All she had done was mention the handkerchief given to Rosearin and suggest that he join them for tea, but Theo was now saying something absolutely earth-shattering to Liriope. Blinking rapidly, she tried her best to mentally escape the whirlwind of confusion she found herself in.

Theo, watching her with an odd expression, let out a short sigh and continued speaking.

“If you still can’t trust me, then I’ll just tell you everything.”

‘…Huh?’

“It’s true that I gave her the handkerchief.”

“……”

“It was before our engagement contract was even discussed, and honestly, giving her that handkerchief wasn’t anything special—so I have absolutely no reason to feel guilty about it.”

“Ah, no… That’s not… I think you might be misunderstanding something…”

“It was the day I’d been summoned to the Imperial Palace, and it had rained heavily the day before. I didn’t want to deal with arriving too early, so instead of using a transport portal, I took a carriage. While I was traveling, I happened to cross paths with the count’s daughter.”

‘Wait, I didn’t ask for the full breakdown of the handkerchief incident…’

“The wheel of her carriage had come loose, and her coachman was fixing it. She was standing outside. And like I said, because of the previous day’s rain, there were a lot of muddy puddles. My carriage passed by and splashed some of that mud onto her clothes, so I had it stop.”

Theo explained all of this in a flat tone, as if the whole event had been utterly mundane and unimportant.

Maybe that’s why this scene had never been mentioned in the original story—it just hadn’t meant anything to him. After all, Theo had been the kind of man who didn’t care about any woman at all—at least until he met Rosearin at the Harvest Festival.

“I intended to offer my apologies, but she insisted on refusing. So, I gave her the handkerchief and told her that if she ever changed her mind, she could come to collect the reward.”

“Ah… I see…”

“Of course, this was before I got engaged to you, and now it wouldn’t be appropriate for her to come and collect the reward from me.”

‘…Huh?’

“So, I think it would be better if you offered that reward on my behalf. You can take as much money as you need from me.”

“…Wait, what? Why?”

As Liriope tilted her head in confusion, Theo smirked slightly.

“Now that I’m officially your man, I can’t just casually chat with another woman.”

“……”

“And besides, I don’t want you to feel even the slightest bit bothered by it.”

Theo said that with a languid smile tugging at his lips.

‘What… What is this man…’

She was starting to wonder if he really was the same Theo from the original story—the man who treated women like mere pebbles on the roadside before meeting Rosearin.

Weren’t men who weren’t interested in women usually bad at this kind of charming behavior?

Seriously, what on earth had this man been eating to become so skilled at enchanting someone with the tiniest gestures?

“I-I’m not bothered by it at all, okay?”

“Really? But my lover seems like the jealous type. Did I read that wrong?”

Still smiling lazily, Theo reached for the golden bell placed beside the table and gave it a gentle shake.

“The meal seems to be over. What would you like for dessert, Riri?”

Theo asked as he looked down at Liriope’s plate, now spotless after she had completely finished her meat.

The moment the golden bell rang with a cheerful chime, a staff member approached as if they had been waiting, quickly presenting Liriope with the dessert menu board.

“Today’s fresh strawberry cake and ice cream come highly recommended.”

At those words, Liriope’s eyes sparkled. She immediately handed the menu board back to the staff with a grin and said,

“Dessert is all about cake and ice cream. I’ll have both.”

The staff bowed politely and swiftly turned to leave.

“Oh, I went ahead and ordered without asking. Theo, is there a dessert you’d like…?”

“Coffee will do.”

“Then have the coffee with some strawberry cake. Fresh strawberry cake goes perfectly with coffee.”

Among all her favorite fruits, strawberries were hands down the best, and anything made with them—cake or ice cream—was something she could never resist. Just thinking about the strawberry cake she’d soon be eating made Liriope smile in giddy anticipation without even realizing it.

Theo looked at her with an unreadable expression, then quietly lifted one corner of his mouth in a smirk.

Feeling a bit embarrassed under his gaze, Liriope quickly remembered the invitation she had yet to finalize and asked him again.

“Anyway, you’ll come, right?”

“If you want me to go to the Duke’s estate, I can go anytime.”

“No, not just anytime. I mean on the day Lady Rosearin is invited.”

“I still don’t see why I have to go that day. You can just take the handkerchief for me.”

“Why should I take your handkerchief?”

“Because you’re my fiancée.”

“Even if you’re my fiancé, I won’t accept your handkerchief on behalf of someone else who borrowed it.”

“Is that so?”

“Yes. So you’ll retrieve your own handkerchief—and you’ll accept my invitation, right?”

“If that’s what you want, of course I will,” Theo said with a shrug.

