Translator and Editor: Effe and Nabi

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Chapter 11 – Give And Take (2)

The tears stopped when the sky turned completely red.

The two of them leaned against the tree silently as they didn’t say anything for a moment.

Sienna’s embarrassment hit her too late, and her face flushed.

He just stayed by her side without asking why she ended up like that. Although she was awkward and embarrassed, after the crying, she was feeling better now.

Sitting next to each other as the wind washed away her worries and anger.

“That’s good.”

Her eyes met the sincerity that was suddenly exuded from him.

With an awkward smile, Dandelion’s gaze quickly turned to the front again. He then suddenly grabbed her by the shoulder and held the end of her scarf with one hand.

“…Dan?”

He stared intently into Sienna’s eyes, as if asking for her permission.

When she did not restrain him, he pulled the end of her scarf lightly. The scarf was untied smoothly and her neck was exposed in an instant.

‘Ah!’

Sienna quickly covered her neck with her hand.

But, Dandelion gently grabbed her hand and lowered it. Seeing the red marks and small wounds, he closed his lips for a moment before gently stroking her wounds.

“Are you hurt?”

“…”

Every time he touched it, it felt like it was on fire.

As she flinched, he lifted his hand in surprise.

He probably didn’t realize he was getting so close.

“Sorry.”

“No. It’s fine.”

It’s not because it hurts.

“Who the hell did this?”

“That’s… Some kind of dog…”

“Dog?”

Confused, Dandelion bit his lips before gazing into her eyes again. He said, “If you ever need help…”

Sienna vigorously shook her head.

It had to be her to deal with that bastard.

‘Just wait and see.’

Pierre, you were a little too much.

In the meantime, Sienna thought back to what she had suffered. Her motivation was springing up, unlike herself, but the wall of reality was always heavy.

‘But, what can I do…?’

Pierre was already the Crown Prince, and unlike Siena, who was poorly educated, he received a harsh early education from his maternal family. In addition, he himself was a perfectionist, and he would rather destroy things that were not perfect.

As a result, he has become the person he is today. Equipped with decent swordsmanship skills, decent political power, and a splendid appearance worthy to be crowned the next king… even if his temperament is gnarly.

To be honest, she was no match.

Because Siena didn’t have any support base, nor did she have the will to become king.

She just wanted to screw around a little bit.

‘Well, I don’t want to end up overworked. Never, never.’

She just wanted to live happily ever after.

It was her wish to end like that.

“Haa—”

The king’s son, a thug, who has the wealthiest family in the kingdom, must have some weakness…

‘…Eleanor?’

Sienna’s lips parted slightly. It was a habit of hers while thinking.

The feeling struck her.

The exhilarating taste and tension before catching a big fish. What Pierre desperately wanted the most was the throne and Eleanor.

‘Ahh. I can’t even seduce the heroine…’

Then.

Her eyes narrowed as it twitched slightly.

“…Is there really nothing?”

Dandelion called her as her thoughts were running to the other world.

“Sienna?”

“Oh, I’m sorry. I was thinking about something else for a while.”

Fortunately, Dandelion did not ask any further questions. Instead, he held up the basket next to him. He smiled softly before explaining.

“I brought this to eat with you.”

“…Uh.”

“Because you like sweets.”

“Yes! I like it. It’s perfect.”

His gift was unexpected.

What was in the basket was a strawberry sandwich.

“Uh, the patisserie in front of the clock tower in the square only sells a limited number of 50 per day…”

“Yeah. I heard it’s a popular sandwich in the capital these days.”

Stern is where fashion changes as quickly as the wind. Popular menus in downtown stores often change frequently.

And Patisserie Plorheta, who survived the changes and hit the jackpot.

Thick and fluffy bread with light cream, mascarpone cheese, fresh fruit, and secret ingredients. It was an unimaginable combination…

‘Even in the original, it was Pierre and Eleanor’s favorite snack. If I wasn’t wrong, I think it mentioned that Elenor likes strawberries a lot?’

It was probably in summer that she recalled Pierre picking up some rare summer berries for her.

‘Huh. He is very sincere.’

Anyway, it is true that sandwiches with fresh fruit are in trend, since Anna told her that these days, they always appear at tea parties of nobles as well.

In particular, Plorheta in front of the clock tower is said to be the original and the best.

Although it looks simple, there are rumors that families have tried to monopolize the patissier or take over the shop altogether because the ingredients and methods are very different. However, the artisan patissier rejected all of them and chose to keep the principle of limited production and limited sales.

“I’ve always heard there is a long line there.”

‘Did he wait in line to buy it?’

Dandelion laughed awkwardly in embarrassment.

“Thank you. I’ve been craving to eat sweets.”

Sienna thanked him as she took a large bite of the sandwich with her delighted face. With the sweetness that spread in her mouth, her face quickly became happier.

“Sienna.” He called, turning his head towards her.

“Wait a moment.”

“Huh?”

Dandelion’s fingers gently stroked her lips.

She was frozen on the spot.

“Cream…”

“Ah.”

Unlike him, who casually ate the sandwich again, Sienna was still at a standstill.

…What. Why is he so natural? Why is he so kind…?

