“I first heard about marriage with Your Highness roughly half a year ago.”

“…What?”

“That’s right. It was when the King of Asram was on his deathbed.”

The man, recognizing the meaning behind Laurencia’s shocked expression, kindly explained before she could even trace back to that time.

Rubid waited a moment, giving her time to grasp the situation, then continued.

“The Lokan—no, that b*stard Jedrian seemed worried that once the King of Asram passed, Your Highness might marry whoever became the next king.”

Suddenly, she remembered the first day she’d returned to the empire.

The face of the man who’d mocked her clearly surfaced in her mind—saying she’d been driven out without being able to win over even one of those princeling brats with that beautiful body of hers.

‘And yet he was worried?’

“Unlike the old king who couldn’t perform as a man and was full of worries, he must have judged it would be difficult to control bold and vigorous princes. No matter how many watchers he assigned, they wouldn’t dare spy into the king’s bedchamber.”

He immediately cleared her doubts while lifting the teapot to fill the empty cup.

Meanwhile, her red lips kept twitching with all the questions she wanted to ask.

Nevertheless, when she calmly settled her mind and waited, his mouth soon opened again.

“So I think he proposed marriage with Your Highness to me. No, to be precise, it wasn’t a proposal but a threat closer to an order.”

“A threat?”

“Yes. He showed up out of nowhere and told me to prepare a marriage proposal. Said he’d give me the opportunity to become the man of the most noble person in the world.”

“Ha. So you agreed?”

“Well, ‘agreed’ isn’t the right word. A vassal state’s king has no choice.”

He seemed deliberately calm, but anger gradually clouded his gray eyes.

She felt she knew the other reasons without having to ask.

If it was the Jedrian she knew, he’d certainly threatened him with the kingdom’s survival.

It was absurd that a man much larger than Jedrian—and a king of a nation at that—had personally brought a marriage proposal out of fear of someone who was merely the emperor’s proxy. But Laurencia didn’t ask why he didn’t think to fight back.

A bird with broken wings once would be too afraid to even spread them again.

Understanding that feeling better than anyone, Laurencia didn’t mock the man before her.

A brief silence flowed.

The sunset had already receded and darkness was gradually descending.

Though she still had many questions, moving locations to continue their conversation risked Jedrian’s eyes watching from who knows where, so it seemed better to finish the discussion here.

Just as she glanced around cautiously, he reassured her, having already composed his anger.

“Don’t worry. No one is eavesdropping.”

“…I see. Still, we don’t have much time, so let’s hurry this conversation.”

“Right. Then let’s end the situation explanation here. I’ll ask again. Are you truly planning to marry that b*stard?”

At the question that had circled back to the beginning, Laurencia quietly gazed at the man asking so seriously.

Soon, having organized her thoughts, she returned a question instead of an answer.

“If I call off the marriage, does the King of Morzen plan to marry me? Sincerely?”

“That’s my intention. That’s why I came.”

“The reason?”

“Love at first sight?”

At the absurd nonsense, her expression crumpled sharply.

Just as her momentarily loosened guard was about to rise even higher than before, the man let out a deflating laugh and suddenly spoke with a miserable expression.

“I want to protect Morzen. Even if I have to use you as my shield.”

* * *

“So, what did you answer?”

At Ashar’s interrogating manner, Laurencia frowned.

She felt like she was being questioned.

At the man’s pestering the moment she returned, Laurencia truthfully told him what had happened with Rubid.

How he’d taken off his cloak to cover her, how he’d blushed, and so on.

However, since she had separate promises with both men, she couldn’t tell everything nor keep it completely secret.

So she told him within the bounds of not breaking her promises to either.

That he wanted to marry her.

She thought this much kept both the man’s request to keep today’s conversation secret and her promise with Ashar to share everything.

Of course, she honestly told him the reason Rubid wanted marriage too.

It had been love at first sight.

There were other reasons, but since these words had come from his mouth too, it wasn’t completely false.

But Ashar’s persistence in trying to know even her answer was growing increasingly irritating.

“Did you say you would?”

“Don’t cross the line.”

“Line? Am I crossing a line right now?”

