Why does she look so displeased.

Blair glanced at Kalintz. But he was exchanging perfunctory conversation with the other guests with a blank expression.

The uneasy feeling from Vivian’s cold stare was growing when King Rubens rose from his seat, gave a brief closing speech, and brought the banquet to an end.

As everyone began to rise, Queen Rhea approached with a warm smile.

“Blair. You did something truly remarkable today. I’m very proud of you.”

It was almost certainly about the matter with Rashid Remarque.

“If not for you, a real diplomatic dispute might have broken out. And choosing not to reveal your identity was also a very shrewd decision.”

The queen lowered her voice as she continued.

“The ones who were rude to His Grace Remarque were Bolton knights, I hear. You deliberately hid your identity because you were aware that the Marquis of Bolton is close to Duke Brienne.”

“I did not want to give anyone grounds to use against me. Though it came to light in the end regardless.”

Blair said it while gently avoiding the queen’s intense gaze.

“That was unavoidable. You did not know His Grace Remarque’s identity either. Even so, the Marquis of Bolton will owe you a debt of gratitude. Had things escalated, he would not have escaped responsibility.”

Unaccustomed to this kind of attention, Blair gave a small shake of her head.

“I only did what needed to be done, Your Highness.”

“You said the same thing after rescuing Lady Tilda at the equestrian competition.”

“Pardon? Oh……”

Did I say that? Blair felt a mild embarrassment and let her words trail off awkwardly.

Queen Rhea smiled all the more brightly.

“Even after becoming princess consort, that upright heart of yours hasn’t changed at all. I chose well.”

Lady Camille, the queen’s attendant who had been quietly standing nearby, added her own remark.

“With a princess consort of such fine character, the future of the Kingdom of Eiron is truly bright.”

“Indeed. I could step down from the queen’s crown without a single regret.”

What. The queen’s crown. Those were dangerous words.

The one who should be stepping down from a crown without regret in two years is me, Your Highness.

Blair repeated the words she could not say out loud furiously in her head.

“Oh, but Blair. I’m curious about what became of those Bolton knights.”

“Pardon? What do you mean……”

“During the banquet, His Majesty the King ordered the captain of the guard to bring them in, but apparently both of them were absent today.”

Queen Rhea said it with a puzzled look.

“But from your expression, it seems you don’t know anything about it either.”

“No. I don’t even know their names.”

“Hmm. Either it’s a coincidence, or they made themselves scarce in advance.”

At the queen’s words, Blair tilted her head, and then Kalintz came to mind.

Could it be……

She turned to look toward where Kalintz had been standing. But he was nowhere to be seen.

“Come to think of it, the prince is nowhere in sight.”

The queen, who had immediately understood who Blair was looking for, said,

“Sir Werner is standing alone over there. Go on, Blair.”

Where Queen Rhea pointed, Ernst was leaning against the wall with a furrowed brow.

Blair gave a polite bow to the queen and made her way over to him.

“Sir, why are you standing here alone?”

Ernst seemed lost in thought. Blair waved her hand right in front of his face, and he startled, straightening up from the wall.

“Where is His Highness?”

“Ah, that……”

He let out a sudden deep sigh, scratched the back of his head, and spoke.

“He is speaking with Lady Vivian.”

It seemed Vivian had gone to Kalintz while Blair was talking with Queen Rhea.

“About what? Lady Vivian’s expression looked very troubled.”

“……I can more or less guess.”

Ernst dropped his gaze as he spoke.

“Do you remember what I told you before? That Lady Vivian took a turn for the worse after Princess Lina was born.”

Blair gave a silent nod. That was why the young Kalintz had gone through such a difficult time.

“Lady Vivian is still not well. In some ways, it may be more accurate to say she has gotten worse.”

Vivian’s behavior on the terrace at the royal wedding banquet had certainly not been normal.

“Does she still have a severe fixation on His Highness?”

