“If that’s true, it’s such a shameful thing! Yet she walks around with her head held high so shamelessly? How thick-skinned….. I feel sorry for Countess Arcis!”

“Ah! Come to think of it, Lady Arcis has been chasing after His Highness the Crown Prince, hasn’t she?”

“I heard that too. I thought Lady Arcis carried herself quite properly for someone from such a humble family, but seeing how she doesn’t know her place, blood really doesn’t lie, does it?”

“Hah… that’s right, Lady Arcis wasn’t even invited to the party, but she heard His Highness was coming and showed up, making me so embarrassed! I still feel my face burning when I think about it. It was my niece’s debutante, but the atmosphere became so awkward it felt like a funeral.”

“She seems to have no shame.”

Estelle glanced at the murmuring people from the corner of her eye and took the champagne glass offered by an attendant. Though the music muffled their words, their expressions clearly revealed what they were discussing. These were things she had never noticed before.

She had been too focused on Lexion to pay attention to such matters.

“My daughter must be so beautiful that everyone is looking only at you.”

Unable to reveal the truth to Count Merlin, who spoke with a proud voice, Estelle just sipped her champagne. At times like this, she thought it was fortunate that her father was so oblivious.

“Um… Lady Arcis.”

As time passed, young nobles who had been watching from afar approached one by one to introduce themselves. Count Merlin looked at this scene with satisfaction, but Estelle frowned.

Their interest was not pure. Most either made a disgusting bet on who could conquer her first or thought of her as an easy woman.

How could she be sure? She wished she didn’t know either. If she hadn’t heard their gossip treating her as mere entertainment, she might still have viewed them innocently.

“We met at Viscountess’s party before. Do you remember me?”

“I’m not sure.”

“My grandparents had connections with the Arcis family……”

“Then you should talk to my father.”

Maintaining her cold attitude, Estelle habitually looked in one direction. There stood Lexion in front of an expensive tapestry, surrounded by several people. Though he was responding with a friendly face, Estelle knew well that his expression was false.

Yes, false. His gentle smile, warm embrace, everything was a lie.

Her tongue feeling oddly dry, Estelle gulped down the champagne she had filled to the brim.

[You said you loved me! Then… how… how could you have another woman by your side besides me!]

What was Lexion’s expression then? He probably sighed with annoyance. His eyes, looking at her as if soothing a child, were deeply tinged with fatigue.

[Estelle, don’t whine. You know everything can’t go your way.]

Recalling the past from before her regression, which hadn’t happened yet, Estelle soothed her bitter feelings with alcohol. The attendant, seeing her glass emptied so quickly, stood beside her and continued refilling it.

“Child, why are you drinking so much……”

If Count Merlin hadn’t stopped her after seeing her flushed cheeks, Estelle would have drunk excessively enough to ruin everything.

‘I must be crazy……!’

Estelle pressed her hot eyelids firmly with her hand. Mistaking her past when she could handle any amount of alcohol from living with it daily, she had unknowingly exceeded her limit.

Perhaps it was because her mind was at ease with her flawless plan. Drinking alcohol she normally avoided was the problem.

‘Why am I recalling past events……’

When Estelle’s eyes turned to Lexion again, their gazes met.

“……”

He was looking straight at her. Since when?

Estelle couldn’t break their entangled gaze, as if captured by his eyes. She was more puzzled than surprised. He was clearly looking at her. So… why?

Why couldn’t he tear his gaze away from her, as if nailed in place, when he had never given her even a single glance no matter how desperately she looked at him?

She felt as if his languid red eyes were reading all her thoughts. Estelle, staring at him in a daze, swallowed dry.

“Look over there! It’s Duke Alexis!”

As the hall became noisy again with someone’s arrival, Estelle, suddenly coming to her senses, avoided his gaze.

“…Father, I’m going to get some fresh air.”

It must be a coincidence….. Something trivial must have piqued his curiosity, catching his eye momentarily.

