I waited patiently with my eyes closed. However, the thing I had been waiting for didn't happen. What was taking him so long?

I opened my eyes at last only for them to meet Max's. He gave me a strange look and moved away from me. "Here," he said. Feeling something heavy weighing down my hair, I touched the area. I then noticed what he had done—he was only putting the hairpin on me. Humiliation overcame me once I realized I had totally misunderstood the situation. Why did he even tell me to close my eyes when all he was going to do was put the accessory on me?!

He complimented me with a soft voice, "You look beautiful." I stared at him in surprise. Was he talking to me?

It was a peculiar feeling. Although I received compliments quite often, it was different now that Max had praised me. Feeling as if I had never heard such words previously, my heart began to pound. Something was definitely wrong with me. I was beginning to worry that my face was growing red when he reached his hand toward me again.

"What is it?" I asked hastily.

He frowned slightly in response. "It's crooked." His tone was rather brusque.

I hurriedly stopped him. "I-It's okay! I'll do it instead!" I didn't want to misinterpret his actions and end up with embarrassing delusions again. Hurriedly gathering a chunk of my hair, I used the hairpin to fix it in place. That was when our eyes met again.

'How many times was that now?' I wondered. In reality, I had lost count a while ago as it had happened innumerable times already… which meant that we were both solely focused on each other.

Feeling my face grow hot, I averted my gaze.

***

"Is it okay now?" she asked. Despite the fact Max was staring intently at her, the lady sounded oblivious. She was driving him crazy.

The naive Jubelian would never realize how much Max had agonized over whether to kiss her or not while putting the hairpin on her head. Even now, he was barely suppressing his burning desire to taste her cherry lips.

Regardless, the lady took out a small hand mirror and observed herself, smiling shyly. Max almost smiled at her lovely appearance but realized something and lowered the corners of his lips. He wasn't just imagining it—she had been avoiding his gaze.

'I even gave her a present… What did I do wrong?' He felt his frustration grow. If he could, he wanted to pull her close by her slender waist and keep her inside his arms. He would then gaze into her ocean-like eyes as she would look at him in surprise. Then, he would kiss her—parting her lips to savor her taste.

The lust pervaded his mind, prompting Max to reach out to her once again. However, he clenched his fists to stop himself. Had she found out what he was thinking? Feeling agitated, Max swallowed dryly. He wondered if he should try to forbid her from running away if she did.

That was when she called, "Max." He gazed at her side profile in response, to which she continued, "Thank you so much for today."

"Oh, of course," he answered awkwardly.

"This is the first time that someone bought me a gift like this," she smiled faintly. Max scowled, thinking of his master. Had he not given his so-called precious daughter a gift until now? "Max," she called again just then, now facing him with reddened cheeks. Max took a deep breath in. While he was afraid of what she would say, he couldn't help but anticipate it. Holding eye contact, they stood in silence for a moment.

Taking in a deep breath, Jubelian bid farewell. She then ran toward her carriage. Max watched her grow far away and sighed.

"I guess she's telling me I need to wait."

Just then, someone approached him. Alarmed, Max stood in a defensive stance for a moment. Upon recognizing who it was, he took his hand off the hilt of his sword. "You weren't eavesdropping, were you?" he snarled.

Fresia scoffed. "Oh, come on. I only saw a little of what happened. It was quite a romantic scene—helping the lady wear the hairpin—"

"Fresia," Max interrupted. His voice was back to its usual cold tone. Swallowing dryly, Fresia changed the topic.

"Ah, and I have some shocking news."

"About?"

"Regarding the empress."

Max raised an eyebrow in response.

***

I changed into my pajamas once I got home and jumped into bed, letting out a sigh of regret. I was planning to ask about his identity, but the conversation steered in a different direction than I had intended. I couldn't ask him in the end.

Reminiscing about what had happened this evening, I kicked the blankets in embarrassment. I already knew the answer to his confession. It was obvious—I was someone who was easily lovestruck! I ended up showing my jealousy and that I was hopelessly in love with him. It must have been a spectacle for him.

'Get it together, Jubelian,' I told myself. The princess' coming-of-age ceremony hadn't passed yet. Moreover, I didn't know what my father would say about the crown prince in the near future. As long as my death flag remained unresolved, I had to be on guard.