Carlos remained silent and motionless.

After a while, Annely wondered if he had left, so she turned her head. Much to her surprise, she saw that Carlos was standing a few steps away, watching her.

Their eyes met — his gaze was relentless.

“So now you’re finally looking at me.”

He had disregarded her words not to come back and simply turned his attention back to her. He had been waiting for her to look at him, unable to tear his eyes away from her delicate earlobe.

As the seconds stretched on, his impatience grew. Just as he was about to reach out to her, Annely turned around.

Her smooth hair swayed with the motion, loose strands brushing lightly against her slender cheek.

“It took exactly six minutes, Annely.”

“…You heard what I said, didn’t you?”

“I did.”

“Then you won’t come anymore?”

“I will.”

Annely was left speechless by his blatant disregard. Carlos glanced at her softly parted lips, then shifted his gaze to the painting.

He hadn’t paid much attention to it before, so this was the first time he had examined it closely. Even without color, the sketch was so complete that it didn’t look lacking at all. Just as Annely had said, she could finish it without him.

“It’s better if I’m here.”

“You’re busy.”

He wasn’t so busy that he couldn’t spare her an hour.

Just as he was about to tell her, a familiar thought occurred to him—an excuse he had used with Annely time and again in the days leading up to the succession ceremony. Whenever she approached him, he turned away, claiming to be busy and leaving her standing there alone.

It had only been three months, yet it felt like years ago.

Lifting his gaze from the painting, Carlos met Annely’s eyes.

The reason those three months felt so distant was that Annely herself had changed.

Her eyes had always been striking — more precisely, their unusual color, which he had never seen in anyone else, inevitably drew attention. They shimmered like glass marbles yet gleamed like the rarest jewels in the world. Once you had seen them, it was impossible to look away.

Only now did Carlos understand why her eyes had always been the most beautiful of all.

They always shone whenever she looked at him.

Their eyes had sparkled from the moment they first met, which is why he hadn’t noticed before.

Now, after only three months, he found himself looking into eyes that had lost their sparkle — eyes that no longer shone especially for him. He turned his gaze away.

Yet no matter how hard he searched, he could not discern exactly what he had lost.

Although he knew that staring into that darkness was futile, Carlos found himself unable to move.

He admitted to himself that he had been destined to fall for Annely’s deception. Anyone capable of flawlessly feigning a radiant gaze would inevitably deceive him.

“…I’m not so busy that I can’t spend even an hour with you.”

When words failed to reach him, Annely let out a faint sigh and turned her head away.

“Take care of yourself.”

When Carlos left those words behind and departed, Annely frowned. A sense of unease crept over her.

***

That premonition proved to be correct.

Carlos came again the next day. Annely did not spare him a glance, focusing solely on her painting. Despite knowing she wasn’t looking at him, Carlos remained seated, watching her.

Perhaps because she had endured his unabashed gaze for several days, it no longer made her uncomfortable. Before she knew it, Annely was completely absorbed in her work and had forgotten about Carlos entirely.

The following day, Annely had a strong feeling that he would come again. Letting out a sigh, she tidied her brushes and prepared to paint.

Just then, there was a knock at the door and Amber burst in, calling out urgently.

“Madam, Sir Ronan is here!”

At the mention of Ronan, Annely started and set her brush down.

“What brings him here?”

“I don’t know either. But he said it’s something urgent.”

Seeing the worry on Amber’s face, Annely jumped up.

Ronan was one of Tedor’s closest aides, and the Grand Duke and Fedric were due to arrive the following day. Annely couldn’t help but fear that Ronan’s sudden visit might bring bad news. She couldn’t afford to delay for even a moment.

Without time to change, she threw a shawl over herself and hurried towards the hall alone. As she rushed down the stairs, gripping the banister, Ronan noticed her and stepped forward in alarm.

“Duchess, please—take your time.”

“What happened?”

Cold sweat ran down her back from descending so hastily, but Annely paid it no mind.

Seeing how anxious she looked, Ronan hesitated for a moment. Then he smiled.

“This is my fault. It wasn’t that urgent after all – I must have explained it badly to the maid. His Majesty caught a chill a few days ago when he was exposed to the cold wind, and his condition has worsened. Yet he refuses to step away from state affairs. It’s wearing me out. I thought I might need the Duchess’s help, but in my haste, I was discourteous.”

Only after hearing that it wasn’t a grave matter did Annely finally feel relieved.

“Since His Majesty will be attending the banquet tomorrow regardless, there’s no need to worry, Duchess. I’ll remain by his side.”

But as Ronan turned to leave, Annely reflexively stopped him.

“His Majesty’s condition… is it quite serious?”

Ronan glanced around before offering a faint smile.

“If he rests well today, he should have no trouble attending tomorrow’s banquet.”

The words were flawless—yet Annely frowned. Ronan had clearly said that Tedor was unable to rest because he kept working.

Which meant that unless someone persuaded him to stop, his condition was serious enough that he might not be able to attend the banquet at all.

“Please wait a moment. I’ll change and go to the palace with you.”

Ronan bowed with a smile, barely able to hide his rising joy.

“Take your time, Duchess.”

Annely immediately returned to her room with Amber and changed clothes. Since she was going in such a hurry, there was, of course, no time to apply makeup.

“I’ll be back soon, so stay at the estate, Amber.”

“Understood. Please be careful, Madam.”

Annely hesitated for a moment as she took Ronan’s hand and stepped into the carriage.

Ronan had only been permitted onto the estate because Carlos had allowed it. This meant that Carlos would also know that she was following Ronan to the Imperial Palace.

What troubled her was the timing. This was usually her painting time.

For a moment, she felt as though the gaze she had sensed during yesterday’s session was bearing down on her again.

“Duchess?”

At Ronan’s call, Annely said nothing and climbed into the carriage.

There was no need to have Amber pass along a message—Carlos would already know everything.

Just like before, there was no need for her to concern herself with Carlos.

So Annely soothed herself with that thought and turned her gaze toward the window.

***

“…And so, the Duchess said she would change and then go to the imperial palace together.”

Knox repeated word for word what he had heard in the hall.

When no reply came even after he finished speaking, Knox cautiously lifted his gaze.

Carlos stood by the window, looking down at the grounds below, appearing as though he hadn’t heard a single word.

“…Yes.”

In response to the delayed reply, Knox quickly lowered his head again.

Carlos paid no attention to this trivial gesture. His eyes were fixed on Annely as she took Ronan’s hand and climbed into the carriage.

She seemed to hesitate for a moment before climbing inside. The door closed.

Carlos didn’t blink once, watching until the carriage started moving, passed through the front gate, and disappeared completely from view.

“Is the baron’s statement true?”

“It’s highly unlikely. There has been no separate notice from the imperial palace.”

Even as he answered, Knox felt puzzled.

It was common knowledge that Tedor had been frail since birth. Because of this, he never made any real effort to hide his minor illnesses, and thanks to his supporters, his condition was usually easy to ascertain.

This time, however, Tedor’s state was no different to normal.

This meant that Ronan’s words were a lie.

“A lie…”

Why? Why lie just to summon Annely to the palace?

They were due to meet the following day anyway.

Carlos clenched his fists tightly, but his expression remained impassive. With a blank face, he traced the path where the carriage had already disappeared.

‘Wasn’t stealing moments during the banquet enough for him?’

Tedor had always been mindful of Annely’s desire to avoid the palace. That was why he had never used that excuse to call her there.

Carlos’s heart began to pound and he felt a sense of unease turning into dizziness. Although winter was approaching quickly, he felt as though his body were on the verge of burning up.