Irene’s eyes widened as she was suddenly embraced in his arms.

His scent, mixed heavily in the breath she unconsciously took in deeply, permeated to the depths of her lungs.

The scent that penetrated deep into her lungs mercilessly pounded her heart.

Thump thump, her heart beat violently as if it would burst through her ribcage.

If I stay like this, he’ll hear my heartbeat!

Fearing he might discover her feelings for him, Irene hurriedly tried to escape his embrace.

But Kalos held her waist tightly and wouldn’t let go.

“……”

Moreover, as he was staring behind her with a terrifying expression, Irene couldn’t even ask to be released and just rolled her eyes.

What’s going on?

Irene wanted to see the situation behind her, but sadly, there was a limit to how much she could turn her head.

“……”

Kalos even lightly pressed her shoulder as if telling her not to move.

Though she didn’t know what was happening, Irene remained quiet, thinking it best to do as Kalos instructed.

“What’s this? You’re being too cautious for someone who came to see me.”

After a moment, when a soft female voice was heard from behind, she unconsciously turned her head again.

Even so, her eyes still couldn’t see anything.

Kalos turned Irene’s head back to the front and said,

“When you appear like a petty thief, suppressing your presence, isn’t it natural to be cautious?”

His voice was as sharp as a well-honed blade.

The woman spoke in a friendly manner, so Irene thought they were close, but were they not?

Irene felt both puzzled and reassured.

It was a sense of relief born from ridiculous jealousy.

The woman chuckled and said,

“Petty thief? You speak as if this beach is your territory, Kalos.”

Judging by how she called his name, they seemed to be close after all…?

Ah, could this woman be the friend he wanted to introduce to me?

It seemed to fit the circumstances, but she couldn’t be certain because Kalos was being strangely wary of the woman.

Judging by Kalos’s behavior alone, they didn’t seem like friends.

After pondering for a moment, Irene cautiously asked,

“Is she not… your friend?”

The answer came from an unexpected place.

“We’re not friends.”

“……”

How did she hear that when Irene had asked in such a tiny voice that only Kalos should have heard?

As Irene froze in surprise, Kalos let out a small sigh.

The woman asked, sounding a bit surprised,

“Did you introduce me to her as a friend?”

“Of course not. I introduced you as a colleague.”

“Ah, colleague is correct. We are in the same situation after all.”

Kalos glanced at the woman as if annoyed and released Irene.

When Irene finally turned around, the first thing that caught her eye was hair as red as blazing flames.

The red hair stood out even more against skin as white as the wide-spread beach.

Even without the red hair, the woman was beautiful enough to instantly capture the attention of people of all ages and genders.

Irene was no exception to this.

As Irene stared blankly, the woman smiled brightly.

“This sacrifice is different from the previous ones, an innocent young girl.”

Sacrifice?

Startled by the unexpected word, Irene blinked her eyes wide.

Kalos frowned deeply and snapped,

“Stop saying unnecessary things, Saren.”

“Oh my.”

The woman, Saren, covered her mouth with one hand.

“You still don’t know anything?”

Her cat-like upturned eyes creased in amusement.

“My, my. I made a mistake. When you said you’d introduce her to me, I naturally assumed she knew everything.”

What on earth is she talking about?

Countless question marks floated above Irene’s head as she failed to understand Saren’s words.

“Haah.”

Kalos let out a deep sigh, pressing his furrowed brow, then flicked his hand.

Jessie and Deuce promptly came and stood behind him.

“You called for us.”

However, Kalos continued to look at Irene as he spoke.

“I have urgent matters to discuss with Saren, so go sightseeing at the sea with Jessie.”

I see, it’s a conversation I shouldn’t hear.

Understanding the implication, Irene nodded without a word.

*

Once Irene, Jessie, and Deuce had moved a suitable distance away, Kalos turned to face Saren.

Saren, who had already approached him, spoke while gazing at Irene with great interest.

“Judging by your actions, you seem to like this sacrifice quite a bit?”

“Not particularly.”

“Come on, you seem to like her.”

Saren narrowed her eyes mischievously and nudged Kalos’s arm with her elbow.

“I heard from Abel that you even made a yomi your subordinate for her sake?”

He’s already spread such stories?

Kalos knew Abel had a loose tongue, but he didn’t expect it to be this bad.

Frowning in annoyance, Kalos swatted away Saren’s arm.

“Stop with the useless chatter. Where’s Abel?”

“Don’t know.”

Don’t know? What does that mean?

Kalos’s eyebrows slanted downwards.

“Weren’t you two together?”

“We were together until yesterday, but he said watching women would be more enjoyable than watching the sea, so he went back at dawn.”

It was an absurd yet typical reason for Abel.

By the way, Kalos had assumed Saren and Abel would naturally be together, so it was unexpected that Abel had left first.

It was a bit surprising, but Abel’s whereabouts didn’t really matter.

From the start, Kalos’s purpose was to meet Saren.

“I’ll get straight to the point.”

