Watching Kaiden struggle for words, Dana noticed sweat trickling near his eyes. Kaiden unconsciously furrowed one eye.

Dana held out the handkerchief she was holding to Kaiden.

“Wipe it off.”

Kaiden reached out and took Dana’s handkerchief. However, instead of wiping his sweat, he carefully held the handkerchief just like he had done once before. As if the handkerchief was something to be preciously held and gazed at.

But a handkerchief wasn’t that kind of thing. Dana, who had been quietly watching Kaiden, took one step closer to him. Then she took back the handkerchief from his hand and reached out toward him with the handkerchief in her hand.

Kaiden faced this sight with trembling eyes. Dana was approaching him, rising on her tiptoes and stretching out her arm. Kaiden bent down. Then Dana reached out with the handkerchief and wiped his sweat.

Kaiden stared blankly at Dana standing before him. A pleasant fragrance came from Dana as she drew near. Their faces were close. Her lips were slightly parted as she concentrated on wiping his forehead. Watching her like this, he unconsciously wanted to kiss those lips.

But Kaiden quickly came to his senses. He was currently in a mess of sweat and dust. Realizing that Dana must be smelling his sweat just as much as he could smell her fragrance made his head spin. He quickly pulled his body back.

“You’ll get dirty.”

The handkerchief that had been as soft and white as Dana was getting soiled by his sweat. Kaiden couldn’t bear to watch this. But Dana lowered her hand and replied:

“That’s what it’s for.”

Kaiden stared at the handkerchief in Dana’s hand. What had started neat and white and properly folded was now disheveled and wet because of him. Looking at it in Dana’s hand, Kaiden gulped.

Dana folded the handkerchief and handed it to her maid, then said:

“Let’s go now. We need to prepare for the banquet.”

“…Yes.”

Kaiden answered in a subdued voice. Dana smiled slightly and turned around. Ian, who had stepped aside, gave Kaiden a thumbs up. He mouthed silently:

‘Well done, right?’

Kaiden, with a murderously stiff face, glared and mouthed back:

‘Prepare to die.’

“……”

Kaiden followed after Dana, and the maid followed behind him. The other knights followed with gloomy faces.

As they were leaving the training ground, Dana asked Kaiden:

“By the way, Sir Connors said he recommended your outfit for my birthday banquet?”

“…You discussed even that?”

Ian felt something unsettling from behind. The innocent duchess continued chattering, unaware of the knight’s feelings.

“You should praise him. That outfit suited you very well.”

“I’m glad to hear that.”

“Yes. Sir Connors seems to be a knight with good taste and kindness.”

“Is that so……”

Ian saw Kaiden slightly turn his head and shoot a sharp, cold glare that could pierce. Ian’s mouth went dry.

‘My lady, please save me.’

As Ian was thinking desperately, Dana said from the front:

“Sir Connors played a big role in our marriage, didn’t he?”

“…Yes.”

Ian noticed the edge in Kaiden’s voice had softened slightly. He’s saved. Thinking this, he diligently followed behind the ducal couple along with the other knights.

* * *

The maids prepared to dress Dana for the banquet. They laid out the clothes, accessories, and shoes they had brought. With the maids’ help, Dana changed into a thin silk dress of deep blue, wore a thin silver crown set with lapis lazuli, and put on a lapis lazuli necklace. The lapis lazuli around her neck was exactly the same color as Kaiden’s eyes.

After finishing her preparations and looking in the mirror, a maid announced Kaiden’s arrival. The door opened and he entered. Dana saw Kaiden wearing a dark indigo cloak with silver embroidery at the edges and holding black gloves in his hand.

On a sudden impulse, Dana turned toward him. Then, lightly holding her skirts with both hands, she asked:

“How do I look?”

Kaiden couldn’t understand what she was asking, as she was always pretty and sparkling.

“The same as always.”

“……”

Dana was shocked. Though her face barely maintained a smile with upturned corners, her hands holding her skirts fell limply. Dana unconsciously looked at the maid who had dressed her.

“Really…?”

The shocked maid answered fearfully:

“O-of course you’re always beautiful, but… should I perhaps redo your hair……”

“No, it’s fine……”

Always the same, he says….. Dana tried not to show her disappointment as she walked toward Kaiden.

Dana looked at the man standing there watching her. The handsome man looked dashing whether in armor covered in sweat or dressed up like this.

To teach Kaiden what would be an appropriate and polite compliment to give to one’s spouse who had prepared for a banquet, Dana spoke deliberately:

“You look even more splendid than usual dressed up like this.”

Kaiden knew that he was a knight who had to spend most of his time in heavy armor soaked in sweat, and therefore this appearance that suited Dana didn’t suit him.

Of course he looked better than when covered in sweat, having been dressed in expensive clothes with several servants attending to his appearance. But this was an unfamiliar look that couldn’t always be maintained for a knight who had to hunt magical beasts and traverse rough mountains. So he just answered briefly:

“Yes.”

Dana just smiled. Kaiden, who had roughly tucked his gloves into his chest, held out his hand. Dana placed her hand on his and walked to the reception room.

It was time to attend the banquet celebrating the prince’s birth.

* * *

The celebratory banquet was held in the outdoor hall of the Divine Beast Temple in the royal palace gardens. The hall’s white pillars were abundantly decorated with green leaves and flowers to welcome summer. The various flowers blooming luxuriantly for summer were arranged in specific patterns of colors and spacing. It was a banquet hall decorated in the southern Rowen style that she hadn’t seen in a while.

Inside the banquet hall, musicians were playing slow music, and beside them, tables were set with seasonal dishes and ripe fruits. Around them, nobles gathered in small groups drinking wine.

At the highest seat in the hall sat King Taras and Queen Bridget, with the young prince lying in a golden cradle beside them. Dana entered the hall with Kaiden and gave her greetings.

“Congratulations to you both.”

Taras replied to Dana’s words:

“Thank you. Since you’ve come to the capital after so long, enjoy the banquet fully.”

Dana realized that Bridget, sitting beside Taras, looked very tense. It was understandable. The previous banquet held at this Divine Beast Temple was Dana’s seventeenth birthday banquet. The worst banquet that ended in failure. From Bridget’s perspective, it was natural to worry whether today’s banquet for the prince would end safely.

Dana, pretending not to notice Bridget’s concern, smiled and said:

“Congratulations, Bridget.”

Bridget replied with a smile, pulling up the corners of her lips:

“Thank you. Please say hello to Elias too.”

Dana approached the cradle and looked at the sleeping baby. A very tiny baby with barely any hair was sleeping. His face was small, with small eyes, nose, and mouth, and even his hands were too tiny.

Looking at that baby, Dana felt very strange feelings. As Dana remembered, in her past life, Prince Elias had been taken away by Taras and Bridget as they fled. She hadn’t heard what happened to the prince after the king and queen died.

Whatever Dana remembered from her past life, right now the prince was sleeping peacefully. It would have been nice if he could continue growing peacefully like this in his golden cradle.

‘It will be that way, my nephew.’

Because this time she would protect this kingdom.

‘What other baby would I have to protect…’

Since she wouldn’t have children of her own. This child would be the only one whose growth she would watch – opening his eyes, holding up his head, and learning to speak.

The sleeping prince whimpered with a soft cry. With a gentle smile, Dana pushed and pulled the prince’s golden cradle back and forth with appropriate force.

“There, there…”

The cradle swayed slowly back and forth in the direction Dana pushed and pulled. The prince, quiet again, fell soundly asleep in the swaying motion. Kaiden stood beside her, quietly looking down at Dana as she rocked the cradle.