‘…Shall I try it again?’

She had such a dark heart and decided to stop. Sienna didn’t have the confidence to put cream on cutely like the heroine in the comics and dramas.

‘It’s good that I at least don’t look like a glutton…’

At that, she finished the leftover sandwich neatly and elegantly like a princess.

As she picked up the second piece, Dandelion asked.

“Do you also like peaches?”

“I like it.”

“They said peach sandwiches were released in June.”

“Wow. Just imagining it would be delicious.”

“Is that so?”

“Yeah. It’s delicious, plus it’s great. It must be very delicious.”

Sienna emphasized ‘great.’

“Let’s go eat them together? We can stand in line together!” And she then naturally added that sentence after.

“Promise?”

She also held out her little finger.

It’s a childish act, but Dandelion lifted his finger and intertwined it with hers without hesitation.

“Yeah, sure.”

She looked at the empty basket in an instant and cleaned her mouth, but Dandelion hesitated and spoke.

“I practiced a little by myself yesterday.”

“Really? That’s wonderful.”

Clap, clap.

Sienna gave small applause.

Perhaps it was because of the sunset that his cheeks seemed to have reddened a little.

“Well, it was difficult alone.”

“…”

“Would you… like to dance with me?”

Saying so, Dandelion knelt down on one of his knees as if asking for a formal dance, and reached his hand towards her.

“Of course.”

She took his hand and bowed her back lightly to greet him. There was no music or anything, but they remembered their own rhythms and started stepping together.

But, in just one day, he was completely different.

“Aren’t you practicing too much?”

“Because I can’t step on your feet.”

“Hmm. You must have a lot of secrets.”

“Rather than that, isn’t it painful when that happens?”

“Are you worried about me?”

“Of course.”

“Thank you, but that’s too bad.”

There were a lot of things she wanted to ask.

“Then, why don’t we do it like this? We ask each other questions one by one.”

“About anything?”

“Anything.”

Ladies first.

He naturally yielded for her to start.

Sienna didn’t want to go too far. So, she brought up a question, which she had put off at the bottom of the huge pile of questions.

“At the time, why were you crying?”

She felt a little force in her hands.

‘Will he be angry? Or will he answer me with a smile as if it’s nothing?’

Under the sky at the end of the twilight, his expression was hard to see. To be honest, Sienna wasn’t even sure what face she was making herself.

Dandelion, who continued to dance without saying a word for a while, only spoke after finishing the first dance.

He glanced at her quietly.

In the meantime, in the darkened sky, only Sienna’s silhouette was clearly visible.

“Dan?”

It was a little cowardly, but the blurred scenery made his heart straighter. In fact, it was a story he wanted to tell someone but… he just lacked the courage to.

“Do you know about the battle on the Eastern Border?”

“Yes. I’ve heard of it, but I don’t really know the details.”

The whole country was excited for a while that Stern had won again.

“I was there, too.”

He closed his eyes for a moment.

Ruined villages, thick smoke, pathetic cries.

It was hell.

And there wasn’t much he could do in that terrible place— like secretly sending the young children. But, the life those children who lost their parents had to go through would be much colder.

It was a fact he knew better than anyone.

“Too many things are broken and crumbling.”

“…”

“It was an order and it was a choice I made to protect the people I love, but I still can’t forgive myself.”

In this place drunk on victory, the sound of someone crying did not leave his ear.

“Because saying it can’t be helped is neither an apology nor anything…”

Nightmares and excruciating insomnia were the only atonement.

“I’m even afraid to fall asleep.”

“…”

“I can never sleep peacefully.”

***

Sienna, who separated from Dandelion and returned to the Princess Palace, was silent for a while. It felt like she had heard something important.

She rummaged through her jewelry box, then returned to the table and scribbled something on the paper.

“Anna, can you prepare this for me?”

“Why all of a sudden…?”

“To make something.”

Soon Anna left, and Sienna was left alone in the room.

Laying down quietly in the silence, she couldn’t fall asleep. She tried lighting a candle, tried to cover a blanket over her head, but it felt like there were a thousand words running through her head right now.

“…I can’t sleep.”

It was a long day, from the gift of shoes from the Marquis to Pierre’s violent act, and dancing with Dan in the yard where there was no one around.

So much had happened and she was exhausted physically and mentally, though it’s wild that she couldn’t fall asleep like this.

“They say if you like someone, you will be similar to them. Did my insomnia also recur?”

She felt terribly hungry.

“Ah, am I hungry?”

It was time to think about dinner.

“I want to eat tteokbokki…”

Sienna stared at the firmly closed door. At this time, Winter Brown would be guarding the door.

‘What kind of person is he?’

In fact, she doesn’t even remember if he was in the book.

The first time she probably met him, as she dug into Sienna’s memory, was the first day he was stationed here—

He had brown hair, darker than Anna, and a sharp-eyes, indicating a reticent person.

Though she hadn’t run into him since then. He was like a shadow that always appeared when she was asleep and disappeared when she opened her eyes.

Sienna draped a large cloak over her light robe and carefully opened the door.

The heavy door creaked open.

Then,

“Where are you going?”

The unexpected figure stopped her.

“Why are you…”

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