This time, I nearly stepped on his foot. If I hadn’t used my incredible reflexes to quickly change direction and avoid touching the floor, I surely would have stepped on it.

“…That’s… too much of a joke.”

I managed a smile despite the tingling pain in my foot, but Klaus neither confirmed nor denied my words. Only my awkward laughter continued.

He wasn’t the type to say such things with romantic intent. Though he often spoke frivolously, he never said anything unnecessary.

For now, I shouldn’t provoke him. Whatever the reason, I couldn’t afford to receive any more of Klaus’s attention.

“I don’t have any wishes at the moment. If I think of something later, I’ll ask then.”

“Is that so? Well, it can’t be helped. If I remember by then, I’ll grant it.”

“……”

Yes. I knew he was this kind of person, but it still made me realize it was just empty words.

“By the way, for some reason, you seem frightened?”

“I-I’m just nervous.”

“Is that so?”

Klaus’s expression as he said this was slightly different from before.

“When you kill many people, you learn to distinguish between nervousness and fear.”

“…Pardon?”

He casually mentioned something terrifying in a languid voice.

“So I’m curious. I’ve been nothing but kind to you today, so why are you so scared?”

I could only stare into those piercing blue eyes, feeling as if my thoughts had been exposed. Then he stopped his steps and bowed to me.

When I came to my senses, the music had already stopped. I hurriedly lifted my skirt and returned his bow.

“It was enjoyable. Well then, until next time. Ravenne.”

I couldn’t even lie and say I agreed. My breath caught, and words wouldn’t come out. My feet felt glued to the floor, unable to take a step.

After watching the emperor walk away for a while, I finally managed to hide myself among the crowd.

My chest felt tight.

Whether it was the bathroom, powder room, or even if I got lost in the middle of the Imperial Palace, it didn’t matter. I just wanted to escape to somewhere those blue eyes couldn’t reach.

***

Having barely escaped the banquet hall, I looked out the window in a deserted corridor. Perhaps due to the clouds, neither the moon nor stars were visible tonight.

I tried my best not to give the emperor any reason to find fault with me, but could that attitude have backfired?

I thought I was used to pretending to be calm, but it seemed that wasn’t enough for Klaus.

My fingertips were still cold.

While I had a sliver of trust that Ilion, no matter how crazy he was, wouldn’t outright cut my throat, the emperor was truly capable of such things.

Tomorrow, he would behead a maid who attended to the saintess, right in front of her. The reason would be that the maid had been disrespectful to the saintess.

But the real purpose was different. The emperor simply beheaded the maid to mentally torment the saintess.

The reason this side of him hadn’t been directly shown until now was because he had been hiding his true nature.

Klaus had ascended to the throne after killing all his siblings.

However, at the time of his ascension, his foothold wasn’t very solid. Rather, there were many nobles who opposed him.

Currently, due to his reign of terror and conquest wars, imperial authority had become much stronger compared to the past, and the emperor was gradually beginning to reveal his true nature.

The saintess was at the starting point of this revelation.

There was no guarantee that I wouldn’t be caught in the crossfire.

“Haah.”

“You said you’d bring drinks, but did you get lost?”

“Eeek!”

I turned my head in shock at the familiar voice as I was sighing. Somehow, Ilion was standing behind me without making any sound.

My heart, which hadn’t calmed down yet, started pounding heavily again.

Please, I beg you, make some noise when you approach! At this rate, I might die of a heart attack first.

“Why are you here?”

“Why? Because the person who said she wanted to spend an intimate time with me didn’t come, so I came looking.”

What about the saintess? I barely held back those words and recalled the excuse I had prepared.

“I spilled some champagne on my dress while carrying it. So I was on my way back from the powder room. Did you wait long?”

“The powder room isn’t this way, though?”

“As you know, I have a terrible sense of direction. I was in trouble after getting lost, but fortunately, you came looking for me.”

“…So you’re saying you got lost.”

“I really did get lost.”

I smiled brightly. Just dealing with Klaus had already exceeded my quota for the day. So can’t we just quietly go back?

“Well then, since we’re lost, let’s spend some intimate time here.”

“…Pardon?”

Saying that, Ilion took a step closer to me.

“Your Grace? Aren’t you a bit too close…”

In an instant, Ilion came right up to my face and looked at me with slightly cold eyes.

“What did you talk about with His Majesty earlier?”

Ah, so that’s why he came all the way here? I thought he hadn’t seen it because he was on the terrace, but it seems he saw that too.

“We talked a bit about the painting.”

“Is that all?”

To be precise, that wasn’t all, but it wasn’t something I wanted to discuss in detail. I didn’t want to attract Ilion’s attention with unnecessary talk either.

“Yes. When I said I’d return the painting, he seemed pleased.”

