He loosened his collar as he walked and stopped a passing attendant carrying a silver tray. He lifted the entire tray of desserts and a full bottle of champagne and headed somewhere.

He arrived at a quiet pavilion table tucked deep in the garden, well away from the crowd.

“Sit.”

He slid the entire dessert tray over to Riley, and her mouth fell open.

Raspberry tarts, chocolate éclairs, strawberry cream croissants, all the things Riley loved, piled together.

“You like sweet things.”

Could he really have taken the whole tray just to give it to her? Riley was still blinking in surprise when Andrea tipped the cold champagne bottle to his lips and drank straight from it.

Riley bit into a croissant heaped with pink cream first, then asked quickly, having a suspicion.

“Um…… did you by any chance show Lady Talbot’s drawing to His Majesty the King?”

“Yes.”

The blunt, immediate answer left Riley flustered.

She had guessed as much when she overheard Andrea and the king mentioning something about a vulgar pamphlet earlier, but he had actually shown it to the king? The moment for questioning the purpose had long passed since she had already drawn it, but she could not help asking.

“Wh, why? What about Lady Talbot’s honor?”

She could not begin to guess what Andrea was scheming.

Only that it was something shadowy and rather wicked.

But Andrea simply wiped his mouth and answered with breezy ease.

“Sometimes there’s no other way to move things forward. The couple of the century is about to be born. What else matters?”

The couple of the century!

Riley had a rough idea of what Andrea was orchestrating, and the color drained from her face.

What about the queen? Was he planning to replace her?

Even with Riley’s limited understanding of political affairs, she knew Andrea and Queen Fabienne stood in opposition to each other.

“B, but Lady Talbot seems very interested in Your Highness.”

She had overheard people murmuring while the two of them danced.

‘What a perfectly matched pair. They almost look made for each other.’

‘Maybe this time it won’t end in a scandal. Maybe Lady Talbot will finally secure the crown princess position.’

‘Oh, what are you saying? No matter how beautiful she is, her family’s standing is so modest.’

‘Is that so? His Highness the Crown Prince already has a powerful support base. Does he really need the strength of a wife’s family on top of that? Just look at His Majesty the King. He’s being pushed around because his wife’s family has too much influence.’

Riley was still turning those overheard words over in her mind when Andrea answered with a dismissive laugh.

“Please. She’s the type who would cross over in a heartbeat if someone could offer her a better position than me.”

He looked toward the fence where the music was drifting over and curved his lips.

A woman who radiated desire that openly would accept the position of queen if it was offered to her instead of crown princess.

The king was still young. He would reign for another decade or more.

So why would she refuse the chance to enjoy the power and wealth of a queen from a young age?

From what Andrea had observed, Lady Talbot was a woman who would not hesitate at a second or third marriage if it meant raising her station. Finding exactly that kind of woman was the reason he had attended so many evening parties.

Not to find a bride for himself. To find one for his father.

Riley found it curious that Andrea showed no trace of bitterness at handing a beauty who had nearly become his own to his father, and asked,

“Didn’t you want to be betrothed to Lady Talbot yourself?”

“……No.”

“Even though she’s that beautiful?”

Andrea was quiet for a moment, then answered.

“She doesn’t appeal to me. I……”

But he stopped himself before saying more.

He had swallowed the sentence that had almost slipped out: you’re far more endearing.

A woman who broadcast her allure that openly stirred nothing in him at all.

How was he supposed to say that the one who made him feel something was the one sitting here right now, looking dazed with pink cream on the corner of her mouth, the one who had secretly drawn his n*ked body and sold it, infuriating and endearing all at once.

‘Hah……’

Andrea realized he had reached a point where he could no longer deny it even to himself, and pressed a large hand to his forehead with a quiet exhale.

He was apparently gay after all.

Painful as it was, he had to accept it now.

The bad feeling when he had seen Raul alone with Parnelli, and the odd sensation when Lady Talbot had spoken to the boy, all of it came from the same place.

And above all, the persistent, quiet desire to touch this one.

Somewhat to his own surprise, Andrea accepted this alarming truth with a kind of calm, and watched the boy pop a purple macaron into his mouth with a smile on his face. His heart was complicated and glad at once.

˗ˋˏ ♡ ˎˊ˗

Over three evenings of festivities in the rose garden, Lady Talbot received more rose blossoms and garlands than anyone. She was crowned Prillela of the year.

The look in the king’s eyes as he placed the golden rose crown on her head was unmistakable.

Over those three days, the two of them had apparently built a private narrative between them, and the way Lady Talbot glanced up at the king was deeply tender.

She had noticed the king’s interest and, true to form, had shifted her target and gone on the offensive.

Andrea had timed his moments carefully, stoking his father’s vanity and masculine pride whenever Queen Fabienne was not watching.

“Seeing Your Majesty standing beside Lady Talbot, you looked no older than thirty.”

“Ha, surely not.”

The king shook his head in token protest, but a quietly satisfied smile never left his lips.

“Please do participate directly in the Hunt starting tomorrow.”

“Me?”

“No one in the kingdom could match you in your prime.”

“That was a long time ago. I have no wish to make a fool of myself in an arena meant for young men to show off.”

But Andrea was not the kind to give up there.

“Though they are all drawing-room men who have never set foot on a battlefield.”

The king had personally commanded military forces during his own time as crown prince, and he prided himself on being a different breed from today’s young nobles who did nothing but douse themselves in perfume and curl their hair with irons.

Andrea’s remark had landed squarely on that pride.

“Hmm…… that is true. Apart from you, none of the young men here seem to know the real thrill of a rough hunt.”

“Exactly. So come out and stretch your legs. And the lady taking on the role of Prillela this year is none other than Lady Talbot.”

That final nudge stirred something in the king’s body.

In the Hunt, bonus points for rescuing Prillela, who was hidden somewhere in the forest, were added to the base score for game taken, and the highest total claimed the final trophy.

Just as there was honor in being named the Rose Goddess Prillela, winning the Hunt brought the title of the finest man of the year, and every unmarried man entered.

Married gentlemen participated as well, but most were there to enjoy the competition rather than to claim the trophy.

In any case, Andrea intended to push the king all the way to the winning trophy.

A narrative built with the most beautiful lady in the forest had a way of binding two people as lovers.

“Consider it a chance to loosen up those stiff joints.”

The son’s voice had turned soft and coaxing, almost like a devil whispering in his ear, and the king felt his resolve waver.

‘Is he telling me to pursue Lady Talbot?’

The king swallowed and asked with a hint of wariness.

“Wouldn’t it look better for a young man like you to stand beside Prillela and claim the trophy?”

“I’m not so sure. Your Majesty looked quite well-matched standing beside Lady Talbot.”

It was a transparent remark, but the king, stirred by a longing he had not felt in some time, was inwardly pleased.

Still, he had initially seen his son as a rival and felt a genuine flicker of jealousy, so he asked directly. It was something he needed to confirm before making up his mind.

“Then there will be no chance of us becoming rivals over this?”

Andrea demurred with polished reluctance.

“A pretty face alone isn’t quite my type.”

The king let out a short laugh at that.

For a man whose highest standard was youth and beauty, his son’s refusal to become engaged to anyone had always been baffling.