Chapter 24

At Emperor Grain’s thunderous command, Adelina and Stephan were startled and looked up.  

Adelina met the slyly glinting eyes of Emperor Grain, immediately bowed her head, and covered her mouth with both hands.  

“Ugh.”  

She subtly inserted a finger into her mouth and began to gag.  

‘Crazy! Why is this happening? Why is everyone doing this to me!’  

She must have inserted her finger too deeply because tears welled up in her eyes.  

“Adelina. My daughter! Are you perhaps pregnant?”

Stephan noticed and quickly joined in Adelina’s act.  

‘Father! Pregnant! You’ve gone too far! They’ll be even more suspicious!’  

Her naive father Stephan… must have thought it possible to get pregnant and have morning sickness after just a week of meeting.  

‘Pregnant! There’s no way I could be pregnant when it’s been less than a month since we met!’

Feeling the crisis of her act being discovered, Adelina covered her face with both hands and peeked at Emperor Grain’s expression.

A deep anger was evident on Emperor Grain’s face as he watched this absurd performance.

‘Even I wouldn’t believe a pregnancy… Pregnant? Pregnant! Yes! That’s it!’  

Adelina buried her face in Stephan’s chest.  

“No, Father! Although… I have spent sev-eral nights with Duke…. but… gasp!”

In front of everyone watching and listening, she loudly declared that she had spent intimate nights with Lexion.  

“No, Adelina. My daughter! I did not raise you like this!”  

Stephan also slapped Adelina’s back and angrily said,  

“Just hurry up and marry the Duke!”

Everyone in the banquet hall was either shocked or clicked their tongues.  

After the murmurs of the crowd subsided, Adelina emerged from Stephan’s embrace.  

Holding the hem of her dress slightly, she bowed to Emperor Grain.  

“Your Majesty. I have already spent many nights with Duke Lexion Ernst. I cannot embrace another man.”

“Is that so? Is that what you’re saying?”  

Emperor Grain’s expression became infinitely cold, realizing that Adelina’s spectacle made it impossible to proceed with a marriage to Leophris.  

The voice that had been gentle now carried a chilling tone.  

“Yes, that’s correct.”

“In that case, let’s conduct a verification.”

“Pardon?”

At Emperor Grain’s words, someone snickered.  

Ladies covered their mouths with fans, openly mocking Adelina as indecent.  

“To see if you’ve really been with Lexion or not. A virginity test.”

“Your… Your Majesty!”  

Adelina was horrified and looked directly at Emperor Grain.  

‘What? What are you doing? This isn’t chick sexing… you’re going to do a virginity test? Hey! You lunatic!’  

Emperor Grain’s face, full of mockery, looked down at Adelina as if to say, “Let’s see how far you’ll go.”

+++

Chellus, knowing that Sweeney had gone to the garden with Evans, hurriedly left the banquet hall.  

However, no matter where he looked, Sweeney was nowhere to be seen.  

Instead, he found Lexion and Isabelle facing each other in a corner of the garden, where the magnolias, bathed in moonlight, cast a white glow downward.  

“Surely, you don’t intend to marry that child out of love. You must think carefully about what’s best for Ernst. For that child’s sake as well.”

Isabelle, as dignified as a magnolia, slowly waved a fan as she looked at Lexion.  

Her arrogant aura was unmistakably reminiscent of Evans.  

“I know it was you, Princess, who orchestrated the letter incident.”  

As Lexion took a step toward her, Isabelle stopped waving her fan.  

“What incident are you talking about?”  

Feigning ignorance, Isabelle’s voice conveyed a tone that made Lexion’s irritation clear even to Chellus.  

If he could see Lexion’s face now, there would be three furrows on his brow.  

‘This won’t do. I must intervene before Lexion explodes.’  

As Lexion tightly grasped Isabelle’s fan, Chellus hurriedly approached them and called out loudly.  

“Duke Lexion!”  

At Chellus’s voice, Lexion seemed to regain his composure, released the fan, and slowly turned to look at Chellus.  

“Earl Chellus.”

“There’s much talk about you in the banquet hall right now. You should go and take care of Miss Adelina.”

“Adelina?”  

As Chellus took a step closer, Lexion turned back to Isabelle, letting out a faint laugh.  

“Princess. I must go see my lover.”  

Seeing the fan tremble in Isabelle’s hand, Lexion turned and walked away, then turned his upper body to look at her.  

“Oh. Be careful with my lover. She’s a woman who bites fiercely if provoked.”  

“What nonsense!”  

Lexion turned his back on Isabelle and walked on.  

Even without seeing, he knew Isabelle was trembling with rage.  

“The Queen should be in the daffodil garden.”  

As Lexion passed by Chellus, he whispered softly enough for only him to hear.  

+++

As Lexion had said, Sweeney was in the daffodil garden with Evans.  

Evans lifted Sweeney’s chin with one hand, turning her head to the left.  

“Queen!”  

The flower that looked more precarious than any other avoided Evans’s lips and looked at Chellus.  

Chellus approached Sweeney, who seemed like she might evaporate even under the moonlight, step by step.  

Evans’s face twisted with annoyance at the interruption, but it was more urgent to catch Sweeney’s wavering gaze.  

“Earl Chellus.”  

At Evans’s voice, suppressed with irritation, a butterfly sleeping behind a daffodil leaf flapped its wings and flew elsewhere.  

“I apologize, Your Majesty. Prince Isya has something urgent to discuss with you.”

Chellus, while wandering the garden, finally came up with an excuse.  

Prince Isya hadn’t actually asked for Sweeney. But knowing the shrewd Isya, he could probably play along.  

