“This drink of the commoners tastes quite good. You have my thanks.”

Holding a juice containing several small pieces of fruits, the boy chuckled. He was cheeky, but the fact that he had thanked me proved he wasn’t a bad kid. He was a little adorable.

I began to think that he was a fairly high-ranking aristocrat due to his bossy attitude and the ornaments I he wore. However, I pretended not to notice.

Then, while I was conversing with the boy—

“Lord Nigel!” A voice echoed.

In response, the boy raised his face. It was as if he had bounced.

Apparently, his servant had arrived.

The person who seemed to be his servant thanked me. He even asked for my name because he wanted to thank me, but I refused, saying it was alright.

“Well, thanks to you guys, I wasn’t bored. Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.”

“That’s right. Let’s just do that.”

With that said, he whispered something to his servant, and eventually handed me some pieces of paper—two tickets. I could see the name of the most popular and finest, hotel in the royal capital written on them. To stay in that hotel, reservations needed to be made a few months in advance.

“With those, you can stay in the suite.”

“Eh?”

“Just say my name, ‘Nigel’, and the rest should take care of itself. The food is pretty good.”

After saying, “See you again.” The boy left in no time. I was too confused to thank him. Who the hell was that boy?

Then, I saw that Philip had returned. He didn’t have a drink in his hand—did he drink it all somewhere?

He sat down a bit farther, stared at my face, then sighed deeply before lowering his face.

“The boy has been safely picked up.”

“I see.”

“Um, are you alright?”

“Yes.”

It was apparent that he wasn’t. I was worried about what had taken place. After a bit of silence, Philip looked up at me. His pair of golden eyes bore into me.

“…Even if I know it’s a lie, I’m both happy and upset that you said you loved me.”

“Eh—”

“—I’ll do my best so that the next time you say that again, it won’t be a lie.”

Philip’s eyes were passionate.

I could only muster, “I, I see. Is that so?” as an answer. Desperately thinking of something else to get rid of that oddly sweet air, before I realized it, I had presented the ticket to him.

“I, if you like, let’s, together—!”

“…”

The moment Philip saw what was written on the ticket, he solidified like a statue. An embarrassment that couldn’t be hidden was exuded by his beautiful face.

It wasn’t until I noticed the kind of situation I was in that I realized I failed say the most important part. “The boy gave these tickets to me not long ago. He said that the food is delicious, so let’s go there to eat.”

It wouldn’t be strange for him to think that I was asking him to stay with me in a hotel or something.

“Yo, you’re mistaken! It seems that the food here is delicious! The boy from before gave it to me, it’s not like I want to stay there. I thought it’d be great if we were to have a meal there!”

I didn’t even know what I was spouting anymore—but he seemed understand. Philip eventually nodded, his face still slightly flushed.

Then, we decided to go out for dinner at a fixed date and time in the near future. We eventually returned to our carriage.

…I had no way of knowing that we’d actually be staying together in that hotel on the appointed day.

◇◇◇

“Ah, I’m sorry—”

“Likewise—”

Then, a few days later, when I had time to spare, I decided to practice embroidery. However, some threads broke. Occasionally, I’d come to the town with Selma on foot. It was meant to be a mood refresher.

When I bought thread at a trendy general store and tried to go home, I suddenly bumped into someone. The moment I apologize and saw the other person’s face, I inadvertently let out a scream.

“Good afternoon, Viola. I didn’t expect to meet you in a place like this. I’m glad.”

“G, good afternoon, Lord Cyril.”

Indeed. Before me, stood Cyril with a dazzlingly refreshing smile. Next to him was Laura who was as dazzling and beautiful.

“Oh, are you perhaps shopping, Lady Viola~?”

“I am.”

“Embroidery thread! Not to mention, that’s also Philip’s color!” Said Laura.

“W, which means…” Said Cyril.

“You don’t have to hide it, it’s wonderful! If you like, let’s have some tea!”

Even when I already told her I had something else to do, Laura insisted that, “It’ll be over in a bit.” She quickly held my arm. Eventually, we left the store and entered the café next door.

Then, once our drinks were ordered, a servant of the Crane family rushed over to whisper something to Laura. Stunned, Laura stood up.

“I’m sorry, I’ll be back in a bit.”

“Eh—”

“I’ll be back, soon!”

Then, she rushed out of the café.

The two of them had sat across from me, and now, I was left alone with Cyril. I was wondering why that happened, and was inwardly clutching my head.

Contrary to me, who felt awkward, Cyril had a refreshing smile.

Eventually, Cyril turned his gaze towards the paper bag containing the thread I had just bought. He stared at me with an indescribable expression.

“…It seems that when people lose their memories, they sometimes do change.”

“Huh?”

“Originally, you weren’t good at both embroidering, nor with Philip.”

From the bottom of my heart, I was glad Philip wasn’t there. If he was, he’d surely be distraught.

“I hope you regain your memories, soon. How can I help? I’ll ask a doctor I know.” He seemed to be seriously contemplating it.

“Why would you go that far?”

When I asked, he lowered his head and smiled.

“Because I loved you.”

While I was taken aback by his words, I was relieved that he used past tense.

“When I heard that you lost your memories, I felt lonely. I thought that you had forgotten of my existence.”

“Lord, Cyril…”

“For me, the time I spent with Viola is very important. For you, it might be different, though.”

His expression was terribly sorrowful.

“I know that your engagement with Philip is absolutely unwavering, and sticking my nose where it doesn’t belong isn’t my intention.”

“…”

“Still, I want to stay as a part of your memories. That much should be allowed, right?”

Towards him, who smiled as if troubled, I didn’t know what to say.

I never imagined Cyril felt that way. I could tell that he really loved me. At the same time, the guilt of having lied to him made my heart throb.

“I’m sorry to have kept you waiting! What are you guys talking about?”

I was inwardly relieved when Laura had returned.

Afterwards, Laura had a one-sided conversation with me. It felt as if the previous conversation had never happened. After an hour or so, we decided to go home.

Then, unexpectedly, I saw dust on Cyril’s shoulder. He was talking with Laura, as such, his back was turned towards me.

Not wanting to interrupt, I reached out softly without saying anything and tried to remove the dust. At that moment, my hand suddenly touched his cheek.

Precisely at that moment, Cyril’s face became dyed red. He sighed a little and said, “Not good.” As he laughed, he lowered his face.

“Forgive me. I intended not to lie to you, but that’s exactly what I just did.”

Waving to me, who could only stay frozen, they disappeared into the crowd.

I wondered what had just happened.

---

***T/N: No, Cyril, back off. We have our hands full with one liar already, so back off. Also, why do I feel like the reason Cyril wants to regain her memories is so that the ~real~ Viola would ~return~ and stop loving Phil?

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