PASEJC 28

Chapter : 28

“Freesia.”

It was Hatz.

“Oh? Weren’t you out?”

“My work finished earlier than I thought, so… come out for a bit.”

“Why?”

“…To go out.”

At this hour? Going outside? How unusual!

Surprised by the unexpected words, Freesia walked toward Hatz. But the closer she got, the more she felt something missing.

Stopping a few steps away, Freesia tilted her head and looked at Hatz.

His glossy black hair, clean face, neatly worn uniform—everything was as usual. Nothing seemed different…

After staring at him for a long time, Freesia’s eyes widened in shock.

“Ah! The bandages!”

The bandages that Hatz always had wrapped around his hands were gone, and his left hand moved perfectly fine.

Surely, when he left the house that afternoon, the bandages had still been there.

Until yesterday, he had said it hurt, and she had cut his steak and fed him stew.

But when did this happen? It didn’t make sense for him to have gone to the hospital—he never went, and his physician always came to the mansion.

As Freesia widened her eyes, piecing it together, Hatz glanced at his hand with a somewhat regretful expression.

“I was in a hurry and forgot to wrap it.”

“What did you say?”

“Sorry. It healed a while ago.”

“Then why did you pretend to be hurt?!”

“Because it was fun.”

“…….”

What…? Is this man crazy? Fun? Did he not think about how hard it was for me to feed him and manage my own meals? No, more than that, I was feeling seriously guilty.

Freesia had been worried that lingering effects might remain if the treatment took too long.

Biting her lower lip, she frowned and glared at Hatz before turning away.

“I’m not going out.”

“What? Why?”

“I decided to study starting today.”

“But you like going out—”

“Starting today, I don’t.”

Whenever one resolves to study, there’s always some distraction. Freesia, in a fussy motion, pulled out a random book from in front of her.

As she flipped the pages quickly without meaning, Hatz exchanged a glance with Ron. Yet Ron, annoyingly, just shrugged lightly and smiled.

“Princess, I’ll go ahead. There’s still some tasks you assigned that I need to handle.”

“Okay.”

Walking toward the library door, Ron quietly whispered as he passed Hatz.

‘Princess has never disliked going out… it’s a pity.’

‘…….’

For a moment, Hatz’s face seemed to lose all color.

Ron, smiling as if to comfort him, closed the door. Of course, Hatz’s sharp gaze pierced through the closing door, so the smile had to be retracted immediately.

Freesia kept flipping through books repeatedly. Looking at the clock, Hatz realized it was already past 7.

Squinting one eye, Hatz lightly shook his hair and approached Freesia.

“Let’s go watch the fireworks.”

“…!”

Freesia froze mid-page turn. Hatz’s lips curved slightly at her reaction, then quickly flattened.

“Enough. Don’t you see I’m busy?”

“Why suddenly studying?”

Studying, not reading… Should I just get rid of all the books? He considered it seriously for a moment, then shook his head.

Freesia did like books, after all.

He understood why she was upset about him pretending to be hurt, but seeing her focus only on the books and not him irritated him. Hatz lightly took the book from her hand.

“…?”

Freesia hadn’t even noticed what book she was reading, so she was embarrassed. But she quickly raised her chin and argued with him.

“W-why? I can look! If I want to clean better!”

Blushing, she spoke tersely. Seeing her glare, Hatz almost burst out laughing.

…Damn. She’s cute. Even when she’s annoyed, she looks adorable. Am I losing my mind?

Hatz stopped thinking. At this rate, she was too lovely, and he might laugh out loud.

He forced himself to calm down, tossed the book to the floor, and grabbed Freesia’s hand with his large one.

“Even if you don’t want to, I’m taking you. Fireworks.”

“…?!”

He quickly opened the door and left the library.

Freesia stared back in disbelief as she was dragged along, while Hatz held her hand firmly and walked straight ahead.

“You’re really going to do this even though I said no?”

Hatz stopped at the bottom of the stairs, turning to her.

“Shall I carry you?”

“W-what are you talking about?”

“Then follow quietly. Don’t fall.”

“I’m not a child, who’s going to fall…”

Freesia tried to pull her hand away, but Hatz’s grip was too tight. Looking up in annoyance, she noticed his smirk.

What is this? Does he enjoy teasing me? Sometimes he’s sweet to seduce me, sometimes he’s playful, sometimes cold… I can’t figure him out.

She tried to pull her hand away again but failed. Ultimately, she descended the stairs alongside Hatz.

“The fireworks are a lie, right?”

“What?”

“You just made it up to apologize for lying to me, didn’t you?”

