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Edgar thought he had messed up that day and wanted to apologize to Ariel.

Things had been getting busier lately, and while he had a lot on his plate, he figured neglecting her because of work crossed a line.

But when he visited her room that evening, Ariel acted as if nothing were wrong, creating an awkward vibe.

It would have made more sense if she were cold or pouting, but to Edgar, her behavior felt even stranger.

However, since the person involved was acting like everything was fine, he couldn’t bring it up and had to awkwardly change the subject, trying to console himself that she might not be holding any grievances after all.

It didn’t take long for him to realize that thought was wrong.

By the third day, Edgar could feel a significant disconnect from Ariel’s behavior.

“Ariel, shouldn’t you take a break? You came in late yesterday too.”

“It’s fine. Is working hard really that big of a deal?”

“Well, not that, but…”

It was hard to describe, but if he had to say, Ariel was being excessively diligent.

She wasn’t even flirting with him and was completely engrossed in her work, occasionally yawning but not letting her mind drift at all.

One could argue there’s nothing wrong with working hard, but it was a bit much.

Sometimes she even skipped meals and didn’t use her short breaks to just sit at her desk all day.

Even Shuri mentioned that she didn’t come back last night, which meant she likely pulled an all-nighter in the office.

It was a situation that naturally raised concern.

‘What should I do?’

Edgar started to piece together the reason for her behavior.

After leaving her behind to handle office duties on her own days ago, if her sudden silence was to make a statement, it made a kind of sense.

‘I figured she would catch on.’

Edgar didn’t think he could keep working himself to the bone from Ariel forever.

But he foolishly assumed she’d understand and misread things.

In reality, this was a form of silent protest.

It was as if Ariel was saying, “I know what you’ve been doing lately. So, what are you going to do about it?”

To stop this situation, Edgar would have to deny his past actions.

‘There’s no turning back now.’

Besides, even if he tried to assign blame, Edgar was the one who had acted first.

He prioritized work over her feelings, making her feel neglected, and he forced himself to work knowing she wouldn’t approve.

Edgar had no way to justify or resist at this point.

All he could do was walk up to the judgment throne she’d set up and plead for forgiveness.

After all, he was the offender.

“Why? Got something to say?”

Standing dumbly and staring at Ariel, Edgar realized he had lost and chuckled awkwardly as she looked at him with an air of indifference.

It was like she was asking, “Could you move aside? You’re distracting me from my work.”

So Edgar decided to accept his loss and attempt to negotiate.

He didn’t know exactly what she wanted, but he recognized he had no choice but to agree to anything for now.

“I admit defeat.”

“What do you mean ‘defeat’? I don’t really get it.”

Ariel twisted her eyes in denial, causing Edgar to laugh again.

It seemed like she was getting better at being cheeky.

“Just give me a break. I won’t worry you again, and I won’t leave you alone.”

Edgar could tell that Ariel wasn’t just sulking this time.

The primary goal of this little protest was admittedly to get him to reduce his workload and lighten her load.

Given her personality, if her actions were solely a result of the neglect she felt that day, she would have pouted right away.

But since she hadn’t done so, it meant she was pursuing a different goal through this complicated method.

In other words, her goal was difficult to achieve without this level of effort.

At this point, Edgar didn’t think there was any other objective besides this one.

“…Tsk, you’re way too perceptive. I was hoping to milk this a little longer.”

Fortunately, it seemed his plea had touched Ariel, as she suddenly dropped her cool facade and pouted, resting her chin on her hand.

She had returned to the Ariel Robeheim he knew.

“If I hadn’t figured it out sooner, how long did you plan on doing this?”

“As long as it took. I wasn’t going to stop until you said you’d take it easy.”

“…Wow.”

Edgar couldn’t believe she had taken such a strong stance. A mix of awe and disbelief rolled off of him.

He was grateful he had caught on early.

Afterward, Ariel stood up and walked over to the sofa, patting the seat beside her like she wanted him to join her.

With no say in the matter, Edgar followed her lead and took a seat.

“You probably noticed already, but I’ve heard from Elin that you’ve been overworking yourself lately.”

Predictably, Edgar’s wry smile returned as he tried to explain his stance on the matter.

More like making excuses, really.

“It’s not that bad… I got a bit too focused on work.”

“Hmm.”

“…Okay, I overdid it.”

Of course, Ariel wasn’t buying it, and he ultimately had to admit to his faults.

There were times where pulling all-nighters for three days straight couldn’t be considered ‘not overdoing it.’

“Honestly, I was a bit upset that day… But after I thought about it, I realized your overworking is partly my fault, and it seems hypocritical for me to sulk about it when you’re doing it all for me.”

It would be a lie to say she hadn’t felt neglected, but Ariel’s feelings were closer to guilt than resentment.

Because the responsibilities she and Yulken took on led to Edgar working himself so hard.

“But regardless of the reasons, I don’t want to see you overworking yourself. I put you in that position because I wanted you beside me, not because I wanted you to wear yourself thin.”

