Does he think I’m sticking my nose in where it doesn’t belong.

But she had every right to. She had no way of knowing what Duke Brienne might do to her next.

As she had told Ned, she had no intention of sitting quietly and taking it, or waiting around for someone else’s protection.

And it was not as though she had done anything excessive. She had opened a few history books and listened to the gossip that floated around at tea parties.

“……An overreaction.”

Blair shot a sideways glance at Kalintz and grumbled under her breath.

“Please be patient with him, Your Highness.”

A voice cut in without warning, and Blair turned with slightly widened eyes.

“Sir Werner?”

Ernst had appeared beside her at some point and was scratching the back of his head.

“It’s all because he’s worried about Your Highness the Princess Consort.”

“Worried……?”

“Yes. His Highness is particularly sensitive when it comes to anything involving Duke Brienne.”

Blair found herself thinking of how Kalintz showed raw emotion whenever the duke came up, more than at almost any other time.

“Did something happen directly between the two of them?”

At Blair’s question, Ernst let out a sigh with a noticeably darkened expression.

“His Highness’s life has been threatened by Duke Brienne since he was very young.”

“What? His life……!”

Blair nearly raised her voice and barely managed to keep it down.

“What do you mean, his life was threatened?”

“That man has attempted to assassinate His Highness Kalintz countless times. Starting from when His Highness was around five or six years old.”

“Assassinate……? A child that young?”

Unless there were multiple heirs fighting over succession, why on earth would anyone go after the kingdom’s only heir.

“Wait, could it be……”

The sole heir to the throne.

That meant that if Kalintz died, the one who would inherit the throne would not be the child Vivian Kruger bore, but someone else entirely.

“His Majesty the King and Queen Rhea had no children for a long time, didn’t they……?”

That had been King Rubens’s minimum concession to the woman he loved, forced into a royal marriage he never wanted.

And since he had already publicly declared Kalintz his sole heir, there was even less reason to have children with Queen Rhea.

But that was from King Rubens’s perspective.

“The Duke wanted a child of Queen Rhea’s blood. To overturn the situation where Prince Kalintz was the only heir.”

“Exactly. While holding the young prince’s life as leverage.”

The possibility of the royal line being cut off was nothing short of a catastrophic threat.

Ernst continued with a grave expression.

“With His Highness Kalintz’s life in constant danger, the nobles at the time reportedly united in pressuring the royal family. Insisting that an heir must be produced with Queen Rhea.”

It was easy enough to guess they had brought up the relationship with the Valia Duchy.

“Even those who had been neutral filed petitions day after day, and the talk even spread to commoners.”

There were apparently rumors that the royal line was on the verge of dying out because of a king blinded by love.

On top of that, fears that conflict with the Valia Duchy might erupt again before the wounds of war had even healed threw the public into anxiety.

“Under that pressure, Princess Lina was eventually born. And after that……”

Ernst’s voice trailed off, his expression darkening rapidly.

“His Highness Kalintz went through a very difficult time. Lady Vivian…… took a significant turn for the worse.”

“Oh……”

Blair found herself recalling something Kalintz had said.

‘To my mother, my existence was…… a proof of love. The most certain evidence that Rubens Einhart loved her without change.’

What Princess Lina’s existence had meant to a Vivian like that was something Blair did not need to think deeply about to understand.

‘I had to do everything perfectly. On any day I made a mistake…… thinking back on it, it was horrific.’

‘Obsession. A deeply pathological one.’

The pain and weariness that had crossed Kalintz’s face as he said those words were heavier and more long-buried than she had imagined.

“In any case, that is why His Highness Kalintz becomes so on edge at anything involving Duke Brienne. The sharp words he directed at Your Highness the Princess Consort were entirely out of worry.”

Ernst let out a short sigh.”

“He fears you might get caught up in something dangerous.”

“……I didn’t know. That any of that had happened.”

Blair murmured with a bitter expression.

She thought she understood now why he had reacted so sharply and told her to stay out of it.

