Even after Kalos left, Irene stood blankly, continuing to trace his footsteps.

His final words echoed in her mind like a reverberation.

Those words saying that as long as it doesn’t interfere with the flower blooming, nothing else matters.

Though she wasn’t sure what Kalos meant by those words.

To Irene’s ears, it sounded like he was drawing a sharp line, saying they were nothing to each other.

‘We are indeed nothing to each other.’

After all, that man and I were not family, friends, or lovers.

If I had to define our relationship… I don’t know.

Irene tried to recall all the words she knew, but couldn’t find a word to define her relationship with Kalos.

Given that it was an ambiguous relationship that couldn’t be clearly defined, it wasn’t strange for Kalos to say such things.

Yes, it certainly wasn’t strange, but the reason she kept feeling disappointed was probably because she had kissed him.

Not just once, but twice.

“…”

Irene’s expression darkened as she recalled kissing Kalos.

Before, when she thought of that moment, she felt embarrassed and her heart would flutter, but now she just felt sad and bitter.

Unlike me, that man doesn’t care about it at all.

That’s why he could say such things.

That fact stabbed her heart like a sharp dagger.

The blood flowing from the stabbed wound turned into tears and gushed out.

As Irene shed thick tears, Abel handed her a handkerchief in confusion.

“Are you alright?”

“…”

Irene silently looked at Abel.

When she didn’t take the handkerchief, Abel reached out his hand to wipe her tears himself.

“…”

Stepping back to avoid his hand, Irene slowly opened her lips.

“Why… did you do that?”

Her moist eyes were brimming with resentment.

“Why did you play such a prank? Even though you don’t like me, why did you say such things… Is it fun to toy with people?”

She didn’t know where this courage came from.

Irene poured out words that she normally wouldn’t have said out of fear and uneasiness towards Abel, filled with resentment.

Then Abel scratched his head and replied.

“As I said before, I’m not joking.”

She thought he would shamelessly ask if he shouldn’t apologize or say sorry, but Irene’s eyes widened at the completely unexpected words.

As a result, the tears that had been hanging under her eyes dropped, and Abel offered the handkerchief again.

“…”

Irene silently refused and wiped her tears with her sleeve.

Abel frowned, seemingly upset at being rejected twice, but soon shrugged and put away the handkerchief.

“I’ll say it again, I’m serious.”

And he spoke in a plain and serious tone without any hint of playfulness.

“I’m genuinely interested in you.”

“…Don’t lie.”

“You wish it was a lie.”

As if he had hit the nail on the head, Irene flinched and clutched her wet sleeve.

Her shoulders hunched inward.

Abel, who had been staring at her, asked.

“You have someone you like, don’t you?”

Someone I like?

There was no way such a thing existed.

“Let’s… go back together, Irene.”

There certainly wasn’t, but… why was that man’s face appearing in her mind?

The answer to the sudden question wasn’t difficult to guess.

I like that man… Duke Kalos Dun Esper.

“…”

Realizing something she had never even thought of, Irene covered her mouth with both hands.

*

Not long after Kalos returned to the inner city checkpoint, a middle-aged man with graying hair came looking for him.

“It’s been a while, Your Grace.”

It was Count Aliore, the representative of the investigation delegation sent by the Imperial family.

As the count bowed deeply in greeting, Kalos nodded indifferently.

And he pointed to the sofa with his fingertip, as if telling him to sit.

“…”

Count Aliore’s expression subtly hardened at the arrogant behavior.

No matter how much of a duke he was, it couldn’t feel good to be treated like this by someone young enough to be his son.

But because he was a duke, he couldn’t say anything and sat where Kalos pointed.

It was also because he knew well the ominous rumors surrounding Duke Esper.

Dewey, who had been waiting at a distance, approached and filled the teacups.

“You’re later than expected.”

Count Aliore, who had been staring blankly at the teacup being filled with yellow tea, looked up at Kalos in surprise when he opened his mouth.

But only for a moment, as he quickly lowered his head upon meeting the purple eyes that looked quite displeased.

“I apologize. As you may have already been informed, we encountered a small problem on the way.”

“Yes. I heard. Your bodies were paralyzed.”

“Yes, yes. As if someone had tampered with the food we were to eat, all the members of the delegation were paralyzed and couldn’t move for several days.”

After filling Kalos’s teacup as well, Dewey quietly withdrew.

Belatedly realizing he was left alone with the notorious Duke Esper, Count Aliore moistened his dry lips and clasped his hands tightly.

I should have come with someone else.

As he was having this belated regret, Kalos’s questions continued.

“So, are you alright now?”

Even at these simple words of concern, a chill ran down his spine.

Count Aliore answered with an awkward smile.

“Haha, yes. Thanks to the good doctor you sent, I’m fine now.”

“That’s good. Are the others alright too?”

“I heard they’re all fine. Thank you for your concern.”

“Don’t mention it.”

Count Aliore thought Kalos was disregarding him, but it was quite the opposite.

