The weather was clear, the pond sparkled, there was no one else around, and a graceful and lovely woman sat right beside him.

And he was sitting there stiff as a board, staring at nothing but the pond?

Catching Prince Aslan was clearly not going to be as easy as she thought.

‘Still, at least he’s nice to look at.’

It was a relief that there was at least the pleasure of looking at that fair, smooth face, rare in Vaigon.

And throwing dirt on Ulfgar’s delusion alone was enough to count as a mission accomplished.

“Let’s rest a little and then head back.”

“……Yes.”

It was a rather awkward stretch of time.

Even as time passed, his guardedness refused to ease, and Freya started to feel uncomfortable too.

No matter how much his face resembled a pearl, sitting in silence for that long was bound to get dull.

‘He really is a boring man.’

Freya scrunched her nose with a flat expression.

Nothing interesting was going to happen if she kept Aslan there. Once the excitement settled, she grew tired of the situation quickly.

“Shall we head back now? I think I’ve teased the maidservants enough by this point.”

Freya brushed off her skirt and stood. Her manner was rather irritable.

Aslan sluggishly rose after her. He followed behind her without a word, as though he too was eager to leave.

Walking back the way they came, Freya felt a quiet sting to her pride.

‘Is it because I’m a Vaigon woman?’

Was he being standoffish out of shyness, or was he avoiding her because he disliked Vaigon women?

‘Don’t tell me he finds me unappealing?’

That couldn’t be right. He clearly blushed when he looked at her.

Freya decided Aslan was just being stiff out of pride and turned to look back at him.

“Today was enjoyable. I’ll be on my way.”

Aslan’s expression was still unreadable.

His cheeks flushed a soft red and his lips moved like he had something to say, but no matter how long she waited, he wouldn’t open his mouth.

She was on the verge of snapping at him to just say it already when the maidservants, who spent a long while wandering the forest, spotted her and came running.

“Freya! Where did you go?”

“Nothing happened, did it?”

Freya turned to go back to the maidservants when a small voice followed from behind.

“I hope we can meet again sometime.”

Her sulky expression flipped in an instant. Her lips curved and wriggled like a caterpillar.

‘Do I look that free to you? You think I’ll come play with you again?’

She found it absurd that Aslan, who spent the whole time being dull, now wanted to see her again.

Freya didn’t answer him and walked on. Her steps carried not a trace of reluctance.

She only looked back after the maidservants caught up to her.

Aslan’s retreating figure looked somehow lonely. He seemed to be heading straight back to Haakon’s fortress.

Well, a hostage who ran off would cause a real problem. He was treated as a guest, but in truth he was no different from a prisoner.

She confirmed today that the supposedly arrogant Prince Aslan was a dull and charmless person. It was nothing but a waste of time.

So why couldn’t she take her eyes off his retreating back?

The maidservants watching her widened their eyes.

“Did something happen with Prince Aslan?”

“Surely not……! Is it true, Freya?”

Freya waved her hand as though it was a nuisance.

“It’s not like that.”

“You were alone together, and nothing happened at all?”

Those words needled her pride for no good reason.

Freya rolled her eyes and marched ahead.

“He was less impressive than I expected. Even if he threw himself at me, I’d pass.”

The maidservants chimed in and fell in step behind her.

“But Prince Aslan seemed completely taken with you, Freya. His face was burning red and he didn’t know what to do with himself.”

“He couldn’t shake off your hand either, and he followed you all the way out here.”

Their flattery, saying as expected of Freya, only left her with an unsettled feeling she couldn’t quite hide.

But her lips pressed shut and she couldn’t bring herself to say they were wrong.

‘It’s true that he said he wanted to see me again.’

She told herself that much.

***

There was no reason to see a man again whose only useful quality was his face.

He was nothing but dull and awkward. His unmanly, frustrating personality would only irritate her.

So why was she walking toward the estate where Aslan was staying?

‘I’m just stopping by since I’m already in the area. We didn’t really say a proper goodbye last time. And I have nothing else to do. And I’m in a bad mood……’

Freya entered the fortress with her father for the first time in quite a while. She paid her respects to Haakon and made small talk with the princesses.

But throughout the entire conversation, Haakon’s fourth daughter Helga kept picking fights with her and finding fault.

Why hadn’t she found a husband yet. Why she suddenly showed up at the fortress.

Whether she had some ulterior motive. Whether she was so restless she was going around chasing men.

Whether she was setting her sights on Ulfgar after all this time!

She spouted one outrageous thing after another, enough to make Freya’s blood boil. It was enough to drive her absolutely mad.

It was a good thing Freya held herself together with everything she had and kept it from blowing up into a real scene. Helga’s relentless nitpicking still left the mood in ruins.

‘Right, and who told you to marry someone like that?’

Ulfgar, who was about to wed her, clearly had his heart elsewhere. That was why Helga was taking it out on her for no reason.

‘Don’t tell me the rumor that I was heartbroken over Ulfgar’s wedding was started by Helga herself?’

Given the jealousy Helga showed today, it wasn’t entirely groundless suspicion.

She was in such a foul mood she wanted to grab anyone nearby and pick a fight.

Could Prince Aslan lift her out of this mood?

Thinking of his dull personality, she didn’t have high hopes.

Even so, Freya didn’t stop walking toward the hostage’s estate.

‘I’ll just look at his face and go back.’

True to the rumors that he sent the maidservants away, the area around the hostage’s estate was completely unkempt.

The front yard was overgrown with weeds, and thick vines wrapped around the outer walls. It looked like an abandoned forest storehouse.

‘He is being treated as a guest, right?’

Never mind the maidservants, not even a guard? Was there no need to keep watch over a hostage? She was puzzling over it when.

‘There they are, slacking off.’

Guards were sprawled out in the shade of a tree, chatting idly. They lay there chewing on reeds and humming to themselves, looking utterly at ease.

Which meant the hostage caused no trouble worth watching for.

Freya shook her head and headed toward the inner courtyard. Finding Aslan wasn’t difficult.

The window at the far end of the second floor, visible from the courtyard below, was wide open. Aslan was leaning against the windowsill, reading a book.

‘Of course, a prince. Has to look the part, doesn’t he.’

Without a second thought, Freya went up to the second floor and threw open the door.

“It’s been a while, Prince. How have you been?”

A cool breeze swept her hair back.

Aslan startled and jumped to his feet, and the book resting on his thigh tumbled to the floor.

“Were you reading?”

“What brings you here?”

“I was at the fortress, so I stopped by. I felt like we parted without a proper goodbye last time.”

“……”

“You said you hoped we’d meet again, didn’t you? I thought about it and realized I left without even answering you.”

Aslan’s face turned apple-red again. With his fair complexion, even small shifts in feeling showed plainly.

Freya thought that too was a rather unmanly quality as she stepped into the room.

Aslan recoiled like someone being assaulted and pressed himself against the wall.

Anyone watching would think she was trying to eat him alive. Well, it wasn’t as though she had absolutely no such intentions.

“You shouldn’t enter a strange man’s room without permission. People will get the wrong idea.”

“What strange man? All I see is an innocent boy who’s never even held a woman’s hand.”

“……I am a man.”