Just before the palace banquet, it was a good time to gossip over drinks.

Even since yesterday, poets have been praising Edmund’s beauty, raising expectations among the women.

Today, Edmund was impeccably dressed in a white shirt and vest, accentuating his sculpted muscles, with his hair tied neatly, reaching his shoulders. He looked less like a mercenary and more like a refined nobleman.

Even now, the female staff kept sneaking glances at him.

“How long are you going to stare?”

“Excuse me?”

Startled by his voice, I blinked.

Edmund frowned slightly, looking at me disapprovingly.

“Do you have something to say?”

It wasn’t just me looking.

I replied with a bright smile.

“If I’ve offended you, I apologize. I was momentarily lost in the Count’s striking beauty.”

Edmund sighed and closed his eyes.

“Again with such remarks. Please refrain from comments that can be misunderstood. It’s uncomfortable for the listener.”

It felt a bit unfair. My comment was sincere, not flattery.

“It’s true. Not just me, everyone thinks so.”

“The only one excessively praising the Count is you.”

“Oh, but the poet said… what was it… ‘Three moons shine in the empire, and the stars fall to him, turning into silver dust'”

“That’s exactly why such talk makes me uncomfortable”

Edmund, frowning deeply at me, paused as he noticed Lirien.

Lirien’s eyes sparkled as she clasped her hands.

“Edmund, really? There’s a song about you?”

“That’s…”

I spoke up for the flustered Edmund.

“Yes, it’s a song praising the Count’s appearance.”

“Oh, I’d love to hear it!”

“Shall we go listen when we have a chance?”

“Yes, please, Etrisha.”

Lirien beamed and clapped her hands, while Edmund sighed and pressed his temples.

Catching his reproachful glance from behind his large hand, I quickly averted my gaze, almost bursting into laughter.

‘Perhaps the poet went too far.’

A simple compliment about his appearance could make him blush; such praise must be terribly embarrassing for him.

‘I meant to show kindness, but I keep teasing him.’
However, Edmund is also to blame. Where did the terrifying ferocity of the original character go? He reacts so innocently, almost too purely. The honest reactions from someone who is usually inscrutable provoke my mischievousness.

“Kyak!”

That’s when it happened. The excited Lirien accidentally stepped on the back heel of an employee’s shoe.

The startled employee dropped a box containing a pearl brooch and sat down abruptly.

“I’m, I’m so sorry!”

Lirien quickly sat down next to the employee. The employee, smiling dryly while assuring it’s okay, seemed more concerned about the scattered brooch than her foot.

Lirien, close to tears, said, “Don’t worry, I’ll tell them it was my fault. I’m really sorry.”

“It’s okay.”

Despite the employee’s calm response, Lirien was still agitated.

“I should check your foot first. Edmund, can you attach the brooch to Etrisha for me while I’m away?”

“I’ll go.”

“No, I’ll do it.”

Edmund attempted to rise from the sofa, but Lirien, seemingly in a flurry, blurted out a word to him and disappeared with the employee.

“Remember what I said yesterday? Please take care of it!”

Soon, Lirien drew back the curtain and vanished into the light of the hall, exchanging words with the employee.

Unsure of their conversation, Edmund sighed with a hardened expression.

I glanced at Edmund, who stood like a statue, and quietly closed the red velvet curtain draped over the platform.

Surely he wouldn’t really attach the brooch.

But at that moment, I heard the sound of something being picked up and the noise of footsteps approaching the platform.

Swish. The sound grew louder and soon, the curtain was pushed aside briskly, revealing Edmund’s face, holding the brooch in his hand.