‘Why would His Highness ask me?’

Aisha quickly composed herself, swallowing the question that had occurred to her. She had never met the Second Prince, Jared Caesar, so why had he asked her to dance?

If there was any connection, it would be through her eldest brother, Edward, who was a close aide to the crown prince and shared a deep fraternal bond with the second prince. According to Edward, the second prince humbly served his elder brother for the sake of the crown prince. Because of this, unlike other nations, the Caesar Empire had no succession disputes between royal brothers.

‘Through Edward, perhaps…’

If Edward was standing next to the crown prince, it was possible that he had also interacted with the second prince. However, when Aisha caught sight of her eldest brother from afar, he looked clearly surprised, suggesting that she was wrong.

Unable to settle on any explanation, Aisha cautiously studied Jared’s face. Unlike Ian, whose dancing was flawless, the prince did not often dance. However, when he did, he led with the precise, disciplined movements of a soldier.

The slight tension in his jaw and the firm set of his lips could have made him seem abrupt, but the refined lines of his face and the beauty mark beneath his left eye gave his otherwise expressionless features an attractive charm.

‘I never realized from afar… but he’s truly handsome. No wonder women are drawn to him.’

Aisha silently admired him, but she did not voice her thoughts. Edward had once told her that Jared disliked compliments about his appearance.

Besides, Aisha had grown up surrounded by handsome men—Ian among them—and her refined sense of beauty was difficult to impress. Though Jared’s looks drew her appreciation, they stirred nothing more. Instead, his invitation to dance reminded her of Ian, whom she had, for a brief moment, forgotten—and her expression clouded over.

‘It seemed like he was coming toward me… Was he about to ask me for a dance?’

When Ian’s demeanor had suddenly turned gentle and he had told her to follow his lead, Aisha had felt both nervous and expectant.

Even though her brothers thought she was hopeless and scolded her for it, there was nothing she could do. Whenever Ian looked at her like that and held her gaze with his blue eyes, her resolve melted away.

‘Come to think of it, where is he now…’

“Are you unwell?”

She had been glancing around, searching where Ian might be, when the prince suddenly spoke—the first words he had uttered since inviting her to dance. Startled, Aisha looked up at him, only for his body to stiffen as he turned his gaze slightly aside.

“Your face seems pale. If you’re feeling unwell, we can stop now—”

“N-no, not at all.”

“….”

“I apologize if I gave that impression, Your Highness.”

She quickly lowered her eyes. In a relationship lacking familiarity, staring directly at a member of the royal family could easily be seen as disrespect.

“….”

“….”

An awkward silence fell between them, although the dance continued. Jared glanced at Aisha, who was looking down. His lips parted several times as if he were about to speak. Unaware of his hesitation, she wondered whether she should start a conversation, and if so, what she should talk about. Her gaze drifted to the ornament fastened to his chest.

“The banquet is quite…”

“I…”

Aisha had been about to offer some polite words of praise for the banquet when Jared also spoke up. Their voices overlapped, and as if by prior agreement, they both fell silent again and looked at each other.

Her round eyes, widened in surprise, reflected Jared’s face—slightly flushed beneath those pale blue irises. Avoiding her gaze once more, he adjusted the hand at her waist, loosening it for a moment before settling it back as if steeling himself.

“…Were you very startled that I asked you to dance so suddenly?”

His voice carried a faintly subdued note, as though he thought he’d done something wrong. Without meaning to, Aisha tilted her head.

“Her Majesty the Empress and my brother—no, His Highness the Crown Prince—have been pressing me to dance at least once.”

“…”

“And then… you happened to catch my eye…”

Jared trailed off, his expression tightening. Now that he’d said it aloud, it sounded as though he’d asked her purely on a whim. Seeing Aisha simply staring up at him, he looked almost flustered.

“Don’t misunderstand. I didn’t ask you without any thought. I wasn’t… watching you or anything, I just… I mean…”

“Whatever the reason, Your Highness’s invitation is an honor.”

Aisha gave a quiet laugh at his fumbling, her words coming out in a gentle murmur. The smile that touched her eyes was different from the polite one she had worn all evening. Jared noticed this and forgot to blink until a strand of her hair brushed past during the dance, bringing him back to the present.

“…It didn’t trouble you, did it? I imagine it was quite sudden.”

“To be honest, I was a little surprised at first. But now, I’m only grateful that Your Highness has given me such a pleasant moment.”

“…”

“My mother was urging me to dance as well, even down to the number of times. In a way, you’ve helped me, Your Highness. Of course, I didn’t accept your invitation just to fill a quota, so please don’t misunderstand.”

“You… speak far more easily than I expected.”