Ariel understood that this was just a bit of childishness on her part.

For her to complain and shout at him for exerting himself while he was fulfilling the role she had given him was a contradiction, even if it was done out of concern.

But her childishness hadn’t been a new occurrence.

This type of tantrum felt minor compared to everything she had pulled in the past.

Reasoning and logic went out the window. She was a woman who needed to get what she wanted.

That’s why she resorted to such drastic measures.

She was making it so there was no escaping, reaching out first to prevent him from overworking himself.

If she opened her mouth first, there might have been escape routes she hadn’t anticipated.

Moreover, this was a lesson Ed was familiar with from childhood.

Showing someone the mistakes they made so they could realize their error.

That’s why Ariel knew how effective this method was once it worked; after all, she had been on the receiving end of it.

“I know how dedicated you are, but you saw it for yourself, right? Just like when I was overworking, you were concerned, and I worry when you do the same.”

“Yeah, I’ll remember that.”

“…You sure have a way with words. Are you planning on doing it again?”

Ariel gave him a suspicious look as she questioned him, and Edgar shook his head softly, indicating he had no plans to overdo it.

If he did, Ariel would undoubtedly pull a stunt like today, and at that moment, she wouldn’t make it easy to negotiate.

Things would only get messier.

“I won’t. I’ll be sure to get to my room on time. If necessary, you can have Elin or Shuri keep an eye on me.”

“That should be trustworthy enough. You know I’m a woman of my word, right?”

“I know all too well.”

He would be hard-pressed to say otherwise.

If Ariel set her mind to it, there was no doubt she’d order one of the maids to monitor him starting tomorrow.

She was someone who always saw things through to the end.

“I’m going to ask again. You won’t overdo it, right?”

“Yeah.”

“Unless you have no choice, if I find you alone in the office at dawn or if you’re even a little bit overworked, I’ll make sure you can’t even hold a pen.”

“Understood.”

Even though that wasn’t the intention, Edgar couldn’t help but perceive her words as suggesting she’d break his hand if he dared to hold a pen.

And with her, it almost felt believable, which was even more fear-inducing.

Eventually, satisfied with the promise she had received, Ariel buried her face in Edgar’s chest and let out a sigh of relief.

“Good thing I talked to Shuri. This was resolved pretty easily.”

“Was Shuri behind this?”

“Yup. You’re stubborn, and I figured you wouldn’t listen to me, so I thought this approach would work…”

“Wow, I really walked right into that.”

It struck him that this indirect approach was quite uncharacteristic for her, but to think Shuri had a hand in it!

Edgar finally smacked his forehead and gave a strange smile, caught between laughter and lament.

“Anyway, thanks. It wasn’t the way I wanted it, but in the end, you did it for me.”

“You’ve matured quite a bit. Is this the Ariel I used to know?”

“Hmph, who do you think I am? I’m not stuck in the past.”

Edgar realized with a smile that she was, indeed, the Ariel he knew.

As she’d said, Ariel Robeheim always learned from her past or failures and grew stronger for it.

“Shall we take the day off to celebrate our truce? Considering the workload is finally winding down?”

“I was thinking the same. After all, I’ve spent three days just squabbling with paperwork, I’m exhausted.”

“Heh.”

Edgar couldn’t bring himself to ask why she’d overdone it in the first place.

To chastise Ariel now would be no different than rebuking his past self.

This was precisely why one needed to change perspectives to truly understand what mistakes they had made.

While Edgar was hugging Ariel’s shoulder, enjoying the peaceful atmosphere, she suddenly spoke up in a hesitant tone.

Her cheeks flushed pink, looking almost shy under his gaze.

“Uh, speaking of which…”

“Hmm?”

“Since we’ve both worked hard and today’s a rare day off… I-I want to give you a gift.”

Why was she hesitating so much over just a gift?

Edgar felt a mix of anticipation and curiosity about the gift’s nature.

“What kind of gift?”

“…This.”

As Edgar asked about the gift, Ariel suddenly spun around, pointing to her hair.

A lovely red ribbon was tied neatly on her head.

“This is the gift?”

He had been curious why she had started tying her hair lately, but hearing it was a gift left him puzzled.

Was she just joking, or…?

But when she suddenly grabbed his hand, all doubts vanished.

Leading his hand toward the ribbon in her hair, Ariel undid it, and then turned back to him, glancing up with wide eyes, speaking hesitantly.

“This is a gift for a day. Use it however you want.”

“Ah…”

So the gift was herself with the ribbon in her hair.

This unexpectedly cute and cheeky gift made Edgar gasp softly before breaking into a gentle smile.

“Is there like a limit on how I can use it?”

“It’s a gift… so do as you like.”

“Well then, I won’t hold back.”

Edgar leaned in, kissing Ariel’s lips, and lightly pushed her back onto the spacious sofa.

He hadn’t expected anything in return, but receiving such sweet fruit brought him uncontained joy.

That day, the two managed to release all the built-up tension they had.

Softly and a bit roughly.

Whatever it meant was a secret only they would know.