Jieselgrante blinked her eyes in astonishment.

“…….”

Although he could have left this place pretending not to know, Cabelased chose to stay.

And as long as he decided to get involved in this matter, he would be going against Joshua’s wishes.

Although she had no idea why he decided to help her despite knowing this, one thing was certain.

That she must not miss this opportunity.

She squeezed out the most desperate voice possible and called out to Cabelased.

“Oh, Cabel…….”

As Cabelased took a step closer, Jieselgrante painfully stretched out her arm and gently cupped his cheek.

For a moment, Cabelased’s broad and firm shoulders flinched.

But she didn’t mind and continued speaking.

“I’ve waited for so long. There were many times I soaked my pillow with tears, thinking you had grown tired of me.”

“…….”

“But it’s alright. Because you came to find me like this. Even though I’m in another man’s arms against my will…….”

Jieselgrante lowered her eyes, brimming with tears, then immediately raised her head and looked straight into Cabelased’s eyes as she spoke.

“I still love you, Cabel! Even if you only pay attention to me when I’m in another man’s arms…….”

As Jieselgrante’s hand gripping Cabelased’s cheek tightened slightly, his eyes widened a bit.

Soon after, his red eyes began to shake violently.

But she brought her face close enough for their breaths to intertwine, just that distance.

When she was close enough for her reflection to be seen in his red eyes, she tilted her head slightly at an angle.

“……!”

At that moment, a scornful laugh came from above.

“Ha…… I really can’t believe this.”

Only then did Joshua release Jieselgrante’s body, which he had been oppressively holding down, and stepped back.

Joshua had always lived the life of a protagonist.

He couldn’t be pleased with Cabelased, who appeared without warning and took away his enjoyment.

Moreover, hadn’t he been completely pushed aside since his appearance?

He was terribly displeased at the fact that he had been ignored.

“So, does this mean you two had that kind of… relationship from before?”

That kind of relationship? Suppressing the urge to ask what kind of relationship he meant, Jieselgrante turned to look at Joshua with teary eyes.

And she nodded.

Given Joshua’s proud personality, he would surely feel an unbearable sense of humiliation at being used as a tool to provoke Cabelased’s jealousy.

“It’s exactly as Your Highness the Crown Prince said.”

“……!”

Joshua’s pupils dilated greatly.

Looking at her and Cabelased with slightly trembling eyes in disbelief, Joshua soon wore a meaningful expression.

‘What is he thinking?’

It was when Jieselgrante was trying to gauge his intentions. Joshua again took his position behind her back.

“Fine. I respect your preferences too.”

For some reason, he seemed to want to continue the act he was about to stop. And in front of Cabelased, no less.

Jieselgrante, terrified, struggled to escape from his hands.

“This, this is…….”

But Joshua subdued her more roughly than before. He seemed to have no hesitation in continuing the act.

“Just staying still won’t be exciting enough.”

Joshua looked at Cabelased with eyes seeking agreement.

Cabelased muttered something in a barely audible voice. It sounded like he said something about being tired.

“Ha…….”

Cabelased sighed and rubbed his dry face.

It seemed Jieselgrante wasn’t the only one bewildered by Joshua’s sudden change in reaction.

‘Don’t tell me he’s going to leave…….’

Jieselgrante tried to grab the hem of Cabelased’s clothes while forcefully suppressing her rising anxiety.

But just then, he turned his body. Jieselgrante’s outstretched hand grasped at empty air.

Cabelased moved towards the terrace entrance.

Perhaps he was sick of Joshua, who doesn’t give up easily.

“…….”

It seemed he was about to leave the terrace.

He and Joshua would someday become enemies pointing swords at each other, but there was no need to hasten that time.

So he must have judged that there was no need to get on bad terms with Joshua from now.

As Cabelased, her only hope for help, was about to leave, Jieselgrante hesitated no longer and grasped the terrace railing.

At that moment.

“Stop it. This, this is troublesome!”

Cabelased shouted while roughly undoing his well-tied cravat.

“……?”

Jieselgrante stopped her movement and turned her head towards Cabelased.

It wasn’t just her who was surprised by his sudden and strange behavior; Joshua approached Cabelased with furrowed brows.

“……Duke? Duke Cardia? What are you doing now?”

Ignoring Joshua, who grabbed his collar as if asking what he was up to, Cabelased shouted once again.

