“Carlo, that guy, did he eat something bad?”

Odin frowned with his entire face as he spoke.

I had brought Odin, who had been napping, and Carlo was looking at him with an equally unwelcoming expression.

When the second part of the wine tasting began, Carlo stood by my side, pretending to accommodate the nobles’ earnest requests that the Grand Duke’s advice would be valuable.

I could fully understand why Odin was staring at Carlo with his mouth open.

No, not just Odin.

Except for Dillan, the other nobles were also sitting with faces that doubted their own eyes and ears.

This was because most of what Carlo said during the second tasting went like this:

“What do you think?”

When nobles asked Carlo’s opinion about the wine, he would ask me, and.

“Do as the Grand Duchess wishes.”

He responded the same way to other matters requiring decisions, and.

“Who would dare defy her? Right?”

He pressured everyone with a fierce gaze mixed with amusement, yet still managed to smile generously.

“Hahaha. Isn’t this an extremely enjoyable time?”

A nobleman burst into laughter, speaking in a tone of utmost reverence.

The elegant young ladies sitting quietly drinking wine also nodded in agreement, glancing at me.

But I clearly saw it. The cold sweat beading on that man’s forehead who had just laughed.

I lowered my voice slightly and whispered to Carlo.

“Why don’t you get up now? You could wait in my office or…”

“I don’t want to.”

He calmly replied while keeping his gaze fixed on me as he took a sip of wine.

“Everyone wants me here.”

His words weren’t wrong, but…!

I’m sure this man must have heard some incorrect example of couple gatherings somewhere.

Something like embarrassing your wife. Making everyone around uncomfortable. That sort of thing?

“The next wine is…”

As a servant explained the next wine and poured red wine into the new glass in front of me, Carlo watched leisurely before speaking in a quiet tone not much different from before.

“I should check if it’s poisoned.”

No sooner had he finished speaking than all the nobles quickly took a sip of wine to prove there was nothing wrong with it.

Though he hadn’t singled anyone out to order them, they felt subtle pressure to taste it.

Meanwhile, Medlin, standing nearby, immediately checked my wine for poison with a silver spoon, and other servants hurriedly examined the side dishes on the table for any issues.

Medlin even seemed to greatly welcome Carlo’s attitude of constantly overprotecting me.

To me, Carlo’s behavior was excessive protection, but to others, he was simply a fearsome Grand Duke protecting his wife who had supposedly been threatened with murder.

Only after confirming there was no poison in the wine or food could I finally taste the last wine on the list.

“How is it?”

Carlo asked as he personally held a gold bowl-shaped spittoon in front of me.

Helping me spit out wine was Medlin’s job, but Carlo insisted on doing even that himself.

Is this how you resolve the injustice of disturbing rumors? Really?

“Why are you doing this, seriously…”

When I spoke almost tearfully, he wiped the wine from my lips with a napkin and leaned back in his chair, looking quite satisfied with my reaction.

“I need to show this much so people can see how crazy I am about you.”

He replied in a low voice while pretending to tuck my hair behind my ear.

This is absurd.

“…Apart from the rumors, I think you’re enjoying my embarrassment?”

“Ah, that’s the greatest pleasure.”

He smiled charmingly and deliberately brushed my neck as his hand slid down past my earlobe.

I could see people watching us flinch and quickly lower their gazes, but I didn’t dare look back at him either, straightening my back instead.

“They seem pleased too.”

Not at all!

I wanted to tell him that everyone was extremely tense trying to read his mood, but when I turned to check, Carlo was observing me with an exceptionally handsome face.

When our eyes met, he immediately curved his long eyes languidly.

“Ha…”

Ugh, this is harmful… too harmful. When that handsome man smiles, my heart tingles so much I can’t speak, can’t focus on work at all, and I even doubt my own sanity.

I like beautiful things, but I’m not someone who’s obsessed with them!

“Kyakyakyang!”

However, when I looked forward again, I was surprised to see Odin smiling broadly.

“Haa!”

But Odin, upon noticing me, let out a huge sigh, whether deliberately or not, and raised his fluffy paws to pretend to cover his blue eyes.

“I must have lived too long. To witness such an unseemly sight!”

The way he was thumping his tail on the table clearly showed his displeasure, but the way he lowered his paws slightly to look back and forth between Carlo and me revealed his curiosity.

‘I’m sorry.’

Left speechless by Odin’s reaction, I mouthed a small apology, but contrary to my expectations, Odin shrugged as if not particularly displeased.

“You have nothing to be sorry about. Anyone can see that guy is deliberately coming on to you.”

Ah, that’s really Carlo doing it on purpose.

