“You haven’t forgotten what you just said, have you? To dare suggest I betray him. I’ll assume you knew who was by my side when you made that remark.”

Seeing him open and close his mouth like a goldfish with nothing more to say, Rosana didn’t even feel he was worth dealing with anymore. She waved her hand coldly and turned away.

Then she remembered a statement she absolutely had to correct for the margrave.

“And did I say I liked His Highness the Crown Prince? Hardly. I love him—this empire’s emperor—very much.”

Unlike her solemn tone, the expression on her slightly tilted head resembled that of an innocent girl in love. Rosana felt absurd, surprised, and overwhelmed by her own words. Her lips curved beautifully, brimming with laughter.

“W-wait…!”

The margrave, who had been seized by a sense of futility, instinctively sensed danger and reached toward Rosana.

Bang!

With a tremendous crash, everyone in the office froze like time had stopped.

Their heads turned precisely toward where the sound came from.

Rosana was dumbfounded seeing the large door had fallen. Weren’t Malek and other knights outside? Baron also reached for his sword, thinking it was an intruder.

The sound of metal clashing rang out and someone revealed themselves. A man appeared covered in what looked like a strange reindeer hide.

More precisely, he was carrying it on his shoulders, but the fur was so large and abundant it covered half his face.

Baron instinctively knew who it was.

Seeing the spiky dark blue hair visible between the pure white fur, Rosana called his name.

“…Jade?”

Without answering, he strode forward, grabbed Margrave Melanie’s shoulder with one hand, and simply pushed him backward.

“What’s this thing?”

His outstretched hand never reached Rosana as he fell backward. Margrave Melanie, who had landed on his rear, rolled on the floor shouting.

“Wh-who are you!”

Jade looked down at him with an expression that said, Why is this dog barking?

“Who are you raising your voice in front of? Do you want to die?”

Jade glared at Margrave Melanie with murderous eyes. He had seen those filthy hands reaching toward Rosana.

“Didn’t I clearly tell you to guard her well?”

“I apologize.”

Baron immediately apologized. Margrave Melanie’s face flushed red and blue as he pointed at Jade.

“How dare you, do you know who I am…”

“Now that you mention it, you do look familiar.”

Jade frowned and stared at him intently. Because he bent his waist slightly, the precariously hanging fur slipped from his shoulder. He caught it before it dragged on the floor. It was the moment the man’s face was fully revealed. And Margrave Melanie’s eyes widened.

It was a face he couldn’t forget even if he wanted to. They had crossed swords as enemies in war—it would be strange not to recognize him.

Rosana brightened and ran to him.

“Are you hurt anywhere?”

“When you gave me your blessing, I’d be ashamed if I got even a single wound.”

“It was quite effective.”

Rosana said with a small laugh. It had been a while since she’d seen his face. Her lips curved upward like they were broken and showed no signs of coming down.

“But where are the other knights?”

“I left them behind.”

“What?”

“They were dawdling, so I left them.”

“…What if you came alone?”

Her tone was slightly reproachful, but her heart soared. It seemed he had wanted to see her as much as she had wanted to see him.

Jade looked at her with an intense gaze and said something meaningful.

“I’m glad I left the knights behind.”

“What?”

“You like me?”

Jade said with a mischievous curve to his eyes. Rosana’s breath caught. It was the conversation they’d had just before he burst in. Thinking about the precise timing, he had entered right when Rosana said she liked Jade.

“Did you… hear?”

Feeling like her face would explode, Rosana asked while trying to steady her breathing. But her flustered expression couldn’t be hidden and her cheeks grew endlessly red. Her words trembled. Jade chuckled.

“Is that what’s important? What matters is that I heard. I almost missed it if I’d been a little later.”

Jade looked infuriatingly smug as he joked that such a thing must never happen.

“But I didn’t hear it directly… Now that you’re right in front of me, you’ll tell me directly, won’t you?”

Jade’s eyes sparkled as he clicked his tongue in regret, waiting for Rosana to open her mouth. Rosana shuddered with embarrassment and hit his shoulder with her hand.

Jade, who had laughed softly at Rosana’s actions, sensed someone standing up behind him and instantly hardened his laughing face as he turned his head.

“Before that, I need to get rid of the uninvited guest. Malek.”

“Yes.”

Malek was already standing by the door.

“What happens when you threaten the emperor?”

“Death.”

At those resolute words, the temperature in the office plummeted.

“I see.”

“Wh-what are you saying?”

“Didn’t you reach out those filthy hands toward Rosana?”

Jade placed his hand on Margrave Melanie’s right shoulder. Until then, Margrave Melanie thought he’d been caught off guard. That he’d fallen backward because he was defenseless. 

But that wasn’t it. He tried to brush the hand off casually, but it wasn’t easy.

When Jade applied pressure to his hand, it exceeded imagination. With a gasp, Margrave Melanie fell to his knees. He couldn’t even ask to be released. If he opened his mouth, a pained groan would surely escape.

