“I want to see you wearing a hat.”

Kaian, looking in the mirror while fixing his hair, was puzzled.

“Aren’t you looking at it now?”

“Just the hat.”

Claude looked at him straight on and said provocatively.

“Just the hat.”

Kaian felt like he’d been hit on the head with something again.

Every time his wife said or did something unexpected like this, he was surprised, and she was very stimulating.

Kaian grabbed the front of his loose leisure shirt with both hands and tore it apart in one go.

Rip. Rip rip.

As the seams and buttons were torn apart messily, his chest muscles were revealed.

Seeing this, Claude’s expression of haughtily saying “just the hat” moments ago vanished as her eyes went wide.

“Why that expression?”

“Ah, no, it’s, it’s.”

Seeing her shrink her shoulders as if flustered, Kaian arrogantly lifted his chin and took off the shirt hanging loosely on his body.

As Claude took a step back with a dazed look, seeming to look over his shoulder, Kaian glanced back and chuckled.

She was staring at the reflection of his back muscles in the mirror.

While removing his arms from the loose remaining shirt under the shadow cast by the wide-brimmed hat, his abdominal muscles, attached like a solid shield without excess, would have moved pleasingly, but Claude hadn’t had many chances to see Kaian’s bare back yet.

“Claude.”

When he called her name, the woman who had been staring at the mirror as if mesmerized was startled to see him approach her.

“N-no, it’s a joke. Of course. Ha. Haha.”

Claude, who had been backing away one step for each of his steps forward, leapt away like a sparrow taking flight and hid behind the bedpost supporting the canopy at the foot of the bed.

‘Is that running away?’

Anyway, her actions were so ridiculous.

Kaian swallowed the hunting urge rising as if sprouting from his heart.

“The joke has gone too far.”

“S-sorry.”

No, there’s nothing to apologize for.

Kaian was very pleased with the birthday celebration.

“They say if a joke goes too far, it becomes the truth.”

“It’s not! It’s because you do this every time you give a gift.”

Claude was gripping the post with both hands, eyes tightly shut, forehead resting on the back of her hands.

That appearance was like a quail hiding with only its head in a bush, and Kaian almost laughed like a madman but held back.

“It’s embarrassing, but you always tease me.”

“Tease? I’ve never done that.”

“Liar.”

Kaian grabbed Claude’s shoulders with the post between them. The thick post was enough to hide the small woman’s face, so he couldn’t see what expression she was making.

Even without seeing, Kaian thought he knew.

“I’m always serious. Claude.”

Kaian spoke softly in a low, seductive voice.

“Don’t you want to see?”

The delicate shoulders in his hands flinched.

“No. Really, I don’t.”

“Look at me. Claude.”

Kaian put his hand under her lowered head and grasped her chin, and finally Claude faced him. She blushed bright red with embarrassment.

As if she had forgotten that he was her husband who had been living skin to skin with her for months.

“I told you not to provoke so clumsily.”

Kaian immediately bit the woman looking up at him after the words sprang out in a cold tone as if scolding.

He felt her trembling through their connected lips.

As he pulled her into his arms, releasing the hands that had been gripping the post until now, Claude was completely enveloped in his arms.

“Don’t stimulate me too much.”

Kaian looked down at Claude as he laid her on the bed.

“I didn’t have this kind of hobby, but if you want, I’ll oblige.”

“What did you say?”

He adjusted the hat he had received as his first birthday gift from his wife.

Before Claude could say anything, the shadow cast by the wide-brimmed hat fell over her.

The capital, welcoming autumn, had quite chilly night winds.

Valkyther, wearing a coat made of fox fur, looked down at the night scenery from the sky garden.

Befitting the most prosperous area in the Oberon Kingdom, the nightscape stretched like a spider’s web along the streets lit up like a field of fire.

Above it, the Milky Way traversing the darkness of the night sky was spewing bright starlight as if about to pour down.

Amidst the land and sky full of light, the eyes of the young king tilting his wine glass alone looked lonely.

They seemed bitter, or perhaps coldly angry when viewed from a certain angle.

Either way, it was far from warm and gentle emotions.

“It’s your birthday.”

Valkyther raised his glass filled with alcohol towards the south, in the direction of Rowen.

“Happy birthday, brother.”

Soon after the autumn festival would be the birthday of Kaian, the Lord of Rowen.

And two weeks after that would follow the King’s Birthday celebrations for Valkyther, the King of Oberon.

The pre-ceremony events lasting about a week, from the festival held on the birthday itself to celebrate, to the royal palace ball, were the biggest events of the year in the Oberon Kingdom along with the Founding Day.

“I thought for sure he would grumble and say he wouldn’t come.”

Kaian was methodical and strait-laced, so he usually detested when Valkyther summoned him here and there mentioning ‘royal orders’.

He preferred to be contacted at least a month or several weeks in advance, to set aside time completely and handle things focused on each schedule.

So when notified to come up to the capital like this with barely two weeks left, I thought he would hate it, but for some reason a dry but affirmative reply came back saying ‘I will attend, Your Majesty the King.’ Following Valkyther’s orders as commanded, as told.

“It feels strange. Very irritating.”

Unlike telegrams, letters from Rowen to Valkyther were a week or ten days late.

It was basics among basics for lords to plant people in the telegraph offices leaving their territories.

If news coming out of the telegraph office in Temnes territory was suspicious in reporting the territory’s trends to Valkyther, especially if its recipient was the royal palace, it would be caught immediately.

The one planted in Rowen sent handwritten letters through people, so news brought directly by horseback riders was late due to weather and various influences.

