All of it swirled together until her head was spinning.

“ACHOO! Good heavens!”

A loud, dramatic sneeze erupted from not far away.

Blair broke the kiss and froze. The sound of Count Roman’s footsteps heading toward them stopped as well.

“What, was it from over there?”

The count turned sharply and called out.

Another thunderous sneeze rang out. And then a very familiar voice followed.

“Goodness, all this pollen……. Oh? Why, isn’t that Duke Brienne?”

The man spoke in an impossibly cheerful tone.

“……Sir Werner?”

Blair murmured the name in a whisper at the familiar voice. Kalintz looked equally startled, but soon let out a quiet, relieved laugh.

“What brings you to such a secluded spot, Your Grace…… Oh? Count Roman is here as well?”

Ernst spoke in a more exaggerated voice than usual. Then he muttered something clearly meant to be overheard.

“How strange. I didn’t know the two of you were acquainted.”

“Ahem. No, I happened to run into Duke Brienne by—”

“Oh! So you were pretending not to know each other back at the banquet hall?”

Ernst cut Count Roman off and asked in a perfectly guileless tone. The count could only manage something resembling a hollow laugh in response.

“……Honestly.”

Kalintz murmured and gave a slight shake of his head.

“Ernst Werner.”

Duke Brienne, who had been silent, spoke.

“Why is the escort knight who ought to be attending His Highness the Prince out in such a ‘secluded’ spot?”

The duke’s voice was ice cold.

“Could it be that His Highness the Prince is somewhere nearby.”

The sharply pointed remark made Blair hold her breath. But Ernst was more brazen than she had expected.

“No, His Highness is still in the banquet hall. He told me to come ahead and find a good spot by the pond in the rear garden for a date with Her Highness the Princess Consort. He’ll probably come after he’s finished greeting all the foreign guests.”

The words flowed out so smoothly that Duke Brienne let out a contemptuous snort.

“His Highness the Prince leads quite a comfortable life. Or he keeps very capable subordinates.”

“Both are true.”

Ernst meant every word of that.

“Were the two of you also heading toward the pond? If so, I must ask for your consideration. As I mentioned, His Highness asked me to prepare the spot.”

“……No, we simply ran into each other by chance. I haven’t been to the palace in some time and lost my way.”

Count Roman gave a loud cough and moved on. As his footsteps faded into the distance, Blair finally felt some of the tension leave her.

“Thank you. Then I’ll make sure not to mention seeing the two of you here either.”

Ernst lowered his voice like someone who had just witnessed something suspicious.

He was making it perfectly clear that the excuse of running into each other by chance was not fooling anyone, and doing so with obvious relish.

They grew up together, and they really do have the same personality.

Blair glanced at Kalintz and thought.

Duke Brienne, who had been quiet, spoke in a dry voice.

“It’s fine. Even if you were to say something, it would cause me no real damage.”

He meant that a stray rumor was nothing he could not simply crush. He said it like a reminder of his own power, then quietly walked away and left the garden.

“……You may come out now, both of you.”

A moment later, Ernst broke the silence.

Blair realized then that she was still pressed against Kalintz and pulled away quickly. She heard Kalintz let out a small laugh.

“Ahem. Sir Werner.”

Blair smoothed her fringe for no particular reason and stepped out from behind the stone pillar.

“What on earth were the two of you doing here?”

Ernst asked with a look of pure disbelief. Kalintz, now standing beside Blair, answered.

“Intelligence gathering?”

“Please don’t lie. Do you think I don’t know you were hiding there because you were afraid Duke Brienne would find you?”

Ernst narrowed his eyes at Kalintz’s shamelessness.

“It’s a good thing I appeared at the perfect moment with my brilliant instincts. What were you planning to do otherwise?”

“Well. Something was happening.”

Kalintz touched his lips and looked at Blair. The moment his gaze landed on her, Blair’s face flared hot in an instant.

“Anyway, it’s good you came, Ernst. Thanks to you, we’ll never know how effective Her Highness the Princess Consort’s brilliant scheme would have been.”

