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Chapter 13

She wanted to quickly turn around and look at his face to confirm the truth, but she couldn’t because her clothes would drop from her chest. He sounded like he was trying to hold back his laughter.

“No!”

You said you lost your memory, are you starting to remember things?

“You don’t want to know?”

“Yes! It’s freezing!”

“Then I’ll rewrite it for you, so guess.”

Arya didn’t know whether to do as told or refuse, so she was silent for a moment before speaking. However, she was not in a position to reject his teasing either. In addition, strangely enough, she felt that her body was constantly filled with energy whenever she touched him. So, as her body became more sensitive, she wanted to touch him without realizing it. To the extent that she wondered if maybe she was under some kind of strange magic.

“Is there a prize if I get it right?”

“Yes. I’ll grant you one wish.”

“Good! Then go ahead.”

“All right.”

Kylian wrote something on her back with his cold finger again, absolutely…

“Agk!”

I absolutely have no idea. It tickled, and she couldn’t concentrate, but the feeling was vaguely itchy-good.

“Agh! Mmh I don’t know! It isn’t a letter, right?”

“You are quick-witted.”

“Oh my gosh, it wasn’t letters?”

“Yes.”

Arya laughed out of the nonsensical reply. But she got it right.

“Then grant me a wish!”

‘It would be a good thing for me to have something like this in case you say something else later.’

“All right. What wish would you like to make?”

“Not now, I’ll ask later.”

“Alright.”

As she glanced back, he was smiling prettily. She could see him smiling with an innocent face as if he had no hidden agenda, such that Arya doubted he was the psycho villain she knew. So she should have asked if his memory was coming back, but she didn’t.

Kylian unexpectedly smiled beautifully.

In the morning, she was forced to hide Kylian in the bathroom and be served by the maids. She couldn’t wear clothes alone, and dressing up was too much for her.

“Did you sleep well these days?”

The duke had red hair and blue eyes just like Arya. If Arya had a cat-like beauty, her father was a heavy handsome man resembling a jackal. He generally resembled a jackal, but his eyes were softly curved.

“Yes.”

“I see.”

Arya didn’t know what made him so happy about her sleeping in her room without a hitch. Anyway, the softly curved mouth and eyes looked really good.

“Were there any inconveniences?”

“None.”

“I’m glad then.”

“Ah. But His Highness took Bell away.”

‘If I ask the duke for help, won’t he help me find her? She is Arya’s favorite and cherished maid in the duke’s residence.’ Arya thought so, then watched as Duke Deloraine opened his mouth first.

“I heard,” he said. “I’ll talk to His Highness, so wait a little bit. He’s not the kind of person who would normally do that, so it’s strange.”

“Just my thoughts.”

‘But what were you really talking about? He was angrier after I admitted I was sorry for trying to kidnap him and failed. He’s not just that.’

“Oh- hoh. Why are you pushing away broccoli again?”

“It’s not tasty.”

“Arya.”

Suddenly, Arya bowed her head, wondering if she had committed a serious sin hearing the duke’s words. Then he spoke straight away.

“If you don’t want to eat it, I’ll ask them to remove it next time.”

Until now, he had spoken dignifiedly, and then his unexpected words made her look at him, once more, his eyes were gently curved.

“No. I’ll just eat it.”

“Don’t. If you don’t like it, don’t force yourself to eat it.”

“It’s not that.” She quickly grabbed a fork and tried to eat the offending spear. “Huh?”

Then he took the fork and ate it himself. As she looked up in amazement, Duke Deloraine smiled bashfully and ordered a new fork.

“I made a mistake. You are no longer a child. Father is worried about you again, please forgive me with a kind heart.”

A new fork was placed on the table, which, oddly enough, felt pleasant.

“Yes, thank you, Father.”

“Dad, not father.”

“Yes, Dad.”

The dessert was peach sorbet. The duke’s share was a small and compact heart-shaped one, but Arya’s was in the shape of a heart the size of a watermelon, which was disgusting.

‘Why is only mine so big? Has she ever eaten this much? If you don’t eat it, will they be suspicious?’

“Bring a separate spoon for Arya.”

“Yes, Your Excellency.”

The servant took a large spoon to scoop and handed it to her. Seeing that they were accustomed to this, it was clear that Arya liked dessert more than rice.

“Dad, I’m about to give up on the Crown Prince.”

“Keugh! Cough- cough! Cough!! Cough!!”

“Dad?”

The duke hit his chest, trying really hard to swallow. Arya wondered if this was such a surprise, so she looked at the servants nearby.

“Rea-, cough!!! Really cough- you say?”

“Yes. Now I’m going to stop trying to get along with His Highness. I know that Dad supports him for the sake of the family. So I’m not going to interfere with that, but I don’t want to run into him.”

Whether the duke wanted to calm down quickly and continue talking, it was fun to see him beat his chest like a gorilla.

“When he came yesterday, cough- did he say anything harsh, kugh?”

“No. I’m just tired of him. I followed him because I liked him for a while. But I hated it because there was no progress at all.”

She remembered how desperately Arya clung to Prince Lionel, as it was mentioned several times in the novel.

“Your Highness, my heart is made entirely for you! I wonder what Your Highness will think, what kind of heart will you have, and how will you be today? Please welcome me as the Crown Princess. There is no one more suited for Your Highness than me!”

‘Why did Arya like Prince Lionel? Far from being a warm-hearted man, I couldn’t even find the ‘ki’ of his ‘kind and warm personality.’ He’s a good-looking guy, but…’

“Really?”

“Yes. Really.”

“Are you serious?”

“Yes, I am serious.”

Each time he asked Arya, his expression gradually brightened. A father is a father, I guess.

“I’m so delighted!”

“I thought you would be happy.”

“I’m going to choose a candidate for the groom.”

“Oh, no. I don’t like that. I want to get married as late as possible and spend time relaxing and having fun until then.” She added quickly, seeing Duke Deloraine’’s expression tinged with concern. “I’m thinking of having a lover. But I want to think about marriage a little later.”

“Right. Let’s do that.”

Fortunately, Deloraine Duchy was a powerful and wealthy enough family to not sell her daughter for marriage business.

“Whoever you bring in, it doesn’t matter if it’s a commoner or a slave, I’ll accept it, so please tell me if it happens.”

“Yes, thank you.”

Maybe that’s why she thought it would be easy.

Like a fool.

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