Thud, thud, thud…

The helmet that had flown off bounced across the floor, filling the silence. Not only the swarming servants but also the White Lion knights who had just arrived all stood frozen, their faces pale.

Gellensid was no exception.

“B-Blake…?”

His sharp, slanted gray eyes trembled with fear. His stunned expression clearly asked, ‘Why are you here?’

Blake…

He was the man who, just three years after being knighted, had earned the king’s complete trust and had recently been granted the title of Duke.

‘Was this what he looked like?’

She hadn’t cared enough to find out before, but now she understood why the rumors were so rampant.

He had an excessively striking appearance. And more than that, he resembled a man she knew…

‘Was the helmet just to hide his face?’

While she stood in confusion, the Duke silently narrowed his brows as he looked at the helmet that had rolled far away. He didn’t seem angry—more like someone who simply lacked emotion.

With a blank expression, he walked over, picked up the helmet, and said,

“The king was particularly concerned about this matter, so I came… but what a mess I’ve stumbled into.”

His voice instantly captured everyone’s attention. Some people could command a crowd with just a word, and he was clearly one of them.

His long, black lashes, once lowered, slowly rose as he looked straight ahead, and a faint smile formed on his lips.

“W-Why are you…?”

Gellensid, seeing the Duke smile for the first time, bristled with alarm. He must’ve sensed danger, as he began to back away little by little.

“D-Don’t come any closer!”

Panicked, Gellensid wildly swung the shard of glass in his hand.

“Stay away, all of you!”

But his tantrum didn’t work.

The White Lions surrounded him in a circle like hunters closing in on prey, and the Duke calmly walked right into the middle of it.

“How could I not intervene when you’re behaving so dangerously?”

With a gentle voice, the Duke grabbed Gellensid’s wrist and lifted it firmly. The shard of glass in his hand quickly dropped to the ground.

It all happened in an instant.

‘Duke Blake…’

Kyla held her breath as she watched everything unfold up close.

‘Why is someone like him personally getting involved in something like this? Did the king give him a direct order?’

The Duke was not part of her plan.

So she briefly wondered whether his presence might throw things off… but thankfully, one glance outside reassured her that she had still won.

“Open the gates.”

Outside the building, the long procession of King Blanverque had just arrived. It was finally time to play the card she had prepared.

***

King Argon Liberon Blanverque bellowed with fury as he looked down at the bloodied floor of the indoor garden.

“What disgraceful behavior is this!”

Caught off guard by the king’s sudden appearance, Gellensid cowered, unable even to straighten his shoulders.

“To think such violence could exist between lovers, when even cherishing each other wouldn’t be enough—is this what you call love?”

Having quickly been briefed by his attendant upon arrival, the king raised his voice to scold his son for all to hear.

‘Lovers? What a joke.’

Kyla glanced at her father and Everett, who were standing just behind the king.

“I told you to apologize, yet you only made things worse! I was so uneasy I came in person, and if it weren’t for the Duke intervening, what could’ve happened!”

The king, visibly angry, shifted his gaze to the Duke. But the way he looked at him was nothing like how he had looked at his son.

‘That’s the gaze of absolute trust.’

Kyla scoffed inwardly.

“You’re not hurt, are you, Lady Bailey?” the king asked.

“No, thanks to the Duke’s intervention, I was fortunately unharmed.”

As she answered, she glanced at Everett, who gave her a slight nod—a signal that everything had gone according to plan.

‘Good.’

Now that she had confirmed everything was progressing well, the tension in her shoulders finally began to ease.

With a bright smile, Kyla said,

“I sincerely apologize to Your Majesty and everyone for the concern caused. The truth is, there are circumstances we couldn’t discuss, so I hope you can overlook this…”

“And what would those be?”

Gellensid, who was standing nearby, ground his teeth with a snarl. His expression screamed,

‘You tattled on me?’ filled with resentment.

“I’d rather not say it here…”

Kyla shrank back slightly, glancing nervously at Gellensid.

“The prince may leave us for now.”

“Your Majesty!”

Gellensid protested fiercely but was eventually dragged out by the knights.

As the unpleasant presence was removed from the room, Kyla’s eyebrows lifted in satisfaction.

“Now, feel free to speak.”

“The truth is… I rejected the prince’s proposal last week.”

“Hmm.”

The king let out a discontented noise, but Kyla continued calmly.

“No matter what ties bind our families, we couldn’t decide on a marriage date without first consulting Your Majesty.”

“Well, that’s true.”

The king nodded.

“But…”

Kyla lowered her gaze and continued in a sorrowful tone.

“Perhaps the prince misunderstood my feelings…”

“He tried to poison my daughter,” 

Kyla’s father, the Count, finished for her.

