Shuher, searching for words, recalled what his aide had said recently and casually brought it up.

“Because of the banquet.”

“The banquet? Ah, do you mean the one welcoming Davian?”

He nodded in affirmation. But Ibnel had no idea why Shuher was mentioning that banquet.

“But why?”

“You should attend too.”

“What?”

For her, it was news like a bolt from the blue. She was so surprised that she stammered as she asked him accusingly.

“Wh-Why should I?”

“Is a reason necessary?”

“Of course it is. I thought it had nothing to do with me.”

That’s why she had lightly dismissed it when Demil mentioned the banquet. Since it was for Davian, she wouldn’t need to go.

Ibnel had never attended a banquet before so she didn’t know much, but it was clear that many nobles would come to see Davian that day. If so, it was all too obvious what kind of words would be directed at her if she attended, so she hurriedly shook her head.

She didn’t want to be there, wearing clothes that weren’t hers, smiling artificially. She didn’t have the confidence for it either.

“I’ll say this clearly now. I won’t be attending.”

“Who are you to refuse on your own?”

“It’s up to me. Why should I go to a place where no one will welcome me?”

Ibnel asked about the most fundamental reason first. The protagonist of that event was clearly Davian, so why was he insisting that she attend?

Seeing her react more intensely than expected, Shuher felt a strange sense of defiance. He originally had no intention of forcing her, but seeing how much she disliked it made him want to somehow make her set foot in the banquet hall.

“It wouldn’t hurt for you to show your face there too, since you’ve decided to stay here.”

“It’s not that it wouldn’t hurt, it would only hurt. And I don’t particularly want to impress anyone.”

“It might be good to make it clear to Aodin’s side on this occasion. If you appear at such an official event, they’ll have to acknowledge that you have nothing to do with Aodin. I’m getting tired of burning the letters that keep coming.”

As he countered without giving an inch, Ibnel hurriedly tried to find a plausible excuse. At this rate, she might end up having to attend the banquet with no way out.

That’s when her bandaged arm caught her eye.

“Ah, I’m injured. I’m a patient.”

“The banquet is in three days, and you won’t have to walk much there, so it doesn’t matter.”

“No, the court physician told me to be careful for a while, so why is Your Majesty making that judgment? I’m already limping so much that I can’t even train.”

Ibnel stood up and demonstrated her walking as if to prove her point. Her gait did seem uncomfortable, as if her words weren’t entirely false.

But Shuher could clearly see that she was also exaggerating, pretending to be in more pain than she actually was.

“It doesn’t seem that bad.”

“What do you mean it’s not, huh?”

In her agitation, Ibnel put weight on her injured left leg and lost her balance. As she reflexively closed her eyes, bracing for impact with the floor, something solid collided with her instead. After some time passed without feeling the expected pain, she slowly opened her eyes.

The first thing she saw was a white shirt.

‘Wait, a white shirt?’

As she slowly raised her head at the solid sensation against her face, her gaze met black eyes.

Ibnel had happened to fall towards Shuher, and as he tried to catch her, he ended up falling onto the bed with her.

“Ah…”

As the surprised Ibnel propped herself up on the bed with both hands, her platinum blonde hair cascaded down like waves, touching Shuher’s face.

Somehow, she had ended up on top of him.

Unlike Ibnel, who was visibly shocked, Shuher was just calmly staring at her. She felt as if she might be pulled into those black eyes as she gazed at them, but belatedly coming to her senses, she hurriedly tried to get up.

“I-I’m sorry. But this proves that I’m hurt, so…”

At that moment, Shuher firmly wrapped his arm around Ibnel’s waist, preventing her from moving. For some reason, he didn’t want to let this warmth slip away. No, he wanted to feel it a little longer.

That touch only made Ibnel more flustered.

“Your Majesty?”

Shuher carefully scanned her face before meeting her gaze steadily and speaking.

“For someone who fell off a cliff and walked back on that treacherous mountain path, this still seems like an exaggeration no matter how I look at it.”

In truth, as he said, while there was pain when walking, it wasn’t so severe that she couldn’t walk at all. By the time of the banquet in three days, the pain would likely be almost gone.

As she averted her eyes slightly, Shuher’s low voice was heard once again. Perhaps because their bodies were pressed together, she could clearly feel not only his body heat but also the vibrations of his voice as he spoke.

“Are you perhaps afraid?”

Unlike before, his voice was serious, and Ibnel met his gaze with equally calm eyes.

“I’m not afraid. But there’s no reason for me to endure it either. I think Your Majesty knows that reason well.”

She thought he would give up after hearing this much, but Shuher showed no signs of doing so. The arm still strongly encircling Ibnel’s waist made that abundantly clear.

“I’ve already told you clearly. From the moment I decided to stay here of my own will, the choice is mine. So Your Majesty has no right to force me.”

Not wanting to be dragged along by him anymore, she answered quite firmly this time. By now, her eyes had become quite serious as well.

And as Shuher kept insisting she attend the banquet, one thought naturally occurred to her. Perhaps there was a real purpose behind all this.

“Or are those reasons just excuses, and is this what you really want? For me to be humiliated in front of people? Do you want to see me being cursed at, pointed at, becoming powerless?”

At that question, the arm around her waist immediately loosened. Ibnel took the opportunity to break free from him, but in doing so, she didn’t see what expression he was making.

