Whitney asked Cheston.

“Your Highness, have you found Ribenia?”

“I haven’t discovered it yet, but I’ve spoken to His Majesty the King, so something should come up.”

“Her Majesty the Queen must be cultivating it in a place hidden from others. In fact, it wouldn’t matter since it would only look like herbs to other people’s eyes.”

“However, it can be poisonous to some. Is it dangerous even with a very faint aura?”

Cheston suddenly spoke to Whitney as if something had occurred to him.

She nodded. In fact, while it was poisonous to those with aura, the amount of aura one possessed wasn’t important. It was a side effect caused by the incompatibility between aura and Ribenia’s components, so even a small amount of aura could create fatal internal injuries.

“You haven’t taken it yourself, have you, Your Highness?”

“…Well, it was unavoidable for confirmation.”

“What?!”

Whitney startled and examined Cheston’s body. Her heart sank at his unexpected action. What was he thinking, doing such a dangerous thing?

Even if it was an action taken out of distrust to confirm, it was reckless.

“I did it because I still had some Bellonia you gave me, so there’s no need for such a reaction.”

“Still, please don’t do such dangerous things again.”

Blue eyes curved prettily as if amused. Whitney narrowed her eyes at his behavior, not taking it seriously.

“Please promise me. Your life isn’t entirely your own, you know. So I hope you’ll treat it preciously.”

“You speak as if it were your own life.”

“Isn’t it? We agreed to get engaged, so who would I be engaged to if you weren’t here? And I said I’d protect you. So I can’t just stand by and watch you do reckless things.”

Cheston smiled more deeply than before, as if he was pleased. Not understanding his behavior, Whitney narrowed her eyes even more and glared at him.

“Whitney Orlean. If you keep that up, I’m afraid I’ll have to carry you in my arms because you won’t be able to see where you’re going.”

“There’s no need for that, so don’t worry.”

Whitney immediately opened her eyes wide and walked forward. Though she walked quickly, Cheston was already walking beside her.

The two of them reached where Karl and Melissa were. Suddenly, Cheston and Whitney’s steps came to a halt. Melissa had risen from her seat, turned her body, and was kissing Karl’s lips.

“It would be better if I went alone from here.”

“Will you be alright? It seems like we shouldn’t interrupt the atmosphere. I don’t feel like continuing to watch either.”

“I expected this situation, so there’s nothing to be surprised about. So, Your Highness, please go back without seeing a scene you don’t need to see.”

“I don’t want to.”

“I’m telling you this because I think it would be better for both Your Highness and me if I go back alone. I’m here at Prince Karl’s invitation, so if we’re seen together, it might cause trouble.”

Perhaps they would use this incident as an excuse to create some nonsensical situation. Since anything could be twisted here, it wouldn’t hurt to be careful.

“Call me if anything happens.”

“Are you going to keep watching over me?”

“You seem to have forgotten where we are. This is my space. So I have enough justification to intervene if anything happens.”

Whitney smiled brightly and said. Why did those words feel so reassuring?

“Thank you, I feel much more at ease now. I enjoyed our walk today.”

She immediately greeted him and walked towards the two. As the distance narrowed bit by bit, Melissa’s eyes slowly opened.

Her violet eyes discovered Whitney and curved into crescents. Whitney felt goosebumps at the sparkling eyes that seemed to have been hoping for her to discover them.

Hearing footsteps on the grass, Karl hurriedly pushed Melissa away. Karl, who had been preoccupied with receiving her elder sister’s lips until just now, put on an expression as if nothing had happened and took a sip of tea.

Then he turned his head as if to confirm the owner of the footsteps. Meeting the gaze, Whitney smiled brightly as if she hadn’t seen the scene from earlier.

“The garden is so big that it took quite some time to go around once. Did you enjoy your conversation with my elder sister?”

“Well, the noble ladies of the Orlean ducal family are outstanding in appearance and eloquent in speech, so the conversation wasn’t boring.”

Karl lied to Whitney with a relieved face. How could it have been boring when they hadn’t even conversed?

“Prince Karl. It’s getting late, so my elder sister and I should return to the duke’s residence.”

“That’s right, I seem to have kept you too long. It’s regrettable, but let’s look forward to next time.”

He kissed Whitney’s hand first this time as well. He didn’t even care what Melissa’s expression was like.

‘It seems she doesn’t even flinch at this much.’

Since she had heard from the Queen, even if he was drawn to Melissa, he would try to express himself to Whitney. However, things would be different after today. That’s why Whitney endured his dirty lips touching the back of her hand.

