Chapter 1

“Let’s stop dragging this out, shall we?”

Esadien calmly studied the woman sitting across from him.  

They had met too many times to count—her face was certainly not unfamiliar—yet the look in her eyes was as if she were seeing a stranger.

A small nose and plump lips suited her petite face, with pale brows arching delicately above.  

‘She hasn’t changed since the first time we met.’  

But the sky-blue eyes that once always held a bright smile were now furrowed in a frown as they looked at him.

It hurt—more than he expected—that the same smile she had shown the attendant who brought her tea was never directed at him anymore.  

While Esadien swallowed the ache tightening in his chest, she, evidently tired of waiting, urged him impatiently.

“Say something. You’re the one who insisted on meeting again and again. We’re ending this today.”

Just remembering everything made her grind her teeth.  

This wretched Prince had followed her around relentlessly, showing up at tea parties uninvited and occupying a seat until she left. A Prince, waiting around like that—what a sight.

“Minuelle.”

Minuelle.  

At the sound of her name from Esadien’s lips, Minuelle Karnian, the youngest daughter of Duke Karnian, let out a long, exaggerated sigh.

“Excuse me, Your Highness. But we are not on a first-name basis. That was unpleasant. Kindly refrain from doing that again.”

“Why… not? Minuelle, you’re my fiancée.”

A vein twitched on Minuelle’s elegant forehead.  

The next second, her dainty gloved hand slammed down on the table.

“Exactly! That’s why I said let’s break off the engagement! Don’t tell me you don’t know what that means?”

Even as she glared daggers at him, Esadien didn’t look away.  

The word breakup had long since been erased from his vocabulary. It didn’t exist.

But that stubbornness only infuriated Minuelle more. Was he made of bamboo or something?

“Ugh! I’m telling you to drop it. I don’t want to marry someone like you—I don’t even want to sit across from you like this! Let’s end it! Break up! End the engagement!”

The words spilled out of her like popping corn, fast and heated. Then she stopped, breathing heavily, shoulders rising and falling. Her soft pink hair fell forward with the motion.  

Esadien reached out to brush it back—  

But she slapped his hand away, firm and cold.

“Don’t touch me.”

For a fleeting second, her face overlapped with the memory of how she used to be.

“Wow. You’re ridiculously handsome. I can’t believe someone like this is my fiancé. I’m so glad I’m alive…”

That was how Minuelle had looked at him the first day they met—spellbound, her cheeks flushed.

“Your Highness, I missed you today too.”

She had smiled so brightly.

“I like you, Your Highness!”

She had hugged him without hesitation.

Why hadn’t he understood how precious that sweet affection was? Why had he only pushed her away?

“Minuelle…”

Esadien’s voice trembled under the weight of regret.

But Minuelle didn’t care whether he regretted it or not. She pulled a piece of paper from her dress and waved it in front of his face.

“Stop calling my name and sign the annulment papers. Now.”

“No.”

Hearing something that made no sense, Minuelle tilted her head slowly to the side.

“…What did you say?”

“I said no.”

Her head tilted the other way.

She’d heard him clearly, twice. So it wasn’t her ears. But why? Why was he saying no?

“Hah… What, did you break your arm or something? You seem perfectly fine to me.”

As she sniped at him, Esadien asked solemnly, “Would you let it go if I broke it?”

Minuelle pressed her forehead, letting out a breathless laugh.  

“What nonsense—”

But a quick glance at his face stopped her. He was dead serious.

She knew him well enough to tell he wasn’t joking. That realization made her force her voice to sound calm again.

“You can’t say things like that. Even if you broke your arm, I wouldn’t change my mind.”

“Minuelle.”

“I told you not to call me that.”

Unable to withstand the pounding of his heart, Esadien bit down hard on his lip.

‘What must I do for you to return to me? To forgive me?’

He leaned forward, closing the distance between them.

His chest almost touched the top of a towering macaron display, teetering like it might collapse.

“I love you.”

“…What?”

The annulment paper dropped from Minuelle’s hand.

“What did you just say…”

Taking advantage of her stunned silence, Esadien continued with quiet desperation.

“I love you. I realized it too late, but it’s true.”

“Now, of all times…”

Minuelle’s chest rose and fell sharply.

Once upon a time, those words were everything she had wished for. But now, hearing them only raised her blood pressure.

“What makes you so sure?”

“Sure?”

“Turns out you were right. Love really is a feeling you can’t trust. Once it’s gone, it’s gone for good.”

Ah. Esadien flinched as if struck by his own words from the past.  

If he could go back in time, he’d throw a rock at himself.

“But it was you who made me feel that love. Didn’t you say you’d wait until I no longer felt anxious?”

“Oh, so what—this is my fault now?”

She couldn’t believe what she was hearing.

