Theo delivered a sharp remark at Kaiden in a level, emotionless voice.

“We’re still eating, so stop interfering and get lost, Kaiden.”

At those words, Kaiden, who had been fuming in anger, quickly schooled his expression into a gentle smile and turned to Liriope. 

He then picked up the spoon in front of her and scooped some ice cream, offering it to her while saying,

“My ice cream will taste better.”

Just as Liriope frowned in confusion, Theo used a wind spell to knock the spoon right out of Kaiden’s hand. Startled by the sudden gust, Kaiden’s eyebrows shot up as he shouted.

“What are you doing?!”

Ignoring him completely, Theo raised a hand and called for a staff member.

“He’s not my guest, but since he sat at my table and accidentally spilled ice cream on the floor, I’ll take responsibility for the mess.”

The staff member bowed repeatedly as they cleaned up the ice cream and the spoon knocked to the floor by the wind.

Kaiden glared at Theo with a murderous look, then scoffed and sneered.

“I don’t know what scheme you’re pulling to get close to the Lady, but she’s liked me for a long time. No matter how desperate you get, she’ll come back to me in the end.”

“Really?” Theo replied lazily, glancing at Kaiden.

“We’ll be engaged soon, and then married. So the fact that you believe she’ll come running back to you is… surprising.”

“You think I’ll just sit back and let you two get married?!”

“And if you don’t, what exactly do you think you’ll do about it?”

While the two men bickered, Liriope, focused entirely on the delicious ice cream, suddenly realized their conversation was absolutely inappropriate to be having in front of her—the person they were discussing.

She let out a dry laugh, but because her mouth was full of ice cream, it came out as more of a snorting sound.

The noise made both men turn their attention to her at once.

Feeling awkward under their combined gaze, Liriope looked sheepish. Then Kaiden asked her, his voice tense.

“How long are you planning to keep this up, Lady Liriope?”

She blinked in surprise at the completely out-of-the-blue question.

“Keep up what?”

“Didn’t I tell you it’s enough already? I’ve even graciously offered to get engaged to you. We’ll be married soon anyway—so why do you keep using him?”

“Oh my, you think I’m using His Grace? What a scary thing to say.”

Liriope widened her eyes on purpose, feigning shock, and then calmly took another spoonful of ice cream.

Kaiden’s handsome face twisted in frustration at her response.

“What’s the problem? Why are you doing this?”

“I should be asking that. Why don’t you believe me, Your Highness?”

“What?”

“I told you—I’m engaged to His Grace Theo.”

“So that whole performance to get my attention—wasn’t that enough already?”

“I have no desire to get your attention, and it wasn’t a performance. I’m sincerely in love with His Grace. Why do you keep denying my feelings?”

And with that, Liriope casually scooped another bite of ice cream and popped it into her mouth.

Liriope wanted to continue the conversation in a more serious tone, but resisting the temptation of the ice cream was proving to be nearly impossible.

“You expect me to believe that you suddenly stopped liking me after all these years?” Kaiden said.

“What’s so hard to believe about that?” 

Theo interjected, resting his chin on his hand atop the table. He was looking at Liriope with a cheerful smile, clearly amused by something.

Kaiden, glaring at Theo, shouted angrily.

“Do you think a person’s feelings can change that easily?! And the Lady—until just recently—!”

“It’s easy,” Liriope interrupted calmly.

Both Kaiden and Theo turned to look at her at the same time.

Liriope, knowing that one day Theo might fall for Rosearin and leave her, wanted to help him say goodbye with a lighter heart. So she decided to counter Kaiden’s words as best she could.

“That’s how human emotions work. Yesterday, you might’ve liked one person, but today you wake up and someone else seems better. Especially when it’s unrequited love—those feelings are even more fragile. Someone who loves without any hope of reciprocation can’t stay infatuated forever.”

At her words, Kaiden frowned in obvious displeasure, while Theo stared at her with a blank yet subtly unreadable expression.

“In any case, a person’s heart is like a reed—it can sway easily in the wind,” she added.

“No matter how I think about it, I can’t understand. You expect me to believe you suddenly started liking him overnight?”

“As I’ve said before, Your Highness, it’s not something I need to make you believe. And I’m under no obligation to explain the change in my feelings.”

With that, Liriope took another spoonful of ice cream.

The moment the ice cream touched her tongue, her face lit up with happiness, only to quickly return to a composed expression as she continued.

“Of course, I do want to apologize for bothering you all this time just because I liked you. I’m sure I’ve caused you trouble, but I’m grateful that you never treated me harshly because of it.”

Kaiden looked startled by the unexpected apology.

In truth, Liriope thought that out of everyone, Kaiden might have been the most victimized by the whole situation.

‘She had been so relentless since they were kids.’

A girl he wasn’t even interested in loudly professed her love everywhere, constantly followed him around, and kept other women at bay. Anyone would eventually grow tired of that.

On top of that, she wasn’t some minor noble—she was the only daughter of the Duke, the emperor’s right-hand man. Her public, persistent affection created rumors that they were bound to marry one day.

Kaiden probably still had some kind of feelings for Rosearin, if only a mild fondness.

But because the emperor trusted the Duke so deeply, and the Duke stood beside the throne, Kaiden couldn’t easily push Liriope away.

When someone likes you, it feels nice and flattering—but when their affection becomes too excessive, it turns into a burden. Especially when there’s no way you can return those feelings.

In that sense, Liriope believed Kaiden had probably lived quite a troubled life because of her.

She had hoped her apology might give him a bit of comfort, even if just a little…

“Pfft, I wasn’t annoyed. You don’t need to apologize. Just keep liking me like you always have. I’ll allow it.”

Clearly, her apology wasn’t comforting at all, judging by the nonsense he was spouting.

“You. Leave. Now.”

At that moment, Theo, who had been quiet until then, waved his hand at Kaiden and spoke calmly.

It was a bit concerning to see someone speak so casually to the crown prince, the future emperor—but since Kaiden had also brushed off Theo’s rudeness in the drawing room the other day, it seemed like there was no need to worry too much.

Theo clearly had no qualms about speaking his mind to Kaiden.

“You little—”

“I said, leave.”

Before Kaiden could even finish his sentence, Theo cut him off coldly, his expression turning icy.

At the sheer chill in Theo’s face, Kaiden clicked his tongue in annoyance and stood up. He pulled the slightly disheveled hood of his cloak firmly over his head, hiding his striking features, and turned to Liriope.

“Think it over again, Lady. No—Liriope. I’m offering you the seat beside me. Not as a noble, but as you.”

After throwing out such a jaw-dropping line, Kaiden shot one last glare at Theo and then walked out of the restaurant.

‘Huh.’

Liriope let out a silent, stunned laugh at the prince’s sudden change in demeanor, but Theo called her name in a voice as cold as his face.

“Riri.”

She instinctively turned toward him—and found him staring at her with a sharp, intense expression she’d never seen before.

“I’m not someone who likes things that come easily.”

“…Sorry?”

“When I make a choice, I rarely change it. That means the person who becomes my wife will have to be the same.”

“…Excuse me?”

Liriope blinked, bewildered at the string of vague, hard-to-understand declarations. Theo let out a short sigh and began scraping away the melted top layer of the ice cream with his spoon.

Then he scooped out the still-frozen portion underneath and held it out to her.

“I’m saying that in our future, there will absolutely be no one else in our lives besides each other.”

“….”

Startled by his words, Liriope’s eyes went wide. Theo gestured with the spoon, signaling her to eat.

Taking the offered bite, she cautiously brought up a concern about the future.

“Um, is there a chance you might want to break off the engagement with me later…?”

“No.”

Theo answered firmly before she could even finish.

His expression was a little stiff—almost like he was angry—but the way he kept feeding her ice cream made it hard to tell.

Liriope accepted the next spoonful absentmindedly, then put on a thoughtful expression.

After swallowing, she looked at Theo seriously and said,

You might regret it…”

‘Probably one hundred percent.’

At her words, Theo’s eyebrows shot up immediately.

“Regret?”