Is it necessary to emphasize liking women to this extent?

“I carelessly spoke of an unconfirmed rumor. I apologize, Your Highness.”

It seemed he was upset about being misunderstood as homosexual, so I quickly apologized. Cahirun furrowed his brow.

“Looking at your face, you didn’t understand.”

“Pardon?”

“You seem quick-witted, but you’re not at all.”

Cahirun smirked.

I was irritated, having survived Floria thus far on wits alone, but I couldn’t refute. If it were Cal instead of Cahirun, I would have retorted immediately.

‘I never imagined there’d come a day when I’d miss that guy.’

“What are you thinking about to sigh like that?”

Oh no, I must have sighed without realizing. Even when trying to appear composed, I slipped up and quickly apologized.

“I’m sorry.”

“I don’t like you having other thoughts in front of me either.”

Cahirun continued with a displeased expression while staring at me.

“You’ve been stiff since earlier.”

Cahirun seemed dissatisfied with my different attitude compared to when he was Cal. But isn’t it natural for my attitude to change? How could it be the same?

How could I remain calm after confessing to his face that I’d betray him!

“Ah.”

Cahirun let out a low exclamation as if he understood. Then he smiled mischievously.

“I suppose you’d be self-conscious after volunteering to be a spy yourself.”

“……”

Damn it.

‘If only you hadn’t deceived me so perfectly, none of this would have happened.’

Though I had no right to speak since I had deceived him too, I couldn’t help resenting him.

Thinking about why Cahirun pretended to be the Second Prince’s attendant to deceive me, there was only one answer. This man also intended to extract information about Floria from me.

I regretted my naive and foolish past self who had trusted Cal. But how could I have been more suspicious when he even suggested going to the Second Prince’s palace together?

Wait. Come to think of it, our first meeting in front of the mansion wasn’t because he was an attendant, but because he happened to run into me while spying, right? If it hadn’t been for this man then, I wouldn’t be suffering like this!

‘If you weren’t even an attendant, why did you monitor me so persistently?’

As I was glaring resentfully at Cahirun, our eyes met and I quickly relaxed my gaze and blinked.

“…It seems Your Highness misunderstands me.”

I cleared my throat and put down my cutlery.

The water had already spilled, and I couldn’t back out now. To right the overturned glass, I had to salvage the situation somehow. I decided to deny everything.

“Misunderstand?”

“The reason I said those things before was……”

“Was?”

Cahirun’s eyes curved as if telling me to continue, looking amused.

“Well… I was too shy to say I had feelings for Your Highness.”

Damn. This was even more pathetic than when I brought up transferring to the First Prince’s palace as an excuse.

“You’re not interested in the First Prince?”

“Not at all.”

Why did I answer so firmly then?

But I had to keep insisting. This was the best excuse I could claim.

“And back then, I thought Your Highness was the Second Prince’s attendant, so I couldn’t speak more honestly.”

“I see.”

I was determined to push through no matter how he responded, but Cahirun just nodded without saying much.

“Well, I was a bit hurt when I heard things like ‘crazy bastard’ or ‘weirdo’ to my face.”

Cahirun placed his hand on his left chest and arched his eyebrows.

“So that was all affection for me.”

“Ah, yes, that’s……”

“Your expressions of affection are quite rough, but that’s alright. I like it rough too.”

“……”

…This man is definitely toying with me, right?

I looked at Cahirun glumly as he rested his elbows on the table and cupped his chin. His smiling face looked like a satisfied cat.

I’m not sure what he’s thinking by playing along when he clearly doesn’t believe a word I say, but,

‘At least he’s letting it slide for now.’

Judging by his oddly good mood, it seems he won’t draw his sword right away. Of course, I can’t guarantee when that face will turn cold.

As I shuddered recalling the description of Cahirun in the original work, I tilted my head.

Come to think of it, the First Prince in the original wasn’t such a sly character, was he? That was also one of the reasons I couldn’t think Cal and the First Prince were the same person.

“You’re lost in thought again.”

I looked up at Cahirun’s voice suddenly cutting in, and he was staring at me with his arms crossed.

“How can you do that when the person you like is sitting right in front of you? Hmm?”

It was quite a skill to make the temperature drop instantly with the same smiling face. This alone confirmed he was the First Prince.

“Um… I’m so excited about being with Your Highness from tomorrow that I can’t calm down.”

“I see. Actually, I’m quite excited too. I’m looking forward to seeing how you’ll seduce me.”

Cahirun was arbitrarily treating it as a foregone conclusion even though I had no intention of seducing him whatsoever. But in my position with various weaknesses exposed, I couldn’t argue.

