A Natural Fit
The next day.
From early morning, the Valterion Ducal Residence was a little busier than usual.
The reason was simple.
"The First Princess is paying us a visit."
The moment I heard my father's words, I set down the fork I was holding.
"Today?"
"Yes."
"Why?"
"She says the royal court has a letter to deliver."
My father said it as if it were nothing.
But I knew right away.
A letter.
That was almost certainly an excuse.
"The royal court needs to send one letter, and the princess herself has to deliver it?"
My mother laughed.
"What, you don't like it?"
"...It's not that I don't."
I hated it.
A great deal.
But I couldn't say that out loud.
My mother took a sip of her tea and went on.
"You two seemed to get along quite well at the palace yesterday."
"Who says that?"
"People."
Of course.
I pressed a hand to my forehead.
I had spent the entire day yesterday trailing after Serena. Or rather, she had spent it with her hands all over mine, never tiring of the contact. What the people who saw that must have thought was easy to guess.
"Leon."
My father said.
"Do not be rude to Her Highness the Princess."
"Yes, Father."
In the end, that was all I could offer.
And an hour later, the royal carriage pulled to a stop in front of the residence.
"It is an honor to see you, Duke Valterion."
Serena was flawless.
The angle of her bow. Her voice. Her expression.
All of it.
She looked far more like a princess than she had yesterday. She greeted my father, paid her respects to my mother, received the letter from the attendant who had come along, and presented it herself.
And the whole time, she didn't spare me a single glance.
I thought about it for a moment.
Could it be.
Did she really come just for the letter?
That thought lasted exactly three seconds.
Serena turned her head. Our eyes met.
And in that instant, her smile deepened.
Just slightly. But I could tell.
"Leon."
She walked over.
Slowly.
And stopped in front of me.
"Hello."
"...Hello."
"It's good to see you again today."
"Yes."
Without a second's pause, Serena said it.
"I love you."
"..."
My mother laughed beside us. "My, my."
I froze on the spot. Serena acted as if nothing had happened—like she'd just remarked that the weather was lovely today.
"...There are people around," I said quietly.
Serena tilted her head. "So?"
"You can just say something like that, so casually?"
"I love you." Serena smiled. "Should I hide it?"
I had nothing to say to that.
Then Serena stepped to my side and, with perfect ease, slipped her arm through mine.
"What are you doing?"
"Linking arms."
"I can see that."
Serena smiled with evident satisfaction, as though my reaction were of no concern whatsoever.
I tried to pull my arm free. And to my surprise, she let go without protest.
"..."
Which was somehow stranger.
Serena stared at my arm for a moment. She looked a little disappointed, but the smile returned almost instantly.
"You don't like it right now, do you?"
"No."
"I understand."
She really did back off.
For an instant, I felt myself relax. Then Serena took a single step closer to my side.
She didn't link arms.
She simply stood there—at a distance where our shoulders might, or might not, brush.
"...Why are you standing so close?"
"You never said this was off-limits."
"..."
Serena beamed.
"I'm holding back a lot, you know."
That was already unsettling.
My mother watched the two of us and laughed. "You really have grown close."
Serena answered immediately.
"Yes."
Then she looked up at me.
"I'd like to grow very, very close."
It was an ordinary thing to say. At least on the surface.
But I knew exactly how much this woman's very, very could mean.
A little later, Serena announced that she wanted a tour of the residence. And naturally, that meant I was the one giving it.
"Couldn't Leon show me around himself?"
The moment she said it, my mother laughed and answered for me.
"Of course. Leon will be happy to."
There was no room to escape.
And so I ended up walking the corridors at Serena's side.
At first, she did nothing more than walk beside me, just as before. But before long, I felt something brush the back of my hand.
Serena's fingers.
Just the tips. Barely grazing my hand.
I turned to look at her at once. Serena was staring straight ahead, wearing the face of someone who had done absolutely nothing.
"What are you doing?"
"Nothing."
"You just touched my hand."
"It touched you."
"On purpose."
"It was an accident."
"Liar."
Only then did Serena laugh. "You caught me."
I let out a sigh. Just then, the servants passing through the corridor bowed to us.
"Your Highness."
"Young Master."
Serena smiled like the perfect princess and returned their greetings. As the servants passed, they stole glances at the two of us, and one of them said with a smile, "You two look very fond of each other."
Serena's face lit up at once.
"Does it look that way?"
"Yes. You make a lovely pair."
I looked off to the side. Serena was genuinely delighted—just from hearing that.
"Leon."
"What."
"Those people said we look good together."
"I heard."
"That's nice."
"What is?"
Serena said it as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.
"That we look natural to other people, too."
I nearly stopped walking.
Natural.
When Serena said that word, it rang strangely in my ears.
"Natural how?"
"Me, being next to you."
Serena smiled.
"Isn't it nice?"
I didn't answer.
It was only when we reached the garden that the area around us finally emptied out.
Serena glanced around once, then suddenly said:
"Leon. Sleep with me tonight."
My face twisted on the spot. "Are you insane?"
"Then hold me for two hours."
"No."
"One hour."
"No."
"Thirty minutes."
"Not happening."
"Ten minutes."
"I said no."
Serena paused, thinking. Then she pointed at my arm.
"Then arms. Just one lap around the garden."
"..."
I looked at Serena. Her eyes were sparkling. Waiting.
A moment ago, when I said I didn't like it, she'd let go without a fuss. In the corridor too, she hadn't clung to me against my will.
