The bare-shouldered design was ultimately something she could not wear.

The swelling that had not gone down even with medicine had spread across her entire back.

Catherine pressed a hand to her forehead as she stared at the bluish-purple lines running down Aeril’s back.

“Ha…… This won’t do.”

The way she rummaged through the luggage was pure irritation. Unable to let even the maidservants know she had beaten Aeril, Catherine was selecting Aeril’s dress herself.

“This one. Let’s go with this.”

The dress she held out was made of thin fabric and designed to come all the way up to the neck. The bright color seemed to offset the stuffiness somewhat, but it was not a style suited to the current weather.

“You haven’t gained weight, have you?”

Catherine seemed to know this herself—even after dressing Aeril, she kept letting out heavy sighs. The look she gave Aeril as she looked her over was far from kind.

“If we could just do something about here……”

Standing still like a display piece in front of Catherine was Aeril’s part to play.

Hands folded neatly, eyes cast down, until Catherine gave her leave……

“If we open up this section it should look passable enough. Wait a moment.”

Catherine laced Aeril’s waist even tighter, fastened every button down the back, and called the maidservants in. She issued a string of instructions regarding the neckline of the dress.

“Not too deep. Make sure it stays in place and doesn’t slip further. The hair should be braided and pinned up. Since the neck is covered, that should at least make it look cooler. Use these for the accessories.”

Catherine, who had selected every last piece of jewelry herself, patted Aeril on the shoulder.

“I’ll see you shortly, dear.”

Catherine always called Aeril “dear” when others were watching.

“Yes.”

Aeril answered with a bright smile, and Catherine lifted the corners of her mouth in return.

Catherine left the room, and Aeril wiped the expression from her face immediately. She furrowed her brow at the pain climbing up her spine.

The maidservants of the ducal household knew Aeril to have a rather unpleasant temperament.

But there was no need to correct that. It was actually more convenient that they believed it and kept their distance.

Dealing with Catherine and her father alone drained every last bit of Aeril’s energy for the day. She had no desire to spend more of it in front of others.

She liked the heavy silence that settled around her. It would have been a perfect moment, if not for the brush touching her skin, the hands grazing her hair, and the clinking sounds of things knocking together.

The maidservants were puzzling over the deep horizontal cut of the dress’s front, which kept sliding downward.

In the end, they added a layer of fabric on the inside and threaded the end of the long necklace that fell to her chest through the lace.

That kept it from slipping further, but the design had turned into something a courtesan might wear.

“What do we do?”

“I think Madam will be displeased……”

“Um…… Miss, could you take a look at this?”

Aeril, who had her eyes closed, opened them and looked straight ahead. She gazed quietly at her own reflection in the mirror.

“It’s fine.”

“Th, then…… may we finish it up like this?”

“Yes.”

It felt somehow more suggestive than the original dress, which had bared her shoulders and neck entirely.

But since that was the direction the Duke and his wife intended to use her for, she supposed it did not matter. It was a fitting outfit for the purpose.

“I can go now, right?”

At Aeril’s question, the maidservant who had been arranging her hair snapped her hands away at once.

“Yes!”

With the help of another maidservant who quickly opened the door, she stepped out into the corridor. She moved slowly in the direction of the hall where music played.

Outside the windows, darkness had already settled in deep. Aeril, who had been glancing at her own reflection in the glass with each step, fixed her gaze ahead. She did not know whether Lyden would like her like this.

I think I have started to want to lean on you a little.

— You know, my Lady. I have a good eye for people’s habits. But you cannot look someone in the eye when you lie.

He kept drawing out the parts of herself she had even forgotten. He pulled out the fragile feelings she had worked so hard to bury.

He had put into words the grief that was hers alone—the grief no one had ever tried to see—and in a single moment, turned the worry she had carried her whole life into something that amounted to nothing.

He was someone who had seen her as purely herself. The first person to do so, aside from Edelin.

So of course my heart keeps tilting toward you.

Knowing you despise House Ronz, a small desire had been quietly taking root—to use the power of the ducal house to stay by your side.

— Marry Lyden. I will put you in that seat.

She did not fully trust her father’s words, and she could see plainly how Lyden would respond—but she knew that if political matters became entangled, even he could not exclude House Ronz entirely.

That was why she could not help feeling so conflicted. If she truly had his interests at heart, the right thing would be to step away—yet she wanted to draw closer to him, using her status as a half-wit as her excuse.

That was her honest state of mind right now.

