“Do you think I wouldn’t know just because I stay in the palace? I heard about a Peirasmos from Ranke. Isn’t that right? The courtesan you fell for at first sight and received a fan from.”

Only then did Jean realize who Edwin was referring to as his lover.

Simonetta. It seems rumors about Simonetta and himself were circulating in society.

“It’s just a baseless rumor. I accepted the fan without knowing its meaning and have already returned it to its owner.”

“In other words, you’re not involved with her at all? The rumor about you falling for her is also false?”

Jean remained silent for a moment at Edwin’s question.

‘Indeed. I’m curious myself. What kind of relationship do she and I have?’

Jean recalled the contract he had made with her a few days ago.

Three times. It was a contract to stand by each other and help when either was in danger.

‘So are we friends or colleagues? Since we promised to help each other.’

Jean slightly frowned.

They were neither friends nor colleagues.

Even if they had contracted to help each other in dangerous situations, one doesn’t kiss friends or colleagues.

While the kiss at Ranke might have been intentional, the kiss he placed on her forehead after drawing up the contract was more like an impulse.

She was beautiful. That’s why he kissed her forehead, and that was the only reason.

“I can’t believe it, Duke Reushden. Are you actually smiling right now? While thinking about that Peirasmos from Ranke?”

Jean looked up. Edwin was staring at him as if witnessing something extraordinary.

“It’s not that. I was just thinking about a cat I saw at a shop I visited a few days ago. It was extremely haughty.”

“A cat? I didn’t know you had an interest in animals.”

Edwin examined Jean’s expression as if surprised, clearly intending to read his thoughts.

“I haven’t been interested until now. But it strangely caught my attention. I’m thinking about trying to tame it.”

“Don’t get too attached. Once you give affection to something, it’s hard to break free. But it is interesting. Duke Reushden keeping a cat.”

Despite his words of interest, Edwin’s expression was utterly dry.

He seemed disappointed, having thought there was something between Jean and the Peirasmos from Ranke, but finding it wasn’t the case. A cat instead.

“Duke Reushden, why don’t you attend the party tonight instead of being like this?”

“I apologize, Your Majesty. As you know, I dislike such commotion.”

“Aren’t you lonely enough to become attached to animals? Moreover, there are already two rumors about you spreading in society. Shouldn’t you do something to address them?”

“None of them are true.”

“Duke Reushden. You must have spent too long on the battlefield. Seeing how you’ve forgotten how important it is for nobles to maintain their family honor and reputation.”

Jean’s expression hardened at Edwin’s criticism.

“So from now on, make appearances at the parties I designate. Shouldn’t you cover up that dirty scandal with a high-class courtesan?”

The intention was obvious.

He meant for Jean to meet Duchess Roxburgh to quell the scandal with the Peirasmos from Ranke.

‘How unexpected. That Duchess Roxburgh and the Emperor are on the same side.’

Jean felt a sense of wariness toward Duchess Roxburgh, for whom he had previously felt nothing.

“But Your Majesty, I have no intention of attending parties.”

“Are you refusing my order, Duke Reushden?”

“I’m not refusing. As Your Majesty knows, I lack talent for socializing. If I attend, I would only make them uncomfortable.”

‘And I might kill anyone who irritates me.’

“I know that well. But you also know that you can’t just sit idle because you lack talent. Above all, you are the direct heir of the Reushden ducal family. An engagement for your successor is unavoidable.”

Edwin’s gaze sharpened.

It felt like a threat that if Jean didn’t attend social gatherings, he would fabricate crimes against him.

It seemed impossible to refuse any further.

Jean even wondered why Edwin was going to such lengths.

“I will attend.”

Only then did a satisfied smile appear on Edwin’s face, which had been frowning with displeasure.

“You’ve made a wise decision, Duke Reushden. You tend to live life too boringly, so try to enjoy it from now on. Attend masked parties held in secret as well.”

A masked party was one where people attended with their identities concealed, not for social purposes but for pleasure.

Come to think of it, Edwin had been obsessed with masked parties during his time as Crown Prince.

He probably hadn’t broken free from that secret pleasure even now.

“I’m not interested.”

“A vigorous man like you having no interest in women? That’s concerning.”

Jean stared at Edwin with an expressionless face.

“There’s no need for concern, Your Majesty.”

Jean’s ice-blue eyes were cold in the early dawn light.

“My, it seems my words have hurt your pride as a man. Don’t be angry, Duke Reushden. I don’t believe the rumors that you’re a monk from Farel Monastery.”

Jean remained silent instead of answering.

“Then I’ll assume you’ll be attending Viscount Campbell’s party tonight.”

This was not a suggestion but a clear order.

And Edwin was satisfied, having achieved the purpose of the night hunt.

