In the meantime, Jedrian and the unfamiliar group were entering the banquet hall with confidence.

But Ashar’s cursing somehow didn’t seem directed at him.

She’d just mentioned Jedrian herself moments ago, so his appearance here shouldn’t be that surprising.

Her suspicious gaze shifted to the man standing beside Jedrian.

He clearly wasn’t from Armazé.

Not only was his attire unusual, but unlike the generally small-framed Armazéans, the man’s body was ridiculously massive.

Jedrian wasn’t small either, but standing next to that man, he looked genuinely delicate like an Armazéan.

Even Ashar, who was bigger than Jedrian, would probably look diminutive standing next to that man.

Was it because of his size?

Even from a distance, the intimidating aura he exuded was no joke. More than anything, those eye colors.

She’d never seen ash-gray pupils devoid of color before.

‘Which kingdom is he from?’

Somehow thinking Ashar might know, she turned around, but his figure was nowhere to be seen—she didn’t know when he’d disappeared.

She stepped back and checked all the way to the end of the corridor, but Ashar had vanished without a trace at that time.

“What the h*ll, leaving without a word.”

Tsk, the moment she clicked her tongue and turned her head, Jedrian—who’d somehow reached her—greeted her with a broad smile.

“Lauren, were you waiting for me?”

When the man who always wore a mask in front of others suddenly dropped the honorifics and greeted her warmly, she became flustered instead and glanced at the man standing beside him.

But whether he hadn’t heard or wasn’t interested, the man seemed busy touring the interior of the banquet hall.

“Why are you standing here? Did you just arrive?”

At Jedrian’s persistent questioning, Laurencia finally looked at him and answered calmly.

“I was just getting some air for a moment.”

“Ah… alone?”

His blood-red pupils glanced behind her, seemingly searching for someone.

Guessing who he was looking for, Laurencia answered in short responses deflating enough to disappoint.

“Yes.”

But Jedrian wasn’t a man who cared about such things.

“Then shall we go together? The garden is in full bloom today. You like flowers, don’t you?”

Instead of answering, she glanced at the man standing beside him again this time.

When the conversation paused briefly, only then did the mysterious man’s gaze turn toward her.

When Laurencia stared at the man with a hardened face, he belatedly gave her attention after sneaking a glance at Jedrian.

“Seems I was tactless. Shall I excuse myself? Lokan’s mistress appears uncomfortable with me.”

Her expression twisted savagely at the absurd words. In contrast, Jedrian’s lips twitched, ready to burst into laughter at any moment.

At the contrasting expressions of the two people looking at him, the man scratched the back of his head with an awkward face.

In the meantime, Laurencia had roughly assessed the man before her.

Seeing the man pretend to be flustered and apologetic with a completely unflustered face, he too seemed to have a pitch-black heart.

Well, seeing how close he was with Jedrian, he clearly wasn’t trustworthy.

Having finished evaluating the mysterious man, Laurencia attacked both men who’d openly mocked her at once.

“The rudeness was Lokan’s. If you’d told him who I am beforehand, this man wouldn’t dare hold his head up so high before the imperial princess.”

However, making her sharp reaction meaningless, Jedrian merely smiled leisurely and agreed with her words teasingly.

“Oh my, I’ve made a grave mistake, Your Highness.”

Well, he wasn’t a man who’d be flustered by this much. Having expected as much, Laurencia coldly shifted her gaze and this time looked at the unfamiliar man.

In contrast, the massive man seemed genuinely flustered, hardening his face before belatedly bowing his head.

“Oh my, I’ve committed a grave error. My apologies for not recognizing you. I am Rubid Leche of the Kingdom of Morzen. It’s truly an honor to meet such a beautiful princess.”

‘Morzen?’

Just as she tried to recall the name that sounded both familiar and unfamiliar, Jedrian casually dropped an absurd statement.

“Believe it or not, he’s a king. The King of Morzen.”

Laurencia’s eyes widened at the man’s unexpected status.

She was momentarily confused about what she’d just heard.

Setting aside where Morzen was located, a king?

Her flustered gaze turned toward Jedrian.

Not even an emperor, but a mere proxy Lokan treating a king of a country like that—this was impossible.

No matter how small his kingdom, a king was still a king. Someone with a status incomparably higher than Lokan’s position.

Even she, an imperial princess, wasn’t someone who could treat him carelessly.

Yet what was this?

“Have you eaten anything? Shall we dine together?”