“Even if that weren’t enough, I think I heard you insult her? For example… that I dislike her? Not only do you presumptuously evaluate my attitude, but who does Rosana like? Astrot’s crown prince? He’s inferior to me, isn’t he? There’s no way Rosana would like that greenhorn.”

“Just how much did you hear…?”

Rosana muttered with a stunned expression. Words that couldn’t come out without hearing the conversation in the office flowed smoothly from his mouth. Blue veins bulged on the back of Jade’s hand.

“Malek. Isn’t this also a kind of insult? To dare presume the emperor’s intentions and spread them like truth. Isn’t that right, Margrave Melanie?”

His complexion turned deathly pale. That cocky grin was the same as back then. When he had mercilessly cut down soldiers! Margrave Melanie desperately hid his fear.

‘Why? Why! Why won’t it come off?’

He’d been using every ounce of strength to remove the hand. But it wouldn’t budge. The pain grew worse.

“Ah, does it hurt? My apologies.”

Finally, when Jade lightly removed his hand, his shoulder was freed. Margrave Melanie couldn’t bring himself to touch that spot. He felt nothing in his right shoulder where he’d been grabbed.

Cold sweat poured down. He was no match. The absolute difference in power was branded in his mind. He felt his life was in danger. The hairs on his head stood on end.

“I-I had absolutely no intention of threatening you. There must have been a mistake in my words.”

“Do you acknowledge the insult?”

Margrave Melanie rolled his eyes anxiously and slowly nodded. Insult was better than threat. But something felt wrong. It was like dodging a flying fireball only to step directly into the flames.

“What punishment is given for insulting the emperor?”

“It depends on the case, but the greatest punishment is death.”

At Jade and Malek’s attitude of discussing death as punishment like they were conspiring to kill him either way, Margrave Melanie’s jaw dropped.

“Em-emperor, you say. I was merely having a conversation with the lady.”

“Merely the lady? From the moment I delegated the emperor’s authority to her, she became Diovaha’s emperor. Does the position I gave her seem laughable to you?”

At that deadly voice, his legs went numb and trembled. Jade handed the fur to Malek. Then he suddenly knelt before Rosana. The cloak draped over his shoulders fluttered and touched the floor.

In a respectful and upright posture exactly like knights pledging loyalty to their lord, he looked up at Rosana and said:

“What would you like to do? I can have his head cut off right now.”

“Why… are you speaking formally to me? And kneeling! Please stand up!”

Rosana tried to help Jade up, then realized her strength couldn’t raise him. She stamped her feet at the situation of looking down at a kneeling emperor of an empire.

“I-I’m fine. I have no desire to see blood!”

“…Well, that’s a kind verdict.”

Jade nodded and stood up like he’d never knelt, then glanced at Baron. Baron dragged him out.

And the office became quiet. Rosana let out a sigh of relief.

“Jade. We almost had relations deteriorate to the worst. But… that was satisfying.”

“That’s fortunate.”

Because watching Margrave Melanie sweat and squirm was worth seeing.

“Now you should stop calling me emperor and return to your proper place. The envoys want Jade…”

“That aside, aren’t you going to mention your earlier statement again?”

She tried to gloss over it, but Jade didn’t back down easily. Rosana’s face turned bright red again.

“Th-that was because he said I would dislike Jade…”

Rosana, who had barely composed herself, spoke calmly. Jade chuckled. Rosana felt like her feelings had already been exposed and cleared her throat. Then Jade jerked his chin, pointing at the door for everyone to leave.

Malek swallowed a hollow laugh and bowed as though wishing them a good time. Rosana reached out toward the departing Malek but was immediately caught by Jade.

“Where are you looking?”

His previously calm tone completely changed. Jade wanted to see Rosana with his own eyes and hear her words with his own ears to confirm it. He was anxious with uncontrollable emotions.

“You keep deflecting. Then I’ll say it first. I love you. And I have for quite some time.”

“…!”

“You didn’t think I was a shameless bastard who kisses women he doesn’t even like, did you?”

Jade said as he pressed his lips to the back of Rosana’s hand. Rosana looked at him in stunned surprise.

“Did you forget the kiss before we parted? My lips burned for a long time. If yours didn’t, that would be sad. I thought there was a possibility since you didn’t avoid it…”

Watching Rosana’s expression change moment by moment, Jade’s eyes curved affectionately. Jade, who had waited patiently, could hear Rosana’s hesitant answer.

“That’s cheating. That… I was trying so hard to forget…”

He looked at Rosana, who muttered coyly, like she was adorable.

“Sorry about that. I’ve been quite anxious, you see.”

“You’re right. I admire you. This… is definitely the emotion called love.”

“…”

Jade swallowed dryly and felt a surging desire. The refreshing breeze entering his chest cooled that heat somewhat.

Firmly suppressing the desire to roughly devour her lips, he bent down and left a light trace on Rosana’s lips.