When her hand stopped moving, the gray cat opened its eyes, rose slowly, and descended beneath the table. Once the cat disappeared, the woman leaned back and picked up an object from the dresser, placing it on the table. The thin, long stick was about as long as her forearm. At the end sat a round bowl the size of a thumbnail.

The woman also pulled out a small box beside the stick and placed it on the table. From inside, she took out two dark red berries, placed them in the bowl, and began crushing them with a small pestle.

Squelch, squelch—the wet sound of berries breaking filled the air.

“She came for this.”

The woman took out two more berries from the drawer and gave one each to Dion and Clementina.

“A kind of painkiller. She looked truly in pain. Said she’d been betrayed. So I asked her where she was hurt. She said something incomprehensible.”

“Incomprehensible?”

“Her heart was hurt. I asked why her body hurt if her heart was hurt. She said, ‘That’s how we are. When we’re betrayed, we hurt.'”

“We?”

“That’s how she referred to herself. I was curious. What she meant. So I pressed her. What did that mean? That d*mn girl just smiled prettily and said she’d already explained everything. Her personality really was spectacularly bad.”

The woman pulled out another small box from the container. The hexagonal box had a red background with flowers and worms painted on it. The worm was wrapped tightly around the flower’s roots. She slid open the side of the box to reveal matches inside. She took out one of the few remaining matches and struck it hard against the side of the small box.

Fire caught instantly, and she brought it to the bowl with the sliced berries. Fire flared briefly before disappearing, then smoke rose.

A sweet, subtle fragrance filled the shop.

The woman sucked on the end of the stick opposite the bowl and blew smoke toward Dion. Dion grimaced and waved away the smoke before his face. He glared at the woman with blatant disgust.

The woman looked at Dion with a calm but testing gaze.

“Is this the master you chose?”

“Master? He’s not a master, he’s my husband.”

“She said she was betrayed by her master.”

Clementina tilted her head and tapped the table with her index finger.

“Did Mother have affairs I don’t know about? Master. She was from a noble family—I’ve never heard such talk.”

“I asked if it made sense to die from being betrayed by a master. She said, ‘I chose him, so what can I do?'”

“……She chose?”

Kitan had spoken the same way. That he’d chosen his master. Was that resonance? Had her mother formed a resonance with a master? Who was the master? Her father?

If it was her father, had he betrayed her and made her mother sick?

“So what did she say?”

“I asked why not just choose again.”

“Can you do that?”

“Oh! Now you’re just like her! She asked me the same thing. She widened her eyes and laughed, saying she’d never heard such a thing. ‘That was an option!’ she said. Then she said it was already too late. Even though she was betrayed, even though she was hurt.”

The woman looked at Clementina and smiled kindly for the first time without sharp emotion.

“She said she still loved him. That’s why she lived as long as she did.”

The woman inhaled the smoke a couple times before setting down the stick. Smoke rose very faintly.

“So why did you come here?”

“I came looking for traces of Mother. She disappeared while coming here for recuperation. There were rumors of kidnapping, but I guess that wasn’t it.”

“Kidnapping? Who would kidnap a woman like that? If that had happened, the kidnappers would all be dead.”

“What do you mean? Why would they die?”

“Hm? Because Caroline would have killed them all. She was good with a bow.”

“Mother used a bow? That can’t be. I never once saw Mother use a bow.”

The more Clementina talked with the shop owner, the more she felt lost in a maze. She was confused whether these stories were even about the mother she knew.

“That’s how we became friends. At first I thought she was a woman trying to kill me. Until I saw the centipede on the arrow tip that had cut my hair.”

“Mother saved you? Really? Is that true?”

“What’s with you? Have you spent your whole life being deceived? What kind of bastard did you meet to become such a suspicious woman?”

The woman chuckled and rose from her seat. Dion scratched the back of his head. He wasn’t deceiving Clementina now, but everything had certainly been a lie when they first met.

“Get up now. I won’t charge you for the tea. It felt good to reminisce about someone dear after so long.”

The woman opened the shop door and forcibly shooed Dion and Clementina outside. Clementina still had many questions and slid the door sideways again.

But the door wouldn’t budge, as if it had never opened at all.

This ball was attended by royalty and nobility from Umbarot Kingdom, Jihelona Kingdom, and the Kingdom of Paco—all long-standing allies of the Ronakia Empire.

King Langston Twiz of the Akarti Kingdom, with whom a truce had been signed, was also invited to the ball but didn’t attend, citing poor health. Naturally, no nobles from the Monk Principality, the Akarti Kingdom’s longtime brother nation, attended either.

However, several kings from the Fabrochinita tribal confederation, which maintained close relations with the Akarti Kingdom, had been invited. With over fifty tribal kings, discussions continued until the day before the ball about whether all should come or representatives should be selected. They still hadn’t arrived.

Umbarot Kingdom had the smallest territory among them but sent the most attendees.

Drawing in as many people as possible was the Empress’s plan.

