Rosylin’s breath caught.
Sylvan was still sitting far too close.
She could feel the weight of his presence beside her, the quiet intensity in his eyes, and the way he watched her as though every movement she made might reveal something she had spent years hiding.
Her fingers tightened around the edge of her dress.
“You’re too close,” she whispered.
Sylvan did not move.
Not even an inch.
Rosylin swallowed nervously and lowered her eyes.
“I just live here,” she said quietly.
“Why are you so desperate to know me?”
For a moment, there was only silence.
Sylvan looked at her.
He could have answered.
He could have told her that he had wondered about her for three years.
That he had remembered the strange girl in the garden long after he left the Valemont mansion.
That he had searched for her before leaving and had thought about the promise she had made.
But he said none of it.
Instead, his expression became colder.
“I dislike broken promises.”
Rosylin slowly lifted her eyes.
Sylvan leaned back slightly, but his gaze never left her.
“And I dislike people who make promises they have no intention of keeping.”
“I didn’t—”
“You did.”
His voice was calm.
Too calm.
Rosylin’s heart began to pound.
Sylvan watched the change in her expression.
Then he said, “If you refuse to tell me who you are, perhaps I should simply ask the owner of this mansion.”
Rosylin froze.
The color disappeared from her face.
Sylvan noticed.
He had been watching for a reaction.
And he had finally found one.
Her eyes betrayed her before her lips could.
“No,” she whispered.
It was barely audible.
But Sylvan heard it.
His eyes narrowed.
“So there is something you don’t want him to know.”
Rosylin immediately looked away.
She had to leave.
She had to get away from him before he asked the wrong question.
Before he discovered everything.
Sylvan reached for her again.
This time, he pulled her closer.
Rosylin gasped.
His voice dropped.
“Care to explain now?”
She stared at him.
Her thoughts raced.
She could tell him.
She could lie.
She could make something up.
But none of the words came.
Sylvan waited.
For once, he was not impatient enough to speak for her.
He simply watched.
Waiting.
Rosylin opened her mouth.
“I…”
Then—
“Brother!”
Rizel’s voice echoed through the corridor.
Sylvan’s head turned instinctively toward the sound.
Only for a second.
But a second was enough.
Rosylin pushed him.
Hard.
Sylvan lost his balance.
His body fell backward onto the floor.
By the time he looked up, Rosylin was already running.
“Wait—”
She didn’t.
Her footsteps disappeared rapidly down the corridor.
Sylvan pushed himself up slightly and stared toward the direction she had fled.
He knew only where she had gone.
Not where she would hide.
Not where she would turn.
And certainly not how to catch her this time.
A quiet laugh escaped him.
He lowered himself back onto the floor.
For a moment, he simply lay there.
Then he covered his eyes with one hand.
“Liar.”
The word came out quietly.
Yet there was no anger behind it.
Only amusement.
A smile slowly appeared on his face.
For three years, he had called it curiosity.
He had told himself that he wanted answers.
That he simply disliked mysteries.
That he wanted to understand the strange girl who had appeared in the garden and disappeared before he could learn anything about her.
But tonight had changed something.
He had chased her.
He had waited for her.
He had remembered her promise for three years.
And when she finally stood in front of him again, he had been desperate to keep her from disappearing.
That was not curiosity.
Not anymore.
His smile deepened beneath his hand.
He finally understood what had been pulling at him all these years.
It had a name.
Not hers.
His own feeling.
He had fallen for her.
The realization should have disturbed him.
Instead, strangely, it made him smile.
“Brother?”
Rizel’s voice came closer.
Sylvan did not answer immediately.
A small figure appeared at the end of the corridor.
Rizel stopped.
Her eyes widened when she saw her brother lying on the floor.
“Brother?”
Sylvan slowly removed his hand from his face.
He looked toward her.
Still smiling.
Rizel stared at him in confusion.
“Why are you on the floor?”
Sylvan said nothing.
His eyes drifted once more toward the dark corridor where Rosylin had disappeared.
And that smile returned.
This time, he did not try to hide it.