It wasn’t his style to unnecessarily drag out conversations, and he wasn’t close enough with Saren to engage in pointless small talk, so he went straight to the main issue.

“I want you to protect Irene while I’m away in the capital.”

“Alright. I’ll protect her.”

“……”

Although Kalos had hoped Saren would agree to his request.

Her immediate acceptance without a moment’s hesitation left him feeling a bit uneasy, so he stared at her blankly.

Saren chuckled and crossed her arms.

“What’s with that expression? Shouldn’t you be happy that I’m granting your request?”

“…It seems you want something from me in return.”

“You’re always so sharp in the strangest ways.”

Saren clicked her tongue, having been hit right on the mark.

“Yes. In exchange for granting your request, you’ll have to grant mine as well.”

Kalos was a bit surprised that Saren had a favor to ask of him, but he didn’t find it strange.

Rather, he felt more at ease now that he knew why Saren had readily agreed to his request.

“What’s your request?”

Instead of answering immediately, Saren looked at Irene, who was walking along the beach with Jessie.

“Saren.”

When Kalos called her name as if urging her to speak quickly, Saren closed her eyes momentarily, then opened them and turned to Kalos.

“My request is simple. Accept me as the heir to the Esper family.”

*

What are those two talking about?

And what was that about earlier?

Me, a sacrifice?

Throughout their walk on the beach, Irene kept stealing glances at Kalos and Saren, feeling curious.

The emerald-colored sparkling sea and the vast expanse of white sand no longer captured her attention.

“Miss, are you that concerned about the master?”

It was true that she was concerned, but.

Jessie’s question hit the nail on the head, making Irene feel a bit flustered, so she laughed awkwardly.

“Ah, a little.”

She couldn’t deny it since she had been caught peeking.

“The master’s friend said something strange, so I’m a bit worried.”

“Something strange?”

“Yes. She called me a sacrifice.”

“……”

For a moment, Jessie’s expression hardened, but it was just for an instant.

Irene failed to notice it as all her attention was focused on Kalos and Saren.

Quickly composing herself, Jessie spoke nonchalantly.

“Saren has always referred to the women the master brings as sacrifices. So you don’t need to worry about it.”

Though she was trying to cover up Saren’s mistake with an excuse.

“Women… you say?”

It ended up raising a different suspicion.

Irene muttered with a rather shocked expression.

“So I’m not the first woman the Grand Duke has brought here.”

Oh no, I shouldn’t have said that!

Jessie belatedly realized her mistake, but it was already too late. She couldn’t take back her words.

“Well, that is…”

Even though she tried to salvage the situation in another way, no appropriate words came to mind, and fearing she might make another mistake, Jessie eventually fell silent.

“……”

Jessie’s behavior only added fuel to the suspicion growing in Irene’s heart.

Come to think of it, I think I heard before that Kalos had brought women here in the past.

…So he really has brought many women besides me.

Then, which number am I?

Am I at least in the single digits?

Suddenly finding her own thoughts ridiculous, Irene burst into laughter.

“Miss……”

Her appearance was so pitiful that Jessie called out to her with great concern.

Irene didn’t respond and just repeatedly poked the white sand with her toes.

‘You decided to give up, Irene.’

She had resolved to quietly swallow her feelings without showing them to anyone, so feeling this jealousy wasn’t right.

So, act as if nothing happened, calmly.

Don’t be jealous at all.

After repeating this to herself several times like a self-hypnosis, Irene looked at Jessie.

“Come to think of it, I wanted to check if seawater is really salty. Can I try it now?”

The forced smile on her lips looked unnatural.

It was clear she didn’t want to continue talking about the previous topic.

“Of course.”

Jessie felt the same way, so she went along with Irene’s wishes.

“But seawater is really salty, so just try a tiny bit.”

I wonder how salty seawater must be for her to say that.

Increasingly curious, Irene dipped her hand into an incoming wave, then withdrew it and lightly touched her lips with her fingertip where water droplets had formed.

“Ugh, it’s salty.”

Even though she had just licked a droplet, the saltiness was so intense it made her tongue tingle.

As Irene grimaced and waved her hand, Jessie burst into laughter.

“I told you, seawater is really salty.”

I didn’t expect it to be this salty though.

Irene tried to get rid of the salty taste lingering on her tongue by making faces, but it wouldn’t go away easily.

Seeing this, Jessie spoke to Deuce, who had been quietly following them like a shadow.

“Deuce. Go to a nearby shop and buy a sweet drink.”

“……”

Though Deuce looked displeased at the order-like request, he obediently turned around.

“That’s unexpected.”

I thought he would resist, saying why should he move for a mere human, but he complied so readily.

When Jessie heard from Kalos that Deuce would be in charge of Irene’s protection, she thought it was strange, but seeing it in person was truly bizarre.

Perhaps his anger towards humans has subsided without me realizing?

As Jessie was pondering this while blankly watching Deuce’s retreating figure.

“Ah, no!”

“……!”

Startled by the sudden scream, she whirled around.