Due to the sudden and unexpected behavior of Duke Blachnat, who abruptly returned to Parsad, Phlidas often found himself waking up in disbelief and gulping down cold water.

What on earth?

I’ve repeatedly said I never want to run into Emperor Alan, so why leave me alone here?

During his absence, he had to go to great lengths to avoid Emperor Alan, acquiring some nervous habits in the process.

Fortunately, one thing to be thankful for was the invalidation of Princess Erwin’s rights seized by Tesea.

The day Phlidas learned about this, Emperor Alan invited her to tea time.

“You can refuse. I’ll come up with a suitable excuse.”

Even if the attendant assigned to me hadn’t said so, I had no intention of not going, armed with the excuse of not feeling well.

Talking about attendants, dare I.

“Why? Didn’t the Duke tell you to refrain from such activities unless they are absolutely necessary?”

“Not exactly, but he suggested refraining from anything other than essential formal external activities.”

Damn refraining, refraining.

It’s easy for someone who is good at refraining even when a woman undresses and approaches.

It was getting annoying to be kept hidden with a long veil on my face, concealing my true intentions.

You need to maintain a moderate image of fidelity.

Phlidas put down the premium tea provided by the Tesian palace and asked the attendant.

“If the Emperor of Tesea invited me to tea time, isn’t that considered a formal external activity?”

“…I apologize. It seems you can do as Princess wishes.”

Tsk, acting like it’s so easy to give in, pretending to be at the top.

Still, unable to violate the Duke’s orders, Phlidas proceeded to the Emperor’s greenhouse, still veiled.

It was the most attractive place since no one could enter without the Emperor’s permission. Despite feeling a bit uneasy, Phlidas, accustomed to the familiar place, calmed her mind.

“I thought you would refuse, so thank you for coming, Princess.”

Emperor Alan welcomed her with a smile, but for some reason, Phlidas felt a bone-chilling undertone in his words and responded with a well-mannered greeting.

“As the ruler of Tesea, I am honored.”

“That’s a greeting only used by Tesean Empire citizens. It seems natural since you were protected in the palace, but it feels odd.”

“Ah…”

Rudrager hates imperfections. Even if he is my lover, whenever I meet him, I must always greet him properly.

It doesn’t matter; anyway, it was set up that I was protected in Tesea.

Fortunately, Alan didn’t make Phlidas more uncomfortable than necessary.

After he pulled out a chair for her, the two engaged in light conversation.

Since Emperor Rudrager restrained his son so much, it was Phlidas’s first time having a direct conversation with Alan.

“…By the way, there was a royal theater directly under the Emperor…”

Emperor Alan was in the midst of sharing some trivial stories that didn’t deviate from small talk.
At the mention of the word ‘theater,’ Phlidas unconsciously twitched her fingertips. She realized that Alan was looking through her, speaking about something.

“…All annihilated.”

If she hadn’t worn the veil, their eyes would have met. A belated regret surged within her, thinking she should have pretended to be unwell, as the attendant suggested.

“Even if you stayed in the palace, the extreme group with many secrets might have gone unnoticed. But the group itself was a deception to protect the princess. You already know this story, don’t you, Princess Erwin?”

Phlidas, who hadn’t expected the extreme group to be mentioned so directly, was bewildered and speechless.

It was Rudrager’s personal extreme group, and she had never encountered Alan when he was a prince in the troupe. What would Duke Blachnat have said? She remembered how he answered when faced with questions he didn’t want to answer.

“…I don’t know.”

“If you received father’s protection, you must have known that I didn’t get along well with him.”

“…”

“Is this not a pleasant conversation topic? Actually, I was curious about how Princess Erwin was doing in Tesea, so I invited you to tea time. I didn’t even know that you, as a prince, had been protecting the princess for over ten years.”

“I have nothing special to say.”

Seeing Phlidas in distress, Alan laughed cheerfully.

“Hmm… Shall we talk about something else then? For example… things like contracts that father wrote for the woman Phlidas, who was his lover.”

Phlidas’ complexion paled.

It wasn’t an official contract but a memo, written playfully as they rolled around in bed. Anyone who saw it would have realized that the two were lovers.

She thought everyone would have naturally thrown away that scrap of paper. To think she still had it. Was it because she couldn’t deal with it due to the sudden death?

Phlidas hid her fearful heart and managed to maintain composure.

“Then you must have seen the rewards written in that contract. It must have detailed the compensation you would receive when the play ended.”