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Whether he was surprised or not, Olivier only looked at her with a bright smile.
As he took off his hat, the winter sunlight permeating the window was cast upon his silver hair, giving off a rainbow-like glow.
Below the view of his hair, his pale, pretty face was also shining.
And his breathtaking purple eyes sparkled.
Ding— ding—
‘Ugh, please!’
Radis had to shake her shoulders, desperate to block out the bells ringing in her head.
Staring at Radis like this, Olivier’s smile tugged up as he leaned over the table. He held his lips near his ear.
And, he whispered languidly.
“I meant what I said just now.”
Dingdingdingdingding!
Radis squeezed her eyes shut as she inwardly shouted.
‘Marquis! Please save me…! I think I’m going to die of a heart attack…!”
But Yves Russell was not by her side right now.
Besides, if Yves was actually here, would he even help her?
If he were here to see this now, let alone help her, it’s obvious that he’d go on to gleefully give her the thumbs up.
Thankfully, one employee—bringing them their dessert—saved Radis from a heart attack.
Pointing towards the two dessert plates, Olivier asked.
“Which one would you like, the chocolate cake or the apple crumble?”
“The… one that’s less sweet, please.”
In terms of sweetness, she was already at her limit.
If she were to be given any more sweetness, it felt as if her heart would become as wrinkled as a prune.
“Then, please eat this. Cold ice cream and warm snacks go well together. This one has cinnamon in it, so it’ll be good for your health, too.”
The dazzling attack. The sweet dessert attack. The gentle smile attack. It’s just one combo after another.
Radis had no choice but to raise the white flag.
“Thank you…”
Pretending that it was only for the sake of moving the dessert plate, Olivier pulled the chair closer to her. Radis noticed this acutely, but as she had exhausted all of her energy, she could not say anything about this.
In the end, with the overlooking view of the Dvirath riverside in front of them, she had to sit so close to Olivier, and it was as if they were a pair of lovers who would die from liking each other so much.
“The green area that you can see over there is a botanical garden that’s being managed by the Imperial Family. It’s closed now because it’s winter, but it’ll be opened once more once the flowers bloom in spring.”
“That sounds really cool…”
“I really want to go there with you.”
“Ah, hahaha…”
Radis didn’t know what else to do. She just laughed clumsily instead of answering him.
She couldn’t give a definitive answer.
The only reason she came up to the north so easily like this was because of the warp gate, but it’s not exactly easy for her to use again.
Ordinary people would have to travel between the south and the north through the long way.
And that was because of Monsterwood.
The vast expanse of Monsterwood had divided the southern and northern regions of the continent forever.
Nodding to herself, Radis recalled what the south looked like, and it was very different compared to the north.
‘That’s why the North and the South are so different. If it weren’t for Monsterwood, they’d be a lot closer…’
As she was lost in thought for a moment, Radis was jolted out of her reverie as she realized that Olivier was staring at her.
“What were you thinking about just now?”
“No, it’s nothing…”
“It’s a bit surprising.”
“Huh?”
“I’ve never met anyone who’s having different ideas while they’re in front of me.”
Hearing him say this, Radis almost jumped from her seat.
“N-N-Not at all! Different ideas? It’s only because the cake is so delicious! And the cheese is quite divine!”
“That’s ice cream though.”
“Ah— Hahahaha!”
When Radis’ ears began to turn bright red out of embarrassment, Olivier chuckled.
Radis immediately leaned down on the plate of apple crumble, her nose practically touching it, and she quickly scooped all the ice cream into her mouth so that the evidence could get destroyed.
‘Why in the world is he being this way to me? Maybe the Marquis is right, that he’s interested in me…”
She’s so worried about how hot her face was right now.
In her mind, Radis had been hitting her forehead hundreds of times now. Then, Radis shouted inwardly.
‘No, no! That’s impossible! Wake up, Radis!’
Then, Olivier spoke up.
“Today has been so much fun.”
Setting down the forkful of chocolate cake, Olivier continued to speak, almost to himself.
“Here in Dvirath, I’ve been to this restaurant many times already, but I’ve never had this much fun before.”
As he looked far away, there was a sad expression on Olivier’s face.
His slightly lowered, silver lashes were so beautifully curved that Radis could feel her heart skip a beat.
“But it seems as if I’ve made you uncomfortable. I got carried away all by myself today.”
Then, a lonely smile on his lips.
There wasn’t even any rouge on his lips, but they remained to have such a pretty color.
As if a few drops of rouge from pink rose petals had—plik, plik, plik—trickled down upon his lips at the very moment that they looked ever so pretty, and ever so melancholic.
And, really, why was it that his lower lip looked so lusciously thick and shiny.