Recently, there have been rumors circulating that there is a student that Matian has been hanging around with a lot. Whether their friendship is that special, or…

‘Whether his taste has changed, like in the popular novels.’

Princess Tolia visited the military academy under the pretext of checking on the victims involved in the explosion accident and the violence incident.

She was curious about the reason why Matian Wiegratz, who hated showing any gaps, was even disciplined, but there was a separate real reason for coming here.

Two days ago, she visited St. Agnes Girls’ School to offer condolences after the accident occurred there, and came across a popular novel that was secretly trending.

But the content was truly amazing.

‘In the novel, Rukna Golden and Matian Wiegratz were depicted as lovers.’

She stayed up all night reading it, but it was definitely not because it was interesting, but to verify the facts.

‘Looking at his handsome face where the fuzz hasn’t even fallen off yet, it’s clear that he has a charm that attracts people.’

However, to say that he possesses the demonic charm to make the great Matian Wiegratz fall head over heels, transcending gender, as described in the novel, seems somewhat lacking.

Rather than the protagonist of a ridiculous harem story that enchants the entire military academy with his charm…

‘He’s closer to a hamster with no motivation.’

If you were to hand him a piece of bread or something and say, ‘Get away from my Matian right now!’ he would seem to agree without resistance.

Anyway, looking at that fluffy face, it felt like losing the will that was there.

‘I wonder what’s so good about that kid that everyone’s making a fuss about, it’s unbelievable.’

Princess Tolia glanced at the seat next to her.

In order to gather information about Rukna Golden, she selected the two ladies who knew him best as her maids, but who would have thought it would be those two, famous for their beauty in the empire.

‘It was a miscalculation. If Lord Matian shows any interest in these ladies…’

Princess Tolia glanced at Matian from time to time. Fortunately, he didn’t seem to have much interest in anyone except Rukna Golden.

Wait, is this fortunate?

Princess Tolia hid her flustered expression and spoke to Rukna.

“I heard a lot about you from Lady Giselle, Rukna Golden. I was curious about you, and your name also came up from Lady Mela’s mouth.”

At those words, Mela Chamber hurriedly wiped her glasses and pretended to be distracted.

Even though she was rejected, she still hasn’t been able to get over him.

Princess Tolia clicked her tongue, worried about the Count Chamber’s surprisingly weak daughter.

“It seems that your charm is quite something, Rukna Golden. The most beautiful flowers of the empire have bloomed fully towards you. It reminds me of Lord Matian’s childhood.”

The princess recalled when young Matian visited the imperial palace.

“The Wiegratz Grand Ducal family stayed at the eastern palace for a while. Even at a young age, he was so kind. If I said I came to see the flowers, he would hand me flowers he had picked in advance, and if I came to drink tea, he would brew herbal tea himself like today. But back then, the tea tasted so bitter that I ran out crying as soon as I put it to my mouth.”

“Haha, is that so?”

Rukna awkwardly laughed and played along.

But it sounds like picking all the flowers and giving bitter tea was like trying to drive the princess away… Is it because my personality is twisted that I think that way?

Rukna looked at Giselle and Mela.

Mela was snorting, knowing her cousin’s personality, and Giselle seemed to not even be listening to the princess’s words, staring only at him.

Giselle, my face is going to get a hole in it at this rate.

“There were so many ladies who entered the palace to meet Lord Matian. One day, they all just watched from afar and suggested a picnic to the lord, but of all things, a snake appeared there, can you believe it?”

“A snake… appeared in the imperial palace?”

“It was just bad luck. The picnic was cancelled, but Lord Matian protected the ladies even at the risk of being bitten by the snake. Unfortunately, after that, no one could meet him because the lord became bedridden.”

Excuse me, Princess. That guy was a weapon master from the start, so even if you just gave him a fork, he would have carved the snake’s skin into a flower shape.

The one who was bedridden was probably the snake, who was a special guest. Rukna glanced at Matian.

He was elegantly sipping tea with a fake smile on his face, looking like he knew nothing.

‘Come to think of it, no one is drinking tea except Matian. Is it because of the unique smell?’

As Rukna picked up the teacup, Giselle, who was sitting across from him, turned pale.

What’s wrong? She has the expression of a female lead looking at the male lead who is about to drink poison.

Huh. Just in case, he only lightly touched it to his lips, but Rukna sputtered like a broken machine.

He almost spit out the tea in front of Her Highness the Princess.

Is this really okay to eat? The bitterness was beyond that, to the point of numbing the tongue.

“I brewed it myself. Does it not suit your taste, Rukna?”

Matian smiled brightly, looking at Rukna’s distorted expression.

