“This is getting serious.”

From the moment he had suspected Parnelli and felt that surge of jealousy, his own feelings had become impossible to ignore.

He could try to dismiss it, but every time he looked at Raul, something in the vicinity of his heart was provoked.

What was it about a pale neck or a small earlobe peeking out from beneath hair.

Why did some part of him go taut and aching without his permission.

Andrea’s throat moved slowly as he swallowed against a sudden dryness.

“Hah, what do I do.”

He rubbed his forehead roughly with one hand and exhaled.

So he was in the same category as Roso after all.

But he had never once felt this way about another man in his entire life. Or was it simply that he had spent too much time in close quarters with this particular one?

No, if he thought about it, he had spent even more time with his head attendant Jayden and his aide Alfonso, and he had practically grown up rolling around with Edwin and Roso from childhood.

Not once had he felt anything like this toward any of them.

The very idea of applying these feelings to any of them made him recoil with something close to revulsion.

So why only this one?

Was it because the boy looked like prey fleeing from a predator?

Or was it because he had drawn him n*ked?

He muttered a string of curses at himself. Losing his heart because someone drew him without his clothes once. What an idiotic thing to happen.

He was deep in this torment when Raul appeared at the doorway, bag already packed, and called out impatiently.

“Your Highness, I’m ready.”

The voice was brighter than usual, and Andrea went to the door. Raul’s mouth was stretched ear to ear like a child’s.

One look at that open, guileless face and everything else fell away. A laugh slipped out.

Oh, who cares. The boy smiles and he feels good. What more was there to do about it.

He murmured that to himself and draped an arm over Riley’s shoulder.

“Let’s go. We’ll be late.”

“Yes!”

Riley’s bright voice swept the confusion clean out of Andrea’s head.

˗ˋˏ ♡ ˎˊ˗

In the end, Riley joined the May Festival tucked among Andrea’s retinue, trotting along happily.

Andrea had said one or two outfits would be enough, but Riley had brought an enormous wardrobe bag stuffed with multiple hunting ensembles, dozens of ties, scarves, hats, boots, and bottles of perfume.

Andrea glanced back at the sprawling luggage procession and sighed, but found he did not regret it.

Watching Raul come out in a smartly pressed uniform, epaulettes and all, projecting the full dignity of a palace attendant, made him smile despite himself.

He jerked his chin to hurry the boy along, and when Riley came up beside him, he mentioned,

“The star of this Hunt isn’t me, by the way.”

“Pardon? If not you, then who? You’ve swept the competition every year.”

Andrea rubbed his chin with a slightly awkward look.

“This time…… well…… let’s say it’s His Majesty the King.”

Riley tilted her head at the vague answer.

“Wasn’t His Majesty only attending the awards ceremony?”

“Not this time.”

A look of quiet satisfaction settled on Andrea’s face.

For this May Festival, he intended to make the king shine above all others, as a devoted son should.

A sly smile was beginning to spread when Riley murmured beside him.

“His Majesty is going to participate directly…… he’s nearly fifty years old…… oh.”

She seemed to catch herself mid-sentence, realizing the impropriety, and clamped her mouth shut. Andrea laughed out loud at the sight.

He reached over and thoroughly messed up the neatly pomaded hair Riley had swept back from her forehead.

“Ow, I spent time on that, why would you——”

“You’re cuter when it’s messy.”

He strode ahead, leaving the grumbling Riley behind.

˗ˋˏ ♡ ˎˊ˗

Riley stepped into the queen’s rose garden she had only ever heard about, and was immediately giddy.

The vast garden was a labyrinth of rose beds in every variety, and a grand sculpted fountain drew the eye from the center.

The soft sound of water winding through it blended beautifully with the orchestra, and champagne flutes caught the sunlight and scattered it in brilliant flashes.

The array of desserts on the white-draped tables was breathtaking, elevated nearly to the level of art.

Attendants with silver trays moved busily among guests in evening wear, and the laughter of elegantly dressed ladies drifted from every direction.

Riley’s smile stretched all the way to her ears.

‘So beautiful.’

She had been dragged to a few salons and social gatherings by Andrea before, but attending under the false title of ‘writer’ and pretending to be an artist had always made her uncomfortable.

Standing here now in the clear sunlight, taking in the splendor as herself, felt entirely different.

Of course, His Highness was currently seated under a white canopy engaged in serious conversation with the king, which meant she had to stand to one side and wait.

Just feasting my eyes is enough, she thought, happily watching the beautiful ladies and their dresses, when two voices drifted into her ears.

“Your Majesty, Lady Talbot from that vulgar pamphlet the other day is over there.”

“What? Ah……”

The king sat up straighter and turned his head, studying the cluster of young ladies gathered nearby with intent eyes.

Andrea caught that look and nudged things along.

“Lady Talbot will likely receive the most roses and become this year’s Prillela.”

Detecting the faint warmth in the king’s gaze as he searched for the lady, Andrea fanned the flame deliberately.

“If you find yourself at leisure, why not take a turn on the floor? I heard you visited the training grounds yesterday, and moderate movement is good for restoring one’s strength.”

The king stroked his beard and made a show of declining.

“No, no. After a month in bed, I have no wish to make a spectacle of myself out here. The queen dislikes seeing me dance.”

The queen Fabienne was in the direction the king was looking at with displeasure, surrounded by fawning noble ladies.

Andrea rose from his seat with deliberate visibility.

“Then I’ll take one dance and return. A gentleman ought to offer a rose to someone today.”

He picked up a fresh rose blossom with pointed purpose and set off across the floor.

Sure enough, he made his way unhurriedly toward Lady Talbot and her circle of friends, extended the rose, and requested a dance.

His manners were so graceful they might have belonged to the embodiment of elegance itself. Lady Talbot’s companions dissolved into giggles and stepped back, and the two of them drifted into the waltz.

Watching from the side, Riley let out an involuntary sound of admiration.

Andrea danced better than anyone she had ever seen. And the way he wore those clothes.

She had dressed him herself, but the fit was flawless, those long legs and the solid line of his shoulders carrying the ensemble perfectly.

‘Incredible……’

Riley felt a strange, proud warmth, like a mother watching a well-raised son go out into the world, but the king’s expression at that moment looked anything but comfortable.

The king, visibly stung by a flicker of jealousy, was shifting in his seat when Andrea escorted Lady Talbot directly to the canopy where the king sat.

As the beauty drew closer, the king seemed to lose himself for a moment, and Andrea stepped forward with a carefully composed look of mild embarrassment. To Riley’s eyes, it was quite theatrical.

“My apologies, Your Majesty, but I had promised to lead Lady Talbot through the minuet as well, and I have just been informed of an urgent matter from my staff. Might Your Majesty be so gracious as to attend to this lovely lady, who is sure to be this year’s Prillela?”

The king looked momentarily flustered, but soon delivered a few words of mild scolding to Andrea about not overworking himself even on a day like this, and then took the hand of Lady Talbot as she curtsied with fairy-like charm.

He offered her a rose in turn and held her gaze for a long, steady moment.

The ardent attention of a vigorous middle-aged man fixed itself on the face of a lady who was delicate and yet somehow provocative.

Watching the king puff out his chest with the air of a man asserting his masculinity before a woman who had caught his eye, Riley tilted her head.

From a distance, Queen Fabienne’s eyes narrowed with unmistakable meaning.

Andrea had set the stage so that every eye in the garden was drawn to those two, and now he glanced at Riley, who had been staring blankly at the couple.

“Let’s go.”

Riley snapped back to herself and hurried after Andrea as he walked out of the garden.