Hearing my words, Young Duke Posilia turned around with a surprised expression and quickly bent one knee to show respect to the crown prince.

Seeing the young duke’s actions, I also hurriedly lifted the hem of my dress and bowed.

The crown prince was looking at us with a coldly hardened gaze.

No, to be precise, he was looking at Young Duke Posilia with a coldly hardened gaze.

Just having the crown prince’s gaze directed here made it feel like all the muscles in my body were stiffening.

Young Duke Posilia seemed to be even more affected, as his fingertips were trembling.

“…It’s troublesome to enjoy a private meeting between just the two of you at my coming-of-age ceremony.”

The crown prince’s lips were doing their best to smile, but his eyes weren’t smiling at all.

Young Duke Posilia still couldn’t raise his upper body and kept his gaze fixed on the floor. Finally, unable to bear it any longer, I opened my mouth.

“I apologize, Your Highness. However, we just happened to meet by chance… a private meeting is out of the question.”

At that, the crown prince’s face seemed to relax a little.

…Why was he so angry in the first place?

As I tapped Young Duke Posilia’s foot with my foot hidden under the hem of my dress, the young duke barely managed to straighten his back and nodded in agreement with my words.

“Hmm……”

The crown prince looked at us with suspicious eyes, then approached me.

“Lady Rowenloa. I didn’t expect to meet again so quickly.”

Young Duke Posilia glanced at us with a surprised expression at the crown prince who was addressing me rather kindly.

“I was able to come because I received an invitation from His Majesty the Emperor.”

Hearing that, the crown prince frowned.

“Why does Father have to do unnecessary things.”

The crown prince then took something out from his pocket and held it out to me.

“I wanted to give this to you personally. It seems Father beat me to it.”

What he handed me was an invitation to this coming-of-age ceremony.

I carefully accepted the invitation that the crown prince was offering.

“Um… then I’ll put my name on Your Highness the Crown Prince’s list for the subsequent banquet.”

The crown prince raised the corners of his mouth upon hearing that.

“You’ll be the first person to receive invitations from both the emperor and the crown prince.”

The crown prince nodded, seemingly satisfied with my answer, and looked at Young Duke Posilia who was standing awkwardly beside me.

“Young Duke Posilia. I believe this is our first time meeting like this.”

“Yes, it’s an honor to be able to converse with Your Highness the Crown Prince.”

The crown prince looked at the young duke and then turned back toward where he had entered.

“The ceremony seems to be ending soon, so I recommend returning quickly.”

The crown prince went back into the crowd of people.

Only after the crown prince had completely disappeared from our sight did Young Duke Posilia let out the breath he had been holding.

“Are you alright…?”

The young duke nodded.

“Are you acquainted with His Highness the Crown Prince?”

“Before… I visited the imperial palace at the invitation of His Highness the Crown Prince. He seemed to think well of me then.”

Hearing that, the young duke looked at the window where the crown prince had disappeared with an unreadable expression.

“Young Duke, the ceremony does seem to be ending soon. Shall we go back?”

At my question, the young duke nodded.

Then he extended his arm to me.

I looked at him with a puzzled expression.

“Just…. I was taught that this is how it’s done when leaving with a lady.”

Even as he spoke, he avoided my gaze.

I awkwardly placed my hand on the arm he offered.

So we returned to the crowd of people.

When we returned to the hall, I could see Leila and Bershua surrounded by people.

In contrast, Brother Rubert seemed to be engaged in deep conversation with the people around him at one spot.

“Look at that. Young Duke Posilia and Lady Rowenloa… don’t they seem to have a special relationship?”

And as we entered deeper into the hall, I began to hear more and more people whispering.

Soon, people’s gazes focused on me and Young Duke Posilia.

“Um… Young Duke, I think it might be better if we keep some distance…”

Hearing my words, the young duke seemed to think about something, then smiled at me.

Meeting his smile, I began to feel somehow uneasy.

Then he removed his arm from under my hand and naturally wrapped it around my shoulders.

