In the end, Seol Jihu swallowed his pride and decided to apologize. Teresa now had her head down on the table, no longer replying. Seol Jihu sat down next to Teresa, inched closer to her, then began consoling her.

“Eii, Princess, don’t be like that. Look at my face, come on.”

“I’m fine.”

“I’m sorry. Really.”

“I said I’m fine.”

A depressed voice escaped from the gap between her face and arms.

“Go. You don’t have to be considerate of someone like me anymore. Stop caring about me and go do what you need to do.”

“Princess…”

With a troubled expression, Seol Jihu placed his hand on Teresa’s left arm.

“Don’t touch me.”

But disregarding what Teresa said, Seol Jihu slowly moved his hand to her silky, rose-gold hair, slowly stroking it.

“Go away.”

Teresa’s words also didn’t match her actions as she snuck closer to Seol Jihu’s chest, having waited for this moment.

“I’m sorry. From now on, I won’t forget to contact you ever again.”

“…From now on?”

“Yes.”

“Never again?”

There was a saying that one shouldn’t make promises they couldn’t keep. But Seol Jihu was too focused on making Teresa feel better that he was blurting out words without regard for repercussions.

“Yes, never again.”

His words must have had some effect as the air around Teresa softened.

“Then you won’t go?”

A sneaky question flowed out. It almost felt like the series of events that unfolded beforehand was all in preparation to lead up to this moment. Seol Jihu smiled bitterly.

“I can’t do that.”

“Why not…”

A helpless voice flowed out. Teresa had asked this exact same question before.

Seol Jihu cleared his throat. He was about to take his hand off and interlock his fingers, but Teresa quickly snatched it up and placed it back on her head.

Seol Jihu laughed, going back to stroking her hair.

“Several months ago, Master Jang gave me a record book that...