“Then what’s the real purpose?”

“That comes after you become princess consort. I can’t lay all my cards on the table.”

“That’s not how this works.”

Blair asked with a look of disbelief.

“Then what do I get in return for becoming princess consort.”

“I told you. A guaranteed life of your choosing, for the rest of your days. It’ll be far more than the Withered Garden could ever offer.”

Blair couldn’t follow. The way he was talking, it seemed he knew not just that she wanted to go to the Withered Garden, but the reason behind it as well.

“How, specifically? What I want is something that would be absolutely impossible while wearing the crown of a princess consort.”

To escape parents who treated marriage like a business transaction, and live out her days alone, quietly, with no one to answer to. That was the future Blair wanted, and the position of princess consort was its exact opposite.

“Naturally, not while you’re princess consort. I’m talking about after.”

Kalintz smiled meaningfully and stepped closer. He lowered his voice to barely above a whisper.

“Do you know what becomes of a deposed princess consort?”

“……What?! Did you just say deposed, mm—!”

Kalintz’s large hand covered her mouth in an instant.

“Too loud, Miss Blair.”

He lowered his hand slowly a moment later and continued in an unhurried tone.

“There’s a region in the south of the kingdom called Lis. Mild climate all year round, plenty of food.”

“……And?”

“That’s where you’d go after being deposed. The royal family provides a house, servants, and a stipend.”

Blair blinked at him with wide eyes.

“Stay as princess consort for two years, and after that, you go there and live however you like. On your own terms.”

“How does that work? And can you even be deposed like that?”

Whatever became of a deposed princess consort, it was hard to imagine it ending well.

It would be lucky to come out of it with your life intact.

Blair wasn’t convinced.

“That’s all I can tell you right now. What I can say for certain is that it’s better than the Withered Garden. That place is still the western annex of the palace. Half a freedom, with the royal family attached to you for life.”

“……”

She narrowed her eyes and looked at him. He had a way of turning her thoughts upside down on a regular basis, but right now he had reduced them to rubble entirely.

“What if I…… refuse?”

At her question, Kalintz tilted his head with an expression of mild interest.

“Well. Your situation isn’t exactly favorable for that.”

“What do you mean?”

“Olivia Lorentz. She seems to be carrying quite a lot of venom.”

“Pardon?”

The name came out of nowhere, and Blair looked at him like she couldn’t believe what she was hearing.

“I heard you had quite the confrontation yesterday. She might go to considerable lengths to get you thrown out of the palace.”

“How do you even know about that?”

“Because I’m interested.”

Kalintz said it while looking directly at her, and Blair’s face went hot before she could stop it, even knowing full well he didn’t mean it that way.

That face of his really should be illegal.

Blair turned her head slightly to look away.

“Anyway, that woman is not someone to underestimate. You might not make it to the Withered Garden at all.”

“……”

Blair thought of Olivia’s expression as she had walked away, eyes full of cold fury and a promise of retribution. Olivia had more than enough power and influence to have her expelled from the palace.

But…… princess consort. That’s absurd. Me?

She frowned and shook her head.

Kalintz had been watching her shifting expressions with quiet amusement, and the smile returned to his lips.

“Think it over carefully, Blair. I think we could make quite good partners.”

“That…… might just be your opinion, Your Highness. I don’t see why it has to be me specifically.”

“No. I want it to be you specifically.”

Kalintz held her gaze again, and Blair found it difficult to look back at him directly.

“The stage is already set nicely, isn’t it. People have been talking about us everywhere lately.”

“That stage wouldn’t exist if not for you.”

“Then don’t make yourself so interesting.”

“……Is that on purpose?”

“What is?”

Blair was growing genuinely confused about whether he knew how that sounded and was saying it anyway.

“Haah. Never mind, forget it.”

“So. Your answer?”

Kalintz held her gaze with steady persistence.

“Give me a little…… time to think.”

“Hmm…… well, that’s not too much to ask.”

Kalintz turned to go with a satisfied smile.

