Blair was only freed from the gardener’s grip after selecting three separate arrangements.

“Haah…… when does this ever end.”

Blair sank into the plush velvet cushions and muttered to herself. Tilda stifled a laugh and said,

“Even so, once you’ve chosen the veil and the accessories for that day, most of the major decisions will be done.”

“……Can’t you just pick them for me, Tilda?”

But Tilda said nothing of the sort was happening and promptly thr*st another mysterious catalogue in front of her.

Since the princess consort selection ended, Blair had been spending her entire day making one choice after another, without stop.

And on top of that…

“Your Highness, the Countess of Martini has sent a gift.”

The stream of gifts and visitors never seemed to let up either.

“The Countess of Martini…… is she the one with two moles under her eye?”

Blair looked at Lucia, the maid who had come in carrying a bottle of rare eastern-continent tea leaves. Promoted from a regular maid to Blair’s dedicated maid, she looked even more lively than before.

“The lady you’re describing is Madam Bayen. The Countess of Martini is……”

“She’s the one who brought the raspberry pie, Your Highness.”

Lucia rolled her eyes upward, trying to recall, and Tilda quickly filled in.

“Ah, the tall one with the high voice?”

Blair had met so many people that her memories were starting to blur together.

“You have a much better memory than I do.”

“I simply entered society a little earlier, so there are more familiar faces for me.”

Tilda dipped her head modestly.

“After meeting them a few more times, Your Highness will get used to it quickly.”

“Haah. I suppose that’s true.”

Not exactly welcome news, but there was no avoiding it.

“Still, it’s a relief that all the visitors so far have been people with good reputations.”

“……Is that so?”

“It’s actually a little strange when you think about it. Usually at first…… there tend to be quite a few people with less savory reputations. People trying to forge some kind of connection with the royal family however they can.”

But every request for an audience that had come in over the past few days had been from perfectly respectable families, Tilda said, noting it was an unusual thing.

One way or another, Blair found meeting people exhausting, and a craving for something sweet came over her with a vengeance.

That raspberry pie was really something.

Recalling the way it had melted on her tongue, Blair swallowed without realizing it. Lucia smiled and spoke up.

“Your Highness, shall I bring out some of your favorite cookies? We have this lovely tea now, after all.”

Lucia had an uncanny knack for knowing that Blair reached for sweets whenever her head was in a muddle.

Feeling as though a rather childish side of herself had been found out, Blair gave a flustered little cough and tried to look indifferent.

“I’ll run to the kitchen right away.”

“No, there’s really no need to……”

Knock knock.

Blair was about to stop Lucia from rushing out when someone knocked at the door.

Lucia opened it to find a tall man standing in the doorway.

“Your, Your Highness the Prince!”

Lucia quickly bowed her head in greeting, and Tilda rose from her seat and paid her respects as well.

“May I come in for a moment?”

Kalintz tilted his head slightly as he asked.

“Oh, yes. Please, come in.”

Blair was a little startled by his unexpected visit, but rose from her seat and answered.

Kalintz stepped into the room without hesitation, a light smile on his face.

“You seem quite busy.”

He glanced over the catalogues and decoration samples piled on the table as he spoke.

“There’s no shortage of things to decide. It would be nice if someone helped a little.”

Blair gave him a sidelong look as she answered.

Since the selection, Kalintz had been oddly difficult to catch sight of.

She was stuck in her room being run ragged, and here he was off doing who knew what. She had been on the verge of getting properly annoyed about it.

“That’s why I came. With snacks, no less.”

He let out a small laugh and called toward the door for them to come in.

A moment later, several attendants and maids entered, cleared the table, and began laying out all manner of desserts across it.

“Wh, what is all this?”

Freshly baked pie, strawberry shortcake, lemon custard pudding. Every last one of them was exactly the kind of thing Blair went mad for.

“You like these things.”

“I don’t recall ever telling you that.”