However, this one seemed to be considered urgent news, as the messenger rode a horse to another telegraph office a day’s journey away to send to the royal palace, namely that Kaian was holding a birthday celebration party for the first time.

“Congratulations.”

One doesn’t set one’s own birthday table.

Kaian didn’t seem to place much meaning on birthdays since the death of the previous Duke and Duchess of Temnes.

What could be the reason for someone like that to suddenly invite people and hastily arrange such a grand event?

“Is it because of that woman after all?”

That woman he saw at the lake.

Valkyther had almost concluded that he had mistaken her for ‘Princess Irena’.

“Claudel Quinn. It was Quinn.”

Hearing the story that the new Duchess of Temnes, the Lord’s wife who appeared at the Rowen territory festival and danced the festival dance with Kaian, was such a great beauty that the square fell silent as if cold water had been poured, his suspicion became certainty.

Moreover, the woman who was said to have been bitten by a crocodile didn’t even seem to limp.

When Valkyther called Kaian to the King’s Birthday, he would make all sorts of excuses and not come at all.

For five years it wasn’t applicable as he was on the battlefield, but after returning from the battlefield, twice he just said he was too busy with territory affairs to attend.

And then only when Valkyther went to hunting grounds in Rowen territory like Promhunt and called him out would he finally show his face.

“That woman……”

Thinking of her made Valkyther feel powerless.

But if Kaian had changed after taking a woman from Vermonte as his wife, somehow it felt even more anxious.

How should this feeling be described?

His mood was utterly foul for no good reason.

As if a treasure that should have rightfully come into Valkyther’s own hands had flowed into some strange place and might be worn down.

“Kaian. You must not change.”

Especially if it was because of that woman.

It was difficult to become a perfect leader at a young age.

At least in that regard, he thought Kaian bore the same weight as Valkyther himself.

The difficulties that no one could understand bordered on loneliness.

Valkyther wished for Kaian to remain in a dark place like his own shadow.

But if Kaian had changed, he should know that more than anyone.

Not these sporadic scraps of paper with writing flying in, but he had to see with his own eyes.

Kaian Fluke Temnes.

The noble Duke born and raised by the majestic Rowen territory.

“They say when you start doing things you never did before, it’s time to die.”

Valkyther sneered as he downed his glass.

The birthday toast he drank thinking of his brother tasted only bitter today.

Kaian’s birthday celebration ended smoothly.

The vassals and relatives who attended didn’t particularly bare their teeth at Claudel for being from Vermonte.

‘Why do they all act like that when they see me?’

When she entered the banquet hall with Kaian, everyone who had been chattering closed their mouths tightly and just stared silently like during the festival, making her nervous.

Sensing this, Kaian firmly held her hand reassuringly, allowing her to straighten her shoulders and pretend to be composed.

But later, after everyone had some drinks and the mood lifted, they bowed their heads to her one by one while presenting birthday gifts to Kaian, introducing themselves and greeting her seated next to him.

There was no one who expressed anger towards her, like not wanting to bow their heads to a woman who came as a bride from an enemy family.

When Kaian arranged the event so hastily, she was worried, but as he said, it was fortunate to have such an occasion before it was too late, since they couldn’t attend the wedding celebration.

At that time, Claudel had been caught in the rain and consummated the marriage, and the atmosphere in the castle harassing her and Hannah made her bedridden, unable to move, but in fact, she didn’t want to go more because she thought it didn’t matter whether she saw the Temnes or not since she was going to die anyway.

Now that she was living, she thought she should have gone, but it was fortunate that she could completely shake off that incident with this birthday celebration.

Hannah closed the lid of the large trunk and pulled the cord to tie it up tightly, then straightened her back.

“Whew. All done.”

Hannah wiped the sweat beading on her forehead.

A servant came in and took out the heavy trunk Hannah had just packed.

“I packed separately what you’ll change into on the way and what you’ll wear at the royal palace.”

“Thank you.”

“And Madame Marcel took care of the dress you’ll wear at the ball separately. I already loaded the jewelry in Madam’s carriage earlier.”

Hannah’s competence shone.

She packed Claudel’s luggage meticulously as if born to be the lady of a lord’s maid.

Not knowing until now that the Duke of Vermonte had sent her out empty-handed, it wasn’t her responsibility when coming to Rowen, but this time she seemed to think it would be entirely her fault if Claudel was disgraced in the capital for packing the luggage wrongly.

Knock knock.

There was a sound of knocking on the open door, and when she turned her head, Kaian was standing there.

A sophisticated formal suit embroidered with gold thread, and even a silk tie puffed out below the neck for style.

He was always a handsome man even when staying at the castle normally, but when he dressed up on purpose, he was breathtakingly handsome.

“Shall we go?”

When Kaian held out his arm, Claudel quickly linked arms with him.

“Let’s go.”

Hannah ran out into the hallway with a sulky voice.

“Gloves! You need to take a parasol too!”

“You take care of it.”

“Yes, my lord.”

Today was the day of departure for the capital.

As the carriage started moving, Claudel felt strange.

Until last night, she was so excited about going on a trip that she couldn’t sleep even with Kaian comforting her for a long time, but when she saw Rowen Castle growing smaller in the distance out the window, she felt lonely.

As she put her hand on her chest and sighed, Kaian asked.

“Are you feeling unwell?”

“No. Just my chest feels a bit…”

“Your chest…?”

Kaian paused as he examined her.

“Are you perhaps trying to seduce me now? It hasn’t even been five minutes since the carriage departed.”