Chapter One

When it comes to books, I'll gladly read anything and everything, but my favorite will always be novels, especially in the romance genre. I adore spending time turning the pages, letting my heart race as I wonder how each love story will play out.

However, when tales of love turn tragic, I'm not so fond of them. I understand there's demand for such stories; a number of people definitely like them. And indeed, they do have a certain dramatic flair that stirs up emotion. The leads fall in love, reach out their hands to one another, their happy union all but certain-only to be cruelly ripped apart. It leaves you shaken to your core. I can fully understand why a reader would fangirl over that.

Still, I would rather close a book with a feeling of joy. To be satisfied knowing that the couple overcame every twist and turn, then finally found their happiness. I don't mind how much heartache and struggle it takes to get there, as long as that reward comes at the very, very end.

As such, I invariably avoided writing any tragic love stories.

I insisted as much to my editor. In today's meeting, he had suggested I go in a slightly different direction, but I'd firmly refused with a shake of my head. "A tale of blighted love? No! The central pair have to live happily ever after. When I write, I always have the steadfast intention of giving them that. It's my driving force. I'd never be able to write knowing they won't end up together!"

"I'm not saying it has to be a tragic tearjerker. You can try whatever you like." Frowning awkwardly, my editor-Paul Satie, the head of Satie Publishing-presented a bundle of envelopes. "But some of the readers have been saying it too. You've been repeating the same kinds of plot twists lately, and they're getting bored."

A strained noise escaped my throat.

"If most of your readers are looking for a happy ending, then in principle, there's nothing wrong with giving it to them. But happiness can come in different forms. If you don't try to explore those facets, people will grow tired of your books. They'll complain that it's just the same thing over and over."

Groaning, I looked away. What exactly could I say to that? I knew what he meant, at least on a vague level.

I took the thick bundle tied with string from Mr. Satie's hands. Though I felt glad to have received so many letters from fans, this time I was a touch scared to read them.

"You have an established style, so if you suddenly end a story with miserable heartbreak, you'll spark a backlash. Readers like you, who always look forward to a happy ending, will feel betrayed. So instead, you should try to change the mood without altering that core through line, or...how shall I put it? Instead of always writing sugary sweet chocolate and cream, try including some more bittersweet, grown-up flavors."

"G-Grown-up...flavors?"

He'd hit upon a thorny subject. Adulthood-my greatest weakness.

After our meeting concluded and I returned home, I read through my fanmail, musing all the while on what a more grown-up sort of love might be like.

That night, when my husband and I were alone in our private living room, I broached the subject, turning to him while he was tending to the cat with a brush. "Lord Simeon," I asked after some hesitation, "I have a favor to ask, if you wouldn't mind."

Just as he was about to brush the cat sitting in his lap, Lord Simeon found his hand firmly grasped by her front paws, and her hind legs delivered a hefty kick. She even bit him, which he took with a smile still on his face. Well, she didn't run away, at least. I suppose that's some degree of progress.

"What is it?" he replied.

"Well... Actually, could you put Chouchou down first? I wouldn't want her to start thinking people's hands are toys."

"Don't worry, she didn't bite me particularly hard. Not enough for me to mind."

"If you give her an inch, she'll take a mile. Next time, she'll draw blood. We have to be clear-if she acts like that, we won't give her any attention. It's the only way to teach her not to bite people."

Now that I'd explained the folly of indulging her, my husband reluctantly deposited the cat onto the floor. Chouchou had gotten her satisfaction though, so she went over to the fireplace and sprawled out in front of it. The days were getting warmer now that March had begun, but the nights were still cold enough to need a fire.

Putting the brush down and his regrets aside, Lord Simeon returned to the matter at hand. "So, what was this favor you wanted to ask me?"

I moved closer to him and wiped away the cat hair that had gotten stuck to his lap. "I'd like your assistance with something."

"What sort of assistance? For you, I'll do my level best."

Lord Simeon was the Vice Captain of the elite Royal Order of Knights, with pale blond hair, light blue eyes, and the refined beauty of a storybook prince-though with a faintly roguish air about him. His honed body boasted steely strength, and foes flinched at the sight of the icy gleam behind his glasses. His subordinates similarly regarded him as the fearsome "Demon Vice Captain." Within him beat the heart of a brutal, blackhearted military officer, impossible to conceal and endlessly exciting!

Nevertheless, the gaze he directed at me, his wife, was sweet and tender. Yes, in truth, he was neither demonic nor blackhearted, but forthright and purehearted. That sharp contrast with his appearance was itself irresistible, and every time he spoke to me in his soothing voice, I could feel myself melting.

Now, as ever, he was treating me with such loving indulgence that I felt myself falling under his spell, and I had to caution myself not to allow it. No! That isn't the point of this conversation. I love Lord Simeon and his sweet, gentle nature, but I need something else right now!

After clearing my throat to regain focus, I broached the topic on my mind. "Could you teach me about grown-up love?"

Lord Simeon, who had just taken a drink of his tea, suddenly coughed and spluttered; it seemed the sip might have gone down the wrong pipe. "Grown-up...love, you say?"

As he recovered from his coughing fit, I folded my arms and nodded. "You might say it's redundant now that I'm a married woman. I'll turn twenty next month, so I'm most certainly an adult at this point. And yet, much as it pains me to say-and it does; I feel ashamed indeed-there is a wealth that I do not know about the adult world."

"I...see."

"I'm always told how childish I am, and it makes me wonder: how do I become a grown-up? After spending so much time carefully observing the adult world, I thought I knew all about it, but it turns out that there is no substitute for personal experience. There's nothing else for it-I need to become an adult myself."

"Well," he began, a touch flustered, "there's no need to rush. I don't think there's anything wrong with your childlike qualities. I find them thoroughly charming."

"No!" I leaned forward, closing in on Lord Simeon. "I can't simply let you coddle me and take it for granted!"

"I'm not trying to coddle you. Besides, that sort of change happens naturally over time."

"I can't wait that long! I want to know right now. Grown-up love, and the dizzying world of adulthood... Please, teach me about them!"

Appearing overwhelmed by my intensity, Lord Simeon stayed silent a moment and set his teacup down on the table. After breathing a long sigh to collect himself, he abruptly repositioned his glasses with one finger.

"All right," he said at last. He didn't speak the words with reluctant resignation. Rather, when he raised his head, his face bore a sense of earnest dignity. His eyes, so often compared to ice, now burned with fire. "I cannot personally claim to have received the sort of experience or knowledge to call myself an expert in this matter. Still, if you wish it so ardently, I will give it my every effort."

"Oh, Lord Simeon!"

"I wouldn't want to disappoint you by being a husband who cannot fulfill his wife's wishes. Mocked as I am for being overly serious and stubborn, I am nevertheless a man of twenty-eight. I'll show you what I can do if I put my mind to it."

"How wonderful!" I said, jubilant. "That's the brutal, blackhearted military officer I adore!"

Lord Simeon nodded at me, a smile on his face, then stood up in one agile motion. At the same instant, I suddenly found myself floating. For reasons unknown, Lord Simeon had lifted me off the ground. "What?"

"Well then, let's begin."

With me in his arms, Lord Simeon began striding animatedly toward the door with his long legs. Not the door leading out to the rest of the house, but the one connected to our bedroom.

"I have a day off tomorrow," he continued, "so it won't matter if I stay up somewhat later than usual."

"What? What?!"

Why the need for a change of location? I wondered. And why the bedroom? All I wanted was to learn about grown-up love.

"Though I must say," my husband murmured, looking down at me with a soft...