Hello, Readers! I am celebrating my birthday with extra chapter updates, so please enjoy this special chapter release of 4 bonus chapters! 🥳

(Lurelia’s Birthday Bonus – Update 2/4 🎉)

♡ To all readers who purchased these chapters before my Birthday: I can’t express this enough – Thank you for your support. (*ˊᗜˋ*)/ᵗᑋᵃᐢᵏ ᵞᵒᵘ*

Kyron was kneeling beside my chair so that he was looking up at me. This gave me the convenience of looking down at him.

As he continued wiping the blood from my face, he spoke.

“There’s no need to worry about what they say.”

When his hand moved, seemingly to brush my hair back, I flinched, and he hesitated, withdrawing his hand as though he shouldn’t touch me.

A small sigh followed.

“What can I do to make you better?”

There was nothing Kyron could do to cure me. Yet it seemed he still believed my illness could be healed someday.

I wanted to wake him from that foolish belief.

You can’t make me better, so stop worrying about me and focus on your own work.

At that moment, applause came from somewhere.

“Well, well…”

Clap, clap, clap.

A true uninvited guest appeared, clapping.

“So devoted, so devoted.”

The tone was unmistakably mocking.

“Now I see why Father was moved to tears of admiration.”

The “Father” this uninvited guest referred to was none other than the Emperor. In other words, the uninvited guest who didn’t fit in with this dessert café was the Crown Prince.

The last time I saw him, he had been wearing a hood at the Dark Shop, so I hadn’t gotten a proper look at his face. But now, in broad daylight, I could see him clearly.

As expected of the male lead in a tragic novel, his features were well-balanced and striking. The sarcastic smirk on his lips was just a bonus.

“Hah…”

Even at the sight of the Crown Prince, Kyron didn’t bother with formalities. His expression twisted, and I could see him clench the tissue in his hand tightly.

Was this really okay, acting like this in front of the Crown Prince?

“Hey, Kyron, my friend.”

Despite not having any real friends, the Crown Prince called Kyron his “friend.” I almost got angry at his mocking tone, but I reminded myself that he was technically an ally and calmed down.

“You’ve been out of touch lately, and here you are wasting time.”

“Wasting time…?”

Kyron didn’t bother hiding his displeasure, glaring at the Crown Prince with a menacing look.

He leaned closer to me and spoke quietly.

“Ekette, finish eating here. I need to have a separate conversation.”

Kyron stood up, but the Crown Prince stopped him.

“Oh, so this is the Duchess, ‘Ekette,’ is it? But there’s no need for a separate conversation, Kyron. Why don’t we all talk together?”

What shocked me more than being asked to join the conversation was the Crown Prince’s reaction, which made it clear he hadn’t even known my name until now.

Well, it’s not like the Crown Prince needed to know the name of someone else’s wife, so I decided to let it go. After all, he was the kind of person who was so obsessed with the Saintess that nothing else registered in his mind.

At least it seemed he hadn’t connected me to the woman he met at the shop a few days ago, which was a relief.

“I have no desire to see Your Highness’s foul mouth wagging carelessly in front of my wife.”

Even though he was speaking to the Crown Prince, Kyron didn’t hold back.

The Crown Prince laughed unpleasantly.

“Am I here to meet the Empire’s only Duke, or have I been dragged to the theater by Father to watch a romance play? This makes me want to wag my foul mouth even more.”

It was truly a wonder how Kyron and the Crown Prince had managed to work together on anything.

I used to think their personalities were similar, but now I realize they were complete opposites.

While the Crown Prince locked the Saintess in the Crown Prince’s palace and tormented her with all kinds of sadistic cruelty, Kyron was someone who treated me cautiously, even if I so much as coughed.

The Crown Prince sat directly across from me, in the seat Kyron had been occupying before my coughing fit.

“Duchess. I’ve been meaning to ask you something. Let’s decide here. Would you prefer your husband to quit working with the Crown Prince and waste time in dessert cafés, or would you prefer he pulls himself together before I kill him?”

‘Before I kill him ‘…?

Ha, I let out a small laugh.

What an empty threat.

If he wanted to claim the Saintess, he’d need Kyron’s power. If he killed Kyron, what would happen to his beloved Saintess?

Of course, the Crown Prince had plenty of well-trained knights.

But the Imperial knights couldn’t be mobilized for this project.

The highest commander of the Imperial knights was ultimately the Emperor, so the Crown Prince couldn’t move them unilaterally. And this wasn’t a trivial matter—it involved destroying the temple, which was a cornerstone of the Empire.

To raid the temple, he needed Kyron’s Black Lake. Those knights, who could move secretly and efficiently, were perfect for the job.

The Crown Prince was trying to intimidate me with something he couldn’t actually do.

But… it wouldn’t be a bad thing if Kyron pulled himself together.

The temple needed to fall quickly so I could escape the anxiety surrounding the priest’s stone or whatever it was called.

I’d never heard of the priests mobilizing over something so small, but you never know.

“Your Highness, I fully support whatever you are doing. It would be an honor if my husband were to be part of it.”

I spoke smoothly.

“Do you agree without even knowing what it is? Why?”

But the Crown Prince didn’t accept my strong affirmation as easily as I hoped. Instead, he looked at me suspiciously.

“Well… um, I-I’ve been a long-time… um, fan of Your Highness!”

I blurted out nonsense.

When someone is as high-ranking as the Crown Prince and has a decent face, it’s only natural for young noblewomen to form fan clubs.

Official fan clubs, unofficial fan clubs—it’s almost like a rite of passage for young ladies to go through at least once.

So it wasn’t entirely unbelievable.

I didn’t want to admit to being a fan of such a vile personality, but it was the only thing I could think of.

“Oh? A fan of mine? Really?”

The Crown Prince raised his eyebrows mischievously, glancing at Kyron before turning back to me.

“Why? Why are you my fan? I’d like to hear more details.”

Thinking I could get away with just saying I was a fan had been my mistake. I had underestimated how persistent he could be.

“Well… um, Your Highness is… handsome…”

Kyron let out a sigh of disbelief beside me. It seemed the Crown Prince didn’t appear particularly handsome in his eyes.
Well, Kyron himself had an outstanding face, so it made sense.

“And?”

“And… Your Highness has a great build… I’m not sure about the personality… Oh! But Your Highness seems like the type who would stop at nothing for the one he loves.”

If we’re talking about how he behaved in the original story, “stopping at nothing” would be an understatement. He was more like a madman who’d lost all sense of reason.

“What exactly are you trying to pull with my wife?”

Kyron interjected through gritted teeth.

“What do you mean, ‘pull’? My friend, I didn’t say a word. The Duchess simply shared her thoughts.”

The Crown Prince shrugged his shoulders in an exaggerated manner.

Creaaak.

A foreboding sound came from the chair I was sitting on.

When I turned around, I saw that one side of the chair’s backrest, which Kyron was gripping, had twisted.

“Ekette, get up.”

“Why all of a sudden?”

“The chair’s broken. It’s dangerous.”

And who exactly broke it?!

Kyron, who had broken the chair himself, declared it dangerous and told me to get up. Then, before I could even stand on my own, he lifted me out of the chair in one swift motion.

For a brief moment, he carried me in a princess hold before gently placing me in an empty seat at the next table.

“Sit here.”

Then he returned to the Crown Prince.