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The next day.

After finishing breakfast, Evan quickly returned to his room and busily changed his clothes.

Since Evan didn’t have a dedicated maid yet, Elin usually helped him with changing.

In contrast, Serina received help from Shuri.

You could say they each borrowed the hands of their parents’ maids of the same gender.

“Hey, Elin. How does this outfit look on me?”

Evan asked a question he rarely posed, standing in front of the mirror to check his appearance.

A satisfied smile spread across Elin’s face as she watched him.

Although she already knew from her master, it was simply amazing that spring truly had come for Evan.

Elin approached him from behind, tidied up his clothes one last time, and fixed his hair.

Then she grabbed both his shoulders and turned him to face the mirror again, revealing a dapper little gentleman reflected back.

“Yes, you look very handsome, young master.”

“Really?”

Evan, who always unconditionally trusted Elin, requested reassurance today because he wanted to make sure.

Once again, a soft smile blossomed on her lips as she nodded her head up and down.

If that could put Evan at ease, she’d nod as many times as necessary.

“Of course. I’m sure Lady Marinet will be surprised too.”

“!? Oh, you knew?”

Evan’s eyes widened in astonishment.

He never imagined that name would come up from Elin.

“Your father gave me a hint. Don’t worry; I’ll keep it a secret from everyone else.”

“Ugh… somehow, that makes me feel shy.”

Elin couldn’t help but smile, as it seemed the first time she had ever seen Evan this flustered.

Finally, he was showing some eigth-year-old tendencies.

It was delightfully heartwarming to see him feeling shy about his first love.

“You don’t need to be shy. Today, you’ll just stroll through the garden with Lady Marinet, then come back and eat together. Just remember that.”

“Got it! I’ll do my best!”

Could it have been Elin’s encouragement that bolstered his resolve?

Evan, whose face had been tense until a moment ago, now nodded firmly, a determined look in his eyes.

“Then let’s go, young master.”

“Okay!”

Having confirmed his relaxation, Elin took his hand and they left the room.

Even if this young boy’s first love might not come to fruition, she sincerely wished that it would remain a sweet memory.

* * * * * * *

Not long after Evan arrived at the garden, Claire showed up shortly after.

As soon as she laid eyes on the neatly dressed little gentleman, Claire approached him with a smile.

“Good morning, Evan. You look really handsome today.”

“Really?”

“Yes, absolutely! You’re the most handsome boy I’ve seen so far.”

As Claire flashed a thumbs up, complimenting Evan’s outfit, he couldn’t help but smile from ear to ear.

For a boy in the midst of his sweet first love, compliments from a crush were indeed delightful.

“You look really pretty too.”

“Really? Thanks! I dressed up nicely because I wanted to show you.”

Claire did a little spin to showcase her outfit.

The pale pastel sky blue dress suited her remarkably well.

Especially with her golden hair fluttering in the wind, it gave her an air of elegance.

“Shall we go now?”

“Yes!”

Evan confidently extended a hand toward Claire, even though she was older than him.

Despite the age difference, he wanted to guide his beloved gracefully.

This morning, he had even come out early to take another stroll through the garden.

Leaving behind the garden he had seen with Sonia yesterday, the two made their way to the garden situated between the Main Building and the Annex.

True to a grand duke’s garden, a dizzying array of colorful flowers welcomed them.

“Wow…! So pretty.”

Claire’s eyes sparkled as she slowly swept her gaze from left to right across the garden’s landscape.

Her family also had a garden, but this one was overwhelmingly impressive.

Not only was it lavish, but the harmony of colors and layout was something she’d never seen before.

And to think this was just a portion of the numerous gardens!

Above all, that reality astonished Claire the most.

“This is the ‘Garden of Harmony.’ Dad said it didn’t exist in the past, but it was made a few years back.”

“I see… That explains why it looks so fresh.”

Even with decades or centuries of maintenance, walls and structures inevitably wear out.

A few spots in the garden Claire visited yesterday visibly carried the signs of time.

Yet here, the overall feeling still felt unusually new, which puzzled her beforehand.

“Do you know why it’s called the Garden of Harmony?”

“From what I’ve heard, it was created as a commemoration of the peace treaty with the Carvita Tribe.”

That’s how the name ‘Garden of Harmony’ came to be.

Realizing this, Claire nodded softly and headed toward the center of the garden, glancing around once more.

Now she understood why this garden uniquely emphasized the theme of harmony compared to other places.

While strolling along the neatly laid path surrounded by flowers, a singular light purple blossom caught Claire’s attention.

“Evan. Do you know what this flower is?”

It felt a bit shy for Claire, being eight years old, to ask a boy about flowers, but the tiny, delicate bloom was simply too adorable to resist.

“It’s a statice. I remember because my sister loves that flower.”

Evan stepped beside Claire, examined the flower, and promptly identified it with ease.

Having spent a lot of time with Helene, who loved flowers, he was well-acquainted with the various blooms in the garden, each season without fail.

“That’s amazing. Do you really know all the flowers here?”