He also sat up, and unlike before, a heavy silence fell between the two.

‘He’s not denying it.’

She looked at the bandage he had personally wrapped for her and made a bitter expression. She had thought that, unlike others, he had opened his heart to her just a little, but it seemed that was far from the case with Shuher.

‘It’s not like I didn’t know anyway.’

In front of this one person, Shuher, she occasionally had to acknowledge what she sometimes forgot. That she was a person from Aodin, that she was an unforgivable sinner to him.

But why did she feel so disappointed? As if she had been betrayed.

Ibnel abruptly stood up from the bed and tried to wrap up the conversation in a forcefully cheerful voice.

“If I go, it will only make the atmosphere unnecessarily unsettled. That’s not what Your Majesty wants either, right?”

At that moment, Shuher stood up and silently strode towards her. Reflexively backing away, Ibnel soon found herself blocked by the wall with nowhere else to retreat.

He stopped right in front of her, placing one hand on the wall as if to trap her. Startled, she looked up at him, but once their eyes met, she couldn’t move.

His eyes were as cold and devoid of warmth as when they first met. He also looked as if he was holding back surging anger with his entire body.

“It seems in your eyes, I still appear as a vile and cowardly creature. Like when we first met.”

“That’s…”

“Isn’t it funny that you, who jump to conclusions that I would plot such petty schemes because I’m from Caries, blame those who curse you for being from Aodin?”

Seeing that Ibnel couldn’t utter any response, Shuher lowered the arm that had been propped against the wall.

“Damn it.”

Leaving only that short word, he left her room. The door closed with a loud sound, and left alone, Ibnel’s legs gave out and she slid down the wall to sit on the floor.

It was he who had hated her the most, resented her, despised her. He had tried to kill her as soon as she arrived, didn’t hesitate to say he would kill her, and always reminded her that she was from Aodin.

So her speculation about his purpose in inviting her to the banquet was a reasonable guess.

‘But just now, why…’

To Ibnel’s eyes, Shuher’s gaze as he looked down at her seemed more angry and hurt at being misunderstood, rather than cruel.

“Why did he look more hurt than me…”

“Ibnel, Ibnel!”

“Yes?”

Startled out of her reverie by the voice calling her name, Ibnel looked up in surprise. Davian was sitting on the sofa across from her.

Just then remembering that he had come to the palace to meet her, Ibnel gave an awkward smile. She had gotten lost in thought because of what happened with Shuher yesterday.

“Ah, I’m sorry. I was just thinking about something else. Are you feeling better?”

“Yes. I’m glad you seem okay too, Ibnel. I thought you were badly hurt.”

Considering what the court physician had said yesterday, there was only a bandage on her arm, so the injury didn’t seem as deep as expected.

After briefly exchanging greetings, Ibnel soon put on a serious expression and opened her mouth. About the reason he had come to see her like this today.

“You were very surprised yesterday, weren’t you?”

“Yes.”

As Davian had been constantly worried about yesterday’s incident, he quickly nodded with a dejected face. Her uneasy feelings were evident in the way she couldn’t keep her hands still on her lap.

“I feel really sorry. This happened because I didn’t know.”

“Anyone can make mistakes. Especially since Davian has almost no experience with magical beasts.”

Just as her face was brightening at the words not blaming her, a resolute voice was heard at the same time.

“But not knowing won’t be an excuse from now on.”

Unlike before, Ibnel’s expression was devoid of any hint of a smile, and Davian could only close her mouth.

“This incident was indeed Davian’s fault. The knights certainly warned you sufficiently, and I also said that you must never open the lock.”

As there was nothing to say about that part, Davian could only hang her head low.

“Your actions caused harm to people, and many others must have been anxious. Moreover, this is the imperial palace. If problems arise due to magical beasts, many people living in Caries will become fearful.”

Ibnel pointed out her mistakes one by one in an uncharacteristically stern tone. She had to make this point clear, if nothing else. To ensure the same mistake would never happen again.

“So I hope you’ll keep that in mind from now on.”

“I’m sorry. I hadn’t thought my actions would have such far-reaching effects.”

Seeing her genuinely repentant appearance, Ibnel’s expression softened. She really hadn’t known, and by now she must have gained enough awareness.

“I’m sorry if it sounded harsh. But it’s for your sake too, Davian. When you face magical beasts in real situations in the future, there will be many more difficult things than this.”

Honestly, there was still a sense of unfairness lingering in Davian’s heart. How could she have known if she really didn’t know? She even thought that if Ibnel had explained one more time clearly, this wouldn’t have happened.

But since Ibnel’s words weren’t wrong after all, she nodded obediently.

“I’ll be sure to keep it in mind from now on.”

Just then, Ibnel clapped her hands loudly enough for the sound to fill the reception room, and startled by the noise, Davian raised her lowered head to look at her.

“Then let’s shake it off now. It’s not good to dwell too long on something that’s already passed. We can do better from now on.”

At those words, her expression brightened considerably compared to earlier.

“Do you have any special plans for today? Or are you still not feeling well?”

“No.”

At Davian’s answer, Ibnel sprang up from her seat first.

“Then let’s go.”

“Huh? Where?”

“I have somewhere to take you. We can also familiarize you with the palace layout while we’re at it.”

As Ibnel said this and was about to leave the palace with Davian, Bris stood in front of the two, as if blocking their way.