“Ah, I’m sorry.”

“It’s alright.”

As Alicia tried to quickly stand up but stumbled again in her confusion, Eric wrapped his arm around her waist to steady her.

William, who had been watching with a displeased expression, finally spoke up.

“Hey. Are you really doing this?”

“?”

“No matter what, this kind of two-person seating is a bit irritating, isn’t it?”

At William’s rebuke, Alicia’s face turned bright red.

Eric, not letting go of Alicia as she tried to get up, replied nonchalantly.

“Isn’t there a separate royal box seat to begin with?”

“Wow, do you think you’ll be safe after treating a prince like this?”

“I apologize.”

Annoyed by Eric’s brief and immediate apology, William grumbled and stood up from his seat.

“Lady Alicia. Please sit here comfortably.”

“Your Highness.”

“It’s fine. I was planning to leave anyway. Father and Mother have arrived over there as well.”

“Ah.”

Looking in the direction William pointed, Alicia saw the Emperor and Empress, along with Prince Harry, about to take their seats.

At that moment, Alicia’s eyes met Prince Harry’s.

Feeling uncomfortable with Prince Harry staring at her intently, Alicia quickly turned her head back to Eric and William, who were still bickering.

“Geez. I was hoping to enjoy some champagne in a good mood, but all I got was salt in my wounds.”

“I’ll treat you separately later.”

“Forget it. I’m a prince. I have plenty of money. I’ll buy my own drinks, you jerk. I’m leaving.”

After Alicia sat down and Eric took a seat next to her, William, who had been watching, muttered quietly.

“Henpecked.”

Eric immediately turned his head towards William upon hearing this.

Seeing William’s teasing expression as their eyes met, Eric furrowed his brow.

Wondering what was going on, Alicia turned around, only to see William quickly smile and wave at her before leaving the box seat.

“Are you alright? Being so rude to His Highness the Prince like that.”

“I usually get treated much worse. It’s give and take.”

“Still.”

“Don’t forget that His Highness and I are friends. More importantly-”

Eric leaned forward and gently brushed Alicia’s cheek with his thumb.

“Eric?”

As Alicia became flustered, Eric smiled.

“Something was on your face.”

“Oh. What was it?”

The embarrassed Alicia quickly rubbed her cheek.

It was their first outing together in a long time, and she had certainly taken care to dress up nicely.

“It’s fine. I wiped it off.”

“Really? Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.”

After confirming that Prince Harry hastily turned his head away behind Alicia, Eric leaned back comfortably on the sofa.

“Shall we have something to drink too?”

“We have champagne right here.”

“You’re going to drink alcohol?”

“You said it’s fine when I’m with you, didn’t you?”

“It’s troublesome if you keep developing a taste for it.”

While chiding Alicia, Eric pretended to give in and poured champagne into glasses.

“Just drink a little, okay?”

“Alright.”

Although Alicia’s alcohol tolerance was probably high enough to handle the entire bottle without issue, Eric still gave her a stern warning before handing her the champagne glass.

“How is it?”

“It’s delicious. It doesn’t taste like alcohol.”

“Oh no. You find it delicious.”

Eric chuckled as he set down his glass.

Just then, the lights in the theater went out.

“It looks like it’s starting.”

“Seems so.”

Their bodies drew close as they lowered their voices.

As Alicia put down her champagne glass and pressed her hand on the sofa to lean back, their hands touched.

Eric’s pinky finger lightly brushed between Alicia’s ring and pinky fingers.

Startled by his subtle touch, Alicia flinched, and Eric promptly took her hand and interlaced their fingers.

Trapped in his large hand with no room to move, Alicia felt rather comfortable and quietly smiled.

In the distant royal box seat, Harry, who had been sitting quietly lost in thought, tried to stand up when the Empress stopped him.

She then asked in a low voice so that the Emperor couldn’t hear.

“Where are you going?”

“I’m just going to get some fresh air for a moment.”

“I think it would be better if you just stayed seated, Harry.”

“Mother.”

Hearing the sigh in his voice, the Empress spoke soothingly.

“Harry. Just let it be for now.”

“Pardon?”

“We’ll talk about it separately later. You’ll find it interesting too.”

Though it was hard to see clearly in the dark, the corners of the Empress’s lips turned up slightly.

During the intermission, Alicia left the box seat to visit the powder room.

‘Ah. It was really enjoyable.’

Although she couldn’t concentrate at the beginning because of Eric, overall it was an extremely satisfying performance.

Expecting the remaining second act to be just as excellent, she was about to enter the corridor leading to the powder room.

That’s when she heard someone calling her name from behind.

“Lady Alicia Lancaster.”

“Your Highness.”

Alicia quickly turned around and greeted Prince Harry.

Harry glanced around cautiously before carefully opening his mouth.

“Now we can talk a bit.”

“Pardon?”

“I have something I want to ask.”

Seeing Harry take a step closer, Alicia unconsciously took a step back.

It wasn’t that he seemed threatening or intimidating.

Rather, Harry’s face looked so earnest that she felt she should listen to what he had to say.

But for some reason, she didn’t want to hear it.

