It was out of the blue. I blamed my ears for possibly mistaking his words. Max liked me? Thinking about why he would, I recalled the first time we met, the time I had offered him to be involved in a contractual relationship with me, how he had stuck up for me in front of my father, and what happened today.

I always thought what happened between the male lead and the female lead after the former rescued the latter was cliché. That was… until the very thing happened to me. Perhaps I was exaggerating his words in my head. He could be meaning that he liked me as a friend, and I was taking it to the next level. My efforts to understand his intentions caused a headache. That was when I realized he was glaring at me.

"Just so you don't mistake my words, I mean that I am charmed by you," he affirmed in a rather threatening manner.

Why would anyone show their affection in such a menacing way? Anyway, was he for real? I found the situation odd. It was true my heart was pounding when he appeared out of nowhere and saved me from Mikhail, but…

There was a reason why clichés were so popular, and I was no exception to becoming its victim.

"I'll give you anything you want. All you have to do is love me." I would say such things to Mikhail just because he had reached out to me once. I had fallen in love with him and had given everything to him in return for the small gesture. Now that I thought about it, he could have shown a similar kindness to anyone—even a stranger. Had my gratefulness developed into a fondness for him, or had I truly fallen in love with him at first sight?

Wearing a bitter smile, I looked up at Max. I wasn't sure if I liked him or not. Not only that, I had yet to escape the death flag—I didn't want to start dating him with lukewarm feelings and get him mixed up in my unfortunate fate as well.

I was contemplating on what to do when Max interrogated, "So what's your answer?"

His eyes were glowing with a dangerous light as if to intimidate me. I flinched and looked away immediately. Was that how he acted toward someone he was "charmed by"?!

In any case, I managed to calm down from the shock of his threatening attitude and answered, "Hey, this is a little too sudden for me… so could you give me some time to think?"

Max stared at me for a while before slowly nodding. "Sure. Just one thing—we will set a date."

I let out a sigh of relief at his agreeable attitude. I also believed it wasn't proper to drag on giving him a reply and decided, "I will give you an answer after the princess' coronation ceremony." There was a chance that Max might ask why, but that date was a very important one for me. If I managed to make it through the day without getting tangled up in some trouble with the princess, I would be able to escape the death flag. Only after I avoided an ill fate would I be able to let go of the burdens on my shoulder and give him a sincere answer—even if that meant our contractual relationship might end.

After slowly nodding, Max quickly turned his head back to face the window.

Did he really like me? Shouldn't he be looking at me with loving eyes right now if he did?

"You better not forget," he spat out in a brusque manner. I watched him for a moment then flinched once again when I realized he knew I was looking. He then said, "If you don't answer by then… I will start doing as I please."

His voice was surely intimidating, but his ear and neck from where I could see were colored red. And his face turned toward the window… I looked at his eyes to see what he was staring at—only to realize it was my reflection on the glass.

No way—did he really mean it? Feeling awkward, I turned away from the window and zipped my mouth shut. I then began thinking about what had happened today. I would have to tell my father about the incident… How was he going to react? These days, he was bent on marrying me off to the crown prince—I hoped he wouldn't get angry at me for causing an unforeseen occurrence. Or perhaps he might scold me for giving the nobles a source of gossip. A headache emerged once more as I agonized over my circumstances. I didn't want to fall asleep, but my eyelids were growing heavy. I normally didn't fall asleep like this when I was with Max since I would be talking to him, but now…

The fatigue overcame me in the end. After all, it was an exhausting day.