“Th, that was something you agreed to as well!”

“And who said otherwise?”

Blair could not find a single word to say back at Kalintz’s teasing smile, and settled for glaring at him with a flushed face.

Ernst let out a small sigh and spoke.

“I have no idea what this brilliant scheme was, but we don’t have time to stand around here.”

He gestured toward the banquet hall.

“I told them Your Highnesses are still inside. If Duke Brienne notices you’re both missing, he might make trouble.”

The point was fair, and Blair dropped the glare she had been directing at Kalintz.

“I’ll take a short walk and follow. The two of you go ahead.”

“But shouldn’t we get back before the duke does?”

“His Highness will handle that. He knows every shortcut and secret passage in this palace.”

“Pardon? Secret passages?”

Blair turned to look at Kalintz, but he was already walking toward the trees. Blair murmured quietly at his retreating figure.

“He’s like some kind of cat burglar.”

“You’re the cat, Blair.”

“Me? Why?”

“……”

“What, why did you stop?”

But Kalintz gave no answer to the end. Blair stared at him with a baffled expression, and from somewhere behind her came the sound of Ernst stifling a laugh.

Kalintz clearly had no intention of explaining. Blair let out a shallow sigh and fell into step behind him.

It was no exaggeration that he knew every path. They arrived at the banquet hall in no time at all.

“How do you know all these routes?”

“I have a much longer history of sneaking around this palace than you do.”

“……Something to be proud of.”

Blair grumbled and moved to step inside the banquet hall. But for some reason, Kalintz stopped where he stood.

“What is it?”

He hesitated for a moment, then slowly opened his mouth.

“I want to apologize for what I said earlier. When I lost my temper.”

“Pardon?”

“Bringing up the contract clause was a mistake. I don’t think you did anything inappropriate.”

He said it in a low, quiet voice. The unexpected words caught Blair off guard, and after a brief pause she asked,

“……Then why were you so angry?”

If it wasn’t at me. Then could it be… Blair swallowed for no particular reason.

“That would be.”

He seemed to pause for a moment, then continued.

“Because you disappeared on your own without telling me.”

Of course. There was no way a prince like him would feel something like jealousy. The answer was not what she had hoped for, and the warmth inside her cooled abruptly.

Whether he had any idea of that, Kalintz kept talking.

“Ariela…… the woman you mentioned earlier. She’s a Valian alchemist. She’s someone who will help with the plan I told you about. That’s the only reason we were talking. It’s not what you—”

“I know.”

The moment his lips formed Ariela’s name, Blair felt a sudden flare of irritation.

“You know?”

Kalintz looked at her with puzzlement.

“Lady Miller told me earlier.”

Blair answered flatly.

“Then why did you say what you said?”

Because you smiled at her like that. The answer surfaced in her mind before she could stop it, and Blair was a little startled by it herself.

The jealous one was her. It had been her all along.

“I was just saying things because you kept pushing me into a corner.”

Blair hid what she was feeling and made it sound like it had meant nothing.

“So let’s drop it here and go inside.”

“……”

Kalintz was quiet for a moment, as though thinking something over, then followed Blair into the banquet hall.

Whether it was fortunate or not, Duke Brienne left the banquet hall shortly after. Count Roman had also vanished at some point.

What is the duke planning.

Blair swirled her champagne glass and turned over the conversation she had overheard.

The duke was already doing something to King Rubens, and he intended to extend his reach to Princess Lina as well. And he was discussing all of it with the Valia Duchy’s diplomatic envoy.

This confirmed there was some kind of connection between Valia and the duke.

But there’s no proof.

Simply having overheard them would not be enough.

Blair glanced at Kalintz, who was standing among the nobles and listening to their conversation. His expression gave nothing away.

Just then, he turned his head and met her eyes. The moment she looked into those dark golden eyes, the kiss in the garden came back to her unbidden.

The rush of warm breath pressing in. The heat of it pulling her under. The hands that had held her in place so she could not pull away.