“Why did you ask if you’re going to say something like that?”

Despite saying so bluntly, she raised her other hand and started caressing the back of his hand. Her warm temperature was melting away the chilly condition of the back of his hand.

“I’m not going. I don’t have anything to do with him anyway.”

“Really………?”

“You’re not going to believe what I said?”

“No way. No matter what, I’ll definitely believe in you.”

Even if it was just a lie, the way he had talked seemed quite serious. She knew that he wasn’t a man who would spout nonsense. Vivian hesitated momentarily before she moved her little finger carefully.

“Even if I tell you I’m not Vivian, herself?”

“I promise you. No matter what you say, I will listen to everything and believe in them.”

He pledged an oath to cover up his past mistakes—the time when he wouldn’t believe in her. While gazing into Vivian’s eyes, he moved apart his swollen lips and those words that he always wanted to utter numerous times back then.

“I’m sorry, Vivian.”

“What is it that you’re being very sorry about?”

“For not listening to you back then.”

Vivian immediately stopped fidgeting with her fingers. Somehow, a hand that was as warm as hers had entered in between her fingers.

“For not believing in you. I’m sorry for making you evacuate to this far place and causing you to suffer. I should’ve realized my feelings much earlier.”

“……Knox.”

“I love you.”

It was just as short as a simple phrase.

A moment of silence gradually made a space only for those two people. Even a grain of dust had seemed to be listening to him without making any single move.

He whispered sweetly once again while holding her hand that he could now finally reach for.

“Vivian, I’m in love with you.”

Is this what it feels like to be out of breath?

The sun glistening through the window had overshadowed his face. As if imparting that all of this was just a dream, light began spreading before her eyes. The voice that oozed out from his throat felt like it wasn’t from him at all.

“I’m not Young Lady Alexia.”

“I know.”

“I’m not a Young Countess either.”

“Yeah.”

Vivian’s eyes began to get all watery at Knox’s calm reply.

The things she had always wanted to say ever since she had disguised herself as Alexia. Everything that she wished to say in front of him with her own original voice, without any facade, was being realized right now.

“I’m also not someone rich and smart—someone who is beneficial for your family.”

“That’s not true.”

He denied her words.

“Your existence alone will make my family prosper.”

The Grand Duchy that was without her had been too dreary. It was a fact which he didn’t realize at all until she came.

The Grand Duchy needed some warmth. And that warmth would only come from Vivian, who would be there just for him.

“I can’t live without you.”

Knox’s hands trembled slightly. His heart began to pound as if he had returned to his feelings from a year and a half ago.

“You don’t have to worry about your child. Your child is no different from mine. I won’t discriminate against her and I’ll raise her as the official heir of the Grand Duke. So, please return to my side, Vivian.”

Her pupils dilated immediately. She never thought that he would be the one to bring up the issue which she couldn’t raise due to being afraid. The water from her eyes finally trickled down her round curve.

“Really…? Will you also be understanding about my child whose father is unknown?”

“Of course. I’m rather looking forward to seeing her grow up beautifully since she is your child.”

Ah.

She felt like the resentment that had been wrapped in anxiety all this time was finally lifted by those words of his. How nervous she had been. A child who wasn’t welcomed by many people. Vivian was no longer hiding her tears at the fact that her poor child, whose biological father hadn’t been able to reveal, was finally getting acknowledged.

Knox appeared to be surprised at her sudden crying, but still, he carefully stretched his arms out and hugged her shoulder. The more his large hand had patted over her delicate shoulders, the more frequent her heaves had become.

“Do you perhaps hate it if I take her in as my child?”

“N-no!”

Vivian’s head turned quickly within his embrace.

Although her shoulders were still quivering from all her sniffing, her eyes eventually met with him after calming down slightly.

“Are you really, really okay—no matter whose child she is?”

“Yes. If you’re fine with it, I can put her name in my family register right away.”

“What if she’s actually your child?”

“……what?”

Knox’s resolute voice slowly started trembling.

The hand that was patting softly on Vivian’s back eventually stopped. He stiffened up and looked at her as if time had stopped all of a sudden.