‘Nice timing,’ 

Kyla thought, lowering her head like a grieving woman and dabbing away teardrops that sparkled like dew.

When she glanced up discreetly, Everett gave her a thumbs-up from the side — a signal that her performance was flawless.

“Poison?”

“He tried to kill her by slipping poison into her tea. I didn’t believe it at first either, but the prince’s attendant came to my daughter, pleading for his life.”

The king’s expression darkened again.

At her father’s gesture, the servant who had attended the prince during the incident entered the room.

Kyla spoke calmly on behalf of the terrified man.

“This man has served the royal family faithfully for ten years. But he almost died after pouring the tea over the prince’s foot to put out a fire.”

The attendant threw himself flat on the floor and cried out.

“I didn’t know it was poison! I only wanted to extinguish the flames on His Highness’s foot…”

“That must have been harrowing. But you should have come to me right away.”

The king’s icy gaze pierced the attendant, who, sensing the danger, immediately pleaded for his life.

“I—I just wanted to live, Your Majesty. I—I am sorry! Please spare me…!”

As he trembled on the floor, the king’s voice turned cold but quiet.

“It’s fine. You merely suffered something you didn’t deserve because of my son. I’ll let it go this time.”

Who knew what the king was really thinking, but unlike Gellensid, he remained calm.

‘He must be feeling a bit better today,’ Kyla thought, holding her breath.

“Seems I was mistaken. The count even brought a witness to clear up the misunderstanding — I must say, I admire the sincerity.”

As her father nodded, the king’s gaze shifted to Kyla.

“You don’t need to apologize to the prince. He was the one in the wrong, and he will be punished accordingly.”

Still, the king didn’t look too pleased. Naturally — he had intended to crush the Baileys’ pride, only to fail once again.

‘You lost to us again today, Your Majesty.’

Kyla smiled faintly and gracefully lifted the hem of her dress.

In truth, everything had gone exactly as she planned. She’d predicted that the petty and narrow-minded Gellensid would definitely bring this incident up.

That’s why, the day after it happened, she secured the witness’s loyalty in advance.

Of course, her father’s claim that the attendant had come to her begging for help was a lie.

‘I was the one who went to him. Told him: “If you want to live, take our side.”

She had told Everett where the witness was hiding just the day before — asking him to bring the man directly.

If a fellow royal brought the witness, the royalist faction would be less suspicious.

All that was left was to stall for time until Everett returned with the witness…

‘But someone shortened that time and made me witness a scene I could’ve done without.’

She glanced sideways at the duke beside her, then turned to the king and curtsied.

Her father would handle everything from here.

“The sun is setting soon, Your Majesty. Perhaps it’s time to move on.”

Count Bailey began escorting the king out. Even then, his eyes shot a sharp glance back at his daughter.

‘Am I going to get scolded again once we’re home?’

With the situation seemingly settled, Duke Blake also began moving away with the White Lions, expressionless as always.

“Um…”

There was something she wanted to say.

But the hand Kyla reached out toward him never managed to touch him.

“Kyla! Are you okay?”

It was Everett who had run over and grabbed her by the shoulder.

“You’re not hurt, are you?”

Kyla nodded.

“Gellensid is under probation for the next two weeks. You won’t have to go to the ball with him now!”

“Yeah, thanks to you. Thanks for helping me.”

As the duke walked away, Kyla’s heart started to race, and she began tapping her feet in place, restless.

“Uh, sorry Everett—but I’ll see you later, okay? Just a minute!”

She darted out of the private room like an arrow.

It was too warm to be running in a heavy dress. Even standing still, sweat would bead on her skin.

Turning her head frantically, she finally spotted the White Lion knights after rounding the corner of the private room.

Thump, thump, thump…

Her heart, which she had been holding down all this time, began pounding again.

“Hey!”

The man’s hair, hit by the midday sun, gleamed a deep blue. Even among the other knights, his tall figure stood out.

“Excuse me! Your Grace!”

Kyla shouted and ran toward them. One of the White Lion knights turned around at her voice.

“Isn’t that Lady Bailey?”

“Huh? Oh, you’re right. Looks like she’s heading this way.”

But the duke did not stop walking.

“Keep going.”

The White Lions tilted their heads in confusion but didn’t disobey.

‘She’ll give up once we get far enough.’

That’s what they all thought.

But Kyla Bailey turned out to be more persistent than expected. She managed to catch up and grab the duke by the arm.

“Why… why are you avoiding me…?”

Panting, she looked up directly at him. The duke’s gaze tilted slightly toward her, and Kyla finally said the name that had been caught in her throat for years.

“Haiden.”

It had been six years.