Before she knew it, she had reached the entrance to the hall framed in gold trim. Aeril passed the knights standing in formation at the door and turned her head to find Lyden.

She did not need long to spot him. She could see Lyden’s back, dressed in a white dress shirt. Aeril made her way toward the table where he sat.

“……”

She stood at his side, careful to keep a distance that would not intrude, but Lyden did not spare her even a glance.

Instead, the others seated at the table began to steal looks at her one by one. All of them were nobles close to the king.

Some preened at Lyden’s open disregard for Aeril, while others broke into a cold sweat caught between the two—unwilling to dismiss House Ronz entirely.

Oliver Minosh, seated directly beside Lyden, was one of them. The eldest son of the Minosh county, he was someone who constantly clashed with Diovan.

House Minosh held a county, but their influence had grown rapidly to a level nearly on par with a ducal house. They were, for that reason, a family the Duke of Ronz kept a particularly watchful eye on.

Oliver, sensing Aeril’s brief glance, stiffened his expression. Even amid the faint tension in the air, the card game flowed on without interruption.

That applied only to Lyden.

Leaning comfortably against the back of his chair, he threw down cards, shook out his hands, and laughed freely as he enjoyed the game.

Since one could not speak to royalty unless they addressed you first, Aeril chose to simply stand still. She could feel the Duke of Ronz watching from across the room.

She must have stood there for just over two hours.

The gazes of those who had been watching her drifted away, and the hall, now in higher spirits, had turned into something resembling a marketplace.

Aeril remained rooted in place like a potted plant. The ankles bearing her high heels began to wobble.

“This is no fun at all.”

Lyden murmured under his breath.

He swept his soft golden hair back with one hand and tossed the cards he had been holding onto the table.

“I’ll take my leave. The rest of you carry on.”

The table was a mess of glasses, dice, and cards all tangled together.

Everyone at the table except Lyden was soaked in drink.

A man whose face looked ready to burst staggered to his feet.

“Stay. I’m the one leaving.”

Lyden waved off the man’s attempt to rise and stood beside Aeril. Their shoulders nearly brushed.

“I can’t stay any longer—someone’s making it uncomfortable.”

Lyden shot her a displeased glance and walked out of the hall. Aeril, who had been staring at the floor while listening to him, followed a moment later.

Aeril walked after Lyden.

Every person at the table shook their heads at the sight. Everyone watching from the hall either clicked their tongue or shot a wary look at House Ronz.

There was no one who did not understand what it meant for her to approach Lyden.

Aquero was no different. He let out a short snort.

And so Aeril followed behind Lyden through the corridor, then up another flight of stairs.

Lyden seemed to head toward the room at the end of the corridor, then turned toward the staircase in the center. His room was ahead.

“Did you follow me here on your own? Or did the Duke send you?”

Aeril faced him and paused for a moment.

If Lyden had wanted to shake her off, he would not have stood waiting at the door like this. She also did not think he would have turned back to give her that quiet smile. It was closer to a smirk, but what he wore beneath it was unmistakable curiosity.

“It…… was my own will.”

Since it was, to some degree, genuinely her own will, Aeril was able to answer this time without looking away from his eyes.

Lyden held his gaze steadily on Aeril’s faint, water-colored eyes.

“Did you practice? What did you say just now.”

He said it with a fleeting playful smile. He opened his own door without hesitation and welcomed her in.

“Come in.”

Aeril stepped carefully into his room and stood frozen, unsure of what to do.

It was because entering someone else’s room was something she had never done before. Aside from Catherine’s room and the Duke’s study.

She followed him with her eyes as he passed by her side, and waited for his next instruction. Lyden dropped onto the sofa and prepared a glass.

A golden liquid that matched him filled the crystal glass to the brim.

“What are you doing?”

“…… Oh.”

After a brief hesitation, Aeril walked slowly to the sofa and moved to sit diagonally across from him. She was carefully smoothing the back of her skirt when —

“You’ll need to take that off.”

Aeril’s face went blank and she could not bring herself to sit down on the cushion.

“You followed me here without even that much resolve? Did the old fox not teach you this?”

Lyden, who had been watching her stand there frozen, tipped the glass to his lips.

His throat moved as he drained the glass completely, then set it down on the table. The sound of the wooden surface meeting the crystal rang out quite loudly.

“Well. Are you not going to try harder.”

Lyden, who had been fully aware of Aeril’s tension, rose from his seat. He pressed down on her shoulders and settled Aeril onto the chaise.

Aeril looked up at him, her eyes full of confusion.