“My head hurts so much…”
Li Ya opened her eyes and felt as if a clump of wet cotton was stuffed inside her skull, heavy and swollen.
She pushed herself up slowly with her arms, the blanket slipping off her shoulders.
The morning chill against her skin made her shiver.
She looked down at herself.
She was wearing only a thin purple nightgown.
The sheer fabric, lit by the sunlight streaming in, covered…
Nothing at all.
“Good thing no one’s here…”
Fragments of last night flashed through her mind like broken pieces of glass.
The bonfire.
The alcohol.
Rex’s profile.
And then…
Complete blackout.
She had absolutely no memory of what happened after that.
She sat on the bed in a daze for a long time, until the pounding headache from her hangover dragged her back to reality.
She took a deep breath, got up, and changed into her denim outfit.
The girl in the mirror looked no different from usual, except for the lingering panic that hadn’t yet faded from her eyes.
Just then, a knock came at the door.
“C-come in.”
Hilda pushed the door open, holding a steaming cup of tea.
“Hangover tea. My Lord asked me to prepare it.”
Li Ya took the cup.
The warmth of the tea in her hands helped calm her a little.
The flavors of dried tangerine peel and honey spread on her tongue, and it did make her feel a bit better.
But her mind was still desperately trying to recall what happened last night.
“Um… I was pretty drunk last night… I didn’t do anything, did I?”
Hilda shook her head.
Li Ya had just let out a sigh of relief when Hilda calmly added, “Nothing. You just took advantage of the drunkenness to kiss My Lord.”
Clatter. The teacup slipped from Li Ya’s hand.
“Wh-what?!?”
Li Ya grabbed Hilda’s shoulders with both hands.
“You’re joking, right?! You have to be joking!!!”
“I’m not. After you got drunk last night, My Lord told me to take you back to your room to rest. All the way, you kept saying you wanted to see My Lord, that…”
“That what?”
Li Ya’s voice was already trembling.
“That you wanted to confess your feelings to him.”
Li Ya’s face flushed red down to her neck, her ears burning hot.
“Then, when you got back to your room, you didn’t rest. Instead, you changed into that nightgown and asked me how it looked. You told me to go find My Lord and say you might have something to say to him. So I told My Lord to come up to your room, and when he did…”
“Stop, stop, stop!!!”
Li Ya clamped her hand over Hilda’s mouth.
But it was too late.
The memories came flooding back like a breached dam.
The image of her embracing Rex.
The image of her standing on her tiptoes.
And then—
“Ughhhh!!!”
Li Ya let go of Hilda and collapsed onto the floor like a deflating balloon.
She hugged her knees and buried her face in them, as if she were going into a shell.
After a long while, Li Ya lifted her head from her knees.
Her eyes were red.
“I… besides that… I didn’t do anything else, did I?”
“You threw your arms around My Lord and kissed him directly.”
“Aaaaaah! Don’t say anymore!!!”
Li Ya buried her face in her knees again.
Seeing this, Hilda silently wrapped up the broken teacup pieces.
She stood up and extended her hand.
Li Ya seemed to regain her composure and slowly stood up.
“He… where is he now?”
“Downstairs, waiting for you to have lunch.”
“Then… did he say anything?”
“Nothing at all.”
“Then what kind of expression did he have?”
Hilda thought for a moment.
“The same as always.”
Li Ya didn’t know whether to be relieved or more nervous.
She followed Hilda down the stairs and saw Rex sitting at the dining table, a sumptuous lunch spread before him.
He heard their footsteps, looked up, and glanced at Li Ya.
Just one glance.
Then he lowered his head and continued drinking his tea.
His expression was exactly the same as usual—calm and indifferent, betraying no emotion.
Li Ya sat down across from him, her fingers twisting nervously under the table.
The atmosphere among the three of them was so awkward she wished the ground would swallow her whole.
“Eat.”
Rex pushed the steak forward.
“It won’t taste as good cold.”
“…Okay.”
The three of them ate in complete silence.
Li Ya mechanically picked up a slice of bread and reached for the butter dish.
At the same time, Rex’s hand also reached out.
Their fingers touched the lid of the butter dish simultaneously.
Rex pulled his hand back even faster than Li Ya did.
Suddenly he stood up.
