Mulling it over, she glanced at the people around her.

Lady Miller aside, Tilda and Ernst were wearing simple masks that made them far too easy to identify.

“Everyone needs to move away from me a little. I’m too easy to place with them nearby.”

“Pardon? What do you mean, Your Highness?”

Ernst, who had been standing close beside her on guard since Rashid appeared, asked.

“His Highness isn’t here yet, and I can’t do that.”

“You said he’s coming soon. And you’re calling me ‘Your Highness’ out loud right now.”

At that, Ernst made a small sound and pressed his lips together. But he showed no sign of moving.

“Sir, I really want to enjoy this masquerade. It’s a ‘good opportunity,’ if you understand me.”

Blair had no choice but to let a hint of her real intention slip. Ernst finally caught on to what she was after and scratched his head.

“You can keep watch from a reasonable distance. It’s not as though there’s no security here.”

Ernst seemed to weigh it for a moment longer, then let out a quiet sigh and moved to a spot some distance away.

“You two should enjoy yourselves tonight as well. When will you get another chance at a masquerade.”

Blair nudged Tilda and Lady Miller along.

“Are you sure you’ll be all right?”

“Then I’ll stay close enough not to be in the way.”

Unlike Tilda, who looked worried, Lady Miller agreed with surprising readiness. Blair waved them off.

Then, from behind her, the man she had nearly forgotten murmured,

“It wasn’t because of them that I recognized you.”

“Pardon? What did you say?”

Blair turned back to Rashid.

“Never mind. It’s nothing important.”

“Oh…… right.”

An awkward silence fell between them.

There was nothing particular left to say, yet Rashid made no move to leave and simply stood there. Blair felt it would be rude to simply walk away from the young duke of a friendly nation, so she offered a polite remark.

“I heard the tariff agreement concluded well and both countries have benefited greatly. That’s wonderful.”

“Is that so.”

“……”

What is with this person. He clearly has no interest in talking to me.

By the conventions of social conversation, that was a clear signal to end the exchange. And yet he still showed no intention of moving.

Blair made up her mind to leave first and took a step. But at that moment, Rashid asked abruptly,

“Where is His Highness Kalintz?”

“Pardon?”

“I was wondering why you’re alone.”

She was trying to think of what to say to that unexpected question when,

“What does it matter whether she’s alone or not.”

A very familiar voice cut through.

Footsteps with a perfectly composed gait drew closer.

Blair turned toward the sound, already knowing whose it was.

“……!”

But for a moment, Blair thought she was seeing things.

The man walking toward her did not have the deep black hair she knew. He had brown hair with a faint reddish tint, and wore a black mask that covered his eyes and the bridge of his nose.

“I asked what it matters.”

But the voice was unmistakably Kalintz’s. So were the darkly glinting gold eyes.

Rashid seemed to realize it was Kalintz as well. He studied the changed hair color and answered,

“I had no particular intention of meddling. I was simply curious.”

“I’m more curious about why you’d be curious about something like that.”

Blair stepped in quickly at Kalintz’s ice-cold tone.

“It’s the young duke of the Armos Islands, His Grace Remarque.”

The sunken gold eyes behind the mask finally slid over to Blair. There was something in that look, barely held in check.

“Oh, is that right.”

Kalintz said it in a flat voice.

“I didn’t realize. I thought you were the sort who hovers around any woman standing alone. The kind you often see at masquerades.”

He knew. Without a doubt.

The sharp sarcasm was enough to make Blair break into a cold sweat, but Kalintz was entirely unconcerned.

“You’ve been paying rather unnecessary attention since the last time we met. For the young duke of the Armos Islands.”

“……If it came across as attention, that was my mistake.”

“You understand that well, so I trust this won’t happen again. If it does, it’s no longer a mistake.”

The two men’s eyes met in the charged air.

“I give you my word.”

It was Rashid who looked away first. He gave a brief bow and disappeared in the other direction.

With Rashid gone and the two of them left alone, an awkward current ran between them.

Perhaps because of what had happened the night before. Blair felt a strange compulsion to explain herself.

“……Just now, I ran into him by chance—”

“Why.”

The heavy voice cut her off.

“Why are you over here flirting with that bastard again.”

Kalintz’s expression was thoroughly soured.