Jedrian once again ignored the man before him and focused only on her.

At that rudeness, Laurencia felt awkwardly uncertain and watched the man’s reaction.

As expected, his expression wasn’t good.

Of course, he’d been expressionless from the first time she saw him, but she definitely felt the murderous intent that briefly crossed his ash-gray eyes.

‘Ashar seemed to react to this man.’

When that Ashar—who’d fearlessly revealed his identity even before her, the princess—disappeared like he was fleeing, there must be some reason.

Not knowing the reason, it seemed best to step back and assess the situation first.

Laurencia carefully declined without provoking Jedrian’s temper.

“It seems there’s a reason for this distinguished guest’s visit, so I’ll take my leave. Let’s dine another time.”

“The most precious thing to me is always only Your Highness. So don’t worry about useless things.”

Useless things.

At the blatant disrespect toward the man, Laurencia felt more anxious than he probably did hearing it.

More than anything, she was appalled by Jedrian’s shamelessness, acting like yesterday’s incident had been completely erased.

Nevertheless, maintaining her expression skillfully, Laurencia turned her gaze to the King of Morzen before Jedrian could detain her further.

“I apologize for not recognizing you. If I’d known earlier, I wouldn’t have committed such rudeness. Please understand graciously.”

Though she’d shown courtesy, she treated the king of a small nation befitting an imperial princess.

“Understand? I’m the one who committed grave rudeness. Just meeting the most noble person in Armazé is an infinite honor for me.”

Her lips twisted faintly at the man’s excessively polite attitude.

She’d heard such honeyed words countless times. Perhaps because of that, she could now gauge whether someone’s words were sincere or false just by looking at their expression.

His expression showed no honor whatsoever, yet his mouth kept flapping—seeing the man matched her first impression of being thoroughly unimpressive.

However, having no intention of making an issue of it, she withdrew her gaze without lingering and looked at Jedrian again.

And she was about to leave.

“Then I’ll—”

“He almost became Your Highness’s second husband.”

At Jedrian’s out-of-the-blue statement, her face froze stupidly.

When she looked to the side to confirm whether she’d heard correctly, the man showed no particular surprise, seemingly already aware.

Laurencia’s voice, alternating between looking at the two men, quickly turned cold.

“I don’t understand what you’re saying.”

“If Your Highness hadn’t proposed to me, you would have been betrothed to the King of Morzen.”

She almost let out a hollow laugh at the unexpected words.

Those words meant that if she hadn’t pulled that move yesterday, he’d planned to send her to the man before her again.

He’d told her to keep a mistress until he decided on a fiancée, and it seemed that wasn’t empty talk—he’d apparently been searching for a second husband in the meantime.

Yet he’d craved her body so much and whispered love to her.

Begging her to choose him, yet scheming behind her back—seeing this man, she realized once again that a vile nature never changes.

An even more absurd thought struck her.

The man who hadn’t even known she was a princess.

That meant a king of a country had accepted marriage to a woman whose face he didn’t know based merely on Lokan’s proposal.

And even knowing it had fallen through, he wore such a carefree expression.

She was both curious and furious about what kind of deal they’d made to create this situation.

Laurencia, who’d been about to withdraw obediently, finally revealed her twisted feelings.

“How unfortunate. If I’d known such a wonderful man was designated as husband material, I would have waited a bit more quietly.”

Not just with words but also making a regretful expression toward Rubid, she scratched at Jedrian’s insides.

As expected, Jedrian showed a displeased expression and forced his lips up as he retorted.

“If I’d known you’d be this regretful, I should have given you advance notice?”

“Exactly. You should have told me beforehand about such a reliable man. Then I wouldn’t have put Lokan in a difficult position.”

When she deliberately brought up that topic, Jedrian’s expression—which had been leisurely all along—gradually hardened.

Despite that, he stubbornly maintained his smile and took a step closer.

Then he put his lips to her ear and whispered softly.

“Your fluttering is cute, but only do it as much as you can handle.”

At the vile warning, her expression instantly turned cold.

Meanwhile, the man who’d kept his mouth shut like a mute stood there staring at her intently with an inscrutable face.

Not avoiding that gaze, she took a step back.

Looking impassively at Jedrian, who smiled even brighter than before, Laurencia turned sharply and left, showing she didn’t want to deal with him anymore.

“Let’s have tea together in my room tomorrow, Your Highness.”

Even at the light voice coming from behind, she left the banquet hall without looking back once.