It was an open secret that the head butler’s jaw nearly dropped at this moment.

Thus began their peculiar lunchtime routine.

While the food served changed daily, the mood of the diners remained the same.

One was stressed, while the other was simply enjoying it.

The former, Lysith, had resigned herself to the situation. She knew she needed to make progress on her conquest, but due to stress, her mind wasn’t working properly, and she had no idea how to go about it.

She realized she didn’t have much time to stay in the imperial palace, so she needed to gain his favor within that time.

But the problem was that she had no means to put this into practice.

‘It’s hopeless…’

She had considered pretending to be out of her mind and pouncing on him once. But what held her back was her reason that was barely hanging on.

Verheigen was the type of person who would despise and reject such behavior. Though she had never directly witnessed such a scene, she instinctively felt it would be so.

The opportunity came to her, who had been struggling without seeing a breakthrough, two days later.

* * *

“I’m sorry, lady.”

“It’s alright.”

The Emperor’s neat-looking aide kept bowing and apologizing. Though it was an uncomfortable situation, Lysith had nothing to lose by making a good impression on him, so she kept waving her hand, saying it was fine.

“I’m truly sorry. Somehow things ended up like this…”

“These things happen. Everyone makes mistakes, being human and all.”

“Yes, yes, that’s right.”

Though she had only briefly agreed with him, for some reason he seemed excessively moved.

Feeling uncomfortable under his sparkling gaze, she took a small half-step to the side, at which point Serul informed her that she could enter here.

“Have a good time.”

“……?”

When she was about to ask what he meant by that strange remark, he said he would be going and bid farewell, leaving her no choice but to awkwardly accept. After thanking him for his kind guidance, he left, and the ornate door opened.

Even at a glance, it didn’t seem to be a simple guest room. The place she had been staying until now was among the better guest rooms, but… how should I put it, this was beyond the level of a guest room.

Is it because they feel sorry? Thinking this, Lysith flopped down on the bed.

The sudden change in her room occurred just before bedtime. When she had gone out for a brief walk due to boredom and was returning, someone came hurriedly walking from afar.

“Lady Gronevelt.”

“Who…?”

“Ah, I’m sorry. I’m a bit flustered… I’m Serul Bricken, His Majesty the Emperor’s aide. Please feel free to call me Serul.”

“Yes, Serul. Is something the matter? You seem quite flustered.”

“Ah, well…”

Lysith nodded readily at what followed.

There had been a sudden small problem with the room she was using, so it seemed she would have to sleep in a different room tonight.

Serul, who was relaying this information, truly looked busy and flustered, to the point where his hair seemed like a bird’s nest. This was despite his hair actually being neatly arranged.

“We should be able to fix it by tomorrow, so I’m truly sorry, but please bear with us just for tonight.”

“I understand. It’s not like there’s a problem with my safety… if it’s a mistake made by a young servant, it can’t be helped.”

Greatly moved by Lysith’s words, he thanked her and led the way… and that’s how she ended up in this luxurious room now.

Maids who had entered silently helped her change for bed.

Maybe it was just her imagination, but the bed seemed even softer than the one she had been using, and the texture of the sheets felt much better. Did they really give her this room because they felt sorry? Lysith was fiddling with the sheets when she hugged a pillow.

The pillow, filled with goose feathers, crumpled in her arms.

With six pillows available, she could sleep hugging one…

As she was thinking this, she heard the sound of a door opening nearby.

Who came in? Puzzled, Lysith turned her head towards the sound, only to meet the red eyes of the man she had been facing every day at lunch lately.

“……”

“……”

A heavy silence fell between the two who had unexpectedly met in one room. The silence that seemed like it would last forever was only broken when a rustling sound came from the pillow in Lysith’s arms.

Verheigen’s voice, tinged with both bewilderment and displ*asure, broke the air.

“…Why is the lady here?”

“…That’s what I’d like to ask you, Your Majesty.”

Verheigen seemed to have just finished bathing, with water dripping from his hair.

He was wearing only a white robe with nothing underneath. Judging by how loosely the robe’s belt was tied, it seemed he truly hadn’t known she was in this room.

Water droplets from his hair fell onto his exposed shoulders and collarbone, trickling down.

