Riga had never forgotten the terrifying pressure she had felt from Hayden on her first day here. His smiling face is just a disguise; inside, he’s as sharp as a knife. Carlos was the same.

So she had to act so as not to offend him, carefully treading a fine line. Accepting such a dress from the Emperor is nothing.

It was neither a dress adorned with jewels, nor was it so trivial that the Emperor would give and forget. Such a thing cannot be refused.

‘But I have to refuse the big things.’

If it had been something like a dress with jewels, she would have had to reject it, as there would surely be talk afterward. Hayden had already asked her to come to Perseita.

There was a threat, and now, is he gently coaxing her? She didn’t know. She wasn’t curious.

But she felt pathetic for recalling the secret event a few days ago just because he smiled at her and danced once.

‘But I have no choice! It’s only been about a week since I met him!’

Ah, thinking about it again gave her chills. Oh my, it’s been less than a week. Counting the days made her feel suddenly creeped out.

“The sun is nice, so I thought we’d eat outside, but it seems a bit chilly.”

Hayden glanced at Riga’s freshly dried hair and led her inside. They might catch a cold if they ate outside.

With his large, firm body, devoid of any flab, he had grown tall enough to look down at Riga.

‘She’s definitely lost weight.’
She was much smaller and much thinner than before. The biggest surprise, even as he hugged her a few nights ago, was because of that. There could be various reasons, but mostly it must be because of what happened in Kaleta.

Hayden had intended to feed Lu a lot. After passing the servants who quietly opened the door, she simply tensed up as she entered the bright white space.

She had expected a huge dining room, but surprisingly, it was closer to a very private space.

There was a fireplace, flowers were cutely arranged in vases, and it was a dazzling place filled with sunlight, just like the Shalea Palace, with many windows. Especially, there was an octagonal indented space where a round table was placed.

“Ha ha, a rectangular table would be better.”

To anyone watching, it was a composition that desperately tried to get Lu close and somehow overcome it.

Of course, she would just enjoy the delicious food and roughly refuse, and then leave. A luncheon with Emperor Perseta was nothing.

“But how long will this last, that’s the problem….”

People in high positions tend to have pride that is absurdly strong in proportion to their rank. They get very angry at refusal, opposition, and neglect, and cannot tolerate it at all.

Carlos was like that, so what would be different about Hayden. Continuously refusing the Emperor’s proposals was not the answer either. So, the Kaleta construction site was where Lu was sent to die in the end.

“‘Dining etiquette training’?”

She asked Hayden, squinting her eyes as he sat down.

She kept thinking complexly about the meaning behind everything he said and what hidden intentions might be there.

Oh, I wish I could just take it at face value. But then again, Hayden was also racking his brains to call Lu every day, so it was the same.

He too was now doing all sorts of excuses to feed Lu something to her taste, and ‘safe’ food. At least it would be better than the food that the Kaleta construction office’s poison expert made. After all, poison is not only used to kill people, but also to cunningly ruin them.

“The most boring and most annoying time. It’s a bit better with the construction company, but as you can see.”

He spread his hands and swept over the empty table. There were three pairs of forks and knives, and even two more spoons of different sizes. Lu still looked quietly at the back of his hand, full of tendons.

“It’s still noisy.”

It must have been unfair to the servants who had prepared it sincerely, but Hayden was calm.

“It’s wonderful and beautiful. I like the napkins too.”

The napkin wrapped with a mintcolored ribbon was especially pretty. No, was the pretty thing the ribbon?

Lu did not particularly like the shiny goldbordered napkin that Martin had displayed with skill. It was a bit clumsy and lacked refined taste.

It would be nice to change it to something fresh. But this time they were hiring new maids, and kitchen assistants, would it go well?

“Construction Minister Gennes.”

She, who had been thinking of something else, suddenly lifted her head to the call.

“Have you looked around Shalea enough?”

Hayden asked, knowing that there wasn’t even time to look around. He was already thinking about the next schedule to be with Lu.

“…If you give me the time, I’ll be happy to look around.”

At the words implying ‘when did you ever give the time for that,’ Hayden laughed again, as if it was something funny.

She reflexively looked for the teapot. Instead of a teapot, there was a heavy water pot in the servant’s hand.

That’s too bad. No matter how you looked at it, the teapot was just the right thing to hit someone over the head with.

“Unfortunately, now is not the time to look around Shalea. There are many eyes from various countries around.”

Lu reflexively thought of tomorrow’s appointment.

Welcoming the arrival of the Kaleta Construction Minister in Shalea, the Nirva Construction Office invites you.

If nothing is wrong, please come to have delicious tea at three o’clock the day after tomorrow.
I will wait for the reply. [Dash] Nirva Contractor Felis Keika.

A convenient excuse to refuse the invitation that may be Hayden’s invitation tomorrow could be the invitation from the next contractor.

“There are many who show interest in the contractor.”

Lu suddenly felt that Hayden knew about the invitation to the Nirva contractor.

“Just like me.”

He smiled slightly. His face was still inscrutable.