And now—starting from sleep with me, down to hold me, and finally landing on linking arms.
"...Are you doing this on purpose?"
Serena blinked. "On purpose, what?"
"Was linking arms what you wanted from the start?"
"No."
"Really?"
"Yes." Serena said it with perfect composure. "Sleeping together is still the best."
"..."
She meant it. Which was exactly why I had no comeback.
I let out a long sigh. "One lap around the garden."
In that instant, Serena's whole face brightened.
"Really?"
"Exactly one lap."
"Yes!"
The moment permission left my mouth, Serena slipped her arm through mine with practiced ease. Unlike before, this time I didn't pull away—because I had given my word.
And whether that fact truly delighted her or not, Serena kept glancing up at my face as we walked.
"Why do you keep looking at me?"
"Because I want to."
"I'm right here."
"Still."
Serena smiled softly. "If I want to look, I look."
It was incomprehensible logic. But apparently it was the most natural thing in the world to her.
As we followed the garden path, Serena said nothing for a while, simply holding onto my arm.
Strangely, she was quieter than before. Which somehow made it harder to ignore.
"Why so quiet?"
"Because I'm happy."
"Happy makes you quiet?"
"I'm concentrating."
"On what?"
Serena's gaze drifted down to my arm.
"This."
"..."
Here we go again. But this time, she didn't try to get closer. She didn't lean on my shoulder. She simply walked with her arm linked through mine—no more than what I had permitted.
And that, oddly, was what unsettled me.
If this were the Serena from my past life, one permission granted would have become two things taken.
But now, she was moving strictly within the lines that had been drawn.
So I finally asked.
"Have you really changed?"
Serena looked up at me. "In what way?"
"You're different from your past life."
"Then it's working."
"What?"
"I'm trying to change."
Serena smiled. Then, after a moment, she added:
"Even though I still have to hold back a great deal."
"...Holding back what, exactly?"
Serena looked at me for a while. She was smiling.
"Secret."
And that was the end of it.
I didn't ask any further. Something told me it was better not to know.
By afternoon, it was time for Serena to return. The royal carriage waited in front of the residence, and I saw her out to the door—the arm-linking had already come undone the moment we left the garden.
Serena stood before the carriage and looked at me, a wistful expression on her face.
"Can't you hug me just once?"
"No."
"Ten seconds."
"No."
"Three seconds."
"Just go."
Serena pushed out her lip slightly. "That's so mean."
"You've been hanging off me plenty today."
"Not plenty."
"Does 'enough' even exist by your standards?"
Serena considered it for a moment, then answered with complete honesty.
"Maybe not."
"..."
Of course. That was more like the Serena I knew.
In the end, she asked for nothing more. She took a step back.
"I'll be satisfied with today."
"Today?"
"Yes."
"And tomorrow?"
Serena didn't answer. She simply smiled—so, so happily.
Then, just before climbing into the carriage, she turned back to me.
"Leon."
"What."
"I love you."
Those words again. But this time, all I could manage was a sigh.
"Fine."
Serena's eyes flashed. "I'll say it again tomorrow, then."
"Do what you want."
"Really?"
"How am I supposed to stop you from talking?"
At that moment, Serena's face split into a radiant grin.
"Then that's permission."
"Permission for what?"
"To say I love you every single day."
"That's not what I—"
"Thank you."
Serena wasn't listening anymore. And then, sure enough, she said it one more time.
"I love you."
She climbed into the carriage. The door closed.
I watched the carriage pull away, then pressed a hand to my forehead.
"...What did I just agree to?"
Behind me, I heard a maid laugh.
"Her Highness the Princess really does adore you, Young Master."
"So I've noticed."
"It's lovely to see."
I didn't answer.
Through the window of the receding carriage, I could see Serena.
Still watching me.
Inside the carriage, Serena sat with both hands folded neatly in her lap, a smile that never left her lips.
Today, she had been closer to him than yesterday. She had visited Leon's home. Met his parents. Walked through the ducal residence at his side. And—
She had linked arms with him. With permission.
Serena quietly drew her own arm against her chest. The place that had, only moments ago, been touching Leon.
"Good," she murmured softly.
It had been wonderful.
The truth was, the linking of arms alone had not satisfied her. She had wanted to hold him. Truly, desperately so. If she could have, she would have sent him nowhere at all—no ducal residence, no academy, no friends. She wanted a place with nothing but her, where he would look at no one but her.
But.
She hadn't.
Serena watched the Valterion Ducal Residence shrink away beyond the window.
Not this time. That's not how it works now.
When he says no, I step back a little. What I'm permitted, I repeat the next time until it's simply natural.
And so—
One thing at a time.
"Today, it was arms."
Serena smiled quietly to herself. Yesterday, hands. Today, linked arms. And today, Leon had granted her one thing more.
Every day.
Permission to say I love you.
It might seem like nothing at all. But to Serena, it was not.
Whatever was permitted would, from now on, become a matter of course. And whatever becomes a matter of course—
One day, its absence becomes the strange thing.
Serena's smile deepened a little further.
"Well done," she told herself. She had held back this time, too. She hadn't forced an embrace. Hadn't clung. Hadn't pressed him where he disliked it.
Instead, she had received his permission directly.
That was what mattered.
Serena gazed out the window and murmured, barely above a whisper.
"Today, this is enough."
A moment later, she smiled again.
"Tomorrow, just a little more."
And the carriage rolled on, ever toward the royal palace.