Thinking back, I hadn’t attended any banquets since I possessed  Yerena.

I had always wanted to attend one, but I never imagined I would come with Demian.

Perhaps because it was hosted by the imperial family, every part of the banquet hall was splendid.

Even the attendees were all so elegant that I wasn’t confident I could fit in among them.

But then the most handsome man at this banquet whispered to me.

“You are the most beautiful person here.”

Demian was looking down at me with eyes full of affection.

Those words gave me confidence I didn’t have before. I straightened my back and looked ahead.

Most people in the banquet hall were glancing at Demian. Their gazes were filled with envy, surprise, and affection.

Demian had rarely attended banquets before, I was told.

Even when he did attend, he had mostly kept his face covered, so today was the first time he fully revealed his perfect bare face.

‘They recognize how handsome my man is.’

I clung more tightly to Demian’s arm. I wanted to show that this wonderful man was mine.

Far from pushing me away, Demian just smiled foolishly.

Unlike Demian, people looked at me with gazes full of wariness.

Those who had heard rumors about me, those seeing me for the first time… everyone seemed curious about me.

At that moment, a voice cut between us.

“Yerena! You have no idea how many messages I’ve sent to the palace! Why haven’t you been responding at all?”

That grumbling voice wasn’t welcome at all, making me reluctant to turn around.

“…Are you alright?”

The second low voice that followed was equally unwelcome, so I took a step forward.

“Your Highness, let’s go somewhere else.”

As we tried to leave, one of the two men who had called me grabbed my wrist.

I could guess whose warm temperature I felt on my wrist.

“Remember that Demian wasn’t the only one who rescued you from the Duke’s mansion.”

I finally turned around to look at someone.

“Lambert. I am grateful for your efforts to save me.”

Lambert’s face, which I seemed to be seeing after a very long time, looked haggard.

The wounds he had suffered then appeared to have healed, but he seemed to have gone through considerable mental anguish.

“If you were grateful, shouldn’t you have come looking for me?”

“Aren’t you grateful to me, too? Do you know how much telekinetic power I used!”

The one who joined the conversation was Baron, who seemed to have attended with Lambert.

I clearly conveyed my thoughts.

“I’m grateful to both of you for your help, but I didn’t want to meet you again.”

“…Why?”

“Because I don’t want to see you?”

“But we…!”

“You seem to have forgotten, but I’m no longer Guide Yerena, whom you can control as you please. I won’t meet people I don’t want to meet anymore.”

Lambert grimaced bitterly, as if he had swallowed something extremely bitter.

“But I…!”

This time, it was Demian who cut off his words.

“That’s enough.”

“…Your Highness!”

“Please stop threatening my person.”

Lambert’s eyes, glaring at Demian, were bloodshot. His expression revealed someone staring at a traitor.

I moved even closer to Demian. Not because I was afraid of Lambert, but because I was touched by Demian referring to me as “my person.”

I was no longer afraid of Lambert and Baron. After being tormented by the more vicious Benjamin, how could I fear them?

“Yerena. Let’s go. There’s someone I’d like you to meet.”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

We walked forward very elegantly.

I could feel Lambert and Baron’s intense gazes on my back, but I never looked back once.

“Yerena is quite popular. I wonder how many men are pining for you.”

“Do you think Lambert and Baron like me, too? Is that why you intercepted Baron’s messages?”

“Yes. Would you like me to give them to you now? I haven’t read them since they’re not mine.”

“Please throw them away.”

“Alright.”

“Hmm. Since you stood up to Benjamin, I doubt you dislike me…”

Still, what didn’t make sense was that these guys had been following Olivia around until just recently.

“Anyway, it seems my popularity has increased. You’ll need to be on high alert.”

“Ha, if there’s anything you want, just tell me. I’ll give you anything. Whether it’s material things, my heart, my body, anything.”

Wait a minute, there seemed to be some strange words at the end. And oddly enough, those strange words were the most tempting.

I glanced at Demian’s body, which looked stylish no matter what clothes he wore.

“It seems you like the body option the most.”

“…! W-who said that? I didn’t say anything.”

Demian pretended not to hear my words and giggled.

Why am I so honest? Whether it’s my gaze or my words, I couldn’t hide anything, which was a big problem.

Eventually, we reached the place where most people were gathered.

At the center was Kenneth, the person I wanted to meet today.

As soon as Demian and I appeared, the crowd parted left and right. Through that gap, I saw an unexpected person.

“…Cain?”

The sickly heir of the Count’s family, whom I had met in the Philia Islands.

Why was he wearing formal attire that a Crown Prince would wear?

“Oh, actually, it’s you! Should I call you Lady Yerena? I didn’t expect to meet you in a place like this.”

Cain acknowledged me first.

“Is it really you that I knew?”

“Cough, cough. Does this make me more recognizable?”

He coughed intentionally, clearly wanting me to believe him. Seeing that, I confirmed he was indeed the Cain I knew.

W-wait a minute. Then was the “younger brother interested in otherworld monsters” he mentioned, actually Demian?

It was natural for Demian, the head of the Chelsea Center, to be interested in monsters.

I was startled, but Cain just smiled leisurely as if he had known my circumstances all along.

“Shall we move to a quieter place? I’d prefer others not to hear our upcoming conversation.”

“…Yes.”

We went out to the spacious terrace on the second floor of the banquet hall.

As soon as we were away from others, Cain immediately silenced me.

“I’ll explain the circumstances later, so please keep our meeting a secret from Demian.”

It seemed that the Crown Prince living as a sickly son of a Count’s family in a rural village was a secret.

Perhaps even the fact that he was sickly was a secret.

The person before me showed no signs of illness, and I had never heard that the Crown Prince was weak.

I slowly nodded. At the same time, my eyes met Demian’s.

“…Don’t tell me you’ve stolen my brother’s heart too?”

“N-no! We met in an official capacity.”

“Are you referring to Jinjijo?”

“…Yes.”

“That’s strange. I should know almost everything related to that business.”

“….”

“Brother, I’d also like to know what’s going on here.”

But Cain, who had observed this whole situation, was merely smiling with interest.

It was a smile that gave the impression that there was something between us that Demian might misunderstand.

“There was nothing like what Your Highness is thinking. And we didn’t meet many times either.”

“….”

The smile that had been on Demian’s face since we arrived at the banquet hall completely disappeared.

He stiffened his expression like a stranger and didn’t take his eyes off me.

I felt somewhat guilty.

“Demian. You seem quite serious about Lady Yerena.”

“Not quite, but very serious, Brother.”

“Are you thinking of marrying her?”

“If Yerena would allow it.”

Cain let out an exclamation, “Oh—.” As if it was surprising that someone who knew nothing about women was talking about marriage.

“Then you’ll need to get the Empress’s permission? And to get that permission, you’ll have to act as she wishes. Like a puppet.”

Cain’s eyes, facing Demian, shone sharply.

As we had expected, Cain didn’t seem to have completely forgiven Empress Patricia.

I thought Demian would deny Cain’s words.

I expected him to answer that he would live according to his own will, regardless of what Empress Patricia said.

But Demian, contradicting his claim of respecting Cain as his brother, said.

“If I were to aim for the throne from now on, what would you think, Brother?”