This was why Kate Spencer was clinging to Karina. If the imperial family viewed Aidan’s illegitimate child as a thorn in their side, they could become a target for assassination at any time.

However, Karina had no reason to accept her plea. She coldly rejected her and told her never to come again.

‘Couldn’t you adopt the child?’

Until Aidan made such a ridiculous suggestion, she had thoroughly tried to ignore it.

As those memories freshly surfaced, Kate Spencer standing before her didn’t look pleasant at all. Come to think of it, in her previous life, when Aidan was attacked, it was this woman who came to visit him first and stayed by his side for days.

Should I nip it in the bud now? If she doesn’t become pregnant with Aidan’s child, the event where I and the Hewitt family, along with Aidan, are accused of treason and exterminated might not happen. I wondered if ignoring her existence for too long, for the sake of preserving my pride, might have been the root of the problem.

“Miss Kate Spencer.”

Karina’s voice was quiet but firm. As if she hadn’t expected Karina to call her name so precisely, Kate Spencer flinched and bowed her head.

At this point in time, Karina had never met her. Although Kate Spencer had debuted in society when she turned eighteen, they had strangely never crossed paths. She learned of her existence right after the wedding ceremony, because she was Aidan’s secret meeting partner on their wedding night. After that, they had encountered each other a few times at imperial banquets, but Karina never spoke to her first. Kate Spencer, perhaps because of her relationship with Aidan, was also careful not to catch Karina’s eye.

So now, at this point when they hadn’t yet directly met, she seemed surprised that Karina knew her accurately. For Kate Spencer, this was her first meeting with Karina, but for Karina, it was a face she had seen enough to be familiar with, even if unwillingly, for three years.

But she looked much younger than the last Kate Spencer in her memory. Of course, she was only nineteen now.

“You know who I am, right?”

“Y-Yes, Your Highness the Crown Princess.”

Although they had never met, the wedding ceremony had been just the day before, so there was no way she wouldn’t know Karina’s face.

“Then you must also know how rude you’re being right now.”

Kate Spencer flinched at the cold voice. But soon, she raised her head to look at Karina.

“I didn’t know you were here, Your Highness. Really.”

Was that supposed to be an excuse now? Whether she was here or not, Kate Spencer shouldn’t be here.

“Go back. I don’t know since when the imperial palace has become a place where just anyone can come and go.”

After this icy rebuke, she gave a nod to the knights to send her back. As the knights, who had been watching Karina’s reaction, approached Kate and urged her to leave, she pushed away their hands.

“Please just let me check on His Highness’s condition!”

At this sudden request, a faint wrinkle appeared between Karina’s brows. Quietly taking a deep breath, Karina turned her gaze back to her.

“I’m really worried. Please.”

Kate’s eyes were even brimming with tears. What was so good about Aidan? It was an emotion Karina couldn’t understand at all.

“His Highness is resting now. His condition is not as serious as to warrant Miss Spencer’s concern, so you can rest assured and go back.”

“Please let me see His Highness.”

Kate knelt down and begged. Karina’s face hardened at the increasingly excessive demands. How could she be so rude even if she was young? Does the Count of Spencer not educate their children? Or did she decide to try and secure the position of mistress, judging that there was no affection between her and Aidan anyway?

Whether she was stupid or lacking in manners, the result was the same.

“Didn’t you hear my-!”

“Your Highness!”

Before Karina could finish her statement, Kate called out to Aidan in a loud voice. At the same time, she tried to push past the knights and enter Aidan’s bedroom. Even Karina, who hadn’t expected her to go this far, was taken aback. How could a mere count’s daughter so boldly try to force her way into a prince’s bedroom?

“What are you doing!”

She snapped at the knights, and only then did two of them hurriedly move to grab Kate’s arms. Thanks to this, Kate, who had been trying to enter the bedroom, kept calling out ‘Your Highness’.

“Why are those guarding His Highness’s bedroom so careless?”

At Karina’s criticism, the knights looked at each other before lowering their heads.

“Well… His Highness often let Miss Spencer into his bedroom, so…”

Karina let out a sigh at the excuse made by one of the knights in a voice that was almost inaudible. He even let her into his bedroom? No matter how loveless their marriage was, if he had any self-awareness as a prince, he couldn’t have acted so thoughtlessly.

She turned back to look inside the bedroom in anger, but she couldn’t go in and confront him. The one inside wasn’t the Aidan who had enjoyed secret meetings with Kate Spencer.

“Aaagh!”

Startled by the scream, she turned to see Kate biting the knight’s arm to free herself from his grasp, then immediately running into the bedroom. Caught off guard by this unexpected action, the knights belatedly followed her into the bedroom.

“Your Highness!”

Aidan, who was sitting up in bed, looked at her with a bewildered expression at the sudden intruder.

“Your Highness……”

Kate choked up as her eyes met Aidan’s. The knights who had rushed in tried to drag her out, but Aidan raised a hand to stop them. The knights glanced at Karina before quietly retreating.

“You don’t know how worried I was. If something had happened to Your Highness, I… hic…”

Tears rolled down Kate’s cheeks, wetting them.

“I’m sorry, but……”

Aidan, who had been staring at her, opened his mouth.

“Who are……”

At Aidan’s question, Kate’s tears suddenly stopped as if she was shocked. Karina, standing behind, inwardly swallowed a sigh.

“It’s me! Kate Spencer!”

“Kate Spencer?”

Aidan still had an expression of not knowing who she was at all. It was natural if the soul in that body wasn’t the original Aidan.

“Last night, we…!”

“Ah.”

Aidan cut off her words.

“You have quite a loose tongue.”

Kate’s eyes widened even more at the casually thrown words.

“I’m sure I told you it was a secret.”

To others, it sounded like Aidan was saying he had told Kate it was a secret, but to Karina, it sounded like he was guessing at the conversation between the prince and his secret lover. He probably would have said it was a secret. After all, it wasn’t the kind of relationship where they could openly meet.

“Even if that weren’t the case, I don’t remember every one-night stand.”

“Y-Your Highness…?”

“Would you kindly stop being rude to my wife and get lost?”

At these words, Kate collapsed to the floor in despair, but Karina held her head in her hand for a different reason. It was praiseworthy that he had covered up the fact that his soul had changed without arousing suspicion, but… the way he spoke, that damn way of speaking was the problem. Saying things like ‘loose tongue’ and ‘get lost’, every word choice was vulgar.

As soon as Aidan’s order fell, the knights forcibly dragged out Kate Spencer, who had fallen to the floor. Karina, who had been watching their backs, felt a gaze and turned around to meet Aidan’s eyes.

His face looked quite triumphant.

“Don’t you think I handled that well?”

At the question that seemed to be seeking praise, Karina inwardly swallowed a sigh.

“It seems Miss Spencer won’t suspect that Your Highness’s soul has changed. Instead, the rumors about Your Highness’s womanizing might become even more colorful.”

She answered like that, but for Karina, the rumors about Aidan’s womanizing weren’t the problem. Her head throbbed at the thought that she would have to start with etiquette lessons for his speech and behavior right away.