“Why did Tasir laugh like that earlier?” Afterwards, leaning on Latil as he usually did, Tasir smiled and asked lightly, “Is it okay to leave like this?”

But the ambiguous smile he showed for a moment kept lingering in Latil’s mind. More so because it was unlike him.

Jealousy? No, it wasn’t jealousy. One would have to be a person who gets jealous to be jealous. Tasir being jealous, that’s just absurd.

Could it possibly be…

‘Was he planning to make a detour somewhere but had to go back because of me?’

Even upon reflection, Latil couldn’t make sense of it, so she ultimately stopped thinking about it. She had to deal with Guesta first.

‘One thing at a time.’

Latil touched her cheek to compose her expression and then approached Guesta’s door.

When Latil showed up unexpectedly, the guard standing by the door was startled and exclaimed, “Your Majesty!”

Even before Latil could ask ‘Is Guesta in?’ the door swung open and Guesta’s servant, Tree, sprang out like a spring.

As Latil raised her hand awkwardly, Tree stuttered and then his expression changed as if he had found a bundle of money falling from the sky. He exclaimed,

“Your Majesty! You’ve finally come!”

Guesta must have been waiting for me. Just from Tree’s expression, Latil could roughly guess what had happened in the room so far.

“Where’s Guesta?”

“He’s inside!”

As Tree opened the door wide, Latil gave him a pat on the shoulder and went inside.

Once she passed the second door, she saw Guesta standing awkwardly by the entrance, clutching a large vase as if he had quickly prepared upon hearing her coming.

‘Was he trying to put the flowers… under his face?’

But holding the vase and standing. When Latil laughed incredulously, Guesta quickly put down the vase, his face, neck, and ears turning red as he stood up.

“I, I didn’t know you were coming so suddenly… I wasn’t trying to hold it, Tree was…”

“Today, you’re holding pottery instead of a book.”

“Your Majesty…”

As Guesta made a sad face, Latil took his arm and led him to the sofa. As he sat next to her, his face reddened but he gave a faint smile.

Seeing that, two thoughts occurred to Latil simultaneously. One was ‘I don’t think Guesta is a spy after all.’

The other was ‘He must have acted this affectionate with my mother too, right?’

‘Of course, it’s not a bad thing to try to impress the person in power to survive. Guesta followed my mother well, but he didn’t betray me.’

However, even as she thought that, Latil found herself unconsciously starting to speak.

“I have something to thank you for, and something to ask.”

“Please, Your Majesty, ask me anything.”

“Do you know Lord Chancellor helped me? I’m grateful. I think it helped me return smoothly.”

“Your Majesty…”

Guesta lowered his eyes and smiled faintly. Seeing that from the side, his long eyelashes clearly came into view. He looked so frail. As if he would start crying at any moment.

Because of that, Latil couldn’t immediately ask what she intended to.

“Your Majesty?”

When Latil stared at his profile, Guesta gave her a puzzled look. But because Latil quickly turned his face back to the side, Guesta’s eyes widened even more.

“Your Majesty?”

“You look pretty from the side.”

“Pardon?”

“Let’s stay like this.”

Guesta looked somewhat dazed, but for now, he looked in the direction Latil had set for him.

Did I act too strange? Clearing her throat, Latil said, “No, be comfortable.” She then revealed why she had come.

“Uh, I heard you found a bird.”

“A bird?”

“Yes. I’m thinking about raising one myself. I wanted to learn how if you were already doing it. And to say thanks.”

“I don’t raise birds.”

But Guesta answered as if there was nothing suspicious about Latil’s question.

“Then the bird you found…”

“I treated it simply, but I didn’t know how to care for it afterwards, so I told Tree to take it to the department that handles messages.”

“Oh, really?”

“Yes.”

Guesta wore an expression that said, ‘But when did that happen, and why are you asking now?’ When the conversation cut off, it became awkward and Latil chewed her own chin.

It was such an awkward time. Sitting silently with Guesta, Latil realized how comfortable she was when she was with Tasir.

There was no other way. Even when Latil was silent, Tasir would chatter on his own. The only time he was silent was when he was spinning his head, grinning full of mischief.

‘It was also comfortable in a different way when I was with Ranamun.’

Because he is a quiet and calm person no matter who he is with.

“Um……so……”

Eventually, Latil muttered to herself and spit out the words she had stopped saying earlier because Guesta looked so fragile.

“People say that when I was absent, you got along well with the impostor.”

As soon as she said this, Latil chastised herself, ‘You promised not to ask!’ But the question had already been asked.

Wouldn’t it be strange to say ‘no, don’t answer’ now? In the end, Latil decided to listen to the answer, holding her hands together and looking at Guesta.