Why on earth is he acting like that?

The troublesome guest reception should have ended well, there shouldn’t be anything to bother him.

Or, was there already something that displeased him?

“……Barhan.”

“Yes, Duke.”

It was Dante himself who interrupted the ongoing questions.

However, he had nothing to say after calling out.

Is the Duke uncharacteristically hesitating?

Just as I was starting to worry that something might have really happened,

“This is about someone I know.”

“……Pardon?”

The Duke knows people?

Barhan forcibly suppressed the question that had risen to his throat.

Unaware of this, Dante continued speaking while rubbing his furrowed brow.

“Well…… if another man’s face keeps lingering in your mind, what should you do?”

“……What? What? What?”

Barhan was so surprised that he repeated ‘What?’ three times.

So in other words, that means.

The Duke keeps thinking of another man……

“Could it be…… that you’re in love?”

“What are you saying? That can’t be. It’s not love, it’s jealousy…!”

Dante, who had jumped up from his seat shouting, clamped his mouth shut and sat back down.

The hand that had been rubbing his brow was now wiping his entire face.

“Forget it. It’s nothing.”

Yet it was clearly not nothing at all.

Seeing the red ears peeking out from the black hair, Barhan silently smiled.

Several days had passed since the unwelcome guests left.

During that time, Dante took time to reflect on himself. And he came to a new definition of himself.

A vulgar, childish, and petty person.

He never thought he could be such a narrow-minded person.

Day and night, the prince’s face kept lingering in his mind.

Unlike himself who looked stiff and fierce, whenever he recalled the gentle and mild-looking prince, a dark flame would ignite in his chest.

Why did the 2nd Prince have to come?

He even thought it might have been better if the 1st Prince had come instead.

Although he was his brother’s enemy and an utterly detestable existence.

At least he wouldn’t have been such a bothersome subject.

The reason Dante was so concerned about the 2nd Prince Joshua goes back to the first night of the guest reception.

When Serpina, who had gone out saying she would get some water, didn’t return, Dante couldn’t sleep out of worry.

He had no choice but to disobey Serpina’s words to sleep first and left the room.

And that’s when he saw it.

Serpina and the 2nd Prince sitting together, cozily drinking tea.

Moreover, given the circumstances, it was clear that the tea they were drinking was made from the flowers he had grown.

Strangely, that was shocking.

It was a flower he had grown to be by Serpina’s side, and naturally, he had even told her in advance to use it freely.

But seeing the two of them drinking tea made from that flower, a childish jealousy welled up.

It’s the flower I grew.

I grew it for Serpina.

I fertilized it, I watered it, I thinned it out, I grew it with care.

It was truly unbelievable.

How could a person become this childish!

Of course, he wasn’t suspecting the two of having an impure relationship.

He knew better than anyone that Serpina wasn’t that kind of person.

Yet, he couldn’t help the jealousy that arose just from them sharing that one flower tea.

Even after the prince left, his smiling face kept coming to mind.

Was he always the type to smile like that?

Right. I think I heard that he was kind, but still, to smile so much……

“……Ha. What an eyesore this is.”

Dante could only grab his head again today at the flow of consciousness that was becoming not just childish, but petty.

It was when Dante was forcing himself to work while struggling with his pettiness that Serpina came looking for him.

“Are you busy?”

“No. I’m not busy.”

“That’s good. I was worried I might have come when you were busy.”

Seeing her glance at the pile of documents on the desk, Dante casually pushed the documents to the corner.

They were all things he couldn’t process due to his complicated mind.

“Then how about taking a walk with me?”

Serpina pointed to the window with her index finger.

The two walked side by side in the garden.

“Aren’t you cold?”

“No. I think I’ve gotten used to the weather now. But it’s going to get colder here, right?”

“Well… we’re still at the beginning of autumn.”

“Wow. The north is no joke.”

Serpina shuddered as if imagining the cold to come.

Dante thought he should tell Barhan to prepare for the cold in advance.

How long had they walked like that?

The place where the two stopped was in front of Dante’s flower bed.

Among the flowers in full bloom, sparse gaps were visible.