“……You know what His Highness Kalintz is planning, don’t you?”

“The plan for two years from now?”

The very plan to fake his death, abandon his identity, and leave the palace.

“That’s right. Before then, His Highness intends to bring down Duke Brienne. To completely uproot that deeply entrenched power.”

“……”

“So please don’t worry too much. That man will fall without fail.”

Ernst had clearly been preparing for this for quite some time as well. There was a firm resolve in his eyes.

“But…… doesn’t that mean we should be putting our heads together even more? I’m already in the same boat.”

Thinking that he could at least have explained, Blair let her lips press into a slight pout.

Ernst smiled faintly and said,

“He wants to protect you. His Highness protects what is precious to him, no matter what.”

Something precious. Was she precious to him?

Turning Ernst’s words over in her mind, Blair felt her face grow inexplicably warm.

“Well, I’ll stop overstepping here. His Highness is staring at me quite intensely.”

At that, Blair looked toward where Kalintz was standing. Sure enough, he was watching this way with a piercing gaze. Whether he was actually listening to King Rubens beside him was very much in question.

Just then, Tilda returned from fetching tea and desserts.

“Oh, Sir Werner, you were here too. If I had known, I would have brought a little more.”

“Not at all, Lady Royce. I’m grateful for the thought.”

Ernst gave a polite bow and returned to his position as escort knight.

“What were you two talking about?”

“……Nothing in particular.”

Blair brushed it off vaguely, still feeling Kalintz’s sharp gaze on her from across the room.

❀❀❀

The banquet ended relatively early, but by the time Blair made her way back to her room, a red sky had already settled over the palace.

“His Majesty the King seemed to be in good spirits today. Going all the way to the hunting grounds and everything.”

Blair gave a nod.

“I know. I was a little worried he might invite me along too.”

Fortunately, Kalintz was the only one who had been taken.

“Are you feeling all right, Your Highness?”

Tilda looked at Blair’s weary face and the relieved sigh she let out, and asked with concern.

“I’m fine. Just a little tired.”

In truth, it was less tiredness and more a head full of thoughts.

That time he said he fell into the lake…… that must have been Duke Brienne’s doing too.

She recalled Kalintz saying that all manner of things happened in the palace. The fact that his face had been so untroubled saying it also nagged at her.

How much had he been through to end up like that.

And from what Ernst had said, it seemed Vivian had grown even more obsessive toward Kalintz after Princess Lina was born.

Perhaps it had bordered on *buse.

Blair felt her heart sink with a heaviness she could not shake.

By then, she had arrived at her room without realizing it.

“I’ll have Lucia prepare a bath. Soaking in the water will ease the fatigue.”

“Thank you. Make sure you go rest soon too, Tilda.”

Blair said her thanks to Tilda, who always looked after her with such care.

Just as Tilda had said, sinking into the hot water left Blair feeling considerably better.

On top of that, the refreshing tea Lucia had prepared seemed to lighten the tangle of thoughts in her head just a little.

“Thank you. Lucia.”

“Then, good night, Your Highness.”

“Hmm? Oh…… yes.”

Good night, all of a sudden?

The unfamiliar farewell from Lucia left Blair tilting her head as she picked up a slim volume of poetry.

Drifting in a languid mood, Blair made her way to the bedroom, and it was then that she understood why Lucia had said it.

“You’re late.”

Kalintz, who had not appeared in the bedroom for two whole days, was leaning back on the sofa with perfect ease.

“……The hunt must have ended early.”

Blair had not expected him to be there, and asked with a slight hesitation.

“It got dark, and the rain started.”

Come to think of it, raindrops were tapping and breaking against the window.

“You look surprised.”

“……I wasn’t expecting anyone to be here.”

“You said you didn’t want to sleep alone.”

“No, when did I ever say—!”

Blair was about to bristle when she caught the corner of Kalintz’s mouth curving upward, and she pressed her lips shut.

She shot him a look, mildly annoyed at herself for nearly walking into it again.

“As I said before, I just don’t want people suspecting us for no reason.”