/
He wondered whether Dorothea, Raymond, and Carnan would come to Restaurant Caro.
But no matter how much he thought about it, he couldn’t picture any of them sitting in the Caro.
‘Did the carriage come for imperial affairs? to take Caro’s chef to the imperial palace?’
There is no law that says that only people from the imperial family must be carried, so they may have sent a carriage for a purpose.
But on one side of his chest, the feeling of uneasiness didn’t go away.
“Ethan
!”
Monica, who was waiting for him in front of Caro, greeted him.
Even though he deliberately arrived later than his appointment time, she showed no sign of anger.
“There is an imperial carriage. Who’s here?”
“Ah, Princess Dorothea is here.”
Monica said, lowering her voice.
Ethan’s expression, which had a smile attached to him, hardened.
‘Dorothea is here?’
Ethan knows her taste better than anyone. Dorothea would never enjoy this kind of atmosphere. Of course, she’s not the person to come and visit a place like this.
That means someone invited Dorothea here. And it means that Dorothea accepted the invitation without hesitation.
The only person who can do that is

‘Theon Fried
I guess.’
Smart and familiar with Dorothea, he could guess easily.
Ethan clenched his fists tightly.
He had known for a long time that Dorothea would become close to Theon with the power of the spirits.
Theon needs Dorothea’s power, and Dorothea likes Theon, so their engagement will go smoothly.
‘Don’t be jealous when you know it all, Ethan Bronte.’
It was the path he had chosen to save Dorothea, a new life.
“Shall we go in?”
Monica asked Ethan, who stopped at the entrance to the restaurant. At that, Ethan forced a smile and nodded his head.
As they entered, those in maid clothes guided the two inside.
Private rooms were connected to both sides of the hallway where the vase was placed.
Ethan was on edge every time he passed through each room.
‘Somewhere here Dorothea and Theon are sitting together and enjoying a meal.’
‘No, maybe Dorothea came here for something else. It’s just my guess that she is with Theon.’
As he passed through the room one by one, he shook his head again, rationalizing himself with his turbulent emotions.
The desire to see Dorothea, the desire to deny that she is with Theon Fried, the urge to ruin the relationship between Dorothea and Theon, the reason to connect the two of them and the curiosity to check on her.
The spirit seemed out of control of his body, and he stopped in the middle of the hallway.
“Ethan?”
He stopped in front of a room. His senses told him this was where Dorothea was.
No, it was a conclusion rather than a touch.
It was because of the empty appetizer plate that the waiter brought to clean up.
Perhaps they served fruit salad with sour mustard sauce, bacon quiche, and butter as appetizers.
One of the plates had yellow marks on the rim as if it had been spread with mustard sauce on a plate.
Because Dorothea doesn’t like strong mustard.
She left about half of the bacon quiche. She doesn’t enjoy quiches because they fill her up quickly.
The buttermilk soup was clean. Because she likes soup that warms her body.
It was a common sight on Dorothea’s plate, so he found Dorothea by looking at the empty plate in the waiter’s hands.
Ethan’s heart pounded as he realized where Dorothea was.
Are you really with Theon Fried while you’re not looking for me
?
“Are you not feeling well, Ethan?”
Monica, who knew nothing, asked him.
Since Monica was standing by Dorothea’s door, she thought Ethan was looking at her.
“No, Monica. But wait a minute, on Monica’s shoulder
.”
Ethan’s body moved according to his emotions in an instant.
He stretched out his right hand as if to remove the hair off Monica’s shoulder, and Monica unknowingly backed away at Ethan’s enchanting approach.
She leaned against the door of the room where Dorothea was, and Ethan’s right hand clicked and grabbed the doorknob instead of Monica’s shoulder and opened it.
“kyaaak!”
“Oh, my God, you have to be careful.”
Monica, who was leaning against the door, was pushed back and almost fell, Ethan skillfully picked her up and checked the inside of the room.
And his prediction, which he hoped Would be wrong, was exactly right.
Dorothea was enjoying a meal with Theon. Just the two of them.
Joy, who was about to draw his sword at the appearance of an uninvited guest, recognized his face and stepped back.
Dorothea trembled when she found Ethan.
‘Why? you seemed to be enjoying it.’
‘You’re doing a good job of not letting the power I gave you go to waste.’
Ethan looked at them and smiled.
