Before the night was over, it seemed certain that a rosy romance between the Crown Prince and Leonie would spread throughout all of Astrian. If that happened, Leonie’s plan to escape would become impossible.

She needed a way out.

Just as the third song was about to end, Leonie made her move before the Crown Prince could do anything further. With a sudden motion, she twisted her body free and pushed him away.

“You’re too much!”

Yulgen stared at her in surprise. He had meant only to tease her a little; he had not expected such a fierce reaction.

But Leonie had calculated everything.

‘If I do this much, Amber will handle the rumors on her own!’

She forced her eyes wide open, refusing to blink. The dryness brought tears welling into her eyes. Once they gathered fully, she blinked rapidly, letting them fall.

Without offering the customary closing bow after a dance, she turned and fled the ballroom as though escaping swift and resolute enough that even the Crown Prince hesitated to chase her.

Left alone in the ballroom, the Crown Prince wore a momentarily confused expression. But he masked it with ease and soon slipped back into the crowd as though nothing had happened.

Since the Crown Prince had not left, no one dared openly gossip about the dance. Yet in corners far from him, talk bloomed about the style of their dance and about their relationship.

“Hic.”

A soft sob.

Standing quietly in a corner would not draw much attention but once someone began to cry audibly, it was impossible not to notice. The suppressed sobbing only seemed louder as those nearby fell silent to hear it better.

“Lady Magnus.”

To ignore a weeping lady as delicate as a flower would be unthinkable for any noble. Whether they knew her well or not, people gathered around, eager to comfort her and to learn the cause of her tears.

“…I’m sorry.”

Amber stopped crying as if satisfied once enough people had gathered. But the apology was not what they wanted.

They wanted a reason.

Several young men pressed her.

“What happened?”

“Why were you crying so sorrowfully, Lady Magnus?”

Amber shrank her shoulders and lowered her chin as though frightened. The posture made her appear small and harmless almost animal-like in its gentleness. A few perceptive young ladies hid smirks behind their fans, recognizing the calculation.

“It’s just… Lady Bastian…”

“Lady Bastian? What about her?”

The moment Leonie’s name left Amber’s lips, the crowd leaned in. Only moments ago, Leonie had been ‘held’ in the Crown Prince’s arms in full view of everyone. Of course they were interested.

They hoped Amber, known as Leonie’s friend, would reveal how such a relationship had come to be.

“…I felt sorry for her…”

A single tear slipped down her reddened cheek. A gentleman offered his handkerchief. Amber accepted it, dabbing her eyes before pouting faintly.

“She truly loves His Highness…”

That was all.

But it was enough.

The implication was clear: Crown Prince Yulgen had deliberately mocked Leonie Dina Bastian, the woman who had chased him for so long by dancing with her in such an intimate manner at a public event.

To hold an unmarried lady so closely was improper.

Surely the Crown Prince understood that. Which meant it must have been intentional humiliation.

At last, the crowd found an explanation far more entertaining and far more malicious than sudden romance.

***

The rumor traveled quickly through the ballroom and soon reached the ears of Duke Taylas Ramon Menes.

“His Highness did what?”

He looked incredulous, scanning the room until he located the Crown Prince. Ignoring attempts to restrain him, he strode forward and stopped directly before Yulgen.

“Duke Menes.”

“Your Highness.”

After the brief exchange of greetings, Taylas wasted no time.

“Is what they’re saying true?”

The question was so abrupt that Yulgen did not grasp its meaning at once. He waited patiently. Taylas soon realized his lack of clarity and, though hesitant to speak the words aloud, asked again in a firm voice.

“I heard that Your Highness asked a lady to dance in order to humiliate her.”

“…What?”

Yulgen doubted his own ears.

“I danced with Lady Leonie to humiliate her?”

“…That is what people are saying.”

The Crown Prince’s gaze swept across the ballroom. Those who had been whispering similar rumors quickly averted their eyes.

“I never realized that dancing with the Crown Prince of this empire could be considered an insult.”

“In a public setting, do you not understand how such closeness could affect a lady’s reputation?”