“Where are you touching right now? Stop it!”

At that moment, someone’s voice was heard from the direction of the banquet hall.

“I think I just heard something from over there, did you hear it?”

“I heard it too just now! It sounded like someone saying to stop, asking where they were touching?”

Soon, the sound of multiple footsteps began to approach the terrace.

“I just heard something from inside. You all heard it too, right?”

“…….”

The knights guarding the front of the terrace tried to quickly control the situation, but it was already too late.

The nobles who had gathered upon hearing the commotion earlier were pushing past the knights, attempting to enter the terrace.

“……!”

The mouths of the nobles who finally entered the terrace fell open.

In their eyes, they saw the image of Crown Prince Joshua, gripping Cabelased’s collar and panting angrily.

Moreover, the chest area of Cabelased’s shirt and his cravat were in tatters, as if forcibly torn off with great strength.

It gave off a strange atmosphere that seemed more than just a youthful quarrel between young men.

At this moment, two assumptions were deleted from people’s minds.

That Cabelased was such a strong person that even most knights would fear him. That Cabelased was superior to Joshua in both height and build.

This was probably due to Cabelased’s fawn-like eyes, wounded and seeking help.

That moist gaze and the sight of him trying to hide his exposed, swollen chest from everyone’s view stimulated a protective instinct.

Naturally, the eyes of the nobles looking towards the terrace narrowed sharply.

What unfolded before their eyes now was nothing more or less than the obscene image of a person in power trying to forcibly undress and molest a handsome man using his authority.

“I never imagined I’d suddenly receive a love confession without any romance or anything.”

“…….”

Jieselgrante wanted to tightly shut Cabelased’s babbling mouth.

But she didn’t because he had been hurt while trying to help her, and was also about to become the center of social gossip for a while.

In her place.

Just before the nobles burst into the terrace, there had been a bit of a scuffle between Joshua and Cabelased.

It seemed that Cabelased’s neck area had been injured in the process of Joshua grabbing his collar.

Jieselgrante pressed a gauze soaked with disinfectant firmly against the wound on Cabelased’s neck.

Even though the raw wound must sting, Cabelased didn’t even blink and just stared at Jieselgrante’s lips.

Having no choice, she opened her mouth.

“Please keep pressing this until the bleeding stops.”

Then she immediately rummaged through the box.

Despite not having used the medicine box for quite a while, she found the ointment quite skillfully.

Jieselgrante scooped up a generous amount of ointment with her ring finger and carefully spread it over Cabelased’s scratched wound.

“My lady…….”

“Yes, what is it?”

“I was just checking. Fortunately, it seems your ears are perfectly capable of hearing my words.”

It was a jab at her for not answering his question earlier.

Having no choice, instead of continuing to avoid the topic, Jieselgrante said with a sigh-like tone.

“I never imagined you would be there.”

“If you had known I was there beforehand? Does that mean your confession would have been different?”

Jieselgrante swallowed the sigh that was about to burst out.

Before coming to this small supply room, which was Trinity’s secret place, Jieselgrante had been in a dangerous situation.

In a situation where there was no one suitable to ask for help, and even if there were people, no one would help her at the risk of going against the Crown Prince’s wishes, the method she chose was to jump off the terrace railing.

It was a precarious moment where she could have crushed her bones or even lost her life if things went wrong.

It was Cabelased who suddenly appeared before her at that time.

She was about to be raped by the Crown Prince, and Cabelased did not ignore this.

Moreover, the method of dealing with the Crown Prince was somewhat shocking, but in retrospect, it could be considered a rather wise choice.

If Cabelased, unable to tolerate injustice, had inflicted bodily harm on the Crown Prince, he could have been charged with the crime of harming a royal, or even treason.

The Empress would be angry at first that Joshua was seriously injured, but later she would realize it was actually a good thing.

After all, wasn’t it an opportunity to hold the high and mighty Duke Cardia in her hand and manipulate him at will?

No, it was certain that she would have done so.

Using flaws or mistakes as leverage to control and manipulate others was a common practice in the imperial palace.

And she knew for certain that the Cabelased she knew would not comply with this.

In the worst case, there could be a war between the imperial family and Duke Cardia, and in the second worst case, the imperial family could dismiss Cabelased from his position as duke.