Isabelle frowned as she looked at the letter that had arrived for her. 

 “What? Only two people?” 

 It wasn’t a joke — they were telling her to choose between just two people. 

 She ran her fingers through her golden hair and crumpled the paper roughly. Then her gaze fell on the attached portraits. 

 “Seems like you like what you see.” 

 “Ah! You scared me!” 

 Isabelle’s heart pounded. Her whole body froze at the sudden appearance of the man. When she turned her head, a man with long black hair approached. 

 The man with yellow eyes plopped down in a chair and shuffled through the papers. 

 “What…… what is this?” 

 “I can’t tell if you’re pretending not to know or really don’t recognize me.” 

 Zeno looked at Isabelle with a curt expression, crossing his legs. Only then did Isabelle realize who this man was. 

 “I didn’t know divine beasts could take human form. More than that, I guess you’ve decided not to hide anymore?” 

 “No need to hide anymore since we’re going to the imperial palace.” 

 “What do you think?” 

 Isabelle handed Zeno the papers containing information about the two men. 

 “Since you’re a divine beast, can’t you tell things like whether people are good or not?” 

 “If I could do that, would I be in this situation? They both look decent enough.” 

 Zeno looked at the two men with gentle expressions and thought. 

 ‘They both look kind enough to put up with her personality. Wonder if they’ll be able to handle it.’ 

 Feeling his yellow eyes glancing at her judgmentally, Isabelle snatched the papers back. 

 “What’s with that look? You’ve gotten unpleasant after spending time with my sister.” 

 “Watch your language. You have such a pretty face, yet I don’t know why you choose such vocabulary.” 

 Zeno shook his head and stood up from his seat. 

 “Make your choice quickly. If we’re going to the imperial palace, we need to hurry.” 

 “I guess you’re fine with going to Father? Even though I’m using you.” 

 “Hey. I’m the one using you.” 

 Zeno and Isabelle glared at each other with looks of distaste. 

 “Go with Benjamin or whatever his name is.” 

 “……Why should I?” 

 “He’s better looking, isn’t he?” 

 Isabelle tilted her head as she compared the two men. In terms of looks, Elliot was better. 

 ‘He’ll end up being Father’s puppet.’ 

 Even without Zeno’s suggestion, she had planned to choose Benjamin. 

 Since he was just meant to be a scandal partner to buy time, it didn’t matter who it was, but if news spread about her eloping with an imperial knight, it wouldn’t end as just a time-buying tactic. 

 “We’ll leave for the capital tomorrow.” 

 “……Well, it’s good that you decided quickly.” 

 Zeno glanced at the documents in Isabelle’s hand. 

 ‘Good thinking.’ 

 I won’t covet what belongs to Master anymore. Though it depends on how that man handles things. 

 He went to the window and opened it. 

 When he stretched out his hand, a bird flew over and perched on it. 

 ‘Tell Master. She chose Benjamin, and we leave tomorrow.’ 

 “Tweet, tweet!” (Got it!) 

 The bird spread its wings from Zeno’s hand and flew straight up into the sky. 

 “I guess being a divine beast means you’re friendly with animals. Is that why there were so many animals at the Grand Duke’s residence?” 

 Isabelle spoke while recalling the animals she had glimpsed briefly. Zeno shrugged his shoulders and turned around to look at her. 

 “Something like that. The Princess seems more interested in others than I expected? I thought you only cared about yourself.” 

 “That’s right, I only care about myself. So what? How can I change something so big?” 

 “Well, it’s better than denying it, but you’re exactly like the Emperor when it comes to being unpleasant.” 

 “If you keep talking like this, I won’t cooperate. You think I don’t know you’re following me to the imperial palace because of Claire?” 

 Isabelle leaned back in her chair, smiling with narrowed eyes. 

 “If you want to protect something, you should try to get on my good side. That’s how Claire stays safe. You got into trouble for hiding her, didn’t you?” 

 If it was trouble from hiding her, the solution was simple. 

 Just don’t let anyone find out that Claire was the contractor who could fully possess divine beasts — something the Emperor couldn’t do. 

 At least until all contracts with the divine beasts were complete, Claire’s ability must not be discovered. 

 “Then, I’ll do as you wish.” 

 Zeno walked over to Isabelle and took her hand. Then, with a deep smile, he kissed the back of her hand. 

 “Let’s work well together as allies. Deceiving the Emperor’s eyes will be quite a difficult task.” 

 “……Whatever you say.” 

 Isabelle didn’t hate Zeno being kind to her. 

