episode_0022

‘To think you visited twice in one day…’

At that moment, Lumen found herself unable to shake off the extraordinary situation of encountering the remarkable nobleman, whom she usually found hard to catch a glimpse of, not just once but twice in a single day.

‘Surely… his words about that man aren’t real.’

Astia likes her.

What an absurd thing to say.

How could someone as remarkable as Astia find anything lacking and like herself?

If anything, it was because she lacked nothing that anyone could love her, but there was no room for such thoughts for this pitiful man.

However,

No matter how much she thought about it, there was no reason for Astia to visit her flower shop twice.

She had recently gone on an official visit to the Armenian Kingdom, and there had been no major battles since then, so there was no need for her to recharge with potions like Verdant.

Or rather, was it really plausible that a woman with overwhelming power like hers would recharge with flowers like Verdant instead of something like a potion?

‘Surely… is it true?’

Lumen remembered something the man had said.

He had come to give a gift but felt too embarrassed and left without doing so.

If that were true, she could come up with a somewhat reasonable hypothesis.

That she came to give him a present but failed and left, then gathered the courage to come again but failed once more… It was truly a ridiculous hypothesis.

‘Who am I to think… Lady Astia wouldn’t show such interest in me.’

However.

If, by chance,

Astia were to return within a short time.

Then she vowed to confess her feelings to her.

Unlike the always dignified Astia, Lumen was just an ordinary man.

It was precisely because she was convinced that the other party would not reciprocate that she could make such a pledge based on a small hope.

‘If not…’

I might as well die.

Even if there was no intention to kill, he would perish from the momentary chill that emanated from his fleeting anger.

The gap between him and Astia was overwhelmingly vast.

Anger so overwhelming that it could cost a life just for a momentary loss of control.

With such a fierce heart, someone opened the door and reached his sanctuary.

“Today, there are many customers.”

Usually, there are hardly any customers at all, but both Astia and the man from earlier were here today. It was definitely busier than usual.

And the one who walked in like that was…

“I see you again…”

It was Astia, who had severely criticized Lena and visited the flower shop once again.

“Yes, Mr. Astia.”

“Sigh…”

Was it because Astia was under the mistaken delusion that she liked him?

For some reason, she felt that Astia was embarrassed.

“Mr. Astia.”

“Yes?”

“May I ask you for a favor?”

Seeing Lumen speak with a serious expression after a long time, Astia began to feel both pleased with his new demeanor and nervous to the point where her heart trembled.

‘He probably hates me, after all.’

There was enough reason for that.

Knowing that Astia would boldly eat the flowers she painstakingly tailored and sold, if she were to ask him not to eat her flowers, Astia’s justification for visiting the flower shop would completely disappear.

The fear that their relationship would end made Astia’s body start to tremble.

‘If I can’t come back to the flower shop…’

Should she completely bind him under her control as Lena said?

As Astia nurtured dark thoughts within her fear, a sound like a ray of light reached her.

“Could you, perhaps, date me?”

It wasn’t such a grand statement.

It was nothing more than directly conveying her feelings without any embellishment.

“Yes… Yes?”

But the effect was tremendous.

Astia looked down at Lumen, her cheeks turning red in an instant.

“I understand very well that I am far from your league, Mr. Astia. If I were to say that it was from the moment we first met, it would be a lie, but at least from the third time we met, I fell for you. Even if a lowly flower shop owner like myself committed the sin of confessing to you, I have no words even if you were to kill me.”

Actually, Astia hardly heard the last part.

“Lumen… likes me?”

With Lumen firmly establishing that absolute fact, Astia’s lingering fear completely disappeared.

The reason Astia hadn’t confessed to Lumen was her concern that showing affection would distance their relationship.

Now, there was no reason for her to hold back any expressions of affection, as it wouldn’t create distance between them.

*Thump!*

Astia tightly embraced Lumen.