“What you and I agreed to share are matters concerning Jedrian. Not my personal affairs. This is purely my personal business, and you’re breaking the promise we made with your own mouth. If that’s not crossing a line, what is?”

“How is this personal? That b*stard is in league with that b*stard, and he approached you! How is that unrelated to that b*stard?”

Ashar grumbled, referring to both men with the single word “b*stard.”

She found it absurd that she understood it all despite this, and eventually a small laugh escaped her lips.

“You’re laughing? You find this funny right now?”

At his behavior so unlike his usual self, Laurencia lost her words and looked at the man acting like a whining child with an incredulous gaze.

A curious thought suddenly struck her.

Just a few days ago, she never would have imagined seeing this side of him.

If Ashar had shown this attitude back then, she would have kicked him out immediately.

But.

“How strange.”

“What is?”

“This outrageous side of you now seems less arrogant and more…”

When she trailed off mid-sentence, Ashar widened his eyes and thrust his face forward, pestering again.

“More what?”

Debating whether to answer or not, she suddenly stood up abruptly.

Then she calmly walked out to the drawing room and soon headed toward Ashar’s room.

“Wait! Where are you going, stopping mid-sentence?”

“I’ve said everything I need to.”

“You have not! You didn’t answer what I asked earlier, and even now you stopped mid—”

When Laurencia suddenly stopped at the room’s entrance and whirled around, the large body that had been following closely managed to stop just before colliding.

As she quietly looked up at the man glaring with a ‘what if we’d crashed’ expression, she suddenly grabbed his cheek, pulled it down, and kissed him.

His blue eyes, which had been flickering at the sudden kiss, froze solid.

Watching the man frozen with their lips merely pressed together, she slowly pulled away and muttered calmly.

“Finally quiet.”

Then, just as she turned around again, a force suddenly yanked her wrist and her helpless body was pulled right into his embrace.

“Ah!”

Then, before she could stop it, their lips locked.

Her red lips, instantly moistened, were roughly bitten and sucked before parting wide.

“Haah…”

At the thick tongue rushing in wildly, Laurencia gripped the man’s thick arms holding her cheeks and groaned.

He took revenge for the simple kiss where only their lips had touched with a storm-like kiss.

Adding to that, he groped her body while crushing her in his embrace.

She was helplessly swept away by the stimulus that whirled through in an instant.

This was the price for deliberately provoking a man who no longer intended to hide his arousal, even though she knew what would happen.

However, she’d somewhat expected this, so she wasn’t disgusted or flustered.

No, truthfully, she’d deliberately provoked him partly anticipating this.

Because she wanted to see this raw reaction.

Because seeing a man aroused by just one kiss somehow made her feel reassured.

Having filled her self-esteem satisfactorily at the man’s increasingly rough breathing, she woke the beast losing its reason.

She withdrew the tongue she’d willingly offered and gradually pushed against the man’s chest.

She wanted to pretend ignorance and be swept away to the end, but today, this much was most appropriate.

Laurencia knew.

That men, once they felt sufficient satisfaction from a woman’s body, would soon change their hearts.

And feeling that filthy sensation once was enough.

The man who’d come to his senses obediently pulled away his lips.

However, seeing Ashar’s crumpled expression, he seemed quite displeased.

She pulled away without regret, smirking as she answered just one of his questions.

“This is the last time I’ll let you off for being cute.”

Ashar’s face contorted bizarrely in that instant. His expression said this was the most absurd thing he’d ever heard.

Sure enough, he let out an empty laugh while digging at his ear and asking back.

“Cute? Who? Me?”

At Ashar’s sarcastic tone again, Laurencia narrowed her eyes into slits and finally turned his insides upside down.

“No, the King of Morzen. That b*stard Rubid. He was quite cute.”

Then she returned to her room without properly examining his empty room meant for redecorating.

Shortly after, a predictably resounding shout rang out.

“Who? Who what? Who’s cute? Stop right there!”

At the man’s reaction that didn’t deviate one bit from her expectations, Laurencia covered her mouth and giggled.

Like that, for the first time in a very long while, she laughed with a face full of mischief, like she’d returned to those carefree times.

However, she didn’t realize she was smiling just like she had back then.