He seems to really hate hearing those groundless rumors. He must be doing this deliberately for others to see.

I was itching to explain about Carlo, but it seemed I wouldn’t have the chance until the wine tasting ended.

“Your Highness.”

Just then, the greenhouse door opened and Joseph, after asking for permission, strode in.

From Dillan’s gaze as he quickly followed Joseph, I could sense he too was trying to figure out what was happening.

Joseph bowed in greeting and quietly delivered a message to Carlo.

What could it be?

I couldn’t hear anything, so I couldn’t guess.

It was even harder to predict the situation from Carlo’s expressionless face as he listened quietly without any emotional reaction.

“Continue.”

After meeting my eyes while gently gripping my shoulder, Carlo finished speaking and left the greenhouse with Joseph.

“His Majesty the Emperor commands you to enter the palace immediately.”

The urgent message clearly contained the Emperor’s handwriting and seal.

“After saving the critically ill Emperor, now he asks me to come to the palace promptly.”

Though Carlo understood the desire to escape from the Empress’s grasp, his generosity toward the aging Emperor was only activated by the calculation that he might need him someday.

Since the situation at December would have been continuously reported to the imperial palace, it was natural that they would have heard Carlo had come here.

“Will you go?”

“Who would dare exceed the Emperor’s command?”

Joseph swallowed a sigh and stared at his lord as Carlo responded with cynicism.

The Empress’s power had grown immense, and the Emperor had been bedridden for well over ten years.

During that time, the weakened Emperor had become too frail to oppose the Empress. That’s why he hadn’t even dared to summon Carlo, the general and Grand Duke who held the military in one hand and allowed no enemies.

Occasionally, when the Empress called Carlo to the imperial palace to keep him in check, she had to make excuses about inquiring after his well-being to barely get him to come.

She had good reason, having committed great sins against Carlo.

“……”

The problem was the day of the Conz River incident.

Whatever change the attempted murder of the Grand Duchess had caused in Carlo’s judgment, he had ultimately restored life to the Emperor who had been at death’s door.

It seemed to be in preparation for when Genevieve tried to change the balance of power, especially when she tried to attack the Grand Duchess with her authority.

Everyone knew that no matter how desperately Genevieve tried to go after Grand Duke Hedegen, there would never come a day when she would have elements to condemn or justification to attack him. Therefore, there was no particular need to keep the Emperor alive in preparation for something.

Joseph shook off his continuing thoughts and spoke.

“Going to see the Emperor now is dangerous. The Emperor wouldn’t have summoned Your Highness without purpose. If you go, you’ll be giving the Empress and her close associates justification to attack you. You could decline using the Novahans training as an excuse…”

“Is that what you want to say?”

“……”

“If I don’t go.”

Carlo smiled coldly as he put on his uniform.

“Will the Emperor’s purpose in summoning me disappear?”

Joseph hesitated and held his breath.

As Carlo said, the Emperor had summoned him with some purpose.

The Empress would try to figure out what it was. And Carlo was voluntarily walking somewhere between them, into the fire pit.

“Must you do this? You don’t have to.”

“Well…”

Carlo replied leisurely as he boarded the carriage opened by a servant.

“I suppose I’ve found something I want to protect.”

“!”

Just as a woman immediately came to Joseph’s mind, Carlo’s gaze shifted somewhere beyond Joseph.

Looking back, Joseph saw the Grand Duchess running toward the carriage.

“See?”

With Carlo’s casually amused voice ending, the Grand Duchess’s slender figure was pulled into the carriage.

Thud—

In the blink of an eye, Carlo grabbed her, lifted her into the carriage, closed the door, and looked down at Lea.

She had dropped everything she was carrying due to the pulling force, and her appearance as she breathed quietly beneath him resembled a startled rabbit.

“What’s all this?”

He asked, gesturing with his eyes to the items that had fallen on the carpet beneath the seat where she was lying.

“…Snacks to eat on the way to the imperial palace, and medicine just in case…”

He traced her lips with his eyes as she spoke haltingly, suppressing her surprise.

What she had brought were things that would already be somewhere in this large carriage, but seeing her like this made it feel like they weren’t there at all, which he found amusing even to himself.

“Umm, could we talk in a position other than this one?”

“I don’t want to.”

“But in this state, it’s a bit…”

Her red hair, tinged like softly blooming pink petals, flowed down in curls here and there, dizzying his vision. How could he leave this behind?

“To others, it looks like I’ve been kidnapped…”

“Indeed.”

Carlo replied casually and spoke in a calm, low tone.

“It would have been better if I had locked you up somewhere, right?”