Kalos was treating the count with his own form of respect.

He had no particular ill feelings towards the count, and since it was because of him that the Imperial investigation delegation had been poisoned with paralysis, there was no reason to treat him coldly.

“…”

But Count Aliore, unaware of this fact, couldn’t let go of his tension and kept moistening his dry lips while drinking tea repeatedly.

An awkward and uncomfortable silence flowed through the reception room.

Around the time Count Aliore’s teacup was empty, Kalos brought up the main topic.

“Didn’t His Majesty the Emperor have any secret messages for me?”

Count Aliore replied in confusion.

“No. There were no such words.”

“What about His Highness the Crown Prince?”

“No. I haven’t heard anything to convey.”

It had been quite a while since Jerdin returned to the Imperial Palace, and there had been no news yet, so he thought they might send a message through the investigation delegation, but it was a misunderstanding.

Then did Jerdin really betray me and completely side with the Empress?

I thought he would at least maintain some neutrality, even if he couldn’t completely become my ally.

“…”

As he had a strong feeling that things would become more complicated than expected, Kalos heaved a deep sigh.

‘I guess I’ll have to use the magic communication device to contact the Imperial side.’

He didn’t want to do that if possible because it would increase the chances of the Empress learning about his plans, but there was no choice.

First, I’ll contact them to confirm if Jerdin has betrayed me, and if so, I’ll create a fake culprit myself and hand it over to Count Aliore.

“Why… did you kiss me?”

As Kalos was thinking about future plans with his eyes closed, Irene suddenly came to mind, and he clenched his fist tightly.

His heart ached as if someone was stabbing it with a needle, causing his face to crumple involuntarily.

Seeing that Kalos seemed very displeased, Count Aliore, who had been watching his expression carefully with his mouth shut, cautiously opened his mouth.

“Um… Your Grace.”

Kalos answered with his eyes still closed.

“What is it?”

“If you have any secret words for His Majesty the Emperor, shall I lend you the magic communication ring?”

Unlike magic communication devices, magic communication rings are made in pairs and can only be used to communicate between those who have received them.

Offering to lend the ring meant that he had a magic communication ring exchanged with the Emperor.

In other words, it meant that a means of contacting the Imperial family directly without being detected by the Empress had appeared, so Kalos’s eyes opened wide.

“Did you receive a magic communication ring from His Majesty the Emperor?”

“Yes. His Majesty gave it to me in case something happened and I needed to contact him immediately. Even when we were paralyzed and couldn’t move…”

“Lend it to me.”

Before he could finish speaking, the request disguised as an order fell, and Count Aliore reluctantly took off the magic communication ring on his middle finger and handed it to Kalos.

“You may leave now.”

As soon as Count Aliore left, Kalos infused mana into the magic communication ring.

The blue gem embedded in the center of the ring sparkled, and soon the Emperor’s voice flowed out.

[What’s the matter, Count Aliore?]

“I’d like to have a brief conversation.”

[……]

Even without seeing the Emperor’s face, his surprise was palpable.

Of course, he thought it would be Count Aliore, so it was natural to be surprised to suddenly hear Kalos’s voice.

As Kalos was about to speak again, the Emperor spoke first.

[I was just about to contact Your Lordship since there was no reply to the letter.]

Kalos using informal speech meant there was no one around, so the Emperor called him ‘Your Lordship’.

Realizing that the Emperor was also alone for the same reason, Kalos asked casually.

“Did you send me a letter?”

[Yes. I said I sent a letter to Your Lordship using a messenger bird on the very day Jerdin arrived at the Imperial Palace… Did you not receive it?]

“That’s right. I didn’t receive it.”

[How could such a thing……]

The Emperor muttered in a bewildered tone.

Kalos was equally perplexed.

If the Emperor’s words were true, Jerdin’s letter should have already arrived at Esper Castle.

The fact that it hadn’t arrived until now meant that someone had intercepted it midway.

‘Was it Derick’s doing?’

Or the Empress? Was the Temple the culprit?

It could even have been a third party, and the possibility that the messenger bird met with an unexpected accident on its way to Esper territory couldn’t be completely ruled out.

In any case, Jerdin hadn’t betrayed me.

Kalos asked the Emperor with a deep sense of relief.

“What was written in the letter?”

[It probably said that we would prepare a fake culprit for the monster riot during the Potion Festival, as Your Lordship requested.]

The Emperor added that he would ask Jerdin for more details.

Kalos sank deep into the sofa backrest and continued speaking.

“No, that’s fine. More importantly, is the fake culprit prepared?”

[Yes. Thanks to the Empress’s help, we were able to prepare it right away.]

The Empress?

As an unwelcome person was mentioned, Kalos’s eyebrows slanted.

The annoying conversation didn’t end there.

[So, I have something to tell you……]

The Emperor trailed off, hesitating for a moment before cautiously adding.

[It seems Your Lordship will have to come to the capital in person.]