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

Claude looked at him with a bewildered expression.

Kaian habitually raised an eyebrow, waiting for her response.

‘If I say “What on earth are you talking about?” with disgust here, Kaian will insist that I was indeed trying to seduce him, right?’

He said he never teased her, but he was clearly teasing her now.

‘But if I get serious and start talking about his noble dignity…’

He would still blame her for bringing up the topic of breasts and trying to get his attention first.

In the past, Claude was so scared of Kaian that she would sometimes cower or go blank no matter what he said, but if you remove the cold tone and expression, you can understand him as he is.

…Thinking about it that way, it was clear that he was determined to tease her when not even five minutes had passed since the carriage departed.

Claude let out a small sigh, put strength into her eyes, and looked at him.

“You’re right. I was trying to seduce you.”

She decided to confront him head-on since she would be teased no matter what she said.

So what was he going to do about it?

Kaian got up from his seat across from her and moved to sit next to Claude.

“Why are you making that face? I can’t even joke around.”

“Pardon?”

“Are you sad?”

His red pupils moved back and forth across her small face, palm-sized, examining her expression.

“No. It’s not like that.”

“Are you upset about leaving Rowen?”

Claude nodded to what was closest to her ambiguous feelings.

“I see. You’ve become quite the lady of the estate.”

“You were trying to tease me, weren’t you?”

“I was just trying to cheer you up.”

Claude ended up smiling at Kaian’s touch as he gently pressed his thumb to the corners of her drooping eyes, trying to lift them back up.

‘He’s being considerate of my feelings.’

Somehow, she was happy to be annoying him.

“You said your chest felt tight, but it seems you’re not getting motion sickness.”

“Yes. I was fine on the way here from Valmond too.”

“Lack of sleep can easily make you depressed. You didn’t seem to sleep well last night.”

Kaian gently massaged under her hair, caressing her delicate ears and slender nape.

“Why don’t you lean on me and get some sleep, even if just for a moment?”

“But then you’ll be bored.”

“I’ll be fine.”

As Kaian wrapped his arm around her waist, pulling her close, Claude leaned her head on him.

He took her hand resting on her knee and gently stroked her neat fingers, and the woman who let out a small yawn soon fell asleep.

“Insomnia can be tamed in its own way, I suppose.”

The woman who couldn’t sleep alone was sensitive to the presence of people.

Like a baby who needs to be touched, she would easily fall asleep if held with body heat, whether it was her head, back, or hand, gently caressed.

“She treats me like someone who’s determined to tease her.”

Kaian wasn’t trying to tease her.

It was the first time he had ridden in a carriage with Claude since their visit to the marketplace.

He hadn’t thought much of it when they got in.

The double-horsed carriage, built wide and sturdy for comfort even on long journeys, was quite spacious inside.

On the day they went to the marketplace, hadn’t Claude even laid down on the plush seats, exclaiming “Wow”?

So when he leaned back in his seat, he was too far to reach Claude even if he stretched out his hand.

Kaian realized his mistake as soon as the carriage started moving.

If they had to face each other all the way to the capital like this, wouldn’t the joy of the journey be reduced to a quarter?

“Teasing, you say. I just wanted to change seats.”

His innocent wife would have no idea in her dreams that he had achieved his intended goal.

“How could I be bored?”

Kaian leaned down and kissed his wife’s forehead.

In the bustling area of the capital, cafes and restaurants lined the streets around a large square.

People dressed in stylish attire filled the streets, looking bright and lively despite the crowded bustle.

Looking around from inside the carriage, Irena marveled.

‘Valmond is certainly cold.’

Valmond Castle had a very unique structure, unlike any other place on the entire continent.

Usually, castles like the royal palace in the capital or Rowen Castle existed near the central city or town.

Valmond Castle was like a massive city in itself.

It was as if all the buildings spread across the capital were stacked like blocks to create castle walls and covered with a roof.

Some merchants or nobles could even have exclusive living spaces in the outer castle, which reached seven or eight stories high.

It was as if they had built layers upon layers to block the merciless snowfall and harsh blizzards on a land that was frozen solid for half the year.

Inside this protected space, there was an inner castle that rose even higher than the outer castle, like a huge tower of over ten stories.

The castle, which might look inelegant and crude on the outside, unbelievable that human hands could have built it, was a testament to Vermonte’s immense wealth.

In contrast, the inside of the castle was decorated extremely lavishly, covered in gold and jewels.

‘Even the capital should be able to have a commercial district outside.’

Yet Valmond Castle was so overcrowded that they were recently digging underground passages.

Since it was difficult to expand inside the castle, they were attempting to connect nearby villages to the castle. Without underground passages, there would be no way to travel when snow piled up and roads froze in winter.

This was Irena’s first time leaving Valmond Castle in this way, so she absorbed everything she saw and heard with her own eyes and ears as knowledge.

She could understand why Vermonte’s daughters were not allowed freedom until they married.

Once the daughters born and raised in the harsh frozen valley of permafrost got a taste of the outside world, they would never want to return to that castle.

‘Like me now.’

As she muttered to herself, the carriage came to a stop.

When the door opened, a middle-aged woman with graying brown hair greeted Irena with a bright smile.

“Miss Irena. Welcome to the capital.”