Lysith stubbornly refused to lower her gaze below that, not wanting to look. She firmly resolved that if the robe were to slip or come off, she would poke her own eyes with two fingers and run out of the room.

Regardless of Lysith’s thoughts, he shook his hair with one hand to get rid of the moisture and sighed.

“I see what happened.”

After saying this, he told her to wait a moment and went out the way he came in, only to return shortly. He was still wearing the robe, but thankfully, he had pants on this time.

As Lysith said nothing and just hugged the pillow with her mouth tightly shut, Verheigen sighed again and asked.

“Well, shall I do as you wish?”

“Wh-what? What do you mean?”

Lysith was struggling to keep up with the current situation.

So, the Emperor’s aide said, ‘You can sleep here,’ and while she was preparing for bed, the Emperor came out after bathing…?

As Lysith was trying to grasp the situation, Verheigen casually dropped a bombshell.

“Rolling around in bed?”

“I’d rather not?”

“……”

“……”

Lysith, who had reflexively answered in shock, closed her mouth. She slowly raised her eyes to meet Verheigen’s gaze, which was calmly observing her disgusted reaction.

So I heard that the head butler was extremely surprised at that time.

But who would have thought the aide would pull something like this…

‘So this is what he meant by “Have a good time”!’

As if it could be a good time.

While others seemed to think they were having a jolly time during lunch, the reality was quite different.

Given their status, both of them hardly made any human noises throughout the meal. As a result, it was naturally a time of complete silence, with Verheigen’s piercing gaze occasionally stabbing at Lysith.

Under such a gaze, Lysith kept her mouth shut and just ate.

Conversation only happened when Verheigen occasionally spoke to her. Just that much.

What kind of relationship did they think that was to do such a thing? It was giving her a headache.

Unbeknownst to Lysith, people in the imperial palace were misunderstanding that His Majesty had finally opened his heart to a woman.

It was understandable, as a man who had never given a second glance to any woman was suddenly showing interest in the woman who had saved him from danger!

This was a thought they could have because they didn’t know the full story.

Serul, who knew everything, was simply enjoying it.

As she held her throbbing forehead, unaware of all this, Verheigen looked down at Lysith with a bewildered expression.

“I’m the Emperor, you know. Do you refuse so firmly?”

“I know you don’t like it anyway…”

“Even so. How amusing, former Grand Duchess. You’re completely disgusted.”

“Ugh…”

As if her earlier disgust was nothing, Lysith’s face crumpled like paper the moment he said ‘former Grand Duchess.’

As soon as Lysith frowned, Verheigen chuckled softly and moved towards the sideboard. He took out some wine and set it down on the table with a thud.

“Are you good at drinking?”

“No.”

Lysith was the embodiment of an lightweight. Her limit was just three glasses of wine.

When asked if she was good at drinking, the normal human response to her saying she wasn’t would be to either drink alone or prepare a different drink for her. But Verheigen exceeded her expectations.

“I see. Then drink.”

“No, I told you I can’t.”

“Drink.”

“…Yes.”

At Verheigen’s not-so-subtle insistence, Lysith sat down carefully in front of him, inwardly cursing.

She really couldn’t drink. In Lysith’s memories, she recalled becoming tipsy after just three glasses of wine. That was probably the first drink she had nervously tried as an adult.

She couldn’t understand how the situation had come to this. She was confused, nothing was going right, and the man in front of her had no conscience.

Although it wasn’t an official occasion, since it was wine offered by the Emperor, Lysith politely accepted the glass he poured.

Carefully sipping, Lysith drank one glass, then two, and then the third glass that was handed to her…

…After that, she couldn’t remember anything.

“…Hehe.”

Verheigen, who had been savoring his share of wine, put his hand to his forehead as he watched the grinning Lysith.

I shouldn’t have made her drink.

Even though she said she couldn’t drink well, he thought she could handle a few glasses. Who would have thought she’d be the type to get drunk after just three glasses?

Of course, he didn’t know her alcohol tolerance. There was no need to know in the first place. In fact, since Lysith Gronevelt rarely drank at official events, it was safe to say that no one except those close to her knew her tolerance.

“Uhehe… Hihi.”

“Haa…”