Chapter 14
“Does your heart… race?”
What a strange thing to ask.
Of course his heart races.
“What about it?”
“Do you completely lose your mind whenever you see Lady Hildea?”
“Are you picking a fight with me right now?”
“Oh, my god!”
Gabriel didn’t answer, and his lieutenant looked utterly horrified.
“I thought you were pursuing this engagement because of some political advantage… but you’re telling me you’re doing it just because you want to?”
“What? Is that weird?”
“Of course it’s weird! Because it’s you, my lord!”
Gabriel scrunched his face as his lieutenant continued to look completely exasperated.
“What even is this emotion?”
“Do you really not know? Try remembering how you were in front of Lady Hildea just a while ago.”
“So what?”
“It was nothing like your usual self, my lord. Listen to me.”
The well-honed mask of diplomacy Gabriel had perfected to avoid being underestimated for his age… had vanished completely in front of that girl.
“When you see her, your heart races like it’s broken, and at the end of every thought, there’s her.”
He usually knew exactly how to attract someone’s interest, how to act and respond.
But he couldn’t in front of her.
He simply couldn’t smile in front of her cool and distant face.
“When she smiles, you smile. When she’s sad, you get sad. That kind of feeling.”
He had been so tense, so anxious — scared of how she might react, and yet also thrilled to find out.
“Is that how you feel too, my lord?”
Hildea had been cold and distant throughout. But one thing was clear.
“Do you realize this?”
That day, Gabriel couldn’t even tell what kind of expression he was making as he looked at that silver-haired girl.
It annoyed him — how badly their first meeting had gone.
He regretted it.
He shouldn’t have gone to steal that night.
“That kind of feeling… we usually call that love, my lord. A love at first sight, to be precise.”
“……”
Gabriel rubbed his face roughly, feeling a regret he had never experienced before.
“……Maybe.”
He just… liked her.
“If what you’re saying is love—”
Then he was in it. Madly.
Gabriel, who had always layered his emotions in lies, now softened completely — just recalling her cool face made his eyes melt into gentle warmth.
“Yeah.”
Gabriel didn’t know why, but that girl had lifted the curse on his heart.
There was no other explanation that made sense.
Meeting his lieutenant’s gaze, Gabriel slowly, very slowly, nodded.
“……I like her.”
So this is what it means to like someone.
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The male lead, Gabriel, ended up staying at our house.
But I was confident.
‘It has nothing to do with me.’
It had all happened so suddenly, yes—but even if Gabriel was staying at our house, I believed it wouldn’t affect me much.
Rosé had been beaming so brightly with joy, and I figured the two of them would get along just fine.
Gabriel also seemed interested in Rosé, so I assumed he wouldn’t even talk to me.
‘I’ll just go about my days like usual.’
That’s what I thought. So simple.
I never imagined—not even in my dreams—that this kind of thing would happen.
I was in despair.
“What the heck. How did it even come to this? Why me—why did I have to end up in that kind of accident with Gabriel?!”
There was no one else in the room, so I sighed and tore at my hair in frustration.
“Ow—! That hurts!”
‘I said it didn’t matter?’
What a lie.
“It matters way too much…”
Gabriel, who was now staying in Hillington, was having a deeply troubling effect on me!
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I liked moving my body.
In my previous life, I hadn’t been able to do that—so now, reborn in a healthy body, I loved running around.
Of course, in the world of The young Lady is Sweet, the setting was a stuffy, class-bound society.
Horseback riding or hunting might have been acceptable hobbies, but a noble lady training her body like I did? Total weirdo.
But I didn’t want to get lazy with my training.
‘It’s not like I’m the only weirdo around anyway.’
I smirked, thinking of my beloved little sister.
“Sister, sis! Come up here!”
“Rosé, don’t climb that high!”
“I’m fiiine—I’m not gonna fall!”
My younger sister, Rosériel, was a total oddball—even more than me. She didn’t even train regularly, and yet she could climb trees with ease.
‘If she’d been born in South Korea, our Rosé would’ve been a national treasure. She would’ve swept every award!’
Rosé waved from high up in the tree, giggling with delight. I felt a pang of envy.
I wanted to move freely too.
So I secretly practiced climbing, choosing trees that weren’t too high—since Dad would’ve thrown a fit if he found out—and eventually, all my effort paid off.
Like now.
“Wow, the air’s amazing. In my past life, I could never even imagine air like this. The mountains, the water…”
Perched high in a tree, I looked out at the vast expanse of our estate and couldn’t help but smile.
“So peaceful. I hope it stays like this forever.”
Maybe this was why Rosé kept skipping her lessons to sneak up into the trees.
If the Marchioness saw this, she’d be furious, screaming about the family’s reputation—but right now, there was no one watching.
‘I guess once I get older, I won’t be able to do this anymore, huh?’
The thought left me a bit wistful.
Chuckling to myself, I carefully stretched out a leg to climb down…
And that’s when it happened.
