“When you come to Odorley, you should visit the ancient amphitheater, the Perfume Museum, and the Centmi River,” Ollentia said chattering away inside the carriage. Today was the day she would be guiding Demidius through Odorley.

She expected to do a lot of walking and moving around, so she wore a thin fabric dress. It was a yellow off-shoulder dress with a flowing hem, making it light and suitable for outings. She completed her outfit with white lace gloves and a bonnet.

Demidius, on the other hand, honestly asked Ollentia, who kept checking the window, “Is my presence bothering you?”

Ollentia widened her eyes and stared at Demidius. Today, the red eyes within the mask’s eye holes seemed to shine even brighter.

“Bothering me? Of course it is. He’s asking a natural question.”

Demidius wasn’t the most comfortable companion to be with. For some reason, she found herself standing up straighter, and her entire body was tense.

But it wasn’t a good idea to blatantly state that fact. It was best to let it slide.

Ollentia cautiously nodded at him. “It’s not comfortable. We’ve met frequently, but we’re not friends.”

“At this point, can’t we be friends? Being friends doesn’t sound so bad.”

“Are you serious? You want to be friends with me?”

The word “friends” felt unfamiliar to Ollentia. She had attended quite a few social gatherings so far, but she hadn’t met anyone close enough to call a friend. Most people tried to curry favor with her, and she ended up avoiding them because it felt like she was being drawn into a small power struggle.

Thinking about what she had told him earlier, Ollentia mentioned, “My only friend is my personal maid, Bovi.”

“Then you must have plenty of room for friends. I, too, have only my chief of staff as a friend.”

“Oh…”

“We have a lot in common.”

Ollentia didn’t want to acknowledge his words. She had recognized it from the moment he had said it was fate when they had met by chance. Demidius seemed to often say nonsense to someone he felt close to.

Even though such words were enough to cause misunderstandings.

‘Why is he doing this? What if the person listening has some affection for him?’

Ollentia simply declined, “If that’s the case, most of the Empire’s youth would be the same.”

However, Demidius looked at her with an undisturbed expression, gazing at Ollentia as if he had seen something hot and ticklish in every place his gaze landed. She felt like she wanted to take off her clothes and scratch herself all over.

‘Why does it itch so much? My feelings are strange.’

Ollentia didn’t like the situation where she kept being conscious of Demidius. She just wanted to think of him as a stone.

As if understanding Ollentia’s feelings, the carriage stopped after a while.

Finally, they arrived at the first location: the ancient amphitheater.

Demidius lightly extended his hand to Ollentia. “Shall we go, Lady?”

Refusing such basic escorting would be rather unwarranted.

Ollentia pretended to be nonchalant and took his hand, stepping out of the carriage. She landed gracefully on the ground, feeling quite stable, and gazed at the circular amphitheater with a reddish hue. It had been a very long time since she had been here, even since she was a child.

The ancient amphitheater had a majestic beauty. Designed to accommodate around 50,000 to 70,000 spectators, the amphitheater was constructed with stacked bricks and carved stones. The open sky served as the beautiful roof of the circular amphitheater.

Ollentia entered the amphitheater and basked in the warm sunlight. She could feel the bonnet getting hotter.

“The sun is strong. Are you okay with it?”
Demidius raised his large hand above the bonnet and asked. He seemed affectionate at times like this. In fact, Demidius could be somewhat rough in his speech at times, but considering his kindness in rescuing her on the Shine Street and the train, he seemed somewhat affectionate.

Sometimes, he irritated people with his blunt remarks.

Ollentia stared at his thick hand and swallowed her saliva.

“I have a bonnet, so I’m okay. But are you okay?”

“The sunlight is quite bright, but then, let’s close our eyes and walk, shall we?”

“Then you might stumble.”

“In that case, Lady can catch me.”

As he reached out as if to be caught, Ollentia, who was flustered, moved to another place.

“It seems like Your Highness often says unreasonable things.”

As they walked, Demidius, who seemed deep in thought, walked closely by her side. He didn’t seem particularly interested in the circular amphitheater.

‘Did we come here for no reason?’

Feeling embarrassed, Ollentia looked around more often. She was here to see things herself.

But then, Demidius unexpectedly said something.

“There’s also an ancient amphitheater in the Valiel territory, but the structures are completely different. It’s interesting.”

‘Were you actually looking? I thought you were just waiting for a chance to make unreasonable remarks to me.’