It was a trace of harvest.

Seeing the stems and leaves that had lost their flowers swaying gently, the prince’s face came to mind again.

Ha. Damn it.

How long is this pettiness going to continue?

He was afraid that the prince’s face might keep appearing forever like this.

At this rate, there’s no choice but to deal with it……

“Are you listening?”

“…Yes. What?”

“You weren’t listening to me?”

It seemed Serpina had been saying something while he was having these extreme thoughts.

He felt sorry for seemingly ignoring her words.

As he hesitated, not knowing what to do, Serpina smiled, showing her teeth.

“I’ll let it slide this time since you let me use the flowers. And, this is a gift.”

Serpina suddenly brought forward the hand she had been holding behind her back.

In her hand was a pouch made of purple cloth.

“This is……”

“It’s an air freshener made from dried lavender. Like a scent pouch.”

“Did you… make this yourself?”

“Of course!”

She confidently exclaimed and went on to list her efforts.

“I harvested it myself, rinsed it with water myself, wiped off the moisture, and then dried it in the sun. And then I… well, not exactly myself, but I put it in the pouch that Barhan prepared. Well, Dante grew the flowers… Ahem. But still, this counts as handmade, right?”

Serpina, who had been boasting with a smile, rolled her eyes and mumbled.

She seemed to be expecting an affirmative answer as she glanced around sneakily.

“It’s completely handmade.”

“Right? Isn’t it? I told you it’s really handmade.”

“But why did you suddenly make this? You must have been tired from hosting the guests……”

“Lavender is good for deep sleep. When I saw you last time, I thought you might not be sleeping well, so I made this.”

Dante immediately realized what ‘last time’ she was referring to.

The night Serpina woke up in the middle of the night to drink water.

In other words, the night when this lingering pettiness began.

“That night when I happened to run into the prince? He said he usually doesn’t sleep well so he came out for a walk, and I felt a bit sorry thinking of you.”

“You thought of me?”

“Yes. You used to have trouble sleeping too, remember? You always had dark circles under your eyes. Anyway, I thought of you and made some tea with chamomile and lavender for him… As I was making it, I thought it would be nice to make this for you too.”

Looking at Serpina smiling brightly, Dante covered his mouth with his hand.

He could feel the heat gradually rising over his cold body temperature.

“How is it? Do you like it?”

“……I like it excessively.”

Even Serpina’s face flushed red at the sincerity he expressed with a trembling voice.

“I’m glad. It was worth the effort.”

“It really is the best gift.”

Yes. It truly was the best gift. He was so happy he didn’t know what to do.

He was happy that she had made it herself for him, but what made him even happier was……

The fact that she had thought of him while talking with the prince.

That she felt sorry for him because he came to her mind, he couldn’t contain his joy over that.

This too was a childish and petty joy that he couldn’t dare tell anyone about, but what could he do?

Just as he couldn’t stop the jealousy, he couldn’t stop this joy either.

Dante looked at the pouch in his hand and smiled faintly.

Serpina, who noticed the smile slowly spreading across Dante’s lips, blinked rapidly and then quickly turned her head.

Isn’t that expression a crime?

Is it okay to smile so beautifully like that?

She clutched her pounding heart and took deep breaths repeatedly.

Remember, don’t get your hopes up.

Be careful, don’t get your hopes up.

“What I just gave you is a scent pouch made from lavender, and there’s chamomile too. You can drink chamomile as tea when you can’t sleep. It’s also very fragrant and nice, nice!”

But she couldn’t hold back the words that came tumbling out.

She felt dizzy, wondering what she was saying.

“Shall we drink some together now?”

“……Pardon?”

“I want to drink it with you. How about it?”

Serpina mumbled her lips at the proposal offered while looking straight at her.

And she slowly nodded.

“Alright. Let’s do that.”

At the suggestion of drinking tea together, Barhan went out of his way to prepare a table in the garden.

Blue sky and comfortably cool air.

The two sat facing each other drinking tea amidst the plants exuding vitality.

Their casual conversation was nothing special, but it continued for a long time without interruption.