Just as she was about to explode again, Esadien quietly shook his head.

“Minuelle, it means… you’ve tamed me.”

His ocean-colored eyes—breathtaking as ever—shimmered with a desperate, pleading light.

“So please, don’t throw me away. Won’t you give me just one more chance?”

Bit by bit, he leaned in closer.

‘Damn it, he’s still ridiculously good-looking…’

Minuelle’s feelings for him were in the past.  

Her “no” wasn’t playful resistance—it came from deep within.  

Still, even after all affection had drained away, his beauty was so dazzling it gave her chills.

Momentarily stunned, she didn’t snap out of it until she could make out every golden lash of his eyes.

“D-Don’t try to seduce me with your face!”

She pressed her palm to his face and shoved him back.  

Frustrated with herself for being briefly captivated, her irritation boiled over.

“The carriage has already left! This is ridiculous, truly!”

If she stayed a second longer, she might get caught in his orbit again.

She had come to end things cleanly, but now she figured it was better to just shut her own heart off completely.

“Forget it. I won’t beg you to sign the annulment papers anymore. Live alone for the rest of your life, then!”

“……”

Esadien clasped the small hand that had pushed him away.  

Whether it was pride or desperation, he didn’t seem to care about the humiliation as he lowered his face and murmured quietly,  

“If I don’t agree to the annulment, you won’t be able to marry anyone else either.”

“Oh, I’m fine not getting married,” Minuelle replied breezily. “I’ll just gather all the handsome men in the country and spend my life enjoying the view.”

She was serious.  

She’d build a villa far away from the social scene, live a secluded life, and indulge herself surrounded by beautiful men.  

She already had the land picked out.

Scoffing, Minuelle yanked her hand free and stood.

“Oh, and I don’t even like sweets, you know? So the fact that you had all this set up…”

Her sky-blue eyes swept coldly over the table laden with macarons and chocolate pies.

Noticing her gaze, Esadien’s heart sank.  

It was a clear blunder. She had once mentioned she liked mango, so he had assumed mango-infused desserts would please her.

“I can really feel just how little you cared about me, Your Highness.”

“Minuelle, that’s not— I mean…”

“Forget it.”

She cut him off without hesitation and turned to leave.

She looked airy and lovely from head to toe, but when it came to decisions, she was unyielding.  

Her looks took after her father, but her tenacity was pure Grand Duchess Karnian.

“Well then. It’s been unpleasant, and please, let’s never see or speak to each other again.”

“Minuelle—”

“Oh, and don’t go lurking at other people’s tea parties without an invitation either.”

With a curt dip of her head, Minuelle turned sharply away.  

But she only got a few steps before she had to stop.

She felt someone grasp the hem of her skirt.

“Minuelle… please.”

His voice, following right after, was softer and more soaked with emotion than ever before.

Minuelle let out a groan, closing her eyes.

It reminded her of the day she first sent the annulment papers—when her older sister’s friend, Crown Princess Lumière, had pulled her aside in secret and asked a favor.

“I have no right to ask this of you, but he is my brother, so I have no choice but to beg this of you…Please part ways with him gently, if you can.”

‘I’m sorry, my kind sister,’ Minuelle muttered inwardly.

Yet, despite that heartfelt plea, she’d made the Prince cry and even brought him to his knees.  

With a sigh—one of many—Minuelle turned back.

“Get up.”

Esadien lifted his tear-streaked face. In his eyes, a faint flicker of hope.  

He had thrown away his pride the moment he tore up her first annulment letter.  

Now all he had left was his stubborn determination not to let Minuelle go.

“Minuelle…”

She told him to get up, and yet he remained on his knees, calling her name over and over—just that.

Minuelle’s blood pressure spiked.

She scowled and pointed to the chair. At her sharp gesture, Esadien hesitated, then reluctantly rose and sat down.

“Wipe your face.”

Minuelle sat beside him, holding out a handkerchief.

Then—just when it seemed the tears had stopped—Esadien’s eyes welled up again.  

It was a moment of pure tragic beauty.

“Oh come on, why are you crying again? I said ‘wipe’.”

But her blunt tone did nothing to stem the tears.  

Instead, Esadien leaned his head against her slender shoulder, clinging to her like a drowning man.

“Minuelle… Minuelle…”

“Ugh, seriously.”

Minuelle groaned but didn’t shove him away. She just sat there, defeated.

The soft scent that surrounded him felt like warmth itself.  

Reassured, Esadien nuzzled his face a little closer.  

That warmth—that was one of the reasons he could never give her up.

‘I can’t just throw away a perfectly good dress. I’ll have to ask them to wash it twice as soon as I get back.’

Warmth?  

Of course, that was Esadien’s misunderstanding, born from ignorance of Minuelle’s true thoughts.