Blair felt heat rise through her all at once and bit her lip lightly, trying to shake it off.

❀❀❀

“You look tired.”

Ernst said, watching Kalintz frown from the moment the morning began. His face was rough, like someone who had barely slept.

“Didn’t sleep well.”

There was a faint, lingering warmth on Kalintz’s face as he said it.

It was subtly different from the look of someone who was simply irritated, and the perceptive Ernst murmured with a knowing tone.

“Something must have happened with Her Highness the Princess Consort in the garden last night.”

The lack of a response told him he was right.

“Surely it wasn’t a passionate kiss.”

He had braced himself to be told to be quiet, but Kalintz said nothing this time either.

“……No. Good heavens. It actually was!?”

Ernst’s eyes went wide enough to fall out of his head, but Kalintz turned the subject aside with a blank expression.

“The matter I mentioned yesterday. Did you handle it?”

“Ahem. Yes. It turned out there were only two Bolton knights on duty in the central garden last night. Made things easier.”

Ernst held out a brief one-page report.

“As you said, one of them has a scandal with Viscountess Leighton. I gave it a nudge, so she’ll take care of things on her end.”

“Will that be enough?”

“That viscountess has quite a reputation. He’ll be lucky if all he loses is his knighthood.”

Ernst shook his head and continued.

“The other one had his deed at a gambling den. Once that comes out, he’ll probably be thrown out of House Bolton in disgrace.”

“Good work.”

Kalintz stroked his chin with satisfaction.

“But what did these two actually do?”

“They let their mouths run filthy.”

“Pardon?”

How dare they put her name in their mouths.

Ernst saw the dangerous look flash through Kalintz’s eyes and decided not to press further.

“Oh, and the matter concerning His Majesty the King…… given the nature of it, we’ll need to move very carefully.”

“Right. One wrong step and Duke Brienne will cut off the tail and slip away again. Or we could find ourselves on the receiving end of a counterattack.”

Kalintz tapped the desk lightly as he spoke.

“For now, keep watch over my father’s safety. Look for anything unusual lately, any changes in his health.”

“Yes. I’ll make sure to use only people I can trust.”

Kalintz gave a silent nod.

“That said, there’s a hunt and a dinner banquet today. Will you be all right? You should get some rest now while you still—”

“What choice is there.”

He answered with a faint sigh, then seemed to remember something and asked,

“Oh, the young duke of the Armos Islands is attending the dinner banquet today as well, isn’t he.”

“His Grace Rashid Remarque? Yes. He wasn’t at the banquet last night…… apparently he only arrived at the palace late in the evening.”

Ernst noticed a faint flicker of anger pass through Kalintz’s eyes and tilted his head.

“Is there something you need to see him about?”

“More or less. I have some advice to give.”

“Pardon? What kind of—”

He had no idea what advice Kalintz could possibly have for the man who held real power in Armos, but Kalintz clearly had no intention of explaining.

“Then I’ll be going.”

Ernst gave a bow and left the office. With the chatter gone, the room fell into a dead silence.

“……Haah.”

Kalintz closed his eyes and leaned his head back, looking exhausted. And immediately, the memories of the night before flooded back in full.

‘Just kiss me. There’s no other way.’

The nerve of her, grabbing his collar and saying something like that so boldly.

The idea of playing passionate lovers was fine, but he had not thought it would actually fool Duke Brienne. Throwing her over his shoulder and diving into the bushes seemed more likely to work.

But why had he done it. Why had he felt like playing along with her.

And so he had let himself be pulled in by Blair’s hands and pressed his lips to hers.

But as expected, she stood there innocently with her lips barely touching his, completely still. For someone who had said something as bold as just kiss her, she was stiff as a board.

He felt a flash of something petty and contrary. He found himself reaching for her slender neck before he knew it, parting those closed lips and pressing deeper, and felt her startled reaction.

Whether she knew that made it worse, Blair kept flinching, and eventually tried to pull back entirely.

Why does she keep trying to get away.

Something close to frustration surged up, and for a moment the thread of reason grew thin. By the time he pulled her against him to keep her from escaping, he was already drawing in her breath like a starved animal.

After that, it was a blur, like being drunk.

The heat that had spread through his entire body refused to settle even after the kiss ended and they returned to the banquet hall.

And then, watching her pout at the mention of Ariela, a different thought had reared its head.

Did you feel what I felt when I saw you with that Armos knight. That feeling that could only be called jealousy.

Those thoughts had continued to crowd his mind even after the banquet ended and he had come to the office under the pretense of work. They only grew worse with time.

Lips flushed with heat. Cheeks gone red. Breath coming in quick, shallow bursts. And the expectation that had taken up residence inside him without permission.

Not a single thing had faded. Not last night, not this morning, not even now.

Tap.

Kalintz struck the desk lightly and opened his eyes.

He felt something like thirst and threw the window open, but the heat filling his head refused to clear.

❀❀❀

Blair was being dressed in a dinner gown, a soft shade of green that looked fresh and cool.

“Lady Vivian will be attending the dinner banquet as well?”

At the unexpected news from Lady Miller, Blair’s eyes went wide.

Vivian had not been seen at the banquet hall the day before either, so it was surprising she would appear at the dinner.

“It seems most members of the royal family are expected to attend.”

Lady Miller fastened an amber hair ornament as she spoke.

A dinner banquet meant spending at least several hours together. Blair felt a quiet tension settle in without quite meaning to.

Surely nothing will happen.

Blair finished getting ready and made her way to the queen’s palace.

The dinner banquet had been prepared by Queen Rhea herself, and everything from the tablecloths to the tableware and centerpieces was elegant and flawless.

Blair found herself genuinely admiring her taste and greeted Queen Rhea with a bow.

“Your Highness, the atmosphere is truly beautiful. I feel full just looking at it, before the food has even arrived.”

At the sincere compliment, Queen Rhea smiled with warm pleasure.

“Thank you, dear. Go ahead and sit. His Majesty and the prince will be along shortly. It sounds like they had quite a good time hunting.”

King Rubens had gone out hunting since midday with a group of male nobles. Kalintz had been among them, so neither had arrived at the dining hall yet.

Blair was just beginning to salivate at the rich, savory smell of the food when a slender, delicate figure entered the dining hall. Vivian Kruger. Kalintz’s birth mother.

Blair greeted Vivian with proper courtesy. She was still as doll-like and beautiful as ever.

Vivian gave a faint smile and a small nod, then quietly found her seat. There was no trace of the frenzied look she had worn the last time.

This is going to be suffocating.

With Queen Rhea in the same room as well, Blair was inwardly miserable.

Fortunately, the ordeal did not last long. King Rubens and Kalintz arrived with the nobles who had joined the hunt.

And among them, to Blair’s surprise, was a familiar face from the night before.

The Armos…… knight?

The man with bronze skin and silver-grey hair was unmistakably the same knight from the garden last night.

He was wearing a clean, handsome formal suit rather than the blood-stained armor from before, but it was clearly the same person.

Blair looked at Kalintz with bewildered eyes. But he was wearing an expression of deep displeasure and sending a cold gaze toward the Armos knight.

Confused and unsure what to make of the situation, Blair was looking between them when King Rubens rose from the head of the table and spoke.

“This gathering was prepared for our honored guests who have traveled from afar. I hope everyone will enjoy themselves freely.”

He then gestured toward the Armos knight and added,

“In particular, I wish to express my deep gratitude to His Grace the young duke of the Armos Islands, Remarque.”

What. The young duke. That Armos knight is the young duke.

Blair was so startled she furrowed her brow as she stared at the Armos man.