Chapter 171

“I missed you. So much that even I find it strange.”

The words Cedric had spoken inside the carriage became Harriet’s, turning over in her mind every day. She missed him—deeply, inexplicably.

She dreamed of him almost every night.

In her dreams, Cedric smiled at her without exception and spoke softly, teasing words whose meaning she could never quite grasp.

When she woke from those dreams, her chest would ache so badly she had to curl up for a long time. Sometimes she felt pathetic for being like that and shed a few tears. Other times, she wondered if there was any way to erase these feelings.

Then one morning, after waking without dreaming of him at all, Harriet felt an emptiness—and realized something.

‘Liking him isn’t pain. It’s happiness.’

The fact that meeting Cedric had brought her sadness and loneliness didn’t make her want to avoid him. That alone…