“Where did Ernst and the others go, and why were you alone with him.”

“I keep telling you, I didn’t plan to meet him.”

The situation felt uncomfortably similar to the Founding Festival, and Blair let out a quiet sigh.

He had been this angry then too. Back then she had not understood why, but now she thought she did.

Jealousy. Kalintz seemed to feel jealous of Rashid. Just as she had felt toward Ariela.

“His Grace Remarque recognized me first and came over to speak. Sir Werner was there, and so were Tilda and Lady Miller, which is probably why he recognized me.”

Blair continued calmly.

“So I asked them to keep some distance. If I’m too easily identified…… it would make it harder to keep an eye on Duke Brienne.”

Blair lowered her voice as she spoke, and Kalintz muttered with an exasperated air,

“Of course you did.”

“And when did I flirt? Don’t twist things.”

“That’s how it looked. At least to me.”

This is genuinely ridiculous.

Blair found it hard to believe Kalintz was jealous, and yet something in her chest tickled at the thought.

“Who was the one who showed up late, anyway.”

Blair glanced at a woman with amber-colored hair just entering the banquet hall.

The woman wearing a mask with elaborate feather decorations was clearly Ariela at a glance. She appeared to have arrived with a slight gap after Kalintz.

“I had something to look into.”

“That medicine, right? The one brewed from the herb called ‘Leaf of Youth.'”

Blair asked, thinking of the small vial Kalintz had shown her on the way to Valia.

The suspicious substance Duke Brienne had been passing to King Rubens through the chief chamberlain. Uncovering its true nature was one of the key purposes of this visit to Valia.

“That’s right. It seems to be somewhat different from what’s circulating in the market.”

“So there is something to it.”

Kalintz nodded without a word.

Blair studied his expression. He was still clearly annoyed with her for pretending not to remember last night, but he did not seem inclined to press the matter here.

“The first dance should be starting soon.”

Kalintz looked at the orchestra preparing for the next piece.

“Nothing is better than dancing for observing people. You can move naturally and take in the room at the same time.”

“Won’t we stand out in return?”

“That’s why I wore the wig.”

But regrettably, neither a wig nor a mask could conceal the particular air that surrounded him. He did not seem to realize that himself.

“……You really do have a deep connection with wigs.”

Blair murmured, remembering the time she had eavesdropped on Kalintz and Ernst’s conversation.

She had misheard something about wigs and convinced herself the two of them were in some forbidden romance. Thinking back on that absurd misunderstanding, a helpless smile came over her.

“What is it.”

“Nothing. I was just thinking it suits you.”

What wouldn’t suit him, really.

The orchestra finished preparing for the first piece. As people began gathering on the floor, Blair and Kalintz moved to the center of the hall and took their positions.

A piece with a fairly brisk rhythm filled the room.

Both of them were skilled dancers, so observing the masked faces around them while moving through the steps was not particularly difficult.

“Kalintz, the person standing next to the statue over there.”

Blair gestured with her eyes toward a man in a dark blue mask. His face was fully covered, but his height was roughly similar to Duke Brienne’s.

But Kalintz said nothing. She turned to look at him and found his gold eyes fixed steadily on her.

“Look over there, not at me. The one with the dark blue mask—”

“My name. You say it so easily. Just like last night.”

“……!”

Blair nearly stepped on his foot in shock. She had let his name slip without thinking.

“No, that was…… just now—”

“A slip of the tongue. Just like last night.”

Kalintz cut her off with pointed sarcasm. Then he glanced at the man Blair had mentioned.

“That’s not him. I heard his voice earlier. Heavy Jenikian accent.”

“……Yes.”

Blair bit down on her lower lip, thoroughly mortified. In many ways, it was a tremendous blessing that tonight was a masquerade.

The memories of the previous night, carefully pushed away, came flooding back and broke her concentration. Then a bright, carrying voice swept past her ear.

“Oh my, darling! Your dancing has gotten even better!”

“I’ve been practicing whenever I could, all for my beloved.”

There was no mistaking it. That insufferable nasal tone and that oily voice. Count Jake Roman and his wife, Ilena.

“I couldn’t bear it if my butterfly of a wife were to float away while dancing, now could I. Ha ha ha!”