Taylas pressed.

Yulgen paused.

“…I was careless.”

“That is not enough.”

“…And what concern is it of yours?”

Irritation sharpened Yulgen’s expression. Truthfully, he had found Duke Menes bothersome even earlier.

Leonie had laughed in Taylas’s arms brightly, freely, in a way Yulgen had never seen before.

“As a knight, if necessary, I will step forward to defend a lady’s honor.”

Taylas remembered Leonie’s flushed face as she had fled the ballroom. Though they were not close, every knight had a duty to defend every lady’s honor.

Yulgen’s gaze darkened.

“There is no need for you to interfere.”

“Your Highness—”

On impulse, Yulgen declared.

“It was merely a small quarrel between lovers. There is no reason for you to involve yourself.”

The hall fell silent.

The Crown Prince had just publicly declared Leonie his lover.

The very woman he had long ignored.

***

The next morning.

The Crown Prince was already seated in his carriage, intending to visit the townhouse where Leonie resided, when a broad-shouldered man with gray hair and brown eyes desperately tried to stop him.

It was Evok, one of his escort knights and a longtime friend.

“Your Highness, please reconsider. This should not be handled impulsively.”

Evok could hardly believe it. Not only had Yulgen taken Lady Bastian to his bed, the very woman he had dismissed as unfit for Crown Princess but he had publicly declared her his lover.

Evok was certain it was a decision born of a single night’s intoxication.

“It is not impulsive.”

He was already in the carriage. But as Evok held it in place, it refused to move.

“Your Highness, you yourself said she was not suited to be Crown Princess.”

“…I did.”

“And yet, at such a critical time, you declare her your lover?”

“As I said, I was careless about her honor—”

“Lady Leonie Dina Bastian has no honor to lose! You know she is the laughingstock of society!”

Evok spoke the harsh truth.

Though a marquis’s daughter, Leonie had only recently arrived from the frontier and was ignorant of the capital’s customs. She had committed one blunder after another wearing dresses identical to others’, failing to avoid the hostess’s color, and so on.

The capital’s society was ancient and filled with unspoken rules. Newcomers typically relied on experienced nobles for guidance. Leonie, however, had relied solely on Amber and had repeatedly made mistakes. It was common knowledge that without Amber, she would have suffered even greater humiliation.

To publicly name such a woman as the Crown Prince’s lover was unthinkable.

Yulgen did not argue.

Until yesterday, he would have agreed wholeheartedly.

But something had shifted.

‘Her eyes…’

She had once always looked down timidly. And yet, at some point, she began meeting his gaze directly lifting her chin, straightening her back.

That change had stirred his curiosity.

“Enough. Depart.”

He rapped the roof of the carriage.

He would see Leonie first then decide.

“Even if you go, it may be useless, Your Highness.”

Another knight approached Gillan, whom Yulgen had sent ahead to the Bastian townhouse.

“What do you mean?”

Gillan brushed back his straw-colored hair and raised a letter.

“Were you refused entry?”

“No.”

“Then you visited?”

“I did.”

He scratched his cheek awkwardly.

“…It was empty.”

“What?”

“The Bastian townhouse was vacant. Lady Bastian left the capital yesterday.”

Silence fell.

The woman who had chased the Crown Prince relentlessly—

had fled.

The day after spending the night with him.

“In my opinion… I think His Highness was rejected.”

“Gillan!”

Evok tried to silence him but too late.

“What suddenly went wrong? Surely not… in bed?”

Evok wanted to throttle him.

But the same thought had crossed his mind.

When a woman declares separation after a single night especially one who had chased you for years there is usually only one explanation.

Unsatisfactory performance.

Both knights looked toward the carriage.

Yulgen’s golden eyes had darkened dangerously.

“…Oh? So I was lacking?”

“Y-Your Highness, that’s not what—”

Evok tried to intervene, but Yulgen was no longer listening.

He recalled Leonie that night the subtle shift in her demeanor after they had shared a bed.

“Bring my horse.”

His tone was decisive.

“We ride to the Bastian estate.”

A wounded pride had begun to move.