‘By now, an identical invitation must have arrived at the Roxburgh ducal mansion.’

The Founding Day is in three weeks.

The Duchess of Roxburgh wanted the Emperor to make an official announcement approving her marriage to the Duke of Reushden at the Founding Day party.

As it was a deal, he naturally intended to grant it.

Although it wasn’t a particularly appealing deal, he had recently heard rumors that Jean Reushden had fallen for a high-class courtesan from Ranke.

If that were true, there would be no need to worry about the marriage between the Roxburgh and Reushden families anymore.

From the beginning, he hadn’t thought Jean would marry the monster Duchess, but for nobles, marriage was a transaction for the family.

It meant that if it served the purpose, it didn’t matter if the bride was a monster.

‘Now there’s no need to worry about that.’

Edwin stared at Jean.

Standing under the sharp blue dawn light, he looked more imperial than himself, the Emperor.

At that sight, a dirty and familiar emotion that had been sinking deep in his heart began to stir.
He tried to shake it off, but it was a terrible inferiority complex that ultimately shackled his ankles.

“As Your Majesty commands, I will attend Viscount Campbell’s party.”

The answer Edwin wanted flowed from Jean’s lips.

Edwin felt a more intense joy than when he had received news of victory in the conquest war that had continued for 200 years.

“You’ve made a wise decision, Duke Reushden. I hope you find a lady worthy of you at the party.”

The night hunt was over.

But the beast of inferiority that had been sleeping until now had awakened. And so had suspicion, which resembled that beast like a brother.

And both Edwin and Jean were acutely aware of this fact.

* * *

Earlier than usual.

Through the dim dawn, the lights illuminating the general store turned on.

Carlisle’s Uriel Square was still quiet, shrouded in darkness, and even the bustling shopping district was too early to awaken.

Roen glared at the invitation placed on the table.

It was an invitation stamped with the Campbell family seal.

In the early dawn, someone who knocked on the door of the Roxburgh ducal mansion said they had come by the Emperor’s command and left the invitation before departing.

‘An invitation to Viscount Campbell’s party sent by the Emperor.’

The intention was clear. Duke Reushden was scheduled to attend Viscount Campbell’s party.

After receiving the invitation from her butler Smith, Roen hurriedly headed to the Reushden ducal mansion.

Fortunately, she was able to bribe a newspaper delivery boy who was entering to deliver Great Moment to the mansion just in time.

Through the newspaper delivery boy, she confirmed that there was an invitation from the Campbell family among the invitations delivered to the Reushden ducal mansion.

After confirming this fact, Roen headed to the general store instead of returning home.
Upon arriving at the store, she lit the lamp placed by the window and sat down in a chair.

Then she examined the invitation from Viscount Campbell, trying to discern the Emperor’s intentions.

Suddenly, hearing an unfamiliar presence outside, Roen broke from her thoughts and looked up to identify the early visitor to the general store.

She was momentarily dazed when she discovered Jean pushing through the door.

‘Is this an illusion created by my thoughts?’

Unable to believe it, Roen blinked. Then, feeling the cool movement of air against her cheek, she realized he wasn’t an illusion.

The question ‘Why is he here?’ arose in her mind.

It was too early for him to visit this place.

Above all, he smelled of the refreshing forest wind, as if he had been riding since dawn.

“Fortunately, you’re here. I was going to leave if you weren’t.”

He too seemed surprised to find Roen at the general store at such an early hour. No, his ice-blue eyes sparkled as if he had received an unexpected gift.

‘He came… to see me.’

At the thought that crossed her mind, her cold fingertips suddenly grew warm.

“I woke up earlier than usual… I couldn’t sleep at all.”

“Insomnia? Or were you ill again?”

Jean, who had been standing at the door, walked toward the window where Roen was sitting.
At the sound of his approach, Roen finally noticed the Campbell family invitation on the table and quickly pushed it into her pocket.

“No. That’s not it…”

But soon she fell silent at the cool touch on her forehead. Her startled eyes looked up at him with bewilderment.

His slightly furrowed brow and deepened ice-blue eyes held an emotion that was concern.
Incredibly so.

“Has it always been like this? For me, it was only while the scales took root. You must be different. The poison in your body must have circulated like blood.”

Only then did Roen understand what he was talking about. And what he was worried about.
Roen bit her lip. Then she hurriedly pushed away the hand touching her forehead.

She felt a pang of regret when the hand she had perceived as cold moved away. The spot where his hand had touched her forehead felt hot.

“I can bear it for now. When it becomes unbearable, I just swallow the peacock’s tears.”

“It seems the peacock’s tears purify the deadly poison in your body.”

“Not perfectly, but to some extent. Recently, I found a remedy even better than the peacock’s tears.”