Chapter 28…
This was clearly Clarissa’s mistake.
In her impatience, she had provoked Adria more than she had intended.
“Relying on your parents’ authority and strutting around as if it’s your own—looks like you’ve grown quite fond of that. How long do you think it’ll last?”
Adria deliberately chose only sharp words to provoke Clarissa. Whether they were true or not didn’t matter.
What mattered was making it clear that he had no intention of taking this wager seriously.
“You get bored easily no matter what you do, and your extravagance is excessive. I don’t know how great the Lizette family’s influence is, but with that eccentric personality of yours, it’s more than enough to squander it all away. Don’t you think?”
“Ugh.”
But he didn’t realize it.
‘He’s not wrong, so it’s hard to refute…’
How did he even know about squandering it all?
The words he had chosen so casually struck Clarissa—who knew the original story—like a cruel blade.
Clarissa couldn’t find a rebuttal and quietly closed her mouth.
However, she had no intention of just taking it lying down.
She desperately turned her mind, searching for something to say.
That was when—
A voice rose from an unexpected place, defending her.
“Clarissa is not the kind of person His Highness the Crown Prince thinks she is.”
“Aryan?”
Eyes sharper than she had ever seen, and a voice that had always been gentle now carried a chilling edge.
The one who was startled by this sudden intrusion wasn’t Clarissa alone.
Adria, wearing an expression of surprise, fixed his gaze on Aryan’s still-steely face.
“…Is that so? To my eyes, she’s exactly that kind of person.”
At Adria’s slow but deliberate words, Aryan’s brow furrowed even deeper.
It seemed as though the two boys were finally beginning something like a conversation, but Clarissa couldn’t even smile.
What shocked her most was Aryan’s attitude.
Seeing a side of Aryan she had never known, Clarissa could only watch him in silence, her mouth slightly open.
“It seems your eyesight isn’t very good.”
“I’ll return that remark to you.”
What could hardly be called a conversation ended in an instant.
Aryan abruptly stood up from his seat.
“Clarissa.”
Aryan’s eyes—deep like a boundless sea—caught and held her.
Before she could even respond to his sudden call, Aryan wrapped his hand around Clarissa’s slender wrist.
“Let’s go.”
“A–Aryan?”
Without waiting for her answer, Aryan began to move.
From behind them came a voice, as if trying to provoke him—yet noticeably softer than before.
“Oh? So even I count as a man now?”
Aryan shot Adria a single hostile glare, but he didn’t bother trying to speak to him again.
Instead, he spoke firmly to Clarissa, who was still too shocked to take a step.
“Let’s go.”
“But—”
A hesitant protest slipped out before she could stop herself.
“Aryan!”
This time, Aryan ignored even her voice and continued walking in silence.
The arm he was holding felt hot.
He had no intention of letting Clarissa go.
Passing through the gardens of Rua Palace, Aryan found Marie waiting.
Without even catching his breath, he gave her an order.
“Please… call for the carriage.”
“Yes?”
Caught off guard by Aryan speaking to her first, Marie struggled to grasp the situation.
Clarissa, meanwhile, was still wandering in a haze of shock.
Between the two dazed women, Aryan spoke again, his expression firmer than ever.
“Please.”
His tone was as gentle as usual, yet carried undeniable weight.
Marie hurried off to summon the carriage.
Only after Marie’s figure disappeared did Clarissa finally come back to her senses and hurriedly call out to Aryan.
“W–wait, Aryan, just a moment!”
“I…”
Aryan’s quiet voice cut her off.
With his brows drawn together, as if enduring pain, Aryan gently released the wrist he had been gripping.
“I don’t want to exchange a single word with someone who is rude to you.”
Inside the rattling carriage, the two of them—and one small animal—were trapped in a long silence.
Clarissa absentmindedly tugged at Huwy’s fur while stealing glances at Aryan’s still-hardened expression.