“Evans. It seems I must meet with Prince Isya. Let’s continue our conversation another time.”  

“Very well. I’ll escort you.”  

The atmosphere already broken, Evans linked Sweeney’s arm with his own and patted Chellus on the shoulder as he passed by.  

++++  

Adelina, using the excuse of being too shocked, was resting in the waiting room with Stephan.  

Even after making a bombshell declaration in the banquet hall, Duke Lexion laughed heartily upon seeing Adelina eating strawberries in the waiting room.  

“Can you even eat at a time like this?”

“I’m so nervous that I have to eat. Moving my mouth helps me feel less tense.”  

‘What a sight.’  

Lexion shook his head at Stephan, who was sitting next to Adelina, removing the stems from the strawberries.  

It was amazing how those clumsily large hands didn’t crush the strawberries.  

“So, we already did that, huh?”

Lexion sat across from Adelina and poured himself a cup of whatever tea was available in the waiting room.  

“What are you going to do? A priestess from the temple is coming in a week. They say she’s going to verify my virginity!”

Adelina crossed her arms over her chest and shivered. Just the thought seemed horrifying.  

“What do you mean, what to do? We’ll just make it a fact.”  

“Huh? How?”  

Lexion took the strawberry that Stephan had carefully de-stemmed and put it into Adelina’s mouth.  

“Don’t worry. I’ll take care of everything.”  

Why worry so much?  

It’s something very simple. Something that could be done even tonight.  

Watching Adelina chew the strawberry he gave her, Lexion took a sip of the hastily brewed tea.  

“Do you have a death wish?”  

“Ahem…”  

Under the fierce glares of Adelina and Stephan, Lexion set down the teacup and straightened his posture.  

‘Lately, Stephan’s discipline has loosened. I should find a day to set things straight.’  

Playing the father role, he was acting as if he were truly Adelina’s father.  

“Find out how they verify virginity. I’ll come up with a plan.”  

“Why go through all that trouble? We could just do it once.”  

“Duke.”  

“Haha. Just kidding.”  

As Adelina glared at him as if she could kill, Lexion laughed awkwardly and raised his hands.  

‘Even her fierceness is rather cute.’

She was cute when she pouted, and cute when she squinted her eyes. It was truly amusing to tease her.  

Lexion watched Stephan, still diligently removing strawberry stems with his large hands, and Adelina, who ate them naturally.  

He smiled bitterly at the thought that this peaceful scene might soon be shattered.  

+++

“Prince Isya. I have brought the Queen as you requested. You said you had something urgent to discuss.”  

Isya swallowed a groan internally as Chellus bowed.  

With Evans and Emperor Grain watching intently, bringing Sweeney here was a bold move!  

Jaeyon, who was nearby, noticed and quickly stepped forward to Sweeney.  

“Queen, I wanted to make a significant request, and knowing it was impolite, I asked my father for help.”  

“Jaeyon. Was it you?”  

Sweeney’s eyes lit up with life for the first time.  

Thanks to the quick-witted Jaeyon, Evans’s suspicions would be dispelled.  

“Yes, Your Majesty. With your permission, I would like to capture your beauty in a painting. I heard the dress completed yesterday is ready. It would be an honor if you could wear it.”  

“It’s a generous offer, but I don’t have enough time to pose as a model.”  

Clever indeed.  

Sweeney, satisfied with Jaeyon’s quick thinking, gave a vague response.  

This should have drawn enough attention, so it was fine to stop now.  

“If you would just try it on once, I will remember your beauty and paint it later. I will also present it as a small token of my sincerity, wishing for peace between our two nations.”  

‘The perceptive Jaeyon proposes again…’  

A glint appeared in Sweeney’s eyes.  

Even Prince Isya seemed unaware of Jaeyon’s intentions.  

“Jaeyon. I’ll do it.”  

Sweeney agreed readily.  

If he was re-requesting something she had refused once, there must be more than just an intention to get out of this situation.  

‘Just like his father. There’s a reason Isya always keeps him around.’  

Jaeyon must be planning to attempt something else under the guise of painting.  

“I look forward to the gift, Jaeyon.”  

“You will be satisfied, Your Majesty.”  

Seeing Jaeyon’s eyes gleam, Sweeney moved with Chellus to where the people from the Kingdom of Iberis were gathered.  

+++

The next day, after all the banquets ended, nobles who did not stay in the palace headed to their respective residences.  

The carriage of Lexion and Stephan headed not to a mansion but to Lake Lakeed.  

Despite only a few days passing, the ducklings that had grown significantly rushed to Lexion and Adelina in greeting.  

As the two sat side by side on a suitably secluded bench, Stephan hovered around, standing guard.  

“They say to drip the blood of a female pigeon on the wrist. After that, they draw blood and perform a second verification with holy water.”  

“What?”  

Quick, wasn’t it?

Lexion informed Adelina of the virginity test method he had learned overnight.

‘What is this? What an absurd method.’  

Adelina felt so relieved from yesterday’s tension and worry that she was almost deflated.  

“So, if I’m not a virgin, does blood bubble up in the holy water?”  

“Hahaha. As if that would happen.”  

Lexion laughed heartily, finding it as absurd as she did.  

‘What… Do handsome people even have charming laughter?’

Adelina, seemingly free of worries for the moment, stared intently at Lexion’s bright face.  

His front hair fluttered slightly in the spring breeze. It seemed even his long eyelashes swayed in the breeze.  

‘Why?’  

When Adelina stared at him, Lexion mouthed, puzzled.  

“Oh. So, how do they verify with pigeon blood?”