“I’m going to check on the farmland.”
Without even grabbing his coat, he turned and left.
Li Ya stared at his retreating back as he disappeared through the doorway.
She sat there with her mouth hanging open for a good long while before turning to Hilda.
“Hey, hey, Hilda! Why is he acting even more flustered than me???”
“Because your actions last night were completely outside My Lord’s expectations. He’s just putting on a brave face.”
“Putting on a brave face?”
“Mm. The speed at which he withdrew his hand just now was much faster than usual. Under normal circumstances, he would have pushed the butter dish toward you and said, ‘You go first.’ But today he did nothing. He just left.”
Li Ya was dumbfounded.
“You… you noticed even that?”
“I’m used to it.”
Li Ya fell silent.
She looked down at her lonely slice of bread, and suddenly felt that this woman named Hilda was far more formidable than she had ever imagined.
Not the kind of formidable skill you’d see at a Merchant Guild negotiation table, but a quieter, deeper capability that Li Ya could never hope to match.
“Then… what should I do?”
“Wait for him to come back.”
“That’s it?”
“That’s it. The more flustered you are, the more flustered he’ll become. If you act like nothing happened, he’ll slowly relax too.”
Li Ya looked at Hilda’s impassive face and suddenly felt that if this woman really wanted to snatch Rex away, she herself probably wouldn’t even qualify to compete.
But Hilda hadn’t chosen to pursue him.
She simply stayed quietly by Rex’s side, watching, and even gave Li Ya a push.
“Hilda.”
“Mm?”
“You… aren’t you angry? About what I did yesterday…”
“I’m not.”
“Why?”
“Didn’t I tell you? My Lord deserves to be liked. I wouldn’t mind if he married a dozen women.”
“You… you really are open-minded.”
Li Ya stuffed the bread into her mouth and chewed for a long time.
Meanwhile, Rex was crouching on the edge of the field, staring at the wheat seedlings in front of him.
He’d been staring for almost ten minutes.
The seedlings were growing well, but his mind wasn’t on them at all.
His head was full of last night’s images.
Li Ya in that purple nightgown, standing on her tiptoes, the sensation of her lips pressing against his.
And the smell of alcohol mixed with floral scent on her.
And the ticklish feeling of her eyelashes brushing against his cheek.
And then…
Rex rubbed his face with his hands.
“Calm down.”
But he couldn’t calm down.
Not because of the kiss itself, but because he realized something.
He had been thoroughly played.
From the moment he went upstairs carrying the tea, to the door automatically locking, to Li Ya embracing him—every step had been within Hilda’s expectations.
She did it on purpose.
But why?
Rex couldn’t figure it out.
Why would Hilda help him…
No, help Li Ya?
Didn’t she mind?
Or…
Did she have some other motive?
He crouched on the ridge for a long time.
The wheat seedlings swayed in front of him, offering no answers.
Just then, the sound of hooves came from not far away.
Rex stood up and saw a fast horse galloping along the newly built road toward the Ancient Castle.
Two bulging mailbags were strapped to the horse’s back, and the rider wore a gray-blue uniform—the livery of the Federation Postal Service.
The postman reined in his horse at the castle gate, knocked, and then slipped the letters through the crack in the door.
By the time Rex walked back, Li Ya was stuffing that letter into her pocket.
Her expression was much more serious than before, and most of the blush had faded from her face.
“What’s wrong?”
“A letter from Uncle Victor.”
Li Ya’s voice had regained its usual brisk efficiency.
“There’s an urgent matter at the Merchant Guild that requires me to go back and handle personally.”
“Serious?”
“Not too serious, but I need to be there in person.”
She glanced at Rex, then quickly looked away.
“I… I’m going back now.”
She sat on her horse, hesitated, but still couldn’t bring herself to meet Rex’s eyes.
“I… I’ll come again. When I do, I’ll bring you some new tea.”
“Okay.”
Li Ya pulled on the reins, then suddenly stopped, her back still to Rex.
“You… don’t miss me, okay? Hmph!”
With that, as if afraid she might change her mind, she dug her heels into the horse’s flanks.
The horse neighed and shot forward.
The sound of hooves traveled along the new road, growing fainter and fainter, until it disappeared into the distance.
Only Rex remained at the entrance.
“Okay.”