# Chapter 46
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Nezar's face looked at me with a very embarrassed expression.
He turned his head away from me without any response.
What do you mean you don't want to do this?
Even though I was wearing a dress that looked almost like a nightgown, when I got wet, it felt as heavy as if I were carrying a suitcase.
I walked to where Nezar turned his head and crouched down.
"Why aren't you responding?"
There was no immediate response from Nezar.
Finally, he let out a deep sigh, took off the vest he was wearing, and meticulously covered my shoulders and chest.
That's right, there wasn't much covered by the thin and small vest.
Only then did I realize why Nezar turned his head.
I felt like all the heat in the world was hitting my face.
"Kate."
"Yes?"
"I don't mind, but after swimming, never get out of the water in front of other men."
I wanted to ask if I could get ahead of Nezar, but my stiff lips wouldn't open.
He stretched his arm towards my face and tried to withdraw his hand silently when our eyes met.
I reached out again and gently lifted the wet hair that was stuck to my cheek.
Very lightly.
How to pick up broken glass from the floor.
"no."
And he spoke in a very firm tone.
"No Pansion."
"Anyone else?"
Even after asking again, Nezar still had a hard and dry face.
"Nor can anyone else."
The sun must have been hidden behind the clouds, and the long shadow of the tree tower covered Nezhar's face.
I could feel the moisture on the back of my hand, which was drying, getting colder.
I was dissatisfied with Nezar's bad-tempered words.
"Have you forgotten what you said to me last time?
"You said you would consider breaking off the engagement if I brought you a man?"
When I spoke harshly, he paused.
However, he only stopped for a moment, quickly calmed his expression, and opened his mouth again.
“Cancel that statement.
I was too hasty.
"Rather than make a strange bet, it was quicker to convince him."
It was so absurd that I couldn't help but laugh.
Judging by the tone in which he spoke, it wasn't even a joke.
When Nezar spoke to me, he never backed down or tried to put me down with his status.
Furthermore, I have never forced myself to do something just because I didn't like it.
Except when he was bullying me, he was always frighteningly rational.
So is that really it?
The Nezar of today didn't look like the Nezar I knew.
Instead, he came across as a prickly, self-indulgent Andrew.
"The crown prince isn't just spitting out two words.
So, I guess I've already been out with the Little Duke late at night?"
I'm sorry, Duke Pansion.
I will correct this lie in the near future.
“So you can’t just pretend it’s not there.
"Fulfill the promise you made to me."
It was an affirmation that was close to happening, just like when he rejected the proposal.
It was because I became angry and frustrated when I thought my decision was just a whim.
And I was even more nervous because the other person was Nezar, who always respected my opinions.
However, no matter what I said, Nezar's expression was as normal as ever, without any trace of pain.
"Don't lie, Kate."
Nezar, who was squeezing his eyelids under his glasses as if he were tired, ended up taking them off and vomiting them.
He spoke without making eye contact with me.
"Because I already know that nothing happened to Deborah."
These words came as a great shock to me.
Did you already know?
Because of Pansion's personality, there was no way he could talk about various things like girls do.
So there was only one answer.
"Are you really following me?"
I suddenly remembered what Andrew had told me the day after I met him at the Haunted Castle.
'What I'm saying is: don't make me do something that isn't very humane.'
I had no idea that this inhumane act meant someone would become attached to me.
Since when has anyone followed me?
From Deborah?
The day you pretended to be crazy and rode a horse into the castle late at night?
"yes?
Right?
"You put someone in me!"
Or is it from the day I watched the fireworks with Pansion?
As soon as I thought about the last case, I felt like my mind was going blank.
It probably wasn't from that day forward.
It had to be like this.
A tremendous feeling of shame covered my head.
When I came to my senses, I found myself taking a step back without realizing it.
Nezar's eyes, bright red in the light, widened.
At the same time, his legs quickly lifted his body.
"Wait a minute, K...
...
!"
with a plop!
The cold water of the lake hugged my back as if it was eating.
Not long after, Nezar appeared in a blue field of vision filled with water bubbles.
He criticized my stupidity not with a sound, but with an expression.
Soon, its strong force pulled my body to the surface.
"haha."
I placed my forehead on Nezar's shoulder and took a deep breath.
His body touching my shoulder was as hard as a plaster statue.
Even though I was out of breath, the sensation was still vivid.
"Hey, Kate.
Please look back and forth.
When are you going to become an adult?
Is it possible to become an adult in the first place?"
The sound of Nezar's throat coming right next to my ear is soft.
It was a strange feeling.
When we were so close, my heart should have been shaking like it was going to explode, but for some reason, his presence felt calm and peaceful now.
"I'm already an adult.
"Nezar thinks so too."
Nezar's arm that was wrapped around my waist fell silently.
I also raised my head and looked at his face.
After a while, he moved his body and headed towards the dock.