Now that her nerves had eased, Aisha’s voice had softened, and her words flowed more freely. Jared watched her lips move, as if surprised, then quickly looked abashed.

“I’m not teasing. I mean it—it’s good to see. Your voice is lovely, and you look far better smiling like this than with a sad face…”

“…”

“…Beautiful.”

The candor of the compliment left Aisha momentarily at a loss. She’d been called beautiful more times than she could count… yet this felt different. It was not the polished flattery others offered, but something unadorned, as if from a child—precisely because of that, it felt heavier, and strangely embarrassing to hear.

“Thank you for your kind words, Your Highness.”

Her voice was steady, though her ears flushed red. Jared’s eyes squeezed shut for a moment before opening again; he looked thoroughly embarrassed. His expressions were more transparent than she had imagined, and Aisha found herself thinking something she knew she shouldn’t.

‘If anyone knew I thought this, it’d be terrible… but His Highness has quite a few endearing qualities, contrary to the rumors.’

The Second Prince, said to have no interest whatsoever in the throne, obsessed only with the sword—so brusque that even Her Majesty the Empress shook her head. Yet the man Aisha had met was nothing like the whispers.

‘Perhaps the rumors come from him being shy, not cold.’

She herself grew awkward and reserved around strangers, and there were those who mistook that shyness for arrogance or aloofness.

A flicker of fondness for someone with a similar temperament rose within her—only to vanish almost instantly. A sharp gaze, so piercing it felt as though it could cut, struck her from across the floor, and her heart lurched as she glanced away.

‘Ah…’

She didn’t need to look twice to recognise whose eyes they were. A quick, worried expression crossed her face as she met Ian’s gaze, which was fixed firmly on her and Jared.

❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

They made a striking pair. The man and woman facing each other were so visually arresting that it was impossible to ignore them.

But Ian still managed to find fault. As he looked them over, he noted the stark contrast between the prince’s delicate, almost feminine features and rose-coloured hair, and Aisha’s light overall colouring. His eyes lingered on them until he noticed something that made his face harden.

Dancing so close to the prince, Aisha had her head slightly bowed. Whether from the fatigue of dancing one set after another or from standing so close to another man, her cheeks were prettily flushed.

Whenever Prince Jared spoke to her, she paused for a moment, then lifted her gaze slightly as she parted her full lips — and that, paired with her flushed cheeks, suited her well. It gave her a clear, unspoilt charm — the kind of expression that brought out her delicate beauty. Contrary to his taciturn reputation, the prince didn’t hide the faint upward curve of his lips.

Ian’s gaze darkened when it fell on Jared’s hand at Aisha’s waist. Then, when she smiled, his brows rose involuntarily.

“Did you bring the watch? It seems to me that I’ve already won, so there’s no need to wait and see.”

Just as Aisha and Jared finished turning in a graceful circle, locked in each other’s arms, someone approached Ian and spoke to him quietly. Ian glanced sideways and saw Albert standing beside him. He hadn’t noticed the man arrive. Albert’s swagger and confident expression made it obvious that he believed victory was his. Ian gave a mirthless smile.

“Your jokes go too far.”

“Ian! Enough pretending to be calm. Lady Aisha and His Highness the Second Prince… anyone can see the way they’re drawn to each other. They make quite the pair.”

Instead of answering, Ian took a glass from a passing servant’s tray. The clear liquor inside was sweet but strong.

He sipped it and studied Aisha’s face, this time with an openly disapproving stare rather than the measured glance from earlier. In the middle of her dance with the prince, she noticed his gaze and faltered visibly. The way she stole glances in his direction, and the faint tremor in her eyes, revealed a multitude of emotions, one of which was guilt. His lips twisted as he finished the drink.

‘Good. You should feel you’ve done wrong. To think you’d bother me with that pitiful talk of how you liked me—only to turn that same face on another man. No shame at all.’

Handing the empty glass back to the servant, Ian turned his head. Albert was still at his side, that same smug look on his face. Irritated by the sight, Ian waved a hand.

“Go on ahead to the spot we agreed on. We’ll have our answer in thirty minutes.”

The dance music would be ending soon. It would take an adult at least ten minutes to walk from the ballroom to the agreed meeting point at a brisk pace. If the wager was to be settled within thirty minutes, there was hardly any time to spare.

“Thirty? That’s far too short. Make it within the hour—if it takes any longer than that, Ian, you lose.”

“Fine.”

Ian nodded and Albert checked his watch, ready to move off. However, Ian reached out and stopped him. Albert looked at him in puzzlement. Ian hesitated briefly, then spoke.

“Let’s keep this to ourselves. If you boast about your win, it will cause trouble.”