It felt like she shouldn’t listen. At least not now.

“I’m just trying to have a brief conversation, so there’s no need to be so guarded.”

“……”

“Alicia.”

“I’d prefer if you didn’t casually call my fiancée by her name.”

Eric’s cold voice was heard from behind Harry.

Soon, Harry frowned, turned his head, and snapped at Eric.

“How rude, Earl Russell.”

“Oh my, I apologize. I didn’t realize it was Your Highness.”

Eric offered an apology to Harry with impeccably polite and courteous manners.

“I couldn’t tell it was Your Highness from behind.”

“……Earl.”

“Seeing someone fearlessly approach my fiancée, I inadvertently made a mistake.”

“……”

“Besides, I couldn’t imagine that Your Highness would behave in such a manner.”

Harry silently glared at Eric, who was smiling nonchalantly while giving a polite bow.

Even if Harry’s behavior might have seemed inappropriate, Eric’s actions were not something one would typically do to a prince like himself.

Nevertheless, Harry remained silent, unable to say anything in response to Eric’s courteous apology.

‘Without knowing anything. No, because you don’t know anything… is it?’

Swallowing an unspoken lament, Harry bit his lip.

Then his eyes met Alicia’s.

He noticed her looking back and forth between him and Eric, not knowing what to do.

“Eric.”

Alicia quietly held onto Eric, trying to calm him down, and then turned her gaze towards Harry.

When he met Alicia’s gaze, filled with worry and anxiety, the familiar feeling that arose made Harry unable to stay there any longer, so he spoke up.

“It seems the timing is not good. Let’s talk comfortably another time.”

Harry said quietly to Alicia before moving away.

As he passed by Eric, he glanced at him and asked in a low voice.

“Can you protect her, Earl?”

“?”

Eric looked at Harry, puzzled by his cryptic words, but Harry had already passed by and disappeared from his sight.

Eric watched his retreating figure for a moment.

It was too vague to be a threat, yet too ambiguous to be a warning.

“Eric.”

As Alicia called out to him and grabbed his arm again, Eric turned to her with a casual smile.

“Eric. What did His Highness say?”

“Nothing at all.”

“But just now-”

“This is a matter of His Highness’s conduct.”

Eric firmly stated as he took Alicia’s hand that was holding onto his arm.

“The intermission is almost over. Shall we go back?”

“Ah, yes.”

Alicia reluctantly agreed with a bitter expression and followed Eric’s lead.

Her mind and heart were in turmoil.

Harry had said he wanted to talk. That he had something to ask.

He wasn’t forceful or threatening.

But why didn’t she want to hear it?

Why did she unconsciously step back to avoid him?

“Don’t worry.”

“Pardon?”

Having somehow sensed her state of mind, Eric smiled kindly.

“Even if he’s a prince, he can’t treat you carelessly. He won’t be able to disregard the Gloucester ducal family.”

“……That’s not it-”

“?”

“I’m not worried. Because you’re here.”

Alicia smiled and squeezed Eric’s hand that was holding hers.

Compared to his hand, Alicia’s was small and delicate, seemingly not applying much force, but for Eric, even that much was enough to feel reassured.

“Hmm, so Alicia.”

“?”

“Do we really have to watch the opera until the very end?”

At Eric’s subtle tone, Alicia’s face slightly reddened as she was about to open her mouth.

Boom-!

With a loud explosion, one side of the opera house wall crumbled.

The sound of people coughing could be heard amidst the dust from the collapse.

“It’s a monster!!!”

“Kyaaaah!”

At someone’s shout, Eric’s expression instantly darkened.

How ironic.

In any case, they wouldn’t be able to watch the opera until the end after all.

“Eric.”

“It’s okay.”

However, the situation wasn’t favorable for dealing with the monster.

As it was an event attended by the royal family, weapons were prohibited, and it would take about 15 minutes for the knights to arrive at the opera house even if they departed now.

The only people who could fight right now were some members of the royal guard, whose main duty was protection, and a few opera house security personnel, but it was uncertain if they could properly fight against the monster.

“Alicia. I have to go, so you should leave through the opposite side.”

“Eric.”

“I’ll believe that you’ll return safely and won’t worry about you. So don’t worry about me either.”

“Alright. I’ll believe that you’ll come back safely too. So be careful.”

Alicia nodded as if making a promise.

After kissing the back of Alicia’s hand that he was holding, Eric gradually stepped back from her.

“I’m going.”

“Be careful.”

As the distance between them increased, their clasped hands, and finally their touching fingertips, separated.

Soon, Eric turned around and ran towards the collapsed wall.

Alicia watched his retreating figure for a moment before gathering her dress skirt with both hands and running in the opposite direction.

She had made a promise with Eric, so she had to return safely.

No matter what happened, she absolutely had to.

“How touching. It’s good to be young.”

In a small space where the opera house pillars met the ceiling, where grotesque statues were placed, a man in a black robe sat perched.

“It’ll be harder later on. Maybe I should comfort her if I get the chance. She’s quite my type, after all.”

He chuckled as he said this.

As soon as he laughed, the red ring on the man’s finger began to glow ominously.