A decorative button on my riding outfit—chosen for comfort—had caught on a branch.
“……Huh?”
Snap! The branch broke.
I lost my balance and felt myself falling backward.
“!”
My body slipped downward. The blood drained from my face.
No!
If I fall like this, I’m definitely going to break something!
But then…
The scream of pain that followed—wasn’t mine.
“Aaargh! My lord!”
“M-My lord, are you all right?! W-What just happened? Why did a person fall from the sky…?!”
“Lady…? Could it be—are you Lady Hildea? What… what on earth are you doing, my lady?!”
What… what are they even saying?
“Ugh…”
Wait a second—why doesn’t it hurt as much as I expected? From that height, I should at least be gushing blood or something…
Still dazed, I held my pounding head and slowly looked up.
That’s when I noticed the horrified stares directed right at me—and the fact that someone was lying underneath me.
No. No way.
I felt the blood drain from my face.
I lowered my gaze… and saw it.
“G-Gabriel?”
That dazzling platinum hair shining in the sunlight.
‘Why… why are you under me?!’
It was definitely Gabriel.
Only, the male lead hadn’t pulled off a dramatic, heroic bridal catch. No miracle had occurred.
“Aaaah!”
I shrieked in horror.
Was he… dead?! Because of me?!
“I-I’m f-fine—”
“My lady, please step aside!”
The knights rushed in, panic-stricken, and gently lifted me off him.
And now, with a clear view, I saw the boy lying limp, eyes shut.
It felt like my soul left my body on the spot.
‘Okay, not dead….’
Gabriel’s body, sprawled lifelessly, wasn’t dead—just unconscious.
Probably.
Unconscious because… I had landed right on top of him.
Gasp.
He had almost died because of me.
What in the world just happened?
This was a disaster of unimaginable proportions.
One wrong move and Gabriel’s neck could’ve snapped, or something equally horrible.
And I might’ve been dragged to the afterlife holding his hand.
‘Did I… almost kill the male lead again?’
First, he nearly had a heart attack just from seeing me and now this? What kind of cursed fate is this?
Cold sweat trickled down my back.
“Call the physician!”
I felt so sorry and upset, I could almost cry.
And those deadly stares from the knights were only making it worse.
Just then, I heard a faint sound.
The knights lit up.
“My lord! My lord! Are you awake?”
“Ah… what just…”
“Lady Hildea fell from a tree!”
“……”
Gabriel’s eyelids fluttered slightly, and then he opened his eyes.
It looked like he had just briefly lost consciousness.
Frowning, he slowly sat up—and the very first thing he did was look straight at me.
Our eyes met.
“I…”
Frozen like a criminal facing judgment, I couldn’t say a word.
“I’m sor…”
I wanted to say, “I’m sorry.”
I wanted to ask, “Are you hurt?”
But the more nervous I got, the more my stupid habit kicked in—
I froze completely, unable to speak.
No, no. I have to say something.
“Really…”
I didn’t need a mirror to know how cold and expressionless my face looked.
Probably nothing like someone feeling remorse.
The knights’ stiffened expressions told me everything.
I must’ve looked like I thought he owed me an apology.
‘I’m doomed.’
I could imagine how upset and angry he must be.
And what he’d say next.
‘He’ll curse me out. He’ll yell at me.’
I braced myself like someone waiting for a slap.
But then—something unexpected happened.
“My lady…”
‘…What?’
What came out of Gabriel’s mouth wasn’t blame or accusation.
His violet eyes scanned me carefully.
“My lady…”
For the first time, it didn’t feel like those eyes were glaring at me.
“Are you hurt?”
His voice, still youthful, was calm and composed despite the earlier shock.
And… it wasn’t angry.
It wasn’t scolding me.
For some reason, my lips started trembling.
Gabriel cleared his throat and steadied his voice again.
“You fell from quite a height. We should check to make sure you’re not injured.”
“…I’m okay.”
“My lady. It’s best not to climb trees. Falling could be dangerous.”
“I-I showed you something so embarrassing…”
I felt ashamed.
Even if our first meeting was a mess, this kid—
he still showed concern for me.
Why couldn’t I just speak honestly?
While I was flapping my mouth silently like a fish, Gabriel calmly added,
“If you’re not hurt, then that’s all that matters.”
Then he tried to get up as if nothing happened.
That moment left a deep impression on me.
Because it felt like… he was really worried about me.
As if to say, “I’m fine, so please don’t feel bad.”
As if he could read my thoughts.
After that incident—
Can one moment really change your impression of a person?
I wasn’t sure anymore.
Just thinking about his calm voice asking if I was okay…
it warmed something deep in my chest.
‘Our first meeting was a disaster…’
But Gabriel might be a kinder person than I thought.
Maybe we could even become friends.
‘Maybe he doesn’t hate me after all.’
Of course, that hope didn’t last long.
