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☾ twenty - one ☾

Max turned his head, his face looking stiff.

'Why isn't she coming?'

He eagerly stared at the tightly closed doors, holding slight hope that Juvellian would open and walk through them.

However, there was no sign of the woman's presence.

"Your Highness?"

Max furrowed his brows at the confused voice that called for him.

'Why am I...'

Despite his multiple attempts to move his body, he remained in place.

He couldn't ignore the thought that the woman might go looking for him if he disappeared without a word.

"Wait outside for a moment," he ordered to his subordinate, who gave him a strange look in return before silently leaving the room.

When his presence disappeared from the room completely, Max gave a deep sigh.

'I can't believe I'm doing something like this...'

He walked over to the woman's desk, grabbed a piece of paper and a pen, and began to write something down.

His face uncharacteristically loosened into a softened expression.

'This should be enough.'

_

When I returned to my room I noticed that it was awfully silent.

'Mm, he must be hiding.'

Admiring his initiative, I walked over to the closet where I assumed my father's apprentice would be hiding.

'I hope he's not annoyed because I took so long...Huh?'

I opened the closet door like usual, but instead of seeing a man glaring at me in discontent like I had expected, all I saw were clothes — there was no grumpy man in sight.

'Is he hiding somewhere else?'

Thinking so, I started searching for him in my dressing room but he was nowhere to be found.

'Where did he go? I have a lot of things to think about as it is...'

I moved to put down the letter I was holding, walking over to my desk.

There, I noticed a note of some kind in the center.

'Hm? What's this?'

Picking it up, I frowned as I scrutinized the paper.

'Oh, this is terrible handwriting. A cat could write better than this.'

I squinted my eyes, trying to decipher what was written.

< Don't look for me even if I'm not here. I'll visit again when the time comes. >

I unconsciously let out a sigh and mumbled, "I never told you to come again though..."

I walked over to the sofa he had been occupying till now.

Laying on my side, I noticed that it hadn't yet lost his body heat — it was warm and comfortable.

'I've finally reclaimed my spot.'

I felt like I had finally gotten my peace and quiet back.

'What does he mean by 'visit again when the time comes'?'

I was a bit bothered by the message he left, but the thought passed as quickly as it came.

'Well, he would come to see my father so those were most likely just empty words. He doesn't have any business with me anyway.'