Dion had intended to take all the Gold Dragon Order’s dragons and immediately invade Umbarot Kingdom, but the Empress told him to wait for the ball. He held his position for a while.

He didn’t think it was an ideal solution, but there wasn’t really another option. After all, you couldn’t punish people for singing a children’s song.

But the maids of talkative noblewomen carried rumors. If they knew the fearsome nature of the Duke and Duchess of Drasia, they would break into cold sweats the moment they heard commoner children’s joke songs within the kingdom.

They would worry whether this rumor might flow into the Ronakia Empire. If so, Umbarot Kingdom might be held accountable.

To effectively create such an atmosphere, the Empress made full preparations to hold the ball at the Issiliad summer palace.

The grand banquet hall of the Issiliad summer palace was decorated with green leafy vines covering the walls. Flowers bloomed densely on each vine, and water flowed in all directions from the floor beneath the walls.

The invited guests sat on plush cushions prepared throughout the hall, dipping their feet in the water. Whenever servants carrying plates laden with fruit walked around, they received wine and fruit.

Kings and nobles enjoyed the ball for several days, eating and drinking. Contrary to expectations of being forced to depart for Diahart Island, the Emperor and Empress maintained a gentle attitude throughout. Initial wariness softened, and behavior began to loosen recklessly.

The nights of the ball passed this way.

After days of dancing late into the night and greeting people, Clementina collapsed exhausted, leaning against the headboard.

“Does it hurt?”

Perhaps from being tense all day, her legs cramped once the ball ended.

Dion grabbed Clementina’s legs as she lay on the bed with tears welling up, placed them on his lap, and began kneading them with appropriate pressure.

Clementina had worried whether she’d be able to sleep with her legs hurting so much, but once Dion massaged them, she could feel the tension in her legs loosening before long.

“Ah! I feel alive. It really, really hurt.”

Dion kneaded Clementina’s calves, then began pressing her soles.

“Ahhh! It hurts! It hurts!”

“Bear with it a little. You’ll hurt less once this loosens.”

Clementina squeezed her eyes shut and twisted her body. A tingling sensation like being pricked with thorns spread from her soles throughout her body.

“Stop! Stop! I want to stop!”

“They’re very stiff. I need to loosen them properly.”

Tears trickled from Clementina’s eyes and she buried her face in a pillow. She gritted her teeth and endured, and soon felt her entire legs pleasantly loosen.

Dion didn’t seem to use much force, yet the tension released so quickly—it was remarkable. His hands, trained through long physical exertion, truly had a special touch. But how did he know how to loosen someone else’s body so well?

Dion’s mention of visiting Madam Falcon a few times came to mind unbidden, and Clementina suddenly felt gloomy.

Such jealousy was petty. Clementina shook her head left and right, telling herself she had no right. Dion keenly observed Clementina’s reaction and sensed something odd. She seemed lost in her own thoughts again, and she was clearly misunderstanding his conduct.

So Dion grabbed both of Clementina’s calves and pulled her sharply toward his waist.

“Kyaah! What are you doing?”

“What are you thinking about?”

Clementina turned her head away from Dion’s gaze and pouted.

“It’s nothing. Just… you seem so practiced at massaging legs.”

“Hm?”

Dion was momentarily speechless.

What? What nonsense was this? How could this woman be so adorable even when jealous?

“Hahaha! Of course. When you walk for days and nights without sleep, your legs swell up and really hurt. You feel like dying. Every time that happened, I massaged Berche’s feet so many times while enduring his terrible foot odor.”

“But you said you went to Madam Falcon often.”

“Hm? Madam Falcon? I went often. That place handles foreign diplomatic delegations best. Wait—you don’t think I fooled around with women there, do you? Please. You didn’t have such a filthy misunderstanding, did you?”

Dion grimaced and shook his head. Embarrassed by her baseless misunderstanding, Clementina hurriedly changed the subject.

“Bella was very angry.”

“She would be. I didn’t even let her near that guy.”

“Was it a good method to let them know we’re aware?”

“Of course. Otherwise she really would have done something. For a noble family’s daughter, that would be tantamount to s*icide. Giving her what she wants because you think Bella will hate you more isn’t the right attitude.”

“Hah……”

Clementina let out a long sigh and sat up abruptly. Her previously serious face disappeared, and she was already smiling with puffed cheeks.

“You’re right, Duke. I’m not usually like this, but I don’t know why I keep softening when it comes to family. I’m just frustrated. Frustrated. Ah!”

Clementina spread both arms wide and flopped back onto the bed. Dion chuckled softly and descended gently over her body.

Dion slipped his hand inside the thin shoulder strap and grasped her soft flesh in his palm.

He wandered over it with soft lips before pressing them deeply. Clementina let out a shallow gasp and arched her back.

Clementina’s slender fingers entered Dion’s brownish-gold hair. Though they hadn’t been outside long for the ball, his hair still carried the scent of wind.