“Danger,”

At the young duke’s sudden action, I looked around and saw an imperial palace employee approaching me with a tray full of cocktails.

As the young duke put his arm around my shoulder, the people in the hall seemed convinced.

That there was some kind of romantic atmosphere between me and the young duke.

And Leila, who saw this scene, was not much different.

Leila was approaching us with a very displeased expression, excusing herself from the people around her.

“Young Duke Posilia.”

As Leila approached and called out, the young duke looked at her with an expressionless face.

“Have you thought about my proposal from before?”

Leila glanced at me with unpleasant eyes, then flashed a harmless smile at Young Duke Posilia again.

But there was no change in the young duke’s expression as he looked at Leila.

“Hmm… about that proposal from before, I’m afraid I’ll have to decline.”

Leila’s expression hardened at those words.

People were focusing on their conversation with curious eyes.

Leila looked around at the people once and then moved to leave.

No, she tried to move.

“Lady Masipacius.”

Just as Leila was about to turn around, someone called for Lady Masipacius.

And here, there were two Lady Masipacius.

“Where have you been? I’ve been looking for you for a while.”

The one who appeared was the crown prince again.

I inwardly prayed that I wasn’t the one he was calling.

Because from the moment the crown prince said ‘Lady Masipacius,’ the emperor’s eyes had been focused on us.

As the crown prince slowly approached us, Young Duke Posilia opened his mouth.

“Lady Leila’s proposal wasn’t bad, but an unexpected figure appeared.”

The crown prince reached us, and the hall was filled with silence.

Everyone was anticipating.

Who would the crown prince call.

“Lady Masipacius.”

The crown prince’s voice calling Lady Masipacius was quite affectionate.

“Yes, Your Highness the Crown Prince!”

Just as I was about to respond to the crown prince’s call, Leila intercepted the answer.

The crown prince stood between me and Leila, gazing intently at Leila.

“…Were His Highness the Crown Prince and Lady Leila acquainted?”

Just as a new piece of gossip was about to be created—

“Lady Rowenloa, why is it so difficult to see your face today.”

The crown prince’s single sentence was enough to ruin everything.

Leila’s face crumpled.

As she failed to manage her expression, Bershua, who was standing behind her, hid Leila behind him.

“I have something to give you. Please spare me a moment before the banquet.”

This time, the crown prince knelt on one knee in front of me and kissed the back of my hand.

The moment his lips touched the back of my hand, I felt a strange sensation spreading throughout my body starting from that spot.

When I flinched, the crown prince rose from his position and looked down at me with a captivating smile.

“Or… since the coming-of-age ceremony seems to be ending soon, would you spare me a moment now?”

Not wanting to be the subject of people’s curious gazes any longer, I nodded at the crown prince’s words.

He then gently took my hand.

I gave a light greeting to Young Duke Posilia and the others standing beside me, then followed his lead.

* * *

We walked for quite a while after leaving the hall where the coming-of-age ceremony was held.

After walking like that, we arrived at a quiet terrace.

“I apologize for this sudden…”

I shook my head at the crown prince’s words.

Of course, it was very sudden, but I was so grateful to him for taking me out from among those people.

“What I wanted to give you is this book. You seemed to enjoy reading it last time…”

I looked up at the crown prince who was offering me the book with an expression of bewilderment.

“Now… you’re saying you did all that to give me this book…”

“Did all what?”

“In front of all those people… taking me… no, what if strange rumors start circulating…!”

Hearing my words, the crown prince, far from moving away from me, placed the book on the terrace railing and began to approach me one step at a time.

“Strange rumors, what kind would those be?”

For each step he took toward me, I diligently took one step away from him, but soon I lost my escape route due to a wall.

“That the crown prince and Rowenloa Masipacius are close friends?”

He bent down and met my gaze directly.

“Or perhaps, that there is romance between the crown prince and Rowenloa Masipacius…?”

Facing him directly, I felt as if my breath was stopping.

Just as the crown prince was about to come even closer to me—

“…Rowenloa?”