“Kay…!”

Yelena stood up, beaming, but then she stopped. Her face clouded with deep disappointment.

It wasn’t her husband.

The person who appeared at the open door was an unfamiliar bachelor.

“…Please leave, since this spot is taken,” Yelena said lifelessly and sat back down on her chair. “And next time, try checking whether or not the terrace is occupied before opening the door.”

Her deep disappointment resulted in annoyance. She waved the man away with her hand, not even trying to hide her unpleasant mood, signaling him to “get lost immediately.”

The man should have apologized and disappeared by now, but he showed no reaction. Instead, he took a step inside and closed the door.

“…?”

Yelena regarded the bachelor with a puzzled look. Then, he spoke.

“Who are you waiting for?”

Yelena raised her eyebrows. Did she hear him correctly?

“Your husband, by any chance? Are you waiting for your husband? Such a meek wife.”

Yelena was hearing him correctly. The bachelor was speaking to her casually, as if they were friends or she was his subordinate.

Yelena’s mouth went agape in disbelief.

“What’s your deal?”

[What’s his deal?]

“Do you know me?” Yelena snapped fiercely, scrutinizing the man. She studied him carefully to see if she knew him, but she didn’t recognize him.

The bachelor lifted his foot off the ground.

“Wow, this is sad… You don’t recognize me?”

Step. The man came closer.

“How could you do this to me? I thought you might have forgotten me when you didn’t answer my letters, but… what a shame.”

Yelena didn’t know what he was talking about. She scowled. The important thing was that this man was getting undesirably closer to her.

“Don’t you dare come any closer.”

Yelena stood up from her seat and grasped the Holy Sword. The man stopped in his tracks, as if he just noticed that she was holding a weapon.

“…A sword?”

“…”

“Yelena, you know how to use a sword?”

“I at least learned how to slice a man who approaches me without permission.”

“…”

“Are you curious about what I learned? Come closer then, if you are.”

The man alternated between staring at Yelena’s slender build and the Holy Sword. Then, he raised both hands.

“Well, all right. A sword is dangerous no matter who wields it…”

“Who are you? Answer me from where you are. Don’t come any closer.”

The man stared at Yelena. His eyes crinkled into crescent moons.

Yelena thought she had seen that gross eye-smile somewhere before.

“You really don’t remember me?”

“…”

“Your first man. Past lover. Still nothing?”

[Past lover?!]

The Holy Sword reacted in shock before Yelena could.

Yelena blinked as she stared blankly at the man. Then, her face crumpled.

“Henns?”

“My name is Hunns.”

“Yeah, that. Hah,” Yelena scoffed. The Holy Sword fussed noisily.

[What? Your ex-boyfriend? Did you just meet your ex-boyfriend? Is this some soap opera?]

‘Be quiet, Holy Sword.’

[My name isn’t Holy Sw…]

‘Hush, Terry.’

The Holy Sword fell quiet in an instant, perhaps satisfied by Yelena calling it by its nickname.

Anyhow, now that her mind was peaceful, Yelena took a good look at the man.

“Why are you here?”

“Why, you ask. It would be weirder if I was absent from the congratulatory banquet for Her Highness the Crown Princess’s return.”

“Not that. Why did you crawl into this terrace.”

“…”

“I didn’t call for you.”

Hunns shrugged.

“Am I only allowed to see you if I tell you beforehand?”

“No. You shouldn’t be allowed to see me at all.”

Yelena scowled.

Hunns Pherson. The fourth son of Count Pherson.

And… Yelena’s first partner whom she had dated for only a week before breaking up.

‘I must be crazy.’

Yelena was suddenly hit with self-hatred. She bit her tongue weakly.

‘I know I was curious about what dating was like, but of all people, I dated that jerk…’

This had been before she became an adult. The young Yelena had been curious about what dating was like for a very brief period of time.

What did it feel like to have a boyfriend? Was it a nice feeling? Was there something special about it?

Unable to win against her curiosity, Yelena asked the first person who asked her to dance at the party she went to that day to date her. This happened to be Hunns, who was older than her by two years.