Chapter 74
Back then, to overcome the awkward atmosphere, Summer had chattered on about her recent news.
He listened half-heartedly before finally speaking.
‘I should get going now. Someone’s waiting for me.’
‘Oh, really? Could it be the person you said you liked back then?’
In that moment, Summer wanted to bite her own tongue.
She was screaming inwardly about why that topic had to come up, when he said.
‘…Yeah. But did I ever tell you about that?’
‘Just… somehow.’
Faced with the fact that the person she’d confessed to didn’t even remember what he’d said to her, Summer didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.
And with that, the conversation ended.
‘Better this way. It’s clear he doesn’t remember, so let’s be confident, Summer Clopen!’
After all, it had just been a fleeting crush. The connection from the academy—the first place she’d gone of her own will—had made it feel extra thrilling, that was all.
‘But why hasn’t the tall lady contacted me?’
The letter that arrived at the Riverton Barony only said she couldn’t come to greet them due to prior commitments.
She knew the sponsor didn’t want to reveal her identity, yet Summer persisted like this because she wanted to repay the kindness.
‘I’m an academy professor now, after all.’
Appointed as a professor this year, she was no longer the old Summer Clopen.
The academy was an institution recognized even by the imperial family, so it would surely be helpful.
If, by any chance, the tall lady refused to reveal herself, Summer was willing to track her down.
She knew nothing—not gender, age, anything—but judging by the handwriting, it seemed masculine.
Probably deliberately using the title “lady” to hide her true identity.
She couldn’t understand why the sponsor wanted to conceal it so badly, but Summer was quite stubborn herself.
In fact, one reason she’d come to the capital through collaboration with the Magic Tower was to uncover the tall lady’s identity.
From the contents of the letters alone, it was clear the sponsor was in the capital.
‘I’ll definitely find out this time.’
She’d gathered quite a few clues. The most promising was the perfume scent sprinkled on the letters.
That subtle fragrance, which always lingered faintly, couldn’t be found anywhere—she must have made it herself.
Likely a perfume produced and used exclusively by her family.
‘If I can just find the person who uses that scent…!’
With such bold thoughts, she was waiting in the Magic Tower lobby for Eden Maker.
It was pure coincidence that the man who’d just passed by carried exactly that perfume scent.
Summer turned toward him without thinking.
The man, wearing a fedora, gently removed it as he greeted the receptionist.
“Have you been well?”
“Oh my, Prince Peris. It’s been a while.”
“Has it? I should have come more often.”
His voice was warm and gentle, almost melodic.
His black hair gleamed like black pearls, and his contrasting face was pale and refined.
The clothes he wore seemed to be the uniform of the imperial knights.
From how familiar he was with the receptionist, he appeared to have a very sociable personality.
The man signed his name in the visitor’s log at the desk and headed toward the elevator.
Summer quickly bowed her head low. She’d nearly been caught staring.
Once the man had completely disappeared, Summer hurried to the desk.
“I think someone might have written their name wrong in the log earlier—could I check for a moment?”
At Summer’s request, the receptionist showed her the log without suspicion.
Summer examined the man’s handwriting.
[Adrian Peris]
The habit of writing the P particularly large and elongated matched exactly with the tall lady’s.
“Oh my god.”
She hadn’t expected to find out so quickly.
Summer was deeply shocked to learn that the tall lady’s true identity was Adrian Peris.
The Peris ducal family was as unattainably distant as Alferen.
‘That’s why she didn’t say anything.’
Indeed, someone of such high status probably wouldn’t need her help for anything.
As a dejected Summer stood blankly in front of the desk.
“Sorry for being late. I had urgent business outside, so I got delayed. You’re Professor Summer Clopen, right?”
Eden, arriving belatedly, welcomed her and led her to the elevator.
By chance, Adrian Peris was still standing in front of the elevator.
As Summer ended up standing beside him, she unnecessarily hid her face with her bonnet.
“Prince?”
Eden greeted Adrian familiarly.
“It’s Eden.”
“It’s been a while since you’ve visited. After that incident with Lady Rodellia, you hadn’t come, so I thought you were angry with me.”
“I was angry with your superior, not you.”
When Adrian glanced toward Summer, Eden said.
“Ah, this is Professor Summer Clopen, who just came from the academy. …Professor, the gentleman over there is Adrian Peris, prince of the Peris family.”
At the pointed introduction, Summer had no choice but to remove her bonnet and curtsy.
“Hello, Prince. I’m Summer Clopen.”
The moment their eyes met.
Adrian’s pupils widened dramatically. Thanks to that, her tense face stood out even more in his reflection.
His peridot-clear green eyes trembled faintly, as if encountering an earthquake.
After staring at her blankly for a long while, he averted his gaze and covered his mouth with his hand.
“…Sum-mer Clopen. You have a beautiful name.”
In the awkward air, Summer unconsciously stroked her neck.
“I was born in summer, so my mother named me Summer, apparently.”
Adrian said nothing. Feeling embarrassed, Summer added.
“It’s a bit of a lazily chosen name, isn’t it?”
“No! It’s straightforward and pretty. Your mother must have been beautiful.”
What did a pretty name have to do with her mother being beautiful?
Summer stared openly at Adrian Peris—the tall lady who was pretending not to know her.
The more she did, the redder his ears turned, like burning sweet potatoes.
As he even started pressing his body against the wall, Summer held back the laughter threatening to escape.
He seemed tense, worried his identity might be exposed from this unguarded encounter.
Meanwhile, Eden, completely oblivious to the situation, reacted as if wondering why this prince was acting so strangely.
‘No wonder he’s surprised. He wouldn’t have expected to run into me like this.’
It was an unexpected meeting with the woman he’d sponsored while hiding his identity.
It was only natural to be more tense and awkward than usual.
Summer met his green eyes and said.
“Thank you. You are incredibly beautiful too, Prince. Almost like a lady.”
It was her way of signaling that she knew his secret.
“I hear that a lot.”
His unexpected reply came as he completely turned his back.
Then, as the elevator doors opened, he vanished inside without even a farewell.
‘Maybe only I’m glad to see him.’
Feeling somehow slighted, Summer gazed at his retreating figure with a wistful expression.
* * *
Adrian Peris was universally acknowledged as a handsome man and a promising future duke.
Proposals poured in wherever he went, making him immensely popular, yet he’d never once met a woman who truly caught his heart.
Even the ladies everyone praised as beautiful left him unmoved.
Thanks to that, he’d gone without a fiancée until now, but for the first time in his life, he met a woman who sent an electric jolt through his chest.
‘Hello, Prince. I’m Summer Clopen.’
As she removed her bonnet, the hair crammed inside tumbled down.
For a moment, it felt like freesia flowers were cascading—such vivid golden blonde.
He’d never known such large eyes, a refined nose, and dainty lips could fit on such a small, delicate face.
Like a forest fairy who’d slipped into the human world for a brief outing.
When his dream ideal type appeared right before him, Adrian clamped his hand over his mouth to stifle the gasp.
‘How is her name even Summer? She’s summer itself!’
Uncharacteristically nervous, he’d blurted out something foolish, then fled into the elevator out of sheer embarrassment.
As a result, he had to climb ten flights of stairs, but he was glad for it.
It blurred whether his pounding heart was her fault or the stairs’.
Arriving at Alferen’s study like that, Adrian shouted.
“I finally found her! My destined one!”
