CH 41

The place to meet Adelio was a restaurant on the outskirts of the main street.

Unlike its location, the building I arrived at was quite cute. The manager came out and started guiding me.

‘Is there no one here?’

It was lunchtime, but surprisingly, I couldn’t feel a presence.

‘It’s convenient that there’s no one here.’

It was quiet without any noise filling the surroundings, so it was a great place to focus on today’s meeting.

“Your companion is waiting inside.”

As soon as I opened the door behind the manager’s polite greeting and entered the room, I was able to run into Adelio waiting for me.

“Good evening, Lady.”

My eyes turned upward at the sweet voice.

Under his usual dark hair, his bright face looked more beautiful today, full of energy.

It was the first time I saw Adelio wearing plain clothes, not the holy knight’s uniform, so my heart pounded fast.

Adelio approached me with a big smile.

“Good afternoon, Knight.”

“Will you give me a chance to escort you, Lady?”

“Of course.”

As I tuned in to Adelio, his expression turned happy.

“Come here.”

Adelio pulled out the chair across from him and reached out his hand to me.

“What a kind knight.”

I laughed, grabbed his hand, and sat down in the chair he pulled out for me.

“Isn’t the weather nice today? I’m looking forward to spending a good time with a nice person.”

“Oh, my. I guess I wasn’t the only one.”

I covered my mouth and laughed as I recalled the time I was spinning around on the terrace before coming to the meeting place.

“Have you been well?”

Adelio nodded to my question.

He listened with a twinkle in his eyes as I told him what I had been up to.

“After the knight competition was over, I had a lot of free time.”

“Come to think of it, I was a little sad that I couldn’t see Adelio in the venue. Were you busy?”

I didn’t want to make it obvious that I waited for him, but my voice was already dripping with disappointment.

“I was in the temple. For those who couldn’t make it to the venue, the temple screened them with magic communication tools.”

“I see.”

I smiled as if nothing had happened and drank the water in front of me.

‘For some reason, since we’re alone, my throat feels burning.’

Since I only drank water, Adelio asked a question this time.

“How was the knight competition? You must have felt it differently because you saw it in person.”

“Oh, I really enjoyed myself. I was once again amazed by Sister Viola’s wonderful performance.”

I clapped my hands and smiled broadly at the welcome topic of conversation.

“The knights were all very great. I don’t know much about swordsmanship, but everyone was outstanding, and everyone did their best, so I don’t think they have regrets regarding the result.”

“Like how Dame Viola won, right?”

“Right!”

Adelio covered his mouth and giggled at my spirited answer.

“Daisy, you really like your sisters. You’ve changed a lot compared to before.”

“We really didn’t get along at the time. Now that I think about it, it was thanks to Adelio that this could happen.”

I put a wide smile on my lips that I had been putting off until now.

“I wouldn’t be this happy without Adelio’s help, right? Meeting Adelio is a great fortune in my life.”

“…Really?”

“Of course! Why would I lie?”

I was afraid that my feelings might not be conveyed properly, so I emphasized it again, but for some reason, his expression looked a bit weird.

Obviously, his mouth was smiling as usual, but his eyes were not.

‘Did I say something wrong?’

The silence that descended with the subtle feeling was unfamiliar and awkward, so I didn’t know what to say.

“Oh, I’m sorry if I offended you.”

I thought I should apologize first, but he blinked and smiled.

“It’s nothing to apologize about. I’m just so surprised. I didn’t expect to hear this.”

“I meant it.”

His eyes widened slightly, as if embarrassed.

As I watched, he slowly started talking about himself.

“Every time Daisy says this, I feel a little embarrassed.”

“Yes?”

I wondered if all the emotions I had expressed thus far had become a burden.

“Because I’m not a person great enough to receive Daisy’s gratitude like this. Rather, I…”

Adelio hesitated to continue and eventually closed his mouth.

At the sudden pause, I immediately asked.

“I’m not sure what you mean.”

“On the contrary, I learned a lot from Daisy.”

“Me?”

“Yes. As long as you don’t give up, you can achieve what you want someday.”

All I did was make up with my sisters and get along with them, so that evaluation was too much.

“I never thought the day would come when I would have these thoughts.”

Adelio seemed a little hesitant and then shyly spoke out.

