Chapter 150

As Ayla finished talking, Diane nodded, saying, ‘Well, that’s understandable.’, and she thought she would go back to focusing on her meal; but then, her lips moved slightly while she hesitated to say her next words.

“Your parents’ whereabouts… Have you found anything?”

“…”

At the unexpected question that came out of Diane’s mouth, Ayla quietly put down the fork she was holding.

Tilting her head from side to side with a firm expression on her face towards Diane, who seemed to be waiting for an answer, Ayla’s eyes suddenly became moist.

Diane, who had hesitated as if trying to say something, let out a small sigh and concentrated on eating again.

***

Ayla was walking around after breakfast when she saw a familiar silhouette in front of her, and she consciously lowered her sleeves. The large shadow facing her was suddenly in front of her.

“It seems like I haven’t seen you in a long time. I couldn’t see you at all around the office… Did something happen?”

“Nothing happened… I’ve just been cleaning up at the detached palace, haha…”

“It wouldn’t kill you to think about the people who worry about you and show up once in a while… My Young Lady is fine, but she doesn’t have a good sense.”

Louis was relieved to see Ayla, who seemed to have no problem other than looking a little tired, and pretended to be sulky. Then, as always, he tapped the tip of Ayla’s nose.

Ayla, who had lowered her sleeves to avoid him finding out about her lost bracelet, smiled awkwardly at Louis and scratched her head.

“I have good news.”

Ayla narrowed her eyes at Louis’s triumphant attitude, as if he had brought something great.

When she gave him a stinging glance, as if telling him to hurry up, he approached Ayla’s ear with a refreshing smile on his face.

“I’m not quite sure yet, but… I think I’ve found where your father is.”

“Really?”

“I’ll have to check the facts more, but I heard the news from an old lady that saw him on the way to the Raff Kingdom… I wanted to tell you right away, but you were nowhere to be seen…”

After he finished talking, Louis scratched his face and blurred the end of his words.

Ayla smiled awkwardly and said, ‘I’m sorry, I was really busy!’.

Then, Ayla’s slender body clung cutely to Louis’ arm.

As if her attitude was detestable, Louis gently pulled the tip of Ayla’s nose and shook it from side to side.

“Ugh, what can I do when you’re like this? I have to let it slide. By the way, can I check how you’re doing?”

“!”

Gently grabbing her left arm while she was caught off guard, Louis’ expression quickly began to harden.

Thinking that, in the end, it had come to her, Ayla closed her eyes and let out a small sigh.

“…”

“Ah… That…”

“Did you lose it?”

“Yeah… I’ve been looking for it, but I don’t know where it is. Hahaha, you know. I’m good at losing things and leaving them behind.”

Her plan of pretending not to know with a smile seemed to be a failure.

Seeing him with a serious expression on his face, Ayla quietly lowered her gaze, blurring her words.

Louis, who had been silent for a while, smiled slowly as he looked at Ayla’s dispirited expression.

“I can’t buy you expensive things because I know you’re like this. I’ll… Just buy it again. Don’t worry about it, it’s fine.”

“Still…”

“What should I give you this time? Things have been complicated for the past few days, so it’s nice to have something fun to worry about. It’s really fine, so don’t worry about it. Understand?”

“…”

He said it was fine, but Louis’ eyes, which were especially cold, didn’t look fine at all.

“I forgot; Secretary Mason told me to come quickly. I have to go. Stop by later on your way back. Ok?”

“Ah… Yeah!”

Louis, who was giving Ayla a pretty smile, quietly whispered, “I missed you.”, and hurriedly left.

Looking at Louis’ back getting farther away, Ayla let out a sigh with her shoulders drooping.

***

Standing in front of Theon’s office, Ayla had a serious expression.

With a frown on her face as if thinking about something, she stared at the closed door with fierce eyes.

It was yesterday morning.

He kept his face buried in Ayla’s back for a while, and then suddenly got up as if nothing had happened.

‘Take a day off today.’

With those words, Theon strode towards the door leading to the back, and disappeared in an instant.

Ayla, who was suddenly left alone, stood there, blinking her eyes and looking around, but the person who had left had no intention of returning.

Ayla was agonizing over how to deal with this ambiguous situation.

She could feel anger boiling from the depths of her heart as he announced that they wouldn’t be meeting all day after being so sweet just a moment ago and turning her heart upside down.

Although everything was good, there was one very important thing Theon overlooked.

And that is that Ayla Serdian was single since birth, and she was a young and fresh 20-year-old who had a lot of desire and dreams about love.

Ayla had the belief that ‘relationships start with a confession’, so she couldn’t understand Theon’s actions at all.

He didn’t make a proper confession, he gave her a deep kiss, he let her sit on his lap; the order was all wrong.

In this situation, where it seemed like they had started dating but also seemed like they hadn’t, she was very dissatisfied with Theon’s behavior as if he were running away.

Thanks to him, she had a good day yesterday and rested very well, so her body felt good; however, her mind was exhausted.

Ayla, who grumbled, “If this is the beginning of a relationship, shouldn’t there be at least one bouquet of flowers, even if they are pasque flowers?”, raised her lowered eyes as if she had cleared her mind.

And then, she sternly opened the door.

***