I was the one more shocked by Cardien’s ruthless words.

No, I knew that Cardien and Hysterion were close, and politically, Cardien had the upper hand.

‘Isn’t this too unreasonable!’

However, I was the only one who was flustered.

Hysterion grinned and retorted.

“I told you. If I fall, the empire falls with me.”

“……”

I wondered if Hysterion might have seduced Celestina with his smooth talk.

Even though I knew better than anyone that it wasn’t true, Hysterion was so smooth that it made me doubt for a moment.

The problem was that the target of this smoothness was Cardien, but……

Anyway.

‘I need to move away from here first.’

I glanced around discreetly.

Fortunately, Hysterion’s guards surrounded the area in a circle, so the situation inside didn’t seem visible from the outside.

‘There are quite a lot of guards.’

Even at a glance, there were easily ten of them.

Well…….

‘The imperial family must be in a cold war state right now.’

Between the Crown Prince’s faction and the Second Prince’s faction.

With the recent attempted poisoning assassination incident, the succession issue that had been tacitly hushed up came to the surface as the Emperor nearly died once.

Even if the Emperor was safe now, it certainly would have instilled a sense of crisis.

Both sides must have felt an implicit sense of crisis.

Well, there’s no harm in being careful.

Anyway, it’s fortunate that no one saw Cardien disrespecting and speaking irreverently to Hysterion, but……

‘I can’t stand how anxious I am.’

Honestly, I’d like to just slip away from this place alone, but reality doesn’t always go as we wish.

‘Something might happen to Cardien while I’m gone.’

For instance, Celestina might suddenly appear and Cardien might fall for her.

‘That absolutely cannot happen.’

It’s dreadful just to imagine.

But we can’t just stand here like this forever either.

I heaved a deep sigh inwardly and spoke to the two of them.

“Um, how about we move to a private room for now?”

Usually, banquets have balconies for rest and secret meetings, but the temple doesn’t have balconies due to its structure.

That’s why they created private rooms instead.

Hysterion was the first to react to my words.

He nodded.

“That sounds good, I have something to say as well.”

Thank goodness. It seems he’s reasonable.

“That sounds good, I have something to say as well.”

Thank goodness. It seems he’s reasonable.

Well, of course. He’s a male lead after all. Why wouldn’t he be?

……Actually, this is a suggestion that any normal person would accept.

‘It’s just that there’s someone quite abnormal nearby.’

I glanced at Cardien.

Cardien, who met my eyes, stared at me silently.

Your Grace, let’s not make this a big deal.

As if responding to my gaze, Cardien’s lips parted. And then……

“……I don’t want to.”

He sneered coldly, curling up the corners of his mouth, and said mockingly.

“I have nothing more to discuss.”

“……”

Right, you were always this kind of person.

I had forgotten that for a moment.

But……

‘This might actually be better.’

After all, I just wanted to end this situation somehow.

If Cardien is being this adamant, Hysterion won’t drag this out.

I turned to Hysterion with a regretful look.

“Then I guess we have no choice but to……”

Part ways here.

Just as I was about to say that farewell.

Hysterion turned towards me.

And the moment our eyes met.

‘Huh?’

Maybe it’s just my imagination.

He curled up the corners of his mouth.

And then……

“Then we have no choice. Your Grace can go now. But.”

“Huh?”

In an instant, my body was pulled, and when I came to my senses, I was stuck to Hysterion’s side.

It happened so suddenly that I blinked blankly and looked up at Hysterion.

Cardien also looked this way with a surprised expression.

Hysterion continued.

“I have some business with the Tutor. If you’re leaving, you’ll have to go alone.”

Hysterion smiled brightly after saying that.

I looked at Hysterion with an incredulous expression.

‘It’s obvious he’s using me as an excuse to keep Cardien here.’

You’ve got the wrong person, Mr. Male Lead.

Cardien isn’t a fish that can be caught with a worm like me.

It was obvious he would just say ‘Do as you please’ and leave.

I felt anxious.

It seemed like Cardien would leave me behind at any moment, saying ‘Do whatever you want’.

But……

‘Huh?’

Cardien didn’t abandon me and leave.

Not only that, he stood rooted to the spot, glaring at Hysterion as if he wanted to kill him.

His lips slowly parted.

“……What are you trying to do?”

A voice colder and harsher than the northern storm flowed out threateningly.

Even Hysterion’s guards, who had been standing guard, flinched and became wary of Cardien.

Hysterion raised one hand towards them to signal that everything was fine, and replied in his still relaxed voice.