 Though the word ‘ally’ felt awkward, to her who had never had a friend before, Zeno’s presence felt somewhat different. 

 ❖ ❖ ❖ 

 When Claire and Cedric learned that Isabelle had chosen Benjamin, they immediately took action. 

 “Won’t he be surprised?” 

 “Wife, Sir Benjamin will accept.” 

 “How can you be so sure?” 

 At times like this, Cedric wouldn’t reveal what made him curious. He would just smile with a deep expression. 

 After taking a carriage to the capital, they called Sir Benjamin to their lodgings to meet him. 

 “He’ll come whenever I call.” 

 “Actually, Your Highness wanted it to be Benjamin all along, didn’t you?” 

 “Though I didn’t expect the Princess would choose him, it is fortunate. The imperial knight and I don’t get along very well, after all.” 

 Actually, I hadn’t expected Isabelle to choose Benjamin either. 

 From what I’d briefly heard about Isabelle’s ideal type when she was young, Elliot was closer to it. 

 “Since she’s coming to the capital today, shouldn’t we align our stories with Sir Benjamin first?” 

 “No need. We’ll discuss everything together once the Princess arrives. We can create the story when both of them are here.” 

 I hadn’t expected this either. 

 Though I usually act quickly knowing the original story, I wonder how far ahead he’s looking. 

 Knock knock knock. 

 Along with the knock, the servant announced a visitor had arrived. 

 When the door opened, Sir Benjamin stepped into the reception room. 

 “Thank you for calling me. I am Benjamin Alec.” 

 “Thank you for coming right away. I trust you haven’t told anyone else.” 

 Benjamin nodded. Brown hair and green eyes. Gentle eyes curved in an arc, a sharply defined jawline, and lips that seemed to hold a smile. 

 Seeing him in person, he was much more handsome than in the photo. 

 But his appearance was just like…… a supporting male lead. Look at his brown hair and eye color. 

 Benjamin’s presence was so clear that one could shout “That’s a supporting character!” even from far away. And a brown-haired green-eyed man being gentle is the truth. 

 ‘Why wasn’t he in the original work?’ 

 Is it something like not giving any narrative to supporting characters? You poor thing, meeting such a harsh author. 

 His handsome features, broad shoulders, neatly swept hair, and faint smile all matched well together. 

 “Since we don’t have time, I’ll get straight to the point. Would you be alright with having a scandal with Princess Isabelle?” 

 “That would be fine. Has Her Highness the Princess agreed?” 

 “She has. We need to deceive the Emperor, so we’ll coordinate our stories when the Princess arrives — just keep that in mind.” 

 “Understood.” 

 “……Is that all?” 

 I asked Sir Benjamin. There were many things to ask about, like desired conditions or why this needed to be done. 

 “Wife, is there a problem?” 

 “I was just wondering if he had any questions. This could be dangerous for Sir Benjamin too.” 

 “Grand Duchess. I’ve already received what I wanted, so you need not worry about that.” 

 Benjamin maintained his smile. Had he already received what he wanted from Cedric? 

 “That’s good then.” 

 It seems I’ll need to get an explanation from Cedric later. I glanced at him softly. 

 “I’ll explain separately later.” 

 Cedric bent down and whispered quietly in my ear. 

 “We’re married, we agreed not to keep secrets…… I feel hurt.” 

 His blue eyes widened then quickly narrowed. 

 “I understand.” 

 The corners of his mouth turned upward. 

 “I’ll tell you just this one thing — Sir Benjamin has been interested in the Princess for a while.” 

 “……Interested?” 

 I whispered, covering my mouth with my hand. Now that he said that, I was even more curious. 

 Unless there was some story between Isabelle and Benjamin, there had been no connection between them. So I looked at him with sparkling eyes. 

 “Excuse me for interrupting.” 

 Both Cedric and I turned our heads at the gentle voice. 

 “If you ask me directly, I can answer, Grand Duchess.” 

 “I should apologize. My wife likes whispering conversations in my ear.” 

 “……I do?” 

 I asked Cedric in a small voice. He lightly touched my fingers under the table. 

 His thick fingers slipped between mine, fitting perfectly like interlocking gears. 

 If I didn’t agree with his words, it would be like openly contradicting what was just said in front of someone, so I had no choice. 

 “His Highness’s whispering voice is quite sexy.” 

 In the end, I had to become something of a strange? person. 

 With a knock, the door opened and someone entered. 

 Golden hair swayed in the breeze visible through the gap. 

 “Sister, I’m here.” 

 Just like the day she barged into the Grand Duke’s residence, Isabelle spoke the same words with a bright smile.