Relieved, Liriope nodded with a smile.

If Theo and Rosearin met earlier than in the original story, there was a chance their feelings for each other could begin to blossom even before the Harvest Festival.

‘But then… wouldn’t that change the part where Kaiden falls for Rosearin during the hunting festival…?’

If Theo and Rosearin were already drawn to each other, then knowing Theo’s nature, he’d almost certainly choose Rosearin as his partner for the hunting festival.

‘No, wait, not necessarily. I’m still the official fiancée for now, so he might be forced to pick me instead.’

But knowing Theo, there’s no way he’d leave Rosearin alone during the dangerous hunting festival. That meant the two of them might end up spending that time together, and in that case, the storyline where Kaiden falls for Rosearin might shift—maybe it would become Theo’s moment instead.

‘Well, that wouldn’t be such a bad thing for the main couple.’

They could avoid Kaiden’s obsessive attachment entirely, and it might even clear the way for the main characters to fall in love more smoothly.

Feeling confident that this turn of events would be a good thing, Liriope found herself nodding unconsciously.

At that moment, a fork with a neatly cut piece of strawberry cake was suddenly held up right in front of her nose.

Snapping out of her thoughts, she looked down at the table and realized that the desserts had already arrived—strawberry cake and ice cream were laid out in abundance.

And Theo was holding the fork with a piece of strawberry cake on it, offering it to her right in front of her face.

Liriope blinked slowly, staring at Theo, who was now trying to feed her the strawberry cake.

Theo, unfazed by Liriope’s flustered expression, mimicked opening his own mouth and said, “Ah~,” urging her to do the same. Forget the stares—her face burned red as snippets of admiring comments around them pierced her ears more sharply than the rest.

“Oh my, how adorable!”

“He’s so romantic!”

Yet Theo didn’t seem to care at all about the attention or the gasps, simply continuing to move the fork toward her mouth, signaling her to eat.

‘What the heck did this guy eat to make him act like this?!’

Liriope’s mind was swimming with chaotic thoughts, but the moment she took a bite of the strawberry cake he offered, all distractions flew straight out the window.

She could say with full confidence that this was the best strawberry cake she had ever eaten in her life. It was so delicious that she unconsciously snatched the fork from Theo’s hand and began devouring the cake on the plate before her.

Dignity? Who cared? The cake practically melted in her mouth.

It was sweet and refreshing but not cloying. No combination of words could describe the exquisite flavor of this cake.

As she inhaled it bite after bite, Liriope kept letting out delighted hums of “Mmm~!”

Across from her, Theo sipped his coffee elegantly, watching her with a quiet smile. Around them, the observing nobles began to whisper again at the stark contrast between Theo’s refined demeanor and Liriope’s enthusiastic eating.

And then, moments later—

“Lady Liriope!”

A familiar voice called from behind her, just as she was sadly realizing half the strawberry cake was already gone. She quickly turned her head to see the Crown Prince standing at the entrance of the second-floor dining area, cloaked in a black silk mantle pulled up over his head, flaring his nostrils.

‘What the heck is he doing here…?’ Liriope instantly furrowed her brow at the sight of Kaiden.

She swallowed the mouthful of cake she had been savoring and turned away, pretending not to see him.

Footsteps thudded rapidly toward her. Lacking the slightest sense of social awareness, Kaiden made a beeline for her and plopped into the empty seat at her table—completely ignoring Theo seated across from her.

“I can’t believe you’d go this far,” Kaiden said as he sat down.

Liriope raised an eyebrow and looked at him in disbelief.

“I don’t know who tipped you off that I was sneaking out today, but you didn’t have to go to such lengths. I already told you I’d accept the engagement.”

‘What kind of nonsense is this…’

“Bullshit,” 

In that moment, Theo, who had spoken exactly what was on Liriope’s mind, calmly set his coffee cup down on the table.

Both Kaiden and Liriope turned to him.

“What?!”

“Cut the bullshit and get lost, idiot.”

“You—!!”

“Whether you sneak out or go back in, Lipe’s never cared about your movements, so stop flattering yourself.”

“You! You—!!”

“And where did you learn that disgusting lack of manners—barging into someone else’s meal uninvited? Did you eat your etiquette lessons for breakfast?”

With a calm voice, Theo delivered cutting remarks effortlessly, then, as if to show off, he scooped ice cream with a spoon and offered it to Liriope.

She blinked at his hand, then realized that if she didn’t accept it now, the scene would become even more awkward—so she opened her mouth and took the bite.

Kaiden’s jewel-like blue eyes went wide with shock as he witnessed the scene.

“W-what are you two doing right now?!”