“Then I’d say we’ve had quite enough of a night walk. Time to head back.”

Blair swallowed the urge to say only you enjoyed it and walked in silence.

The quiet had deepened around them without her noticing, and Blair glanced up at the sky without thinking. They hadn’t been out that long, but the moon had climbed a little higher.

“I can go the rest of the way on my own.”

They had arrived back at the fountain, and Blair retraced the path she had come by.

“Are you sure? It’s quite late.”

“This isn’t some back alley. It’s the palace. Nothing’s going to happen.”

“Well. All right then.”

He agreed without argument, which surprised her. But Blair’s feet wouldn’t move easily. Something had been hovering at the back of her throat since earlier, waiting to be said.

“……Don’t tell me you don’t know the way and said that anyway.”

“No, it’s not that…… it’s just…… the brooch.”

Blair’s voice dropped noticeably as she spoke. Kalintz furrowed his brow for a moment, then answered in a slightly quieter tone.

“……Ah. This.”

He reached into his br*ast pocket and drew out the small brooch set with an amethyst.

“I was wondering if you might return it.”

Blair kept stealing glances at the brooch as her voice shrank smaller and smaller. The memory of insisting so stubbornly that it wasn’t hers made her want to disappear, but she had no choice. It was the only thing she had left to remember Allen by.

“Return it.”

Something in his tone had shifted, and Blair looked up at him. The moonlight was brighter than before, but his eyes somehow looked darker.

“Why would I.”

“……Pardon?”

The look he was giving her had turned contrary, and Blair blinked at him in confusion.

He stared at her for a moment, then turned his head away and said.

“You said you’d never been to that lake. Swore up and down it wasn’t yours.”

He was back to the teasing tone and expression from before.

“Admit you were at the lake that day, and I’ll give it back.”

“Th, that’s……”

“And naturally, you’d have to accept the proposal I mentioned.”

“That’s so underhanded, how can you—!”

“Then don’t.”

“Urgh, you’re really—!”

Blair wanted to knock him over the head, but she couldn’t bring herself to do it, so she just clenched her fists and turned her back on him. Anyone who had seen her spin around and walk off without so much as a farewell would have been horrified, but fortunately there was no one else here.

“I’ll be waiting for your answer, Miss Blair.”

She looked back at that infuriating voice, and he was standing there with a relaxed expression, waving the hand that held the brooch.

“That man is genuinely…… people should know what he’s really like.”

Blair shuddered, muttered under her breath, turned away again, and left the garden at a brisk pace.

“……Ha.”

Kalintz watched her retreating figure grow smaller and let out a short, helpless laugh, looking down at the brooch in his hand.

He hadn’t actually intended to refuse to give it back.

The opposite, if anything.

The brooch wasn’t the point. What mattered was proposing the contract marriage to her.

But hearing her ask for it back had left him oddly out of sorts. The way she kept stealing glances at it while avoiding his eyes had gotten under his skin. And those green eyes had looked just a little too tender.

“……Pierson.”

Kalintz murmured quietly, watching the last tiny trace of Blair disappear. The knight who had escorted her to the garden stepped forward.

“Your command, Your Highness.”

“See that she gets back to her room safely.”

At Kalintz’s order, the knight gave a brief reply and disappeared in the direction Blair had gone, quick and silent.

Left alone, Kalintz stood for a while in silence, watching the moon deepen overhead, then crossed the night garden and left.

❀❀❀

The next morning, Blair was greeted by Lucia’s horrified voice.

“Miss! Your, your face…… the circles under your eyes are so dark!”

“I didn’t sleep properly last night.”

Blair rubbed her stiff eyes and grumbled.

“But what on earth happened last night…… Oh! Miss! Did His Highness confess his feelings?”

“Haah…… a confession would have been better.”

Lucia asked what she meant by that, and Blair could only sigh.

A confession is a hundred times better than a proposal.

Blair had not slept a wink. She had spent the entire night turning things over in her mind.