Estelle turned away after passing the persistent young nobles to Count Merlin. She drew a crimson curtain to indicate ‘in use,’ then went out to the terrace and covered her flushed face.

When would her heart remain calm even upon seeing him……. Her feelings that surged foolishly seemed stupid.

Her marriage to Lexion had ended with a very brief happiness, and they had clashed over everything. Estelle now seemed to understand why. Because he hadn’t loved her. That’s why she had always been angry at his indifference and begged for love that didn’t exist.

[So what exactly do you want?]

[Just… love only me like others do! I’m not asking for much!]

[Damn it, Estelle. We’re different from others! Why don’t you understand that yet!]

[We can have children if we try! The records saying a saintess can’t have children are just records!]

[Objects can’t have children.]

[I’m… not an object!]

[You were born that way. Born to be used as an object for those with special abilities! I’ll raise children from elsewhere as your own, so stop being childish.]

[I don’t want to see you with someone else! My heart… my heart… feels like it’s being torn apart!]

Damn alcohol. Estelle pressed her throbbing forehead.

“Lady Arcis.”

“……!”

Startled by the voice that sounded almost like an auditory hallucination, Estelle turned around. Seeing the man who had torn through her past, she nearly screamed.

She thought it might be an illusion created by her intoxication, but as his smile and approaching footsteps became clearer, she backed away as if fleeing from the familiar intruder.

“……”

Lexion quietly watched her, and Estelle turned pale. Something was wrong. He shouldn’t be here; he should have moved to the garden with the Margrave to have an argument.

“Lady Arcis.”

“……”

Estelle couldn’t answer. What had changed? This had never happened before, not even once. What had altered his behavior?

“Am I interrupting your rest?”

Lexion was seized by a strange feeling as he looked at the woman with hollow eyes as if the world had collapsed. She looked as if she had fallen into despair, like a small animal that had encountered a predator.

Faced with this unusual reaction, Lexion felt as if he had become some kind of monster. It wasn’t wrong, but it wasn’t a particularly pleasant feeling either.

He had met the woman who occasionally came to mind, and his body had moved on its own. He wanted to confirm, wondering if he had seen wrong. No matter how much he thought about it, he couldn’t find a reason why the fallen noble Arcis family would show hostility toward him.

Meeting her up close, he could tell. What he saw in that square wasn’t a mistake. She didn’t just hate him; she loathed him.

“Y-Your Highness the Crown Prince.”

Estelle took a short deep breath, suppressing her complex emotions. Except for when she had been married to him, this was the first time they had conversed alone so closely.

“What brings you here……”

Estelle swallowed hard and bowed her head. Entering a terrace that was being used privately without permission was a great rudeness.

Past or present, the man who invaded her space with an indifferent face. Arrogant, with everyone beneath his feet, he didn’t offer a single apology for his rude behavior.

“I wonder if I’m making you uncomfortable, Lady Arcis.”

As if you didn’t know that….. But Estelle wasn’t in a position to openly question his rudeness.

“You seem to have had too much to drink.”

“It’s been a while since I attended a party….. I’m fine now… Ah!”

Estelle felt a touch on her nape and raised her head in shock. With an ascetic expression but blatant behavior, he wore the face of a gentleman. Though she stepped back and covered her neck as if to stop him, Lexion finally removed his hand after thoroughly stroking from her neckline to her shoulder, his eyes crinkling with a friendly expression.

“You seemed feverish.”

“What is this……”

Lexion let out a small laugh. Her eyes told him everything. Perverted bastard. Even without the special ability possessed by the Duke of the East, it was obvious what she was thinking.

A malicious playfulness appeared in the corner of his eyes. While he was pleased with her attitude of disliking him enough to give her goosebumps, he wondered if he shouldn’t have touched her. Touching her skin, which had turned peach-colored with heat, made him feel even more thirsty.

“Lady Arcis, I wanted to speak with you privately. You probably came here to avoid them, and though it must be annoying to have a similar bastard follow you, please spare me some time.”