“……Look away from the desserts before you say that, Blair.”

Only then did Blair realize she had been examining each one in turn, and she snapped her gaze away.

“Ahem. What brings you here?”

Blair brazenly changed the subject, asking what had brought him by. Kalintz let out a dry laugh and answered.

“Do we really need a reason to see each other?”

“……Pardon?”

His words and the look in his eyes took on a sudden warmth that left Blair momentarily flustered.

But she quickly realized it was said for the benefit of Tilda, Lucia, and the other attendants still in the room, and forced a smile.

“No, Your Highness. I was actually just waiting for you to arri……ve.”

Everyone in the room pressed their lips together to keep from smiling. Kalintz included.

“Ah, if I had known you were waiting so eagerly, I would have come sooner.”

Kalintz lifted the corner of his mouth and pushed even further. Blair could do nothing but smile back.

But what he said next was not something she could simply smile through.

“So I’d appreciate it if everyone gave us a moment alone.”

The others in the room looked just as surprised. Before marriage, it was considered improper for a man and woman to be alone together in the same room.

“Ah…… haha. Your Highness? What exactly do you mean by……”

Blair was smiling so forcefully she thought her face might start twitching. But he paid it no mind.

“I have no intention of sharing the time I carved out with everyone here.”

The attendants who had come from the prince’s quarters also looked uncomfortable and spoke up.

“But Your Highness, royal protocol dictates……”

“That only requires the rest of you to quietly step out.”

His expression was blank, but the tone made it unmistakably clear that this was not a request.

In the end, the attendants from the prince’s quarters shuffled out of the room one by one.

Tilda and Lucia then glanced at Blair, reading the room.

Haah. What is he doing now.

Blair let out a quiet inner sigh and gave them a small nod.

Before long, only Blair and Kalintz remained in the room.

“You were waiting for me to come?”

Blair shot a look at Kalintz, who was grinning across from her and teasing her about it.

“What are you doing right now? People are going to get the wrong idea!”

Thinking of the attendants who had left with barely concealed smiles, Blair felt heat rise to her face for no good reason.

“That was rather the point. You’ll need to get used to this sort of thing.”

Kalintz leaned back against the sofa and crossed his legs at his leisure.

“Besides, it’s not entirely untrue. I really did go out of my way to find the time. You wouldn’t know.”

Always making such a show of it. Knowing him, he had probably been out somewhere in a wig again.

Blair swallowed the thought with a look of displeasure.

“So what is this plan of yours that required such a heroic effort to come and tell me?”

“I had a feeling you’d be curious by now. About my plan. Or rather, I suppose it’s ‘our plan’ now.”

Kalintz’s meaningful smile told Blair immediately what he was referring to.

The offer to guarantee her a life of her own choosing forever, in exchange for two years as his princess consort. The rather outlandish promise that after being removed from her position, she would live out her days in peace and freedom in Lis.

But Kalintz had not told her the specifics. He had said he would explain once she accepted his offer and became his princess consort.

“I was planning to ask you about it myself, actually. I’ve just been busy.”

If not for that wretched wedding preparation and the endless stream of visitors, she would have asked long ago.

“What, because of the blasted wedding preparations?”

Kalintz’s words hit so close to home that Blair’s eyes went wide for a moment.

Kalintz found this thoroughly amusing and let out a low chuckle.

“……I wouldn’t go as far as blasted.”

“Ah, I never get bored around you.”

He rested his chin in one hand and looked at her steadily. Under that gaze, Blair gave a needless little cough and shifted her eyes away.

“So what is your plan, Your Highness? A deposed princess consort living such a charmed life…… is that even possible?”

Kalintz watched her a moment longer, then lowered his hand from his chin and spoke.

“It is.”

His predator-gold eyes gleamed darkly.

“Because I’m going to die.”

Blair stared at him, unable to say a word, blinking.

“……Pardon?”

She finally managed to open her mouth, feeling as though she had been struck over the head.