The finely divided ripples of water reached my chest and disappeared.
"What do you know about me that makes you say that?"
"I've been watching for 10 years, what else don't I know?
"Do you really think I don't know anything, Nezar?"
I waved my foot slightly and swam in front of him again.
Nezar frowned and pushed back his water-soaked hair.
The golden sunlight reflecting off the water illuminates your face.
It looked so impressive that it took my breath away and made me hyperventilate.
"huh?"
He blocked Nezar's path as he tried to climb onto the dock.
But he kept retreating each time the distance got closer.
"Don't come any closer, Kate."
I ignored the sound and swam a few meters forward.
When I opened my arms to ask for a hug, Nezar got scared and immediately climbed onto the pier.
"Why do you keep running away?
"In the past, I only hugged you tightly."
To treat someone like this like a child, aren't your words and actions very different?
Nezar didn't answer my question.
I unbuttoned my cuffs, rolled up my sleeves, and pushed back my disheveled hair.
His inner thoughts were always dark and blurry.
But now, unlike before, I felt like I was slowly starting to get an outline.
"You really don't mind seeing me?"
Again, there is no reaction.
No, where did Nezar, who was so mature and trustworthy, go, and only Zombaeng, who remains silent whenever things are against him, is left behind!
It was absurd.
"Your Highness, can't you just break off the engagement with me?"
He spoke with a voice full of bad humor.
Sure enough, I heard Nezar's response again, as if he didn't like what I said.
"You were the one who asked for an engagement.
"Have you already forgotten?"
"His Majesty doesn't like me.
No, even if you like it, this is not the feeling between a man and a woman.
Just leave me alone.
I know that such a choice will be inconvenient for Your Majesty, but I also know that it doesn't really matter since Your Majesty is the one who will become Emperor.
"We really don't need the Ezelot family, and breaking off the engagement is no big deal!"
I followed him to the pier.
The dry tree we were standing on was already covered in dripping water.
Nezar, who was unbuttoning his shirt, spoke in a miserable voice.
"I don't know either."
It was a truly miserable voice, exactly as the word said.
"I don't know why I keep trying to hold on to you.
I really don't know.
...
...
Ha, but you can't break off the engagement."
His words came as a great shock to me.
How can Nezar, the smartest, most prosperous, wisest and most rational person in the world, really say he doesn't know?
Everywhere I go, I'm treated like an outcast, but I'm honest about my feelings.
No, was it because I was honest that I was treated like an outcast?
Regardless of the order, I knew that I knew my feelings best.
In a way, it was natural.
But doesn't Nezar know?
Does Nezar not know how I feel about him?
"I really hate you."
At this point, it wasn't me who was being naughty, but Nezar.
It no longer mattered if he didn't notice or if he pretended not to notice.
I gritted my teeth and pointed my finger at his face.
As if it were a big declaration of war.
“Wait and see, I will never be with you even if I leave the house!” Because I will never marry you. what?
Since I don't know, I can't break the engagement?
"Are you kidding me?"
"Kate, calm down first."
Nezar, who looked more embarrassed than ever, hurriedly extended his arm towards my shoulder.
But I forcefully pushed his outstretched hand away.
"What do you mean by calm down?
"If you don't know how I feel, leave whoever says I don't like you and go to the girls who say I like you!"
And then he turned and ran down the pier.
I felt so pathetic because I always promised myself I would find a lover.
It's really funny.
No matter how much I thought about it, deciding to break off the engagement seemed like the best decision.
There is nothing good about marrying a man like that.
I never imagined that Nezar would be such a selfish and frustrating person...
...
.
"evil!"
Shit.
Why is there a stone beak there?
I was running gallantly as if I were a triumphant general, but I literally fell like a leaf in the cold wind and hit my nose on the ground.
I hear the sound of hurried footsteps behind me.
I was so ashamed that I wanted to just melt into the ground and die.
"Kate, are you okay?
Blood...
...
."
Nezar, who lifted me up carefully, still had an absurd expression on his face.
Thanks to that, my shame doubled.
"Go away.
From now on, don't pretend you know me."
"...
...
"Ignore me even if I fall?"
"Okay, ignore it!"
Even though it seemed irrational to me, I couldn't allow it, at least out of pride.
I grabbed my sore knee, got up again, and ran away.
When I was about 20 steps ahead, the most important thing occurred to me, so I stopped walking and turned my back.
"And don't hold people to it!"
Because the distance was now too far, Nezar's face could not be seen.
What's so funny about the human heart is that even though I was yelling at people to ignore it, when I saw that they weren't following me, the corner of my mouth twitched in disappointment.
I couldn't tell you how many decisions I had made.
But this time it wasn't just a lie.
It really is the last of the last.
It no longer mattered how much I liked him or how much I ached for him every time I saw his face.
Because I don't need an idiot who can't even be sure of his own mind!