Cheston only turned his steps after confirming that Whitney had left. When Cheston entered the office, he saw Aaron waiting for him.

“You look like you have a lot to say.”

“First, the Queen and His Majesty the King witnessed Your Highness and the noble lady together.”

“Oh dear.”

“Please don’t pretend to be surprised with an expression that’s not surprised at all.”

At Aaron’s words, Cheston shrugged his shoulders as he sat down in the chair. It didn’t matter that his father had seen. However, he was concerned that the Queen had seen it. His father probably took care of that part on his own.

‘He must have talked about Princess Petrontra.’

If not, he would have intervened right there and separated them from the noble lady. There must have been a reason for the Queen to just silently observe the situation. So Cheston’s prediction must be correct.

“And also.”

“His Majesty the King sent a letter through a servant.”

“Father did?”

“He said it was a reward for this matter.”

A reward?

It must be a reward for the successful resolution of the matter with the Kingdom of Karulo.

Cheston immediately got up from his chair and took the letter from Aaron’s hand, opening the envelope. It must be the answer to the request to check if there was Ribenia in the Queen’s garden.

It was in the inner part of the Queen’s garden. It’s a place where others can’t enter, so you probably couldn’t have found it. I confirmed it with my own eyes, but I’m curious why you’re looking for Ribenia. It’s just an herb, but if you’re searching for it so earnestly, there must be a reason.

I’ve enclosed some Ribenia as well, thinking you might not believe me.]

A freshly picked Ribenia flower was enclosed with the letter. Cheston felt uneasy at the unexpected reward.

“It’s unsettling when he suddenly does something he doesn’t usually do.”

“I heard that the Kingdom of Karulo demanded unreasonable compensation this time. Compared to that, isn’t this a small reward? The conflict between countries was resolved without paying any price.”

“I’m saying this because Father has never done anything for me before.”

Cheston didn’t like his father’s sudden action. He thought it would be at most a sword he didn’t need or some financial reward, but to personally look into the existence of Ribenia that he was investigating.

“You said earlier that you saw the noble lady and me together?”

“Yes, that’s right. It seemed as if Her Majesty the Queen deliberately brought His Majesty the King.”

“How was the Queen’s face?”

“…If Your Highness had seen it, her face was contorted to a degree you would have been pleased with. However, she quickly managed her expression.”

“So that was it.”

The reason his father went to the trouble of doing something for him must have been because he was satisfied with the Queen’s contorted face. The Queen must have felt betrayed just by seeing the noble lady she trusted with Cheston.

“It seems Father liked the noble lady.”

Maybe he thought she could be a card to confront. If the Queen learns that a family receiving support from the Rubeness family and on good terms with her has taken Cheston’s side, her blood will boil, so his father must have thought of that situation as well.

“The engagement with the noble lady will proceed smoothly. It seems Karl’s fiancée will soon visit the Kingdom of Leowen.”

“Just thinking about seeing Prince Karl’s excited face already irritates me.”

“Well, the noble lady will have some trouble. I saw something quite interesting today.”

“What kind of interesting thing was it?”

Aaron’s eyes filled with excitement for the first time in a while. Cheston sat in the chair and wrote a letter while speaking.

“Whitney Orlean’s half-sister was kissing my elder brother. In my garden, and as if for everyone to see, knowing they would be seen.”

“…It seems even Princess Petrontra might have a formidable opponent now.”

“That’s why it’s more interesting. If the Queen learns of this fact, the noble lady’s sister’s life will be in danger. The Queen won’t like her.”

She didn’t have proper blood from the ducal family, so she lacked lineage. Considering the Queen’s nature, Melissa would never satisfy the Queen. Rather, when she realizes that Melissa harbors impure intentions, she will try to get rid of her.

‘It’s actually a good thing for the noble lady.’

The more the Queen torments Melissa, the more she becomes obsessed with Karl, the more advantageous it will be for Whitney Orlean to reclaim her rights. Just watching from a step away, they will collapse on their own, so he almost wanted to thank Melissa for what she did today.

“But wasn’t Prince Karl interested in Whitney Orlean?”

“He was. But people’s hearts are fickle. If I show even a little interest in Lady Melissa, my elder brother will bite immediately.”

“But you won’t do that, will you, Your Highness?”

“Well…”

Cheston gave an ambiguous answer as he folded the letter and sealed it with wax. If only those dirty eyes could be taken off Whitney, he was willing to show interest even if he didn’t have any.