“A- a bit. I still mix up a few, though.”

As Claire leaned in with wide eyes, Evan hurriedly looked away.

Feeling Claire’s warmth through their clasped hands made it tough for him to think straight.

With girls in his class, getting close didn’t spark such thoughts, which puzzled him greatly.

“How did you come to love flowers, Evan?”

“My grandmother loves flowers. So she taught me about them, and I found it so fascinating…”

“So you developed an interest?”

“Yeah…”

For some reason, Evan found it oddly embarrassing to admit he liked flowers as a boy.

He wondered if Claire might dislike him for being too feminine.

A pessimistic thought flickered through his mind briefly, showing just how fluctuating his emotions were today.

Yet Claire responded with something wholly unexpected.

“There aren’t many boys around who love flowers, you know? So a guy like you is super cool to me.”

“Really…?”

“Of course! There are sometimes boys who brag about learning to wield swords or about their hunting experiences.”

Although Evan couldn’t understand why such things were a point of pride, he chose to nod in agreement.

“They think they’re manly, but in my opinion, they’re not at all. Usually, those boys end up being bullies.”

“I’ve seen those boys too.”

“Right? That’s not manly; that’s just barbaric. But what about you, Evan? Have you ever been like that?”

“Uh, no. Not at all.”

Evan could state that with certainty.

From a young age, he had been raised with the principle of never bullying the weak, and he acted in accordance with that as a mature boy.

Claire smiled proudly at his answer, gently ruffling Evan’s hair.

‘This feels kind of weird.’

However, he didn’t particularly appreciate that gesture.

And it was only natural.

Even if he had been petted by his parents, grandparents, or even by Elin, such treatment from the girl he liked felt anything but pleasant.

This wasn’t merely about pride; it was something akin to the innate instincts of a boy.

“Um, Claire. Just a moment…!”

“Huh?”

Evan hurriedly stepped back, leaving that behind, and suddenly dashed off somewhere.

He headed to a small resting spot in the garden.

On a white table sat a single flower, and noticing it, Evan rushed over and quickly seized it.

Actually, he had intended to present it later after exploring the garden, but for some reason, the desire to give it to her right now consumed his little mind.

“Huff, huff…”

“Evan, why were you rushing around… huh?”

Soon after Evan returned, panting, Claire tilted her head, cautiously advancing, only to stop in her tracks.

She spotted the flower Evan was holding.

It was none other than the orange tulip.

Taking a breath, Evan then promptly extended it toward Claire.

“This… is a, um, gift.”

“A gift?”

Claire, puzzled by the timing of this peculiar gift, accepted the flower nonetheless.

In that moment, the flower’s meaning suddenly flashed through her mind.

‘Shyness.’

Neither a confession of love nor even a simple expression of affection—just an ordinary meaning of a flower.

Yet, as Claire alternated her gaze between the tulip and Evan, feeling his cheeks flush, she thought she somewhat understood what he was trying to convey.

After all, Evan bore the same look as the boys of her age who typically showed signs of confessing.

Moreover, if she reflected on it, from their first meeting, Evan had uniquely hesitated to come close to her.

Once some tales from Sonia pictured him differently, this would help explain the discrepancy.

‘Ah, he’s being shy.’

An eight-year-old boy who couldn’t even look his crush in the eye, fumbling about with his feelings.

At a rather early age for thoughts of love, perhaps he lacked the courage to express his true feelings to someone who might see him as a child.

So perhaps he encapsulated his desire to confess, even though he couldn’t, within a single word: shyness.

In some sense, that meaning carried much more sincerity than any direct confession would have had.

‘What should I do?’

At the bold yet literally shy gesture of this four-year-old boy, Claire felt uncertain about how to respond.

However, one thing was clear: she didn’t want to utter a refusal to this boy right now.

Though she had received countless confessions from peers, something about this purity made it hard to push aside.

Seeing Evan close his eyes tightly as if waiting for a response made Claire smile and step closer.

Since her height towered over Evan still, she had to bend down to meet his gaze, but she didn’t mind at all.

*Peck.*

“…!?”

As Claire gently kissed Evan on the bridge of his nose, his eyes shot wide open, taken by surprise at the unfamiliar sensation.

Seeing this, Claire chuckled softly, brushing Evan’s cheek tenderly and speaking in a gentle tone.

“This is both a thank you for the flower and for escorting me today. And…”

“And?”

What would follow? Evan’s heart raced in anticipation, trying hard to calm himself.

“If later on, your feelings don’t change, be sure to let me know, okay?”

To Evan, that answer was like hearing a rare piece of good news.

Claire, while not immediately accepting this young boy’s feelings, wished for him to hold onto that sentiment and move forward.

Evan’s eyes fluttered as he nodded vigorously.

“…Yes! I definitely will!”

“Thank you. Now, shall we take a look around the garden some more?”

As Claire straightened up and extended her hand, Evan grasped it as if it were a precious treasure.

It seemed that this little gentleman’s arrival of spring was set to last quite a while.