At Blair’s careful question, Ernst answered with silence.

A brief quiet fell, and as people began to leave the dining hall one by one, Ernst spoke again.

“I think you should head back ahead of him tonight. His Highness also asked me to see you safely to your room.”

Blair gave a quiet nod and began to walk.

They left the dining hall and took a less crowded route. In the quiet corridor, only the sound of Blair’s and Ernst’s footsteps could be heard.

The silence stretched on until it grew slightly awkward.

“Sir Werner.”

Blair decided to ask the question she had been debating for a while.

“You said you’ve been close to His Highness since childhood, didn’t you?”

“Ah…… yes. I came in as a page and have been with him ever since. But why do you ask?”

Ernst tilted his head curiously. Blair paused for a moment before asking.

“Did Lady Vivian *buse His Highness?”

At the question, a flash of discomfort crossed Ernst’s face.

“That is not something I can easily speak to……”

“I heard she had a pathological fixation on him. That she demanded perfection at all times, and that on any day he made a mistake, the punishment was terrible.”

“His Highness told you that much?”

Ernst looked genuinely surprised.

“It wasn’t just a matter of being strict, was it.”

The look that had passed through Kalintz’s eyes when he spoke of Vivian. It had been like an old scar.

“Haah. You’re right. It’s exactly as you’re imagining.”

Ernst let out a sigh.

“It may be a bit presumptuous of me to say, but…… I find it remarkable that His Highness turned out as well as he did. It was that severe. What Lady Vivian put him through.”

He said it with a bitter, downcast look.

“To give a simple example, there was a time when he ate the same cut of meat more than ten times in one sitting.”

“Pardon? What do you mean?”

“The speed at which he cut the meat, the way he chewed and how many times, the time it took to swallow, all of it had to be exactly right. If anything was even slightly off, he had to start over from the beginning.”

Good heavens. Blair covered her mouth, her expression one of pure horror.

“For a young child, that was too much to bear…… no, even an adult couldn’t endure something like that.”

Ernst furrowed his brow as though pained just to think about it again.

“His Majesty the King eventually found out and separated them, but by then His Highness was already gripped by severe anxiety and deeply unstable. He’s improved enormously since then, of course.”

Even now, everything in his study was arranged at precise angles, obsessively so.

And that was supposed to be an improvement. How much worse must it have been before.

“Duke Brienne’s relentless assassination attempts made Lady Vivian’s fixation worse, of course. But that was the age when he needed a mother’s love and protection more than anything.”

“He had to endure all of it entirely on his own.”

The constant fear of not knowing when death might come. The *buse poured out by a mother spiraling into madness. All of it had been Kalintz’s alone to bear.

“How did that child possibly……”

Blair felt something tighten in her throat. Thinking of Kalintz enduring all that pain and fear alone for so long, she felt a sharp ache in her chest.

“He is stronger than anyone. He has a cold side to him, but…… the fact that he didn’t go astray is something I am always grateful for, and why I follow him.”

Ernst said it with a bitter sigh, then added in a lighter tone,

“And lately he’s not as cold as he used to be. Only toward the princess consort, but still.”

“Pardon?”

Blair was about to ask what he meant when—

“What were you thinking, behaving so carelessly!”

A sharp voice rang out from beyond the corner at the far end of the corridor, where it connected to the rear garden.

Then a flat, toneless voice followed low.

“What do you mean.”

It was Kalintz’s voice.

“You have to ask?”

The voice, sharp enough to cut, was Vivian’s.

“I suppose so. Everything is a problem to you, Mother.”

Kalintz spoke with a tone of weary familiarity.

“Yes. Everything was a complete mess earlier!”

She screamed it like a spasm.

“I don’t know what happened with that young duke from Armos, but showing such a disgraceful side of yourself in front of everyone. Have you lost your mind?”

Disgraceful. Blair searched her memory and could not recall Kalintz doing anything remotely rude.