Ryan Clifford.

I knew of his name.

There were two dukes in that kingdom, each with vast territories in the East and West of the royal castle.

The two families—the Sterling family in the West, while the Clifford family in the East—were often compared to each other.

Therefore, I had naturally heard of the Clifford family.

According to the rumors, the Clifford family was gaining momentum and deepening its relationship with the royal family.

It seemed that the Clifford’s lineage was excellent—especially the duke’s son, Ryan. In the last hundred years, he was one of their most talented men.

Ryan, who was blessed with good looks and physique, was expected to be the star of the Clifford family. Soon, he’d be engaged to the first princess of the kingdom. Said princess had been rumored to be the more beautiful than all princesses of even the neighboring kingdoms.

My former fiancée, that idiot, was the eldest son of the Sterling family. I felt pity whenever he was compared to Ryan.

Of course, the result of the comparison itself wasn’t surprising.

Ricardo was filled with nothing but shortcomings, after all.

I also remembered that he often complained about the ‘unjustified treatment’—

—even though he barely made any effort.

Well, when compared to Ryan, all Ricardo had was his good-looking face.

His insides, however, were pompous and vile.

It’d be better if, despite all his shortcomings, he had put in some effort.

However, he never did—which was part of the reason why I despised him.

By the way, the Sterling family had been declining in reputation since then. At the same time, their finances had also deteriorated in earnest.

His entire family was filled with arrogant people. As such, they were loathed. I had no sympathy for them.

While seeing off the ladies, I felt deeply intrigued and contemplated about it. Then, a pair of male customers came to the register for their bill.

With that, the only customer remaining in my store was the Knight of Dawn.

As closing time was nearing, I doubted other customers would come.

The knight had taken out some documents. I quietly started cleaning the store in fear of disturbing the knight.

It was easy to clean because my customers kept the inside of the store clean.

It wasn’t the same as when I was working at a restaurant downtown.

I could run a café by myself. However, the good-natured customers definitely helped a lot there.

Anyway, what is the Knight of Dawn doing?

After I had finished with cleaning, I returned to my previous position behind the cash register. I wondered while looking at my book once again.

Perhaps, the title ‘Knight of Dawn’ comes from the fact that he resides in the East where the sun rises? However, is it such a big deal?

I glanced at Ryan.

As rumored, he was certainly beautiful.

His sturdy build was better than that of a veteran knight. As he carefully read the documents, his face exuded expertness.

But, after that year of torment, I had perfected my resistance towards handsome men.

It could be said to be rude of me, but I didn’t think handsome men could be trusted.

I might also be biased due to the fact that he was a duke’s son.

However, unlike my incompetent former fiancé, his expression exuded seriousness.

As he drank the cocoa, Ryan concentrated on his work. He didn’t seem to find the fact that I was in front of him a bother.

As such, I could enter the world of books without worrying about a single thing.

Thus, the peaceful time flowed for a while.

The sound of paper being flipped, and the sound of a running pen.

Gentle music at a low volume.

It was as if that space was separated from the entire world.

“It was delicious.”

A quiet voice that melted into the air could be heard. I slowly raised my head from the book I was reading.

It was such a pleasant voice.

Good-looking guys seemed to also possess good-sounding voices.

What, were their vocal cords specially made, maybe?

“Thank you.”

With that in mind, I thanked and smiled at him.

It was a little past the closing time, but it didn’t bother me at all.

“…Flores Arklight?”

Suddenly called by my own name, I was surprised—

—how did he know?

I didn’t use my name in the café’s name. There shouldn’t be anything hinting to my personal information.

“Have we met before?”

When I tilted my head, he smirked. “Don’t you remember?”

Unfortunately, I believed I only knewn him through rumors.

I didn’t feel like I’d forget such a non-standard handsome guy once I met him.

“It’s me, Ryan Clifford. I was there at the place where you broke off your engagement.”

“…Oh.”

When I heard his name again, I recalled something.

I recalled seeing his name in the guest list back then.

However, I still didn’t recall ever having a face-to-face meeting with him.

To be honest, doing something like that on that day would have been unlikely.

By the way, I was complaining about Ricardo’s disgusting face that day.

“I’m sorry for the trouble I’ve caused that day…”

That day, I may have been too excited to say goodbye to Ricardo.

Not only was he arrogant, he was sincerely expecting that I’d despair over him. He truly thought everything would go his way.

“Forgive me for showing you such an unsightly scene.”

“No, it was good.”

After saying that, he smirked as if he had recalled the scene vividly.

“No, really, the face of that guy, it was the best, pfft!”

His shoulders trembled as he laughed. He sounded like he was truly enjoying himself instead of being sarcastic.

My impression of him was that of a quiet and cool handsome guy. But it seemed that he also had a humorous side to himself.

The wrinkles on the corners of his eyes were cute.

Just like that, my appreciation for him had increased.

---

***T/N: That and his stark contrast conveniently lived opposite each other LMAO.

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