“I think being able to meet Daisy was a blessing from God to me.”

Adelio had a slightly different smile on his face.

I was embarrassed by the slightly sly-looking smile and the blatant compliment, but a smile continued to bloom around my mouth.

After a while, the prepared food started to come in, and we continued our meal in a friendly atmosphere.

✲ ✲ ✲

‘Oh, it’s so much fun.’

Even though I had a leisurely meal with Adelio for quite a long time, it was such a pleasant time that it felt too short.

I felt so happy that I felt like I could fly in the sky and stop this precious time.

From the beginning until now, I felt that he was always kind to me so I was happy.

‘I’m so glad I came out today.’

I wasn’t the only one who enjoyed this time together.

Thinking like that, my mouth eased again and laughter leaked out.

At the sound of knocking, I quickly fixed my expression.

The waiter came in with teacups and refreshments on a tray and began to set them down in front of me.

However, because the waiter was nervous, his hand was shaking as he poured the teacup.

‘He should be careful.’

Sure enough, the waiter dropped the teapot by mistake.

The tea fell over when he tried to pour the tea into Adelio’s teacup.

“Oh my god! Are you okay?”

When I said loudly in surprise, the waiter immediately bent down and began to apologize.

“I’m sorry! I’m sorry!”

However, he only apologized again and again, and when he didn’t take any other action, I inadvertently raised my voice.

“Don’t just apologize and bring me cold water and clean cloth!”

At my words, the waiter rushed out of the room, and I approached Adelio in a gloomy mood.

“Are you all right? It must be very hot.”

“Fortunately, no one is hurt. Though my clothes are a little wet.”

Adelio lightly pinched the wet clothes with his fingers and put on an awkward expression.

“Oh. The tea stained my clothes.”

It happened to be a hibiscus tea, so his white suit reddened.

When my mood didn’t improve, Adelio held my hand and opened his mouth.

“Daisy. I’m really fine, so don’t make that face.”

“What expression am I making?”

“Um. An expression like you’re about to cry.”

I shook my head at Adelio’s words.

“Do you think I’m a person who cries every day?”

“No, I know how pretty you are when you smile.”

Adelio’s words surprised me and gave me hiccups.

With the hiccups, my heart began to beat fast.

Adelio was just expressing his embarrassment in his wet shirt, as if he was not aware of what he had said.

‘No way, am I really in love with Adelio..?’

My heart, which seemed to explode just by imagining it, quickly calmed down at that thought.

‘Adelio came to the Capital to meet someone he had been waiting for for a long time. That person must be someone he likes, so let’s not think about anything strange.’

The joyful mood quickly dropped to the ground.

When my expression didn’t look good, Adelio raised his hand and began to unbutton his shirt.

“Look. I am really not hurt.”

Perhaps thinking that I was worried, he didn’t hesitate to move.

As Adelio unbuttoned his shirt one by one, my face suddenly began to heat up.

“W-Wait a minute!”

Despite my panicked voice, his hands unbuttoned the suit without pausing.

I knew I should turn my head, but without realizing it, my eyes turned to his bare skin.

The moment the three buttons came undone, revealing a wide chest.

My knees gave out and I almost collapsed on the spot.

A necklace was hung inside Adelio’s clothes.

I asked in a trembling voice.

“Adelio. What’s that on your neck?”

“Neck? Oh.”

Adelio lowered his eyes with a puzzled expression and then erased the smile from his lips.

“Oh.”

He grabbed the necklace pendant and kissed it lightly.

As I was startled and surprised, he asked in a casual voice.

“Isn’t it a pretty pendant?”

“Why does Adelio…”

Adelio continued, smiling.

“I have a story about this pendant. Do you want to hear it?”

Adelio got up slowly and began to approach me.

“It is a pendant shared by a couple to pledge their love to each other. What I have is half of it.”

‘You know what it is?’

This was more uncomfortable than when I dug around the jewelry box with Isabel this morning.

Without realizing it, I started to take a step back to avoid him, and before I knew it, I was blocked by the wall.

As my eyes looked around busily with nowhere else to run, he slowly reached out his hand to me.

I closed my eyes tightly, shrugging my shoulders at the approaching hand, and I got goosebumps from the voice whispering in my ear.

“And the other half rests on Daisy’s head.”