfit today.

“It seems my face is still a wonder to you.”

When she kept stealing glances at his face, Noel smiled softly and asked a question.

Yvette flinched like a child caught doing something wrong and quickly turned her gaze forward.

“It’s just that your atmosphere seems different today.”

“Why. Do you like this look better?”

“No. It’s not particularly that.”

“My fiancée is not very honest.”

“It’s not that I’m dishonest, it’s that Noel’s self-consciousness is too strong.”

As the two bickered and headed toward Yvette’s bedroom.

Filia, who was passing by with laundry, greeted them with a pleased face.

“Where are you two going?”

Filia smiled brightly and approached them.

Yvette smiled back and gestured with her chin toward her bedroom.

“We have something to discuss, so we’re going to my room.”

“……What? You’re going to the Countess’s room together?”

Whatever she had imagined, Filia’s face turned red in an instant.

Seeing that, Yvette realized her mistake belatedly and hurriedly made excuses.

“It’s absolutely not what you’re imagining, so don’t get any weird ideas.”

“What? Yeees……”

Despite her obedient answer, Filia did not seem to believe Yvette at all.

To make matters worse, Noel whispered in Yvette’s ear.

“She’s right, isn’t she. What that maid is imagining.”

“……Be quiet.”

Yvette glared at Noel and then sped up toward her room.

Noel let out a soft laugh and matched his pace with hers.

Some time later, Filia went to Habert and whispered, “I think the Countess might get married soon!”—but that was something Yvette would only learn much later.

* * *

It did not take long to reach her bedroom.

Yvette took a small deep breath and opened the door.

Witley did not have many rooms.

Because of that, the places where the two of them could talk without being disturbed were limited.

Among them, the only space where others would not casually enter was her bedroom.

‘Veri came in here too. There’s no need to be nervous all over again.’

Yvette repeated this to herself and flung the door open.

At that moment, an unexpected person greeted her.

“Yvette!”

Iden, who had been sitting on the bed swinging his feet, sprang up like a coil the moment he spotted her.

He was holding a storybook in his arms.

“Iden?”

Yvette looked at Iden with wide eyes.

Since they had grown close, Iden occasionally came to her room asking her to read to him.

It seemed he had developed a taste for it after she read to him each time.

“Did you come to ask me to read to you again today?”

At her question, Iden nodded vigorously.

He looked at Yvette with sparkling eyes, then belatedly spotted Noel behind her and flinched.

He apparently had not expected her to have a guest.

When his eyes met Noel’s, Noel raised one eyebrow.

Unlike Noel, who wore an interested expression, Iden turned his head sharply and ignored him.

Noel, suddenly rendered invisible, let out a small hollow laugh.

“Iden, I have something to do right now, so could I read the storybook to you later?”

Yvette bent her knees slightly to meet Iden’s eye level.

At another time, she would have read to him right away, but now she had something she had to do.

“Later when?”

Iden asked cautiously, visibly disappointed.

Yvette stroked his head and answered gently.

“Soon. I promise I’ll read to you today.”

“Promise?”

“Yes. I promise.”

When Yvette held out her pinky finger, Iden smiled brightly and grabbed her finger.

Then, taking advantage of the moment when Yvette was not looking, he shot Noel a victorious smile.

Noel, who had witnessed the expression clearly, let out an incredulous laugh.

“I’ll come back later, Yvette! You have to keep your promise, okay?”

With that brief farewell, Iden dashed out.

Noel, who had been staring quietly at his retreating figure, muttered.

“You’re loved by your servants.”

“Does it look that way?”

When Yvette asked as if unsure, Noel nodded.

“Yes. I can feel that everyone is affectionate toward you.”

Noel said this and perched on the edge of Yvette’s bed. His attitude was so natural, as if it were his own house, that Yvette let out a deflated laugh.

“Anyone would think this was your room, Noel.”

“It’s my fiancée’s room, so it’s no different from my own.”

“……Tell me honestly. Noel, you’ve gotten a taste for the word ‘fiancée,’ haven’t you?”

“More precisely, I’ve gotten a taste for the person the word refers to.”

Seeing Noel smiling with his eyes curved, Yvette subtly looked away.

No matter how many times she saw it, she could not get used to that smile.

‘It feels like my heart is being pounded on when I look at it…….’

Anyway, it was a face harmful to one’s health in many ways.

“So what’s the next step we need to do?”

Noel, even sitting on the bed, did not lose his relaxed attitude.

Yvette, on the other hand, was gradually feeling tension.

“……I’ve been thinking, and I think the next step is this after all.”

After hesitating for a while, Yvette settled down next to Noel.

As the distance closed, Noel stared intently at her face.

At his piercing gaze, Yvette grumbled.

“It’s too much pressure when you stare like that.”

When Yvette pulled back, Noel let out a soft laugh.

“Then shall I close my eyes?”

“Yes. I think that would be better.”

At those words, Noel readily closed his eyes.

In a closed room alone with her, sitting on a bed no less, he did not seem nervous in the slightest.

Yvette, on the other hand, tried to keep her breathing quiet, afraid her breaths might sound too loud.

‘Normally, shouldn’t the person receiving it be the one whose heart flutters?’

Why was her heart fluttering as she looked at the face of a man with his eyes closed?

Yvette thought something had gone very wrong and slowly approached Noel.

* * *

Meanwhile, Noel Averon was not as calm as Yvette imagined.

Not that he was nervous. But that did not mean he was unaffected either.

The blanket rustled with the slightest movement.

The warmth reaching him from the other person even without touching.

And even the warm breath tickling his ear.

With his eyes closed, every sense felt doubly sharp.

‘It’s been a while since I closed my eyes like this in front of someone else.’

While Yvette hesitated in front of him, Noel fell into brief reflection.

Whenever he closed his eyes, he always imagined a blade flying at him. It was a habit that had begun in a childhood he could not even remember.

Most of the time it remained imagination, but occasionally that imagination became reality.

Because of that, Noel tended to avoid situations where he was alone with another person.