A woman, presumed to be a noble, was quarreling with a bald man. The small boy, clinging tightly to the woman’s hand, caught Axel’s eye.

The atmosphere seemed quite tense.

The woman wore a flashy dress that didn’t fit her properly.

Judging by her attire, she was more likely a commoner, but since they were on a street frequented only by nobles, there was still a chance she was a noblewoman.

The woman had such a striking beauty that it was surprising he hadn’t seen her before, and she appeared to be of marriageable age.

There were no marks of a ring on her fingers, suggesting she was unmarried.

The boy seemed excessively dependent on the woman.

The boy’s clothes were not those of someone who could afford a tutor, so it was likely that the woman was a relative of the boy.

If things go well…

“This could be a big catch.”

Axel let out a dry laugh as he quietly observed the situation outside.

* * *

“A royal carriage. Who could it be?”

Nobles passing by continued to gather around the appearance of the royal golden carriage.

Khalid couldn’t understand why he was mediating this situation.

In a state of confusion, he calmly listened to the situation.

“So, let me get this straight. Count Roman claims that this lady has defrauded him. Is that correct?”

“That’s right! This is fraud under the pretense of marriage. I’ve been deceived by this cunning woman! If I hadn’t coincidentally found her today, I would never have known! Oh, my money!”

Of course, it was only Count Roman who claimed fraud, while the woman remained silent, busy hiding the frightened child behind her.

“Please listen to my unfortunate story. Baron Langston requested an investment from me. But for an investment to proceed smoothly, there must be something trustworthy, right? As a sign of trust, a union between families was promised.”

“You mean marriage with this lady, the daughter of Baron Langston.”

“Exactly! But then this vile woman insulted me with vulgar words!”

The Roman family was a frontier family that had grown their wealth through something akin to loan sharking, and Count Roman was particularly infamous for having been married and divorced five times despite talking about trust and union.

Khalid could clearly understand the situation.

“So, Baron Langston tried to sell his daughter to Count Roman. And this woman is the daughter of that baron.”

The prince was right.

Before hearing the situation, Khalid wasn’t sure if the woman, dressed rather shabbily, could be a noble lady. Her face was pretty, so he thought she might be wandering the noble shopping district, hoping to catch a noble’s eye.

But she turned out to be a noble lady. Then who is the child next to her?

“As a gentleman, I tried to endure it, but I couldn’t take it anymore, so I withdrew my investment. I didn’t even ask for the deposit back out of humanity.”

It wasn’t a particularly interesting story, nor did it seem like he had much to be aggrieved about, but Khalid endured it patiently.

“But today, as I was walking by, I saw this woman with a child! Look at their faces. Don’t they look just alike?”

Khalid looked at the child hiding behind the woman.

Sensing his gaze, the woman glared at Khalid and shielded the child with her skirt.

“So I grabbed her and asked, ‘Who is this child? Is it your sibling?’ And she wouldn’t say a word!”

Despite appearances, Count Roman seemed to have a keen eye, possibly due to his five marriages.

“I thought, ‘Could a noble lady really?’ and asked if the child was hers. She didn’t deny it and instead pushed me! Isn’t that admitting it’s her child?”

“Don’t lie! You grabbed the child first! This is self-defense!”

Huh! The surrounding onlookers sighed.

While Count Roman had a terrible reputation among the nobles, there were no nobles here who would look kindly on an ‘unmarried noble lady with a child.’

No matter how much of a womanizer and dirty money-maker Count Roman was, he was still held in higher regard than an unmarried noble lady with a child.

Khalid was shocked.

“Is she really unmarried? An unmarried noble lady with a child? Such a woman exists?”

* * *

In all this commotion, Hailey wasn’t concerned about fraud or self-defense. Her only worry was Theo, who must have been frightened by this incident on his first outing.

Following the pre-planned route, they had managed to sneak out when the baron couple had left the mansion.

Theo, fascinated by everything in the outside world, was chattering more than usual, which made Hailey happy.

She hadn’t intended to come to the noble shopping district. She knew it was dangerous, but she didn’t want to return empty-handed on Theo’s birthday, so she ended up here while looking for a gift.

She just wanted to buy Theo some delicious candy, a luxury she couldn’t usually afford.

She planned to buy it and quickly return home.

But then she ran into Count Roman, whom she had met for a marriage proposal before.

The count immediately accused Hailey and Theo of hiding a child and claimed it was fraud, demanding his deposit back.

When Hailey ignored him and tried to leave, the count grabbed Theo’s arm.

Unable to handle Hailey, who was taller than him, he targeted the relatively small and weak child.

When he attacked Theo, Hailey lost her temper and pushed the count’s shoulder hard.

Hailey didn’t care how anyone saw her. She never did.

But when it came to Theo, it was different. She wouldn’t let anyone harm Theo.

“Look at this! How can an unmarried woman with a child be so brazen? If I had known she had a child, I wouldn’t have invested in the first place! This is fraud! I must get my deposit back!”

At that moment, the door of the golden carriage with the royal emblem opened. Someone stepped out from inside.

The murmurs of the onlookers reached Hailey’s ears.

“Oh my, it’s the prince! My goodness!”

The prince had always been on the battlefield, and Hailey, busy raising Theo, had rarely attended banquets, so this was her first time seeing the prince.

Hailey was immediately struck by his presence.

‘…He’s huge.’

It was the first time Hailey thought someone was big. Most people she had met were either similar in height to her or shorter. She had never had to look up so much that her neck hurt.

Axel’s height was well over 190 cm, and his solid muscles, honed on the battlefield, and sun-tanned skin made him look even more imposing.

His jet-black hair and deep, large red eyes that seemed to pierce through people were intimidating enough to make anyone shrink back.

Even for Hailey, who stood at 175 cm, Axel was simply ‘big, enormous.’ There were no other words to describe him.

“Greetings to Zenovia’s little sun.”

As the prince stepped out of the carriage, everyone bowed their heads.

Hailey, following proper etiquette, bowed, but she couldn’t help but wonder how the prince had so much free time to meddle in such affairs.

Only Theo, who had not yet learned proper manners, hid behind Hailey, peeking out and staring up at the enormous Axel.

To Theo, Axel looked as big as the giants he had seen in his storybooks. He knew he shouldn’t stare at adults, but he couldn’t help it; Axel was fascinating.

“…Villain?”

Hailey flinched at Theo’s small muttering, hoping she was the only one who heard it.

‘How audacious.’

Contrary to Hailey’s hopes, Axel had excellent hearing.

Most people couldn’t even make eye contact with Axel due to his intimidating presence. Especially children, who usually cried at the sight of him.

So, the fact that this tiny child was staring at him and calling him a ‘villain’ was amusing to Axel.

“Unmarried?”

The prince’s first words, which everyone strained to hear, were an unexpected question.

Hailey, who didn’t understand why the prince was involved in this matter or why he was asking such a strange question, felt annoyed.

Khalid, watching this unfold, sighed inwardly.

‘He’s too blunt. I knew he sometimes spoke without thinking, but this mad prince is excessively blunt.’

Khalid wanted to faint right there.

Axel didn’t care about royal dignity or etiquette. He only cared about his own curiosity.

Even as a prince, he had no reason to interfere in petty disputes between nobles. In fact, it was strange for him to meddle in such trivial matters.

Sighing inwardly, Khalid addressed the woman with a haughty look.

“Lady Langston, regardless of the situation, please show proper respect to the prince.”

It was a demand to answer the prince’s question.