“Sophia.”
A cheerful voice echoed through the hallway.
Sophia shivered at the persistent voice as she turned the corner to avoid him.
Crazy man. I can’t believe he came all the way here.
“Where are you, Sophia?”
Meanwhile, the man’s lazy voice made her escape sound like a light joke.
Even at this moment, Sophia could imagine the corners of his lips lifted in a relaxed smile, and his blue eyes shining under golden hair.
“Isn’t he just so handsome?”
That was what many noble ladies would sigh and murmur. Sophia had once been among them, too.
But ever since she woke up from her “sleep,” everything changed.
She was afraid of him.
Like a prey animal instinctively fears a predator.
“Go back!”
Sophia shouted, not caring if her hiding place was exposed. She could tell by the sound of his footsteps—calm and unhurried, just a few steps behind her—that he was clearly chasing her for fun.
As expected, the man stopped walking when he heard her voice. After a short silence, he asked playfully,
“Why should I?”
Why? She almost ran out, speechless with frustration.
But Sophia, who always shrank like a mouse before a cat when facing him, chose to stay hidden and yell instead.
She ran into an unused dressing room and shouted again.
“I told you before! This is where the princess’s maids stay. Men aren’t allowed in here! And if Her Highness finds out you came here again, how upset do you think she’ll be?”
“And I told you then, too.”
As expected, his voice grew closer. Sophia didn’t even think about running anymore and just listened.
“What does the princess have to do with anything?”
He was probably smirking arrogantly, just like he always did. Sophia often saw that smile and thought it suited him far too well.
“Sophia.”
He called her name gently again.
The sound came from just nearby.
Sophia looked up from between the ballroom dresses in the closet.
The man, parting the heavy gowns, stood with the light behind him and smiled brightly.
“Found you. My sweet fiancée.”
Fiancée?
Sophia puffed out her cheeks in displeasure.
She had told him many times that any engagement made while she was asleep was invalid.
But he always called her that anyway.
As if to remind her that she couldn’t escape from his trap.
“Do you know how long I searched for you? Why would you hide so well?”
He said that, despite not even putting much effort into finding her.
Ignoring his dramatic tone, Sophia went straight to the point.
“Why are you here again today?”
“It’s only natural for fiancés to be together, Sophia.”
“Even if we are engaged, you should still follow the rules. And coming into a women-only area…”
“Are you worried I might eat you up?”
He knelt on one knee and moved the clothes aside to make space for her.
His faint smile and the light on his face made him feel even more unreachable.
Though over five months had passed since they were “engaged”—including the time she was asleep—Sophia had never once thought of him as her fiancé.
As she stayed silent, he reached out and softly brushed her cheek.
Maybe because it was dark, she suddenly found the courage to speak.
“I still don’t understand why you got engaged to me.”
“You confessed first that night, Sophia.”
“I don’t believe that either.”
“Then are you saying you really didn’t have any feelings for me? Even from a distance, I could feel how you looked at me.”
“But…”
“When you act like this, I…”
He paused.
Then, with his striking blue eyes—so deep they didn’t seem human—he gently looked at her face.
“When you act like this, I start to wonder… is it because you doubt my feelings for you?”
“I…”
“That’s why I want to show you. To prove how real my feelings are for you.”
His long fingers gently cupped Sophia’s cheek a little longer.
Suddenly, he felt too close.
She tried to push his hand away, but his firm arm didn’t budge at all.
His eyes grew darker.
“Should I kiss you?”
“What?”
“Should we kiss, Sophia?”
Sophia looked up at him without a word.
Sophia Hilden had woken up a month ago after sleeping for five months.
Five whole months.
It was almost like she had died and come back.
But her sleep hadn’t been like that of a sick person.
The moment she opened her eyes, her body felt light and refreshed.
Her arms and legs were full of energy, and her face even looked bright and healthy.
Knowing her condition didn’t match what others were saying, Sophia couldn’t believe her tearful parents’ words.
“What do you mean, five months? Yesterday was the night of Georgia Centania’s ball!”
Sophia spoke as if only a day had passed.
Her parents, Count and Countess Hilden, were too overwhelmed with joy that their daughter was awake and speaking clearly.
They didn’t really listen to what she said.
They were too busy praying—“Oh, thank heavens, thank you, Lord.”
Feeling confused by her parents’ frantic prayers, Sophia looked out the window.
She clearly remembered wearing long fur gloves against the cold wind as she stepped out of the carriage.
But now, the thin curtains fluttered in the breeze, and green leaves had taken over.
The season had changed overnight.
She could still hear the excited voices of her friends from the ball just last night, or so it felt.
“Oh, Sophia. It’s such a miracle that you’re awake.
Even though Duke Silvetao said you would wake up in the spring… oh, my.”
The Countess wiped her tears with a handkerchief, trembling with emotion.
Sophia, overwhelmed by the feeling that her whole world had changed, stared blankly outside.
“We must inform Duke Silvetao.
He was waiting for you to wake up even more than we were!”
With that, the Countess stood up and rushed out of the room.
Sophia finally turned to her father and asked,
“Duke Silvetao? Do you mean Duke Callas Silvetao?”
“Yes, Sophia. He helped us a lot while you were asleep.
When everyone else said you wouldn’t wake up, he was the only one who said you would—when spring came.
And that night, he was the one who brought you home after you collapsed.
He said you were with him.”
“What?”
Sophia blinked, stunned.
It didn’t make sense.
If it was something that happened yesterday, she could remember every detail.
She remembered burying her face in her friend’s mink coat.
Even the perfume scent was still vivid in her mind.
She also remembered seeing Duke Silvetao.
Even among the crowd, he stood tall and elegant.
He always had that relaxed air about him as he stood beside the emperor and spoke.
Sometimes he would turn his bracelet absentmindedly, or lean back slightly while glancing downward.
Every time, young ladies and older noblewomen alike would let out quiet sighs and whisper.
Sophia had been one of them.
When Solid, the only daughter of Count Medecia, who was engaged to the heir of Marquis Sandel, murmured with a soft sigh,
“Oh, I think I could die happy if he held my hand with those beautiful hands…”
Sophia had boldly replied,
“Just hands? If he danced with you, you’d get to touch them anyway.
To truly call it a wish, he’d have to kiss you.”
Then came Solid’s shocked gasp,
“Sophia!”
Sophia could still hear that loud, delighted call ringing in her ears.
The duke, who looked more like an emperor than the emperor himself—almost like a strange god—still felt like he was watching her from beyond the room.
But now, her father said the duke had helped her while she slept, and that they were together that night.
Together… with him?
Sophia repeated the words silently, like a spell.
The last thing she remembered was drinking a few glasses of wine.
Her best friend Solid’s wedding was near, and that ball was the last one they would attend together.
Sophia thought it was fine to enjoy a pleasant buzz that night.
They had snuck into another room, buried themselves in curtains and dresses, and drank in secret.
Solid had left to go to the restroom but didn’t come back.
Sophia, slightly drunk, leaned against a cold window and eventually went looking for her.
She remembered being thirsty, drinking some water, and picking up a snack on the way because she was hungry.
Then…
Nothing.
Could she have met Duke Silvetao during that time she couldn’t remember?
What happened that made him bring her home?
Sophia thought of Duke Silvetao’s golden hair, like spun sunlight, and his cool blue eyes.
Her throat suddenly felt hot and dry.
She ignored the small pain, thinking it was just thirst from not drinking water for a long time.
When she asked for water, her father poured it himself and handed it to her.
“Do you remember anything from that night, Sophia?”