“It looked like he was whispering something.”

You saw that too?

“Hmm, he said if there’s anything I want in return for the painting, he’d grant it.”

“And?”

“That’s all, really.”

Ilion’s red eyes observed me intently.

“You’re lying.”

“Why would I lie? Do you have so little faith in me, Your Grace? You’re the only one for me…”

Because of Ilion’s persistent questioning today, I deliberately opened my fan to cover my face and put on a sad expression.

“So you’ve made plans to run away from me?”

Weren’t we done with that conversation?

“That was just to get your attention.”

“Well, for someone who wanted my attention, you don’t seem very happy when you actually get it.”

Was it that obvious?

“Ahem, I’m just not very good at expressing myself.”

“……”

“Besides, there need to be more eyes around. At the mansion, there’s Sebastian and other servants, how could I show it? In truth, I want to express my affection to you every day.”

“Alright. Go ahead.”

“……?”

What are you saying? What do you want me to do?

“There’s no one here you’re concerned about, right?”

No, no. That’s not what I meant. Usually, when I say things like this, you’re supposed to be disgusted and refute it. What do you want me to do?

“But what if someone passes by?”

When I made an excuse out of panic, Ilion replied with the corner of his mouth raised.

“We’re getting married soon anyway, it won’t be much of a flaw even if someone sees.”

“……”

Your Grace, why are you being like this, seriously?

“Or is there another reason you can’t do it?”

Ilion asked as he took another step closer to me. They say when a handsome face suddenly comes close, you can’t think of anything, and that’s exactly how I felt right now.

I thought I had built up immunity to this face, but apparently not.

“It’s just… you suddenly asked, so I’m flustered.”

When I barely squeezed out an excuse, Ilion muttered in a chilling voice.

“It’s not that, it’s because everything you’ve said to me is a lie.”

“……”

“Your words about liking me, wanting my attention, wanting to get along well, all of it…”

Ilion’s cold right hand slowly wrapped around my neck. At a glance, it might have looked romantic, but there was a slight force in his firm fingers. As if he might strangle me at any moment.

As expected. Ilion didn’t trust me. All the strange behavior I had noticed was to test me.

What I was hiding, how much of the truth I was telling, he was watching my reactions by provoking me.

About whether I was truly trustworthy.

What would happen if Ilion deemed me no longer trustworthy?

Ravenne’s end was execution. And this novel somehow pushed me into the original plot.

Even if I had no hostility towards the saintess, if Ravenne’s death was predetermined… Perhaps I might end up in the same situation as Julia or Sergio.

Ilion’s cold fingers remained motionless, waiting for my answer.

Then, what should I choose to survive?

***

Ilion looked at Ravenne, who had closed her mouth. Her face was unusually tinged with bewilderment. Like a cornered mouse.

He thought he had been too hasty.

He expected this strange relationship with Ravenne to be a longer game.

But her behavior today, like she’s especially vigilant of her surroundings, was enough to grate on Ilion’s already sensitive nerves.

Moreover, after seeing her whispering alone with the emperor, he couldn’t just let it go.

His mind was complicated with thoughts about what the two had talked about, or whether Ravenne might be affiliated with the pro-emperor nobles.

So he was pressing her like this, but she seemed to have no intention of telling the truth today either, hiding the facts.

When Ravenne lied, she had a habit of briefly looking to the right before making eye contact. And when asked about the emperor, she did the same, briefly glancing at the empty space to the right before meeting his eyes.

Not knowing what to believe from where to where, the frustrating conversation continued like a hamster wheel. She would lie again, and he would press again.

He wanted to end this annoying conversation quickly. If she wasn’t trustworthy, he might as well cut off all relations with her here.

Of course, he had no intention of letting her go easily. First, he needed to make her spill everything she was hiding.

Ilion looked at the slender neck held in his hand. It was white skin that seemed like it would bruise if he squeezed just a little harder.

While he’s reluctant to hurt her, the constant conflict between not being able to leave alone someone who could be a threat to him was relentless.

Ravenne was still silent. What kind of secret could it be that she wanted to keep it hidden even to this extent?

He thought about scaring her a bit more, but when he looked into those clear green eyes, his body strangely wouldn’t obey him.

“You’re keeping your mouth shut again. Well, there are various ways to make you spit out the truth…”

He hadn’t intended to cause a commotion in the Imperial Palace from the start. If she wouldn’t talk, he could deal with her back at the mansion.

Thinking this, as he loosened his grip on her neck, two small hands grabbed his collar.

For a moment he thought he was going to stumble, but Ilion was captivated by the green eyes that filled his vision.

In that moment, Ravenne gently kissed him and pulled away.

“Is this enough?”

“…What?”

“The expression of affection. I showed you, didn’t I?”