In truth, the moment Kailen spotted Oscar’s name on the invitation list, he felt a faint, unpleasant twinge. But it irritated him that he could not understand why he should be drowning in such a foul emotion.

Inviting Adeline to come along had been a kind of whim. He was curious what she would look like once he placed her in front of Oscar.

He fully intended to let Adeline and Oscar meet. And he planned to watch closely.

He wanted to see how Adeline, who had suspected him and Eva without any basis whatsoever, would conduct herself when standing before her old connection.

Whether they would share a warm reunion.

Whether she would laugh and chatter without a second thought and do something worth gossiping about.

Either way, it was not a bad outcome for Kailen.

The reputation of having discarded a frivolous woman was far cleaner than the reputation of having ruthlessly thrown away his wife.

That was what Kailen thought… at the time.

* * *

It was already a sweltering summer night.

The sun had long set, but the courtyard in front of the new city hall blazed like midday. Gas lamps and electric lights were mixed together, and their light bled into each other with subtly different hues, spreading across the night air.

Each of the round tables held flowers suited to the season. White blooms, soft pink blooms, deep red blooms. Every time the breeze passed through, the petals swayed lightly and sent their fragrance drifting.

The decorative lights sparkled like stars scattered across the night sky.

But that very sparkle stirred a faint unease. Light made too deliberately bright can sometimes make the darkness around it stand out all the more sharply.

Kailen and Adeline’s seats were at the center table. The same table as the mayor, who was hosting the event. And to Kailen’s left, the Grofen delegation’s table had been placed.

He had not lifted a finger to arrange it, yet the seating was satisfying.

Adeline and Oscar. For either of them to exchange so much as a glance, they would have to pass through Kailen first. Every line of sight, every word, had to travel past his shoulder.

Kailen’s expression was still as he looked at Adeline’s profile.

Since he had told her it would be best to limit her outings, his wife had offered no particular resistance, and lately she had been like a flower losing its color and wilting. Pale cheeks, a quiet mouth. Those large eyes no longer sparkled the way they once had. They looked hazy, hollow, often drifting somewhere far away.

But tonight, adorned more brilliantly than usual in the jewels he had sent her, his wife sat with her hands folded neatly in her lap and her eyes cast demurely downward.

About thirty minutes passed like that. At the announcement of a new guest’s arrival, everyone’s attention gathered in one direction.

Oscar. The one Kailen had been waiting for.

Silver hair with a bluish cast, and grey eyes. In photographs, his pale complexion and the lines of his face had seemed somewhat delicate, but in person, though his gaze was gentle, there was a certain firmness to him. His straight posture and composed smile reminded Kailen, oddly, of his wife. Similar types, he supposed.

At his side, a small young woman with an even younger-looking face clung to his arm. Across the short distance with the Grofen table between them, the two pairs of eyes met.

Kailen. It was exactly as he had expected. Oscar and Adeline recognized each other at the same moment, neither one ahead of the other.

Of course they did.

Quite some time had passed, but to Adeline, his was a face she could not forget.

Only, Adeline had not expected to see Oscar here. She had not even known he was in Krauben. She had simply followed Kailen’s lead without question when he suggested she come along.

With Oscar before her, light returned to Adeline’s face.

Truly, “light.”

Not the hazy, wilted face from before, but the face of someone whose old memories were coming back to life.

The brightness that had returned to her complexion, she made no attempt to conceal it. Even with her husband sitting plainly beside her.

Kailen’s gaze, composed and unhurried over the rim of his glass, fixed on the two of them.

A brief exchange of glances passed between Oscar and Adeline as he took his seat.

Within that brief exchange of looks, the fact that something existed between them that he did not know about grazed at his composure ever so slightly.

He found it almost laughable, the two of them openly sending each other heated glances right in front of him.

Just how much of a fool do they take me for…

From what Kailen had looked into, Oscar had already been through one marriage and one divorce.

…I didn’t realize it before, but it seems your taste runs younger than you, does it?

The sight of her unable to take her eyes off someone two years her junior was absurd. A cold laugh nearly escaped him.

