“Thank you for your invitation today, Your Highness. Then, I will take my leave now.”

However, there was nothing to criticize in her greetings or manners, so for a brief moment, I thought I might have misunderstood.

A small smile appeared on her lips as she straightened her slightly bowed waist, making me think so even more.

Thinking I might have really been mistaken, I looked at Leoprick, but he wasn’t paying any attention to Adela and kept looking at me.

Seeing that, what Adela had said earlier came to mind.

That she wanted to be by Leoprick’s side, even if it was a step behind.

I wondered if that confession of hers, which was so indifferent that it made me doubt, was truly such a passionate emotion.

I didn’t know why, but that statement just came to mind at that moment.

Perhaps it was the only reason for her expression, which seemed angry, that I had just seen.

I gently pushed away Leoprick’s hand and smiled at Adela.

“Today was enjoyable. Please come by often from now on.”

“It’s an honor, Your Highness. I will visit whenever you allow me to.”

After politely bidding farewell, Adela left the reception room.

Before leaving, she seemed to try to say goodbye to Leoprick as well, but he only gave Adela a brief glance before looking at me again.

It was only natural that Adela left the room as it was, given his clear rejection.

A little while after she left, Betty, whom I had sent out to talk with Adela, came in.

“Greetings to the empire’s little sun.”

Betty, who entered after a small knock, hurriedly bowed her waist upon seeing Leoprick with me.

And Leoprick, unlike before, waved at Betty with a beaming smile.

“Ah, Betty. Could I trouble you for a cup of tea, the same as what Amelia drinks?”

“Please speak comfortably, Your Highness. I will bring it right away.”

Betty, who answered with a slightly flustered face, left the room again to get the tea.

Unable to shake off the feeling that he had deliberately sent everyone away, I narrowed my eyes slightly and looked at him.

“Your Highness. Why are you doing this?”

“What do you mean?”

“You said you wanted to meet Lady Gilroit together, but why did you treat her so indifferently? Didn’t you intentionally send Betty out just now?”

“I did?”

I asked as if I had no idea what he meant, but Leoprick acted nonchalantly as if nothing had happened.

Then, on top of that, he tapped the back of my hand with a beaming smile.

“I just wanted to spend time with you.”

“But, Your Highness. You clearly told me that you wanted to meet Lady Gilroit together…”

“I was worried that the young lady might harm you. It doesn’t seem like she did, but still.”

Saying that, he claimed the young lady seemed like she would do something to me.

I looked at him in disbelief.

“There’s no reason for Lady Gilroit to try to harm me, is there?”

“She’s someone whose inside doesn’t match her outside. You may not know it yet, but…”

“Even if that’s the case, Your Highness, she’s a guest I invited. I could have handled any necessary measures myself.”

Leoprick spoke as if he knew Adela well.

How did he know that her inside and outside were different to make such an excuse?

More than him being worried, I was bothered by the fact that he suddenly barged in and practically kicked out my guest.

Regardless of what kind of person Adela Gilroit was, this shouldn’t be done to my guest.

And those words seemed to imply that he thought I wouldn’t be able to handle it well.

Perhaps because of that, my words came out even colder unintentionally.

“Your Highness doesn’t seem to know what kind of person his wife is.”

Saying that, I pulled my hand out of his grasp, which had been held all this time.

Coldly, to the point of seeming heartless.

From the moment he arrived at the reception room, Leoprick knew why Amelia had called for Adela Gilroit.

No, it would be better to say he found out unavoidably.

Perhaps because the corridor had been deliberately emptied, there was no one in front of the reception room.

Furthermore, when he slightly opened the door, as if to show it was well-maintained, not a single sound came from it.

Wondering if it might be a situation he shouldