“No, I can just ride Fitz all the way back to the palace—”

“The longer this takes, the more attention we attract.”

Blair looked around at his words.

Queen Rhea, retainers, nobles, knights. Nearly everyone was already watching. Among them was Olivia’s razor-sharp gaze.

“Haah…… fine.”

Blair gave in and did as he said.

He took her hand carefully and supported her waist, helping her down from Fitz’s back.

Without even looking, she could picture every noblewoman in the vicinity covering her mouth with a fan and whispering.

Blair’s plan to stay invisible until the princess consort selection was over was drifting further and further out of reach.

The interest in the two of them was not limited to the nobles alone.

“Kalintz. I think I need an explanation. Did the two of you take a wrong turn somewhere? Why is Miss Blair injured? And why are your clothes in that state again.”

Queen Rhea came forward with a worried expression. Blair accepted that a quiet escape was no longer possible and greeted her with proper courtesy.

“Your Highness, I am deeply sorry for causing you concern. During the race, I—”

“I took a wrong turn.”

Blair had been steeling herself to confess everything when Kalintz cut in, and her eyes went wide.

“I strayed into the hunting grounds by mistake, and Miss Blair saw it and followed out of concern. Unfortunately, we ran into a pack of wolves……”

He said it without so much as a flicker of expression.

“Goodness, wolves?”

Queen Rhea went white.

“Yes. Miss Blair was injured because of it. The fault is mine, so I intend to take her to Mediang myself.”

“Of course you should. Go at once. Miss Blair looks like she’s in considerable pain.”

“Yes, then please excuse us, Mother.”

Blair opened and closed her mouth, unable to find a single word to say, but Kalintz gave her no opening.

He said a brief farewell to the queen, then swept Blair up without warning and carried her straight to the waiting carriage.

Being carried in that undignified bridal hold, in front of all these people, with absolutely no warning, turned Blair’s face a shade of red that felt like it might actually burst.

The mortification was so complete that for one moment, the terrible pain in her ankle ceased to register.

Blair squeezed her eyes shut.

“Your Highness, the Queen. What shall we do about the Leaves of Tamira? You had said it would go to the frons who placed first……”

From somewhere behind them, the chief chamberlain’s voice drifted over, flustered, as he held the jewel case and addressed the queen.

“Ah, that. Yes. That should go to Miss Olivia. Please see that she receives it.”

Queen Rhea said it as though it were a minor detail.

The chief chamberlain hesitated and glanced around at the gathered crowd. Not just him, but everyone present had entirely forgotten about the outcome of the riding competition.

What held every person’s attention right now was the pair who had disappeared into the forest together and come back out.

Inside the carriage, Blair sat with her head bowed and waited for it to start moving.

Through the slowly closing carriage door, she caught a glimpse of Olivia’s cold face as she received the Leaves of Tamira from the chief chamberlain rather than from the queen herself.

Kalintz sat with his arms crossed and watched Blair’s expression cycle through a series of strange contortions.

Since getting into the carriage, her face had been anything but still.

First she had gone scarlet and shot him an indignant look. Then her eyes had rolled once, and she had settled into something sheepish.

Now her eyes were narrowing with increasing intensity, and he had no idea what she was thinking.

“…… Is there something you want to say.”

Kalintz let out a quiet sigh and pushed his hair back.

At his words, Blair pressed her lips together as though debating, then finally spoke.

“First of all. Thank you.”

She led with gratitude, unprompted.

“What you said to Her Highness the Queen just now. It was me who took the wrong path into the hunting grounds, not you. And the danger was my fault too.”

“Ah, that. It was simpler that way. Less noise.”

Kalintz made a face like the alternative was too tiresome to contemplate.

“If I’d told the truth, being expelled from the palace might have been the least of your problems. There are plenty of people who would have made a scene even without me being hurt.”

“…… Which is exactly why I’m genuinely grateful.”

“I don’t think that’s all you wanted to say.”

Kalintz asked, reading the lingering displeasure on her face. She let her downcast eyes drift for a moment, then spoke in a voice full of complaint.

“Do you, by any chance, always have such wandering hands?”

“That’s a novel question. First time I’ve ever heard that one.”

Kalintz looked genuinely taken aback. Blair narrowed her eyes and pressed on.

“I’m asking whether you just go around picking people up like that whenever you feel like it.”

She could already guess what people would say about him carrying her to the carriage just now.

There were already rumors going around that the prince had taken an interest in her, and this had practically confirmed them.

“Not just anyone. You had an injured leg.”

“You didn’t have to carry me like that—”

“Dragging it out any longer would have meant fielding nosy questions from everyone around us. My own knights alone, not a single one of them believes I actually took a wrong turn into the hunting grounds.”

Well, when he put it that way, she had nothing to say.

Blair pouted and reluctantly fell silent.

Blair rarely found herself losing an argument, but strangely, conversations with him left her at a loss for words more often than not.

She looked at the side of Kalintz’s face as he gazed out the window, his thoughts unreadable.

He was nothing more than an arrogant, disagreeable prince. That was all he had been at the start.

She was nominally a candidate to become his princess consort, but the two of them had been like parallel lines, running side by side without ever intersecting. The princess consort had been the Duke of Brienne’s daughter from the beginning, and the prince had shown no interest in any of the frons to begin with.

But at some point he had veered off course, and she was now entangled with him in ways that could no longer be called parallel.

Up close, he had turned out to have a number of unexpected sides to him.

His manner was still arrogant and frequently irritating, but he didn’t seem like a person with a bad nature. And occasionally he let slip a cynical feeling toward the royal family, which she found strangely relatable.

And also……

“Hey, the carriage is jolting too much. Could you slow down a little.”

Her injured ankle had been aching with every bump in the road, and right on cue, he told the driver to ease the pace.

Quietly considerate, that’s what he is.

Blair felt oddly warm and cleared her throat for no real reason. He smiled faintly at that, for reasons she couldn’t fathom.

The unexpected curve of his eyes caught her off guard, and Blair snapped her head toward the window before the heat in her face could be seen.

Back at the palace, Blair was met with Mediang’s deeply troubled expression.

“…… What exactly happened at this riding competition.”

With Tilda and then Blair arriving one after another, Mediang said it with a look of considerable distress.

“Hm. The emergency treatment here is remarkably well done.”

Mediang examined Blair’s ankle and said it with mild surprise.

“Naturally. I did it.”

Kalintz, who had been watching the examination in silence, said it with a slight shrug.

“Pardon? Your Highness? You did this yourself?”

Mediang looked back and forth between the two of them with a puzzled expression, then turned to the shelves lined with medicines and herbs and began taking things down.

“Well, in any case, with proper medication you should recover quickly. I’ll send the medicine along with someone, so for now let’s focus on bringing the swelling down.”

Mediang prepared a thick-looking ointment in short order and applied it to Blair’s injury. Then he excused himself to fetch tea and disappeared somewhere.

Left alone together, an awkward silence settled over the room. Blair was still trying to figure out what to say when Kalintz spoke first.

“Well then, I’ll be going.”

“Pardon? You’re leaving?”

“Any reason I shouldn’t?”

“No, it’s not that…… it’s just……”

The words were so unexpected that Blair trailed off in confusion.

Wait, what’s unexpected about it? There’s nothing more to do here. Of course he’s leaving.

Blair shook her head, deciding that the prince’s relentless fixation had clearly done something to her mind.

“Don’t look so put out. You’ll be seeing me again soon.”

Kalintz said it while watching her.

“Our wager. I won.”

Blair stared at him blankly, not following.