She had said being pushed around by her mother in every direction was worse than death, yet looking at her now, that did not seem entirely true. It even seemed like she had quietly enjoyed her life in Grofen. His gut twisted with revulsion, and Kailen only gripped his champagne glass tighter.

The mayor seated at the same table was going on and on about something with great enthusiasm. But none of it reached Kailen’s ears. Talk of politics, society, economics, all of it washed away beneath the sound of the ensemble.

As the evening warmed, the boundaries between tables began to blur. The invited guests moved naturally from seat to seat, exchanging greetings.

Right on cue, Oscar approached, as though he had been waiting for exactly this moment.

Oscar pressed his lips lightly to the back of Adeline’s gloved hand. The gesture carried the ease of something he had always done, even in the years Kailen had not been part of her life.

How very princely of him. Clearly accustomed to treating a princess like a princess.

Watching the man who had eyes only for Adeline made something in him twist.

Adeline, who had extended the back of her hand so willingly, so naturally, so matter-of-factly, did not look particularly charming to him either. Now that he looked, she even seemed to be blushing shyly.

How many times had that bastard kissed the back of that hand, he wondered. How many men’s lips had she allowed onto the back of that hand. And was it really limited to the back of the hand? A senseless irritation surged through him.

Why do I even.

“It has been a long time, Adeline. Ah, but I suppose that is no longer right. Mrs. Belliche.”

Oscar smiled with easy warmth as he opened the conversation.

“It really has been a long time, Oscar. How many years has it been? I never expected to see you here like this. Oh, this is my husband, Kailen Belliche.”

Adeline turned to Kailen with a brighter smile than he had seen from her in a long while. Unaware that the smile did not sit well with him.

“Kailen, you likely already know, but this is His Highness Oscar Lennox.”

“Ah. The Prince of Grofen.”

Kailen took one last sip of his champagne, set the glass down, and rose from his seat. Oscar was himself a tall, pleasant-looking man, but Kailen stood taller, and looked down at him by a slight margin.

Without any sign of being intimidated, Oscar extended his hand for a handshake with easy confidence.

“I am Oscar Lennox. Belated congratulations on your marriage, Lord Belliche.”

Kailen gave a single pull of his chin and accepted the handshake.

“Thank you. I have heard much about you. I was rather surprised to learn that the Prince of Grofen was not simply passing through with a delegation, but had taken up a post here to handle diplomatic duties in person.”

The faint, barely-there curl at the corner of his mouth carried a cool edge.

“Quite an industrious course of action for a royal. I found it unexpected.”

The sheer arrogance of the remark made Oscar laugh with a touch of awkwardness. Between the two of them, Adeline looked at a loss, glancing back and forth between them with an expression that was, by now, faintly irritated. But Kailen did not turn his gaze toward her.

Just then, the young woman who had been standing behind Oscar peeked out from around him. As though the timing could not have been better, Oscar gestured toward her.

“Ah, this is my younger cousin who stopped by Krauben for a bit of travel. She insisted on being brought along no matter what, and I simply could not shake her loose.”

The young woman stepped forward and greeted them with a shy expression.

Kailen received the greeting with a manner that was polite but indifferent, and gestured toward the seats.

“Is that so? Please, both of you, sit.”

Once the tables merged and Kailen could no longer stand between the two of them, the center of conversation naturally became Adeline and Oscar. The two of them carried on a quiet, cordial exchange.

“Oscar, when did you arrive in Krauben? I never could have imagined…”

“Ah, I arrived about two weeks ago. If we had stayed in contact all this time, I would have at least sent word ahead. It is a shame that I could not.”

“You can do so from now on. Where are you staying during your posting?”

“Not far from here. New City Hall Street 7-29, I believe? I have not even finished settling in yet, so it is still a bit of a mess.”

Where do you live? He was astounded that she would even think to ask something like that.

Why, are you planning to come visit?

Kailen’s neat brows shifted, just barely, out of place.

Neither of them had brought up the past directly, but anyone could sense that a wordless understanding had formed between them.

His original intention of watching from a distance was steadily unraveling.