“We’ll see when we get there.”

As they bickered down the stairs, they ran into Butler Cain on the first floor. Cain bowed to Hatz.

“Viscount, did you have a good visit to the palace?”

Cain had been in the garden when Hatz returned earlier, so he was only greeting him now. He always greeted him this way after going out.

But at Cain’s words, Freesia’s expression turned icy. Hatz furrowed his brow, and only after looking at Freesia did Cain realize his mistake.

Covering his mouth with both hands, Cain froze. Hatz scowled, then picked Freesia up and placed her in the waiting carriage. It departed immediately, but Freesia remained lost in thought.

It makes sense. It always happened before, and it likely will in the future. Hatz is heir to the Viscount family, with many duties, so coming and going from the palace is normal. She understood that… but it didn’t feel good.

He probably met her father. Did he meet Chloe? Vivian? What did they talk about, why did he go?

Her mind filled with countless questions. Knowing Chloe’s misdeeds, even a small matter couldn’t be ignored. What might she do or say to Hatz? Her heart sank.

Freesia turned to look out the carriage window. The full moon shone brightly over the streets.

No, don’t think useless thoughts. I won’t fall so easily. No matter what Chloe does, I won’t lose.

Hatz said nothing. While Freesia silently vowed revenge, the carriage arrived at the riverbank. As soon as they got off, small fireworks and cheerful laughter could be heard.

Really fireworks? Freesia, bewildered, had Hatz drape a cape over her.

“Let’s go.”

Wearing the cape, she followed Hatz to the walkway, where over twenty children, with adults, were lighting small stick fireworks. It wasn’t a festival or anything, just a little fireworks display for children.

Yet for Freesia, it was delightful. The fireworks matched the moonlight, releasing white smoke and then disappearing into the sky.

“Really… fireworks…”

“I didn’t lie.”

“Oh my gosh, Hatz! I want to do it too! Buy me that stick firework!”

Freesia, having forgotten her worries, shook Hatz’s arm, pointing at the fireworks stand.

The kids running around with fireworks looked so fun she couldn’t resist. Besides, Hatz had brought her here, so she fully trusted he would buy them.

She pulled him to the stall filled with fireworks.

“No.”

“Huh?”

“You can’t do fireworks.”

“Why!”

Hatz said plainly to her wide-eyed, bewildered expression.

“You’ll get hurt.”

Ha. Unbelievable.

Whoosh! Bang! Boom!

“Kyahahaha!”

“Waaah!”

Freesia, stunned, watched children running around with stick fireworks. They were small, harmless fireworks, over in 30 seconds.

The situation was ridiculous, yet Hatz didn’t even flinch.

Freesia grabbed a firework from the stall, but Hatz quickly stopped her, leading her to the grassy area beside the walkway.

“Sit and just watch.”

“What is this? If you weren’t letting me do it, why bring me here? I can’t even see properly. I want to—”

Then, a firework exploded like a bomb, shooting high into the sky. Red fireworks formed circles against the full moon, spreading in all directions.

Freesia followed the fireworks with her gaze.

The dark, star-filled sky lit up brilliantly. The fireworks were so big and beautiful, the stars almost disappeared.

Hatz watched her glowingly, smiling, but she didn’t notice.

It was mesmerizing. As the fireworks faded, Freesia smiled contentedly at Hatz.

“I love it!”

“Me?”

Again, that voice. Freesia flinched but ignored it, too happy to care. Hatz’s gentle smile also didn’t bother her.

“Of course! It’s obviously fireworks.”

“That’s different from before.”

“How so?”

“You said you didn’t like going out.”

“Oh…”

She suddenly remembered. Freesia averted her gaze from Hatz. Just then, the children approached.

“It’s the Viscount!”

“The rich Viscount!”

“The stylish Viscount!”

Freesia blinked in surprise at Hatz. Do they know each other? He seems like someone who wouldn’t like kids…

“The stylish Viscount, who’s the pretty lady next to you?”

Hearing “stylish,” Hatz laughed, while Freesia covered her mouth to hide it.

Hatz met the children’s gaze.

“Ah! I know! It’s—”

“Girlfriend!”

“It really is! A girlfriend!”

The children shouted, laughing.

“Shh.”

Hatz furrowed his brow and signaled them to quiet down, and they immediately obeyed.

“She’s not just a girlfriend. You’re wrong.”

“Then what? Just a friend?”

Hatz, proudly smiling at the curious children, wrapped his arm around Freesia’s shoulder.

“Fiancée.”

“….”

The word, said proudly, left the children wide-eyed.