I could only take petty revenge by imagining the steak was Cahirun as I stabbed it forcefully with my fork. Sigh.

Ding-a-ling.

“…Ugh.”

Ding-a-ling. Ding-a-ling.

“Ah, what is it……”

I covered my ears with a pillow at the noisy sound waking me up.

Ding-a-ling. Ding-a-ling. Ding-a-ling. Ding-a-ling. Ding-a-ling.

Unable to bear the relentless ringing anymore, I sat up abruptly after tossing and turning. Turning my head to find where the sound was coming from, I saw a bell attached to a string swinging repeatedly.

‘Ah!’

Only then did I recall that I had started staying at the First Prince’s palace as of yesterday. I turned my head to see it was still dark outside. My eyes flew open as soon as I picked up the pocket watch on the bedside table and checked the time.

“4 o’clock?!”

They’re waking me up at 4 now? The sun’s not even up yet!

Even as I was dazed, the bell kept ringing incessantly.

“Damn it, I slept until 6 even when I was a maid!”

Hurriedly getting out of bed, I roughly rubbed the sleep from my eyes, changed into my lady-in-waiting uniform, and flung open the side door. I crossed straight through the luxurious living room and knocked on the side door connecting to Cahirun’s room.

“Your Highness, it’s Violet.”

I was so rushed that I was out of breath just crossing from that room to this one.

“Come in.”

Glaring at the door once, I fought the urge to kick it open and carefully turned the handle instead.

Cahirun was still in bed. He looked up from the documents he was reading while leaning against the headboard.

“Seems you slept well.”

“…I’m sorry for being late.”

What do you mean I slept well? I’d only fallen asleep a few hours ago after tossing and turning all night worrying about my gloomy future.

“I want to wash up first, so prepare it for me.”

“Yes. Please wait a moment.”

I fetched a washbasin and cloth from the private bathroom attached to the toilette room and set them down on the table.

Then I turned to call Cahirun. But I had to quickly turn my head away again.

Cahirun, who had been in bed, was now standing right behind me.

Moreover, the front of the robe he was wearing was wide open. Thanks to that, his well-muscled bare chest was blatantly exposed.

‘Why is he like that?’

Of course, I understand his appearance being disheveled having just gotten out of bed, but still.

‘Even if he doesn’t see me as a woman, shouldn’t he be more careful?’

While I couldn’t bring myself to look back and my gaze wandered, Cahirun sat down at the table with the washbasin.

“What are you doing?”

“Pardon?”

Cahirun nodded at the washbasin.

“Oh. Yes.”

I quickly soaked the cloth in warm water.

Then, forcibly dragging my gaze up from below his neck, I started wiping Cahirun’s face as he closed his eyes.

His forehead, nose bridge, cheeks, sharp jawline. The skin that looked firm was softer than I expected. As I marveled anew at his handsome face that seemed drawn without a single flaw,

“Seems you’ve fallen for me again.”

Cahirun slowly opened his eyes and looked up at me, curving his eyes.

“Your gaze is so hot, I simply can’t pretend not to notice.”

“……”

“How does it feel seeing the person you adore first thing in the morning?”

“…Yes, I’m happy.”

Gritting my teeth and forcing a smile as I answered, I slapped the cloth onto Cahirun’s face.

“Ah!”

“Oh, I’m sorry. Something was stuck there and wouldn’t come off, so I unintentionally…”

“What was stuck that made you do that?”

Your bad luck was stuck, you bastard.

“Dust.”

“It seems like you got annoyed.”

“Annoyed? How dare I get annoyed at Your Highness. Please stay still while I wipe you.”

I smiled brightly before scrubbing hard under the pretense of wiping. It must have hurt, but Cahirun kept grinning as if something was so funny, which made me even more irritated.

“I’ll dress myself.”

After finishing washing up, Cahirun went into the toilette room alone. Thankfully, he didn’t ask me to help him change clothes too. I cleared my throat unnecessarily as the image of his muscular chest that had looked quite firm came to mind.

‘But is this really what lady-in-waiting duties entail?’

While male royalty did keep ladies-in-waiting, it was usually attendants of the same gender who provided this kind of personal care.

The fact that I was the only lady-in-waiting in the palace meant Cahirun hadn’t received care from one until now. This was undoubtedly him deliberately trying to torment me.

‘Surely he won’t make me assist with his baths too?’

I quickly shook my head at the imagination that automatically popped into my mind. Seeing how he said he’d dress himself, that probably won’t happen.

‘…Probably?’