Mrs. Arnanti was a famous etiquette teacher whom the Duchess of Vermonte had carefully invited to Valmond.

Although Vermonte’s daughter would not be active in the social circles of the capital, there was a world of difference between not knowing etiquette and knowing it but having no use for it.

Mrs. Arnanti, who had even made a small album of portraits of major figures in the capital before heading north, had finished educating the noble ladies and returned to the capital.

As Irena happened to want to meet her former teacher again, they had arranged to have tea time at a cafe today.

“This way, please.”

Mrs. Arnanti guided Irena to a private room in the back of the cafe.

As she entered with her red hair and golden eyes, everyone turned to look at Irena with wide eyes.

“Red hair. Could she be from Vermonte?”

“Wow. I’ve never seen hair color like that before.”

“It must be Vermonte. Golden eyes.”

The whispers were clearly audible.

Most ordinary people in the Kingdom of Oberon did not have such striking colors.

The most common were brown hair and brown eyes.

Seven or eight out of ten of the total population had ordinary brown features without any distinctive characteristics.

The golden hair and blue eyes of the Oberon royal family, the black hair and red eyes of Temnes, and the red hair and golden eyes of Vermonte were very striking symbols.

They were marks of rulers who would stand above the common people, something everyone admired but could not possess by birth.

Irena had been met with such reactions everywhere she went since coming to the capital.

As she sat down with a small sigh, Mrs. Arnanti, who also had brown hair and brown eyes, covered her mouth and laughed.

“Since Vermonte doesn’t socialize in the capital, everyone must find you fascinating.”

“I understand, but it doesn’t feel good.”

“It’s an honor to see you again like this, Miss Irena.”

As tea and desserts were brought in and the door to the private room closed, Mrs. Arnanti asked, unable to contain herself.

“How are things with His Majesty the King?”

“What do you mean?”

“The social circles of the capital are in an uproar with rumors about you.”

“What are they saying?”

“They say the young king, who had no interest in women and had high standards, has had his heart stolen by a northern beauty.”

“That can’t be.”

Irena lifted her teacup.

“If that’s not the case, there’s no reason for him to specifically invite you to the royal palace for a meal.”

Mrs. Arnanti, in a manner unbefitting an etiquette teacher, fretted at her leisurely attitude.

“And it was in the Sky Garden, no less. His Majesty showed his intention by inviting you to a special place for a meaningful meeting.”

“He probably invited us because my father had come such a long way.”

The young King of Oberon, Valquiter, was certainly a striking figure.

Could a king only three years older than her be able to hide his true intentions so well?

‘Well. The Duke of Temnes seemed no less capable.’

Does the position really make the person?

If Kaian and Valquiter could conceal their intentions as well as her father, the Duke of Vermonte…

Throughout dinner, Valquiter had welcomed the father and daughter with pleasant words and a gentle smile, but Irena suspected that the beautiful smile that could captivate a woman’s heart was like a smokescreen to hide something.

Should she say there was no substance or truth despite his favorable treatment?

The fact that she could have such thoughts in the presence of the king was because Irena had received no less education as the mistress of the vast land of Valmond, and as the one who would bear and raise the heir to that land.

“It’s a shame for you to be in the far northern lands, miss. It would be wonderful if you could become the Queen of Oberon.”

“Well. That’s something we won’t know until we try, isn’t it? Whether it would be good or bad.”

“The position of Queen! Queen of Oberon! How can you speak so indifferently?”

“I’m already the Princess of Valmond, why would I be so eager for the position of Queen of Oberon? Even now, everything I want or desire comes into my hands.”

Although she lacked freedom, this was also true from others’ perspective.

Mrs. Arnanti, who had been unable to hide her excitement, saying it was a shame as if the queen’s position would be confirmed if Irena just said yes, finally calmed down and took a sip of tea before asking about Claude.

“How is Miss Claude doing? How did things end up like that between enemy families? There were even gamblers in the capital betting on whether there would be a knife fight on the wedding night.”

Recalling her sister’s couple at her words, Irena lifted her teacup to cover her smile.

“You’ll see at the royal ball.”

Irena held back her words.

There was no reason to dampen the excitement of the capital’s gossips through Mrs. Arnanti, whose joy was in chattering.

As the sun was setting, the carriage stopped at a charming and cozy mansion.

Claude looked around, surveying her surroundings.

There wasn’t a soul to be seen, and it was very quiet all around.

Almost like a vacation home.

“Where is this? It doesn’t seem like an inn.”

When Claude asked, Kaian questioned back.

“Did you want to stay at an inn?”

“Isn’t that what you usually do when traveling?”

On the way from Valmond to Rowen, Claude had stayed in lodgings that commoners might frequent, using the meager expenses allocated by Duke Vermonte.

However, for Claude, who had never left Valmond before, even those memories had been quite embellished, and now that she had experienced it, she regretted missing out on the food famous among the people at some of the inns they had passed through and the sights of the cities due to her poor health.

“I was looking forward to it since I couldn’t properly sightsee last time we went to Rowen.”

But the accommodation seemed a bit strange.

Kaian looked at his wife, who had slept well in the carriage and was now full of energy, and said casually.

“I’m sorry to disappoint you. We’ll be staying at one of my own mansions.”