“Buy everything popular.”

Before long, a pink paper box decorated with ribbons and gold foil was set on his lap.

He looked down at it and let out a quiet sigh without meaning to.

‘If I had a younger sibling, I imagine I would have been a rather overbearing and obsessive older brother.’

His brow furrowed at the same time.

He had tried to frame things as a deep brotherly bond and apply it to himself and Raul, but it was not working.

As Roso had said, the boy had committed a serious offense, and yet not only had he forgiven him, he was now quietly procuring things the boy liked and pressing them on him. What did that say about his own state of mind.

‘Hah……’

Andrea tipped his head back and let out a short, frustrated breath.

He should focus his thoughts on the upcoming May Festival instead.

The May Festival consisted of two events, the Rose Ball and the Hunt, and he planned to use that occasion to finish Fabienne off for good.

˗ˋˏ ♡ ˎˊ˗

Time flew, and the May Festival was nearly upon them.

Andrea intended to create a situation in which the queen would have no choice but to face execution, without ruining the festival itself.

Thinking it through, Queen Fabienne and her family, the Blanc Ducal House, would fiercely resist having the charge of regicide pinned on them based solely on the confession of a single maid.

The ducal house and its allies maintained private armies on their provincial estates, and if they rose up in defiance, it would be a serious headache.

The king, too, would waver after hearing Fabienne’s tearful pleas.

She would demand to know what solid proof existed that she had slowly poisoned Queen Dowager Marietta with the incense burner, and showing the king Raul’s sketchbook as evidence would be a foolish move that would only tip the scales in Fabienne’s favor.

It was certain the king would not execute Queen Fabienne, the mother of his second son Henry, on the basis of one maid’s confession alone.

The poisoned incense burner incident could not be allowed to fizzle out as a dud that way.

So Andrea decided to set a much larger stage, one perfectly tailored to the king’s nature.

The May Festival would be the venue.

The Rose Ball held a few days before the Hunt crowned the year’s Rose Goddess, ‘Prillela.’

The lady who received the most rose blossoms or garlands from gentlemen throughout the ball was the one who wore that crown of honor.

After the ball, the festivities moved to the hunting grounds adjoining the palace’s rear grounds, where tents were pitched and the Hunt began.

The Hunt incorporated a theatrical element: rescuing the Rose Goddess ‘Prillela’ earned bonus points on top of the score for game taken.

The hero who rescued ‘Prillela’ therefore stood the best chance of claiming the final golden trophy.

Of course, it was not only the trophy that drove the men into a frenzy. The chance to build a romantic narrative with the year’s greatest beauty, complete with theatrical and heroic elements, was the real draw.

After the awards ceremony for the final winner, two more days of lively evening festivities followed.

It was not uncommon for love to blossom between the winner and ‘Prillela’ during those nights.

Andrea intended to make good use of this romantic sequence of events.

“There. Done.”

Raul stepped back after fussing for some time with the jeweled cufflinks on the sharply collared shirt buttoned to the throat, then layering a hunting stock over it.

A strange pang of reluctance came over Andrea, and he watched Raul quietly.

Having become aware of his own feelings, he found himself noticing the boy more and more.

He deliberately fixed Raul with a stern look, but Raul simply fetched the carefully brushed hunting jacket and began helping him into it.

“You’ll be away for about six days, Your Highness?”

“Yes.”

Looking down at Raul standing still before him, Andrea asked on impulse.

“Why, will you miss me?”

“Hm? No. I was just looking because you look so impressive.”

Raul finished fastening the last buttons on the jacket without any self-consciousness, then stepped back and gave a thumbs-up.

“You look absolutely perfect. The win is practically guaranteed again this year, isn’t it?”

Andrea felt an inexplicable irritation toward Raul and answered curtly.

“If I sweep up the trophy every year, where’s the fun in that? I should be generous and let the lesser men who actually need it have their moment.”

Raul stepped back, and Andrea moved forward to look down at him, then shook his head and went back to the sofa, dropping into it.

He picked up the hunting rifle and began cleaning it, then glanced over at Raul again.

Raul was standing with his hands politely clasped, waiting to be dismissed, and the skin beneath his eyes was dark.

“Why do you look so exhausted lately? Too much work?”

The boy had been slipping out of the room the moment his duties were done, and it had been quietly grating on Andrea.

On top of that, Raul had barely been making conversation with him recently.

And yet he had been chattering away just fine with that Parnelli.

Riley’s mood was equally soured, and her lips pushed out in a pout.

He had more or less forced her into the Daily Minerve and piled work on her from every direction, and now he was asking why she was tired.

‘Do you have any idea how many deadlines I’m chasing, drawing article illustrations and satirical cartoons?’

They kept saying that visual impact made it more efficient to get information across to the public, and the work just kept piling up.

Unable to hold it in any longer, Riley grumbled out loud.

“Do you have any idea how much work the Minerve throws at me? Compared to the old magazine, the workload is incomparable. There will be performance pay, right?”

Andrea set down the cleaned rifle and fired back.

“You’re saving up to leave. Why would I hand you your escape fund? I should be cutting the salary you already have.”

“That’s too much.”

Raul drooped his eyebrows and let out a long sigh, then dropped down at Andrea’s feet and began polishing the hunting boots to a shine.

It was funny, and somehow a little pitiable, watching the boy fall back on professional habit even in the middle of an argument.

Maybe it was the pale line of neck visible from behind the bowed head, looking unexpectedly fragile. A sudden, uncomfortable thud went through his chest.

The teasing curve of his mouth slowly fell. On impulse, he reached out, took Riley by both shoulders, pulled her up, and sat her down on the sofa beside him.

“Enough. The boots will just get dirty again.”

Riley found herself sunk between the plush cushions and Andrea before she knew what had happened, and while she was still blinking in confusion, he leaned toward her with one arm draped over the back of the sofa.

“If the work is too much, drop all of it and just follow me around for six days.”

Andrea decided on the spot.

Even for an evening party, he could not go and leave this one behind.

And the thought that Nina had been working the boy hard enough to put shadows under his eyes made him suddenly irritated with her.

Tch. She could at least pretend to take it easy.

Riley’s expression, simple as she was, lit up immediately.

“Y, you’re taking me to the May Festival? All six days?”

Andrea looked quietly at those eyes full of childlike anticipation, and felt something warm and ticklish stir somewhere in his chest. A small laugh escaped him.

“Right. It’ll do you good to get a better look at more noble faces anyway.”

Riley had been drawing satirical cartoons and illustrations of nobles assigned by the Minerve, so observing them in person was genuinely useful.

She was so pleased that she grabbed the sleeve of Andrea’s jacket and held on.

“And I won’t have to do any other work during those six days?”

Andrea flinched slightly without meaning to and looked slowly down at his sleeve in Raul’s grip.

Raul realized his own forwardness a beat late and quickly let go, but his eyes still sparkled with anticipation for the outing ahead.

A strange reluctance came over Andrea, and he was faintly startled by it.

His voice came out quieter, weighted with the unsettled awareness of his own shifting feelings.

“Right. Just trail along behind me and eat good things.”

“Yes! That I can do with confidence! I’ll go pack right now.”

Raul jumped to his feet and ran out of the room, unable to hide his excitement.

Left alone, Andrea stared blankly at the spot where Riley had been sitting, then let out a short, helpless laugh.