“What am I trying to do? I said I wouldn’t stop Your Grace from leaving, didn’t I? I just have something to discuss with the Tutor……”

“……The Tutor, you say.”

Cardien cut off Hysterion’s words with a cynical voice, strode over, and yanked me away.

Since Hysterion had been lightly holding my shoulder, I was instantly back at Cardien’s side.

Not only that, Cardien pushed me behind him as if to hide me and said,

“……Don’t call her Tutor. She’s my Tutor.”

As if asserting ownership, Cardien warned in a low voice.

I closed my lips.

It’s ridiculous to argue over ‘my Tutor, your Tutor’.

‘This feels strange.’

Just, my chest area felt somewhat ticklish.

Was it because Cardien had never so clearly stated that I belonged to him before?

‘Well, he did say something similar with Eden before.’

But the emotion was a bit different from then.

Back then, I just felt dumbfounded, but now……

At that moment, Hysterion shrugged his shoulders and replied with a calm expression.

“I don’t understand why Your Grace is so angry.”

“……You don’t understand?”

Cardien retorted coldly, but Hysterion just nodded nonchalantly.

By this point, Hysterion was starting to seem scarier than Cardien.

“Wasn’t it Your Grace who tried to leave first, saying you had nothing more to say? I didn’t try to stop you from leaving, and I had business with… Miss Pellington from the start. Why are you getting so worked up?”

“……”

I almost nodded in agreement.

It was clear to anyone that Hysterion was using me to keep Cardien here.

But if he denies it, there’s nothing the other party can say.

It seemed like this standoff wouldn’t end.

But I couldn’t just run away with Cardien, rejecting the Crown Prince Hysterion, so I swallowed a sigh and opened my lips.

“Your Grace, then I’ll quickly……”

If I was the pretext, then removing that pretext would solve the problem.

It probably wouldn’t be anything important anyway.

I’ll be back quickly, so will you wait here without getting distracted?

Just as I was about to say that, a cool voice quietly resonated first.

“Fine, I’ll play along with this ridiculous charade for a moment. But I have a condition.”

“A condition?”

Cardien approached Hysterion with large strides and whispered lowly.

“Don’t touch her.”

Hysterion stared blankly at Cardien for a moment before bursting into laughter.

“Haha.”

“……”

“Alright, if the great Duke Mercedes says so, I must obey. I won’t touch her carelessly again.”

“……”

“Shall we go then?”

Cardien glared silently at Hysterion as he walked ahead, then slowly began to follow.

Finding myself suddenly at Cardien’s side, I carefully observed his expression.

I wasn’t sure how the situation had turned out this way from the middle, but.

‘Wow…..’

After confirming Cardien’s face, I swallowed dryly.

I might not know for sure, but……

‘He seems extremely angry……?’

A cold aura flowed from his purple eyes.

It was like when I first encountered him.

‘It’s probably…… because of me, right?’

Because I was taken as a hostage(?), Cardien had no choice but to follow.

Honestly, I can’t help but feel a bit wronged.

‘Who would want to be caught like this?’

But in this strictly class-based society, how could I, a mere home tutor from a fallen family, possibly reject the Crown Prince?

If he had forcibly oppressed me, it would be different, but it wasn’t to that extent.

I felt wronged, but still concerned about the seemingly angry Cardien, so I cautiously spoke up.

“Um, Your Grace.”

Cardien flicked his gaze towards me.

I flinched reflexively when I met his cold purple eyes.

Indeed, it seems my immunity has decreased after seeing him quite relaxed for a while.

I took a deep breath and said,

“I’m sorry. Are you… very angry?”

Cardien just stared at me silently for a moment before turning his gaze back to the front.

There was no answer.

‘……He’s really angry.’

I had expected it, but seeing him more angry than I thought made my heart shrink unnecessarily.

Meanwhile, we arrived in front of the private room.

The private room was in a corridor a bit away from the hall.

It seemed perfect for having a secret conversation as there were no people passing by.

I stopped in front of the door.

“I’ll wait here. Please go in and have your conversation.”

Their conversation would probably be something I shouldn’t hear.

‘I can roughly guess what it’s about though.’

It was better to step aside appropriately.

Hysterion nodded, but Cardien looked quite displeased.

His gaze seemed to distrust me somehow, so I hurriedly added,

“I won’t go anywhere, I’ll wait here with these people.”

By ‘these people’, I meant Hysterion’s guards.

But for some reason, Cardien’s gaze turned even more displeased.

After a moment, he moved as if to enter.

However, he soon turned back and approached me.