“What a coincidence. The Princess and Master Theon Fried are here.”
“Oh, Ethan. Why are you here?”
Dorothea asked.
Ethan calmly pointed his eyes at Monica, whom he had supported.
“I have an appointment.”
Dorothea recognized that the woman standing next to Ethan was Monica.
‘Why is she with Ethan? Ethan, who has returned, would have known well that he shouldn’t be involved with her
?’
Dorothea wrinkled her eyebrows and looked at Ethan, wondering, but Ethan pretended not to know her gaze and helped Monica up.
Monica, who managed to save her body from almost falling, arranged her clothes and greeted the two a little late.
“Ah, hello, Princess. And Theon.”
Monica, who attended the Episteme, greeted Theon in a familiar way, perhaps as an acquaintance.
But Theon looked at them silently, or more precisely, Ethan, as if he was offended by the uninvited guests.
“I apologize for interrupting your quality time together.”
Monica looked at Theon’s expression and bowed her head to apologize.
“Rather than a quality time—”
“Yes, we were just having quality time.”
Dorothea started to speak, but Theon cut her off and didn’t take his eyes off Ethan.
The corner of Ethan’s mouth twitched upward in a wry smile.
“The food looks so delicious. Me and Monica just arrived
 I look forward to it.”
Ethan’s eyes flicked to Dorothea and Theon as he praised the food.
Dorothea couldn’t make eye contact with Ethan. It was only Theon Fried that looked at Ethan.
“I hope you and Monica enjoy your meal, Ethan.”
Theon greeted the uninvited guests as if he were rushing to get them out.
Ethan nodded his head and smiled.
“I hope you two have a memorable and enjoyable meal time
”
Ethan took his eyes off Theon, bowed to Dorothea, and left the room with Monica.
* * *
After Ethan left, Dorothea stared at the closed door.
“Ethan is very popular.”
Her gaze returned to the table only after Theon opened his mouth.
“Even among the young ladies at Episteme, Ethan’s name is often mentioned. I think he’s already been asked on a date.”
Theon laughed.
A man who had made his presence known to all in the graduation ceremony and debutante.
The newspaper that the nobles of Lampas read was full of articles about Ethan.
‘Date
’
After all, coming to a restaurant with this kind of atmosphere means that.
Dorothea wondered what the two were talking about.
‘They laugh and talk, and eat delicious food
’
‘Didn’t you say you liked me?’
It felt strange to see Ethan, who had been crying in front of her not so long ago, having a good time with another woman.
‘No way, am I jealous now?’
Aware of her feelings, Dorothea stabbed a slice of meat with a fork.
‘What does it matter if he’s hanging out with another woman? It’s not like they’re engaged or anything.’
‘No. This isn’t jealousy, it’s anger at his inconsistency and the fleeting nature of love.
‘It’s natural to feel betrayed when he comes back to me like he’s going to love me until the day he dies and then immediately starts dating someone else.’
‘There’s no sincerity in love. Are you sure you loved me?’
Dorothea dipped the steak in the sauce and chewed it in her mouth.
As the meat melted softly after a few bites, Dorothea put another piece of meat in her mouth.
Theon looked at her and spoke first.
“Then back to our story
”
Dorothea’s hands stopped fiddling with her plate as Theon spoke up.
She looked up, realizing she’d been too focused on Ethan.
Theon had been staring at her since Ethan had left.
In his serious eyes, Dorothea had the feeling that the time had finally come. The real reason he called Dorothea today.
“Joy, could you please leave us alone for a moment?”
Theon politely asked Joy, who was standing behind Dorothea.
Then Joy wrinkled her eyebrows and glared at Theon.
This is because, before coming here, Joy received the special task from Clara to ‘protect the princess from wolves’.
“Just a moment, Joy.”
Knowing what Theon wanted to talk about, Dorothea asked Joy to wait outside the door for a while.
Joy glared at Theon once before moving away.
“So what do you want to talk about, Theon?”
Dorothea asked, pretending she didn’t know anything.
She knew they were going to talk about the spirit anyway, but the two needed to build up the story one by one.
“You asked me what I think about you
”
However, Theon recalled the previous question, contrary to her expectations.
Dorothea nodded puzzledly at the conversation that didn’t flow as expected.
And Theon quietly put down his knife and opened his red lips.
“I like you, Princess.”
His words filled the air in Caro’s room and shook Dorothea.