Only after feeling Huwy’s desperate squirming did she snap back to herself.
Carefully, watching Aryan’s mood, she spoke.
“Aryan, about earlier…”
She had finally brought herself to speak, but couldn’t finish the sentence.
‘Of course he’d be angry—being insulted like that to his face…’
Clarissa understood Aryan’s feelings perfectly. Because of that, she closed her mouth again without adding anything more.
But Aryan, understanding what she hadn’t been able to say, bowed his head first.
“I’m sorry. But I couldn’t help it.”
“Y–yes, of course.”
“Yes.”
Hearing his unusually flat voice, Clarissa realized just how angry he must be.
At this point, that Crown Prince really seemed like an impressive figure—in the worst possible way.
To make an angel like Aryan angry, he must have been born to provoke people.
‘Maybe the timing was the problem. I’ll have to think more carefully before leaving that guy by Aryan’s side,’ she thought.
Whether it was because of age or something else, she’d rather roll around five times herself than entrust Aryan’s back to him.
While Clarissa nodded to herself, making a firm resolve Aryan could never have imagined—
“He spoke badly about you, Clarissa.”
Words she never would have expected fell again.
‘Huh? Me?’
Her eyes flew open.
Clarissa stared blankly at Aryan, whose eyes looked genuinely hurt.
The voice she had dismissed as a hallucination replayed clearly in her mind.
I don’t want to exchange a single word with someone who is rude to you.
So she hadn’t misheard it after all.
Feeling something swell up inside her, Clarissa pressed a hand to her chest.
She couldn’t tell whether it was gratitude, sadness, or emotion too overwhelming to name.
When she finally spoke, her voice trembled.
“I–I’m fine. Rather, Aryan—”
“Young lady,”
Aryan’s blue eyes clearly reflected Clarissa.
“You’re too kind for your own good.”
With his cheeks slightly puffed, speaking in a mildly petulant tone, Aryan looked incredibly cute.
The problem was that what came out of his mouth was complete nonsense.
Clarissa unconsciously looked at Huwy, then back at Aryan.
No matter how she thought about it, those words really had come from Aryan’s mouth.
It felt as though someone had dumped cold water over her head.
Clarissa’s jaw dropped open.
‘Good heavens… have you already forgotten what I did to you?’
Perhaps Clarissa’s shocked expression was unfamiliar, because Aryan quickly reverted to his usual self and lowered his head deeply.
“I’m sorry.”
“Huh?”
“I messed things up again, didn’t I?”
Aryan quietly clenched his fist.
Clarissa had clearly said she wanted to introduce someone to him.
Yet he had stormed out anyway—it was obvious she must be disappointed.
But even if he went back to that moment, Aryan vowed he wouldn’t make a different choice.
The thought of Clarissa being hurt by cruel words because of someone as inadequate as himself was unbearable—worse than death.
He squeezed his eyes shut and waited for her disappointed voice.
But the voice that finally reached him was—
“Not at all. You did wonderfully. And…”
It was praise softer and sweeter than ever before.
When Aryan hurriedly opened his eyes, Clarissa was smiling brightly at him.
Aryan dared to take in her 모습 as she poured in with the light.
“Thank you.”
“A–ah, no…”
Words he had never even dared to hope for.
Her kindness always took Aryan by surprise.
Seeing him return to his usual self, Clarissa let out a small laugh.
Someone once said autumn was a season of change.
Her golden eyes sparkled warmly.
With eyes that looked as though honey might drip from them, she placed her warmth over the back of his hand.
Then, in a voice tinged with laughter, she finally spoke the words she had been holding back.
“More importantly… is it ‘young lady’ again?”
“Pardon?”
“Clarissa.”
She pronounced her name clearly and deliberately, looking straight at the flustered Aryan.
“I was happy when you called me that. Was it only for that moment?”
Only then did Aryan remember that today, without realizing it, he had called her by name again and again.
His face flushed instantly.
To be continued.