Despite Lumen feeling a rather intense chill, even though she claimed to be in control, she never faced a deadly situation, no matter how long she waited.

“Of course.”

Astia’s words meant she accepted Lumen’s confession, but Lumen interpreted it as her accepting her own demise.

It was a quickly resolved incident, but for onlookers, it was quite an entertaining spectacle.

****

“I won.”

As I confidently spoke, Kristia made a sour expression.

“This is beyond my expectations.”

Astia and Lumen were truly in a beautiful love.

Their difference in status was as vast as the sky and the earth, yet they continued their sweet and adorable romance.

“Well, then, should we go immediately from tomorrow midnight?”

“… Can’t we postpone it a bit? I’m worried that if I rest too long, the kingdom might suffer paralysis.”

“I know very well that taking one more day off won’t cause any problems for the kingdom.”

I don’t understand why she’s so reluctant.

I haven’t treated her harshly or anything.

“So, let’s go right from tonight at midnight.”

“… Fine, I got it.”

I was already looking forward to tonight.

Of course, just because I said so, it didn’t mean I had any intention of engaging in sexual relations.

It was only a short time, barely 24 hours, so I needed to spend that time as reasonably as possible.

“Phew… How about we adjust the contract a bit? Instead of from midnight to midnight, I think it would be better for both of us to have it from 7 p.m. to 7 p.m. the next day.”

It wasn’t a bad suggestion.

In the end, it was give and take.

“Okay.”

I’m fine with that.

With that in mind, I waited for 7 o’clock to come.

“Hah, did you really want to hear me talk like this?”

“Wow… hearing your tone in that voice feels so unreal.”

With a dignified voice like Kristia’s, she spoke with her characteristic slightly sulky tone, creating a gap in feeling, yet her charm was no joke.

“Maybe it’s because it’s me that you’re feeling this charm…”

She was truly adorable.

“It’s been 15 years for me, so it feels unfamiliar.”

“What do you mean unfamiliar? It’s just like three weeks ago.”

“For you, it might be three weeks ago, but for me, it’s a whopping 15 years ago.”

Seohyun chuckled lightly as she spoke.

Speaking from a much higher place than me, the intimidation was no joke, but even that was appealing.

“Also, there’s one thing I haven’t decided. Should I just keep the same personality?”

As she said that, Seohyun tightly embraced me.

My frail body instantly found itself nestled in Seohyun’s embrace, and being the recipient, rather than feeling warm and cozy, it felt more chilly than anything.

“Even when I was in Korea, if I had a physique as big as yours, I probably would have acted the same way as I do now.”

“Hey! Let go! Ouch!”

In her strong embrace, which caused my body to ache slightly, I inadvertently let out a scream.

Well, I do like being held tightly, but pain is still pain.

“So, you should know that I’m absolutely not violating any terms of the contract with you.”

Then she started to gently tickle me, and as I began to get used to it, apart from squirming due to the sensation that never quite became familiar, there was nothing else I could do.

“You perverted weirdo!”

“You didn’t know? I’m a pervert. If you knew that Christia based it on my preferences, you’d probably be so surprised that you’d faint.”

Yeah, go ahead and faint.

I retaliated by pushing my head back into Seohyun’s body.

“Okay, I fainted. Any complaints?”

Saying that, as I looked up, Seohyun was looking down at me with an expression that seemed to say, “There’s no way such a cute creature exists.”

“Ah… You really are so cute, aren’t you, Oppa?”

“What’s cute about me? You’re much cuter.”

At my words, Seohyun’s cheeks momentarily flushed before quickly settling back to normal.

“[Last time you said I had charisma, didn’t you? You’ve always been in the cute position, just like that!]”

As I spoke confidently, Seohyun seemed to wear a slightly suppressed expression.

‘That’s Seohyun for you.’

I always thought I was in control!

But as I thought this way,

“You’re really damn cute.”

It seems she was just suppressing the desire to pounce on me.