It had been a while since they had seen each other face to face and talked like this after the disciplinary action, but rather than feeling happy, he felt irritated.

If Her Highness the Princess wasn’t here, he would have sprayed the tea at that face.

“I was surprised because it tastes like it would be really good for the body. You’re good at this.”

It was also a skill to make this terrible taste with just herbs, if that could be called a skill.

“I hear that a lot.”

“Oh, you hear it often?”

“Yeah. Just now too.”

Please, go ahead and drink. Matian pointed to the still full teacup, looking at the princess.

The princess replied with a severely fatigued face that she would drink it herself, so don’t worry, and turned the topic back to Rukna.

“By the way, I heard that you subdued the troublemakers at the military academy and established a volunteer club. That’s really impressive.”

“You flatter me, Your Highness.”

Rukna still couldn’t properly focus on the princess’s words because of the bitter taste filling his mouth. Can’t this be removed with mana?

“…I heard. I’m looking forward to how the ecology of the empire’s underworld will change when you graduate.”

“The underworld?”

How did the conversation flow like this? A few hours ago, the talented person who received a job offer as a priest from the prime minister was now rising as the new star of the underworld.

Isn’t this too extreme?

“Pretending not to know is also quite cute, kid. Even this Tolia almost fell for that innocent face.”

“I apologize, Your Highness. That is one of Rukna’s charms. Being innocent yet not innocent, cute yet mature, it always makes you want to keep him by your side.”

Giselle, who suddenly joined the conversation, made a fuss.

Mela, who was sitting still, also elegantly nodded her head.

“I also agree with Lady Giselle’s opinion.”

“Oh my, you know Rukna’s charm well?”

Huh? Giselle opened her eyes round.

At first glance, it seemed like there was no malice, but referring to a count’s daughter as ‘you’*, and it also seemed like there might be malice. Rukna was confused.

*(T/N: Using 그쪽/geujjok which is a less respectful way of referring to someone.)

“That’s right. We had an in-depth conversation about a future union with Rukna.”

Mela spoke in her characteristically elegant manner, indirectly mentioning the fact that she had proposed a contractual marriage, stimulating Giselle.

“Oh my, a union? A union?”

Giselle asked, tilting her head to the side like an owl.

Our Giselle, I’m worried she might break her neck doing that.

“Yes, did I perhaps use a word that is difficult for the lady to understand?”

Was Rukna the only one who found Giselle’s gaze scary? Lady Mela responded to Giselle’s question with a benevolent smile.

“Ah, how could that be? I also had such a conversation with him. About whether to continue combining as before, or to combine in a different form.”

Giselle indirectly expressed her plan to remove Rukna, who had regained his identity, from the family register and bring him back into the Golden family through marriage with Perta.

Meanwhile, the princess, who misunderstood the meaning of the word, fanned her heated face.

Matian, who was leisurely drinking tea alone, also began to cough as if he had swallowed wrong.

Only Rukna, who knew nothing, was surprised that he, who always boasted perfect etiquette, showed such behavior and found it unexpected.

Did he finally succumb to the taste of the disaster he made himself?

“Are you okay, Matian?”

Rukna took out a handkerchief from his pocket and handed it to him.

Seeing the griffin embroidered on that handkerchief, Lady Mela made an exclamation of “Eugh” and clenched her fist tightly, and Giselle closed her eyes dejectedly as if she had lost her country, realizing that the person who gave the handkerchief as a gift was Lady Mela.

“Cough. Thank you.”

Matian tilted his head slightly and tried to take Rukna’s handkerchief, but whether by mistake or on purpose, he grabbed her hand instead of the handkerchief.

At that moment, Matian stiffened.

His cough stopped abruptly and his sharp eyes turned towards Rukna.

“You, what’s going on with this.”

The friendly atmosphere froze in an instant, centered around him.

Could it be that he felt the mana? Rukna quickly pulled out his caught hand and averted his gaze.

He thought he had hidden it, but Matian was so sensitive to mana that he seemed to have noticed it the moment their hands touched.

“Wh-what.”

“You should know what I’m talking about.”

“…I had some business, so I went to the temple. That’s why.”

Rukna whispered in a small voice after checking the expressions of the ladies across from him.

Immediately, Matian got up from his seat.

The culprit who made this place grim smiled elegantly while straightening his jacket.

“I apologize, Your Highness. Something urgent has come up for Rukna Golden, so may we be excused for a moment?”

Me? He says I have an urgent matter?

No, if you have business, why are you using me as an excuse?

Rukna, who was sitting in a chair, looked up at Matian with a puzzled expression.

But as soon as he met his cold gaze, his spineless body betrayed its owner and got up.

It was a gaze that made even non-existent business arise.