This was about the two weeks she had spent confined in the annex after the hunting festival. She hadn’t wanted to join in Hitais’s festive atmosphere, and no one had invited her anyway. So she had simply stayed quietly in the annex to pass the time.

Hari smiled sweetly. It was a smile coated with appropriate courtesy and pretense.

“Since you said I no longer need to do manual labor, I suddenly found myself with a lot of free time. I was too busy trying different things while thinking about how to spend this extra time that I didn’t have a chance to go out.”

“What did you do?”

“I studied medicinal herbs, practiced the lyre…”

As passing clouds covered the sun, darkness fell for a moment. Then bright sunlight shone again. The incoming breeze lightly stirred Hari’s hair near her ears as she picked up the sauce cup.

“I also chatted with the servants. They say they’re busy with the wheat harvesting season. They were wondering if there would be enough hands when autumn comes to cultivate figs and grapes.”

Achilleon quietly observed the woman’s face with its gentle smile. Though her face was peaceful, her eyes held no particular emotion.

“The garden is truly beautiful.”

She added meaningless flattery with a bright smile, as if she had no interest in the newly constructed White Jade Palace’s garden. Suddenly, as her gaze wandered around the garden, it stopped at one point. It was a flowerbed where various flowers were planted in sections. Her wide-open eyes trembled slightly. Just as Achilleon, who had no interest in plants, belatedly turned his head to follow her gaze, her calm voice was heard.

“And I would prefer if such meetings could be held in my room from now on. This is burdensome.”

“It’s a lover’s duty. As per our contract.”

“Yes, that’s why…”

“So enjoy it.”

“…”

Hari, who had been responding smoothly, hesitated.

“Smile like you’re delighted. Chat away cheerfully.”

Watching her grip the water glass tightly, Achilleon continued slowly.

“Do that in front of me. That way, won’t everyone think we’re a normal couple?”

Clear eyes full of sunlight stared at him steadily.

“Yes, I will.”

The response that came after a long pause was dry. Nodding like that was sufficient, Achilleon concluded the uncomfortable meal by setting down his knife. The silence remained unbroken even as servants cleared the plates and brought out dessert.

In truth, Achilleon himself didn’t know exactly why he had invited Hari to lunch. At first, it was mere increased curiosity about the woman who had brought him victory at the hunting festival. Of course, there was also an element of reward. He was always clear with rewards and punishments for those who served him. By now, the clothes and jewelry he had sent would have been moved to Hari’s annex. Moreover, this whole process was also an official declaration of her rise in status. Having confirmed Hari’s abilities through the hunting festival, he could no longer treat her like a slave.

“Let’s walk a bit.”

After finishing their meal, the two moved to the garden’s walking path. Knowing this too was for show, Hari followed without a word. From the palace garden, one could see the western view of Mount Odepotos at a glance. Beyond the garden’s pergola with its pink marble pillars, a powerfully descending waterfall was visible. As they walked through the garden filled with rose and lemon scents, Margharita didn’t hide her admiration.

Muttering to herself things like beautiful, pretty, smells nice. When passing under the huge white arch structure, her large eyes grew even larger. However, she was generally a woman of few expressions. Being unexpressive meant she must be skilled at hiding. At least at this moment, she seemed sincere.

“May I look at that flower garden over there?”

“As you wish.”

Looking at Hari who asked with a flushed face, Achilleon thought unconsciously. Though she was a woman of pale colors, her eyes and lips were an intense red that captured attention. Unlike her seemingly soft exterior, something fiery red was hidden inside. The woman would never show it, nor would it be discovered, so it was right to remain wary. The woman running like a puppy seeing its first snow knows how to handle a sword. Those seemingly gentle eyes remember the hand that tried to kill him. She had held a sword with those snow-white hands more suited for pearl beads, and probably took other lives as well.

That day, when he discovered Hari confronting the masked man, he could instinctively tell. That her hidden killing intent could emerge at any time to aim for his neck. A woman with a weapon was that dangerous. Achilleon emerged from his thoughts when they reached the flowerbed with blue flowers blooming – the same flowers that had caught Hari’s attention from the balcony.

“May I take some to decorate my room? It’s a bit dreary.”

Hari turned around, holding an armful of blue raspi flowers. Her pleated peplos skirt rippled in a circle, and her transparently sparkling golden hair fluttered long. The woman wore a distinct smile he had never seen before.

“I think the scent will last long if I put them in a vase. I want to remember Lagonia while smelling the flowers. They were flowers my mother and aunts loved.”

That face shining with longing and joy must also be one of her true feelings. Her long eye corners folded prettily, and her jewel-like eyes narrowed. Her pink-tinged cheeks showed happiness without hiding. White sunlight illuminated the woman’s slender figure. The woman moved as though she were dancing, seemingly wrapped in dazzling radiance.

“Would that be alright?”

Achilleon, who had been staring at the woman’s flushed face, nodded, drawn in. The woman who had spent terrible times in the pit smiled refreshingly like breaking white waves.

He doesn’t trust Margharita. He’s not foolish enough to believe it was pure sincerity when she switched sides to become his person. Therefore, it was amusing how his determination to maintain vigilance seemed meaningless as he found himself unable to take his eyes off Margharita.

The wind shaking tree branches wrapped around the woman’s golden hair like a spinning wheel. Following the floating trajectory with his eyes, Achilleon slowly parted his lips.

“Anything else you want?”

“These flowers are enough.”

The flower language of raspi is freedom. Averting his gaze from the woman who was demonstrating her desire with her whole body even at this moment, Achilleon gave a brief eye signal to his aide. The blue flowers were tied with a white ribbon. After Rainan left carrying the flowers, their paused walk resumed. The woman who had been meaninglessly looking at the continuing flowerbeds asked.

“If you have no more business, may I return now? I’d like to choose a vase that suits the flowers myself.”

She seemed to be trying to avoid being with him by any means. What to do. A crooked smile appeared on Achilleon’s lips.

“No more business? We’re in the middle of putting on a perfect performance.”

Hari stared blankly at the hand Achilleon extended. After a long hesitation, she placed her pale hand on top of his. The two entered the main palace’s walking path where nobles passed by, after crossing through the White Jade Palace’s garden.

The blue-green leaves rustled like silk as they swayed. The rippling shadows created patterns on Achilleon’s sculpture-like smooth cheeks.

Passing nobles watched the two walking in matched steps with wide eyes. They moved with leisurely steps while appropriately receiving their greetings. Hari also acted composed to calmly handle the sudden unfamiliar attention directed at her. Though she occasionally twitched her hand from tension.

Achilleon quietly laughed. There was a certain entertainment in watching the woman who wanted to escape this situation but couldn’t move either way, being firmly bound to him.

“I think we’ve walked enough.”

“In Hitais’s social circles, there’s a custom for lovers to walk together to the end of the Sun Palace’s rose path. Leaving midway would lead to awkward rumors.”

Not catching the mischief in those words, Hari asked seriously.

“How much further do we need to go?”

“Until we can see the lime trees.”

The woman pressed her lips together. However, she played the role of a well-mannered mistress as if she had never shown a displeased face. Margharita maintained a bright and gentle smile while giving appropriate courtesies to the nobles. To those who actively engaged in conversation, she responded in a manner befitting their status. When Pasha, an elder council noble, tried to gauge the atmosphere between the two with hawk-like eyes, she even showed the image of an utterly affectionate couple by stroking Achilleon’s arm while giving eye-smiles.

It was then that the sound of clicking heels approached from not far away.

“Oh my.”

Stop. A shadow holding a parasol halted in front of Hari. The parasol covering the upper body tilted, and the woman’s face was slowly revealed. Selina quietly observed the two arm-in-arm with round eyes. Though she belatedly remembered her rudeness and paid respects to the third prince, the clear hostility in her momentarily fierce trembling eyes was unmistakable.

“I’ve heard much about your achievements at the hunting festival. Congratulations on your victory. Thanks to Your Highness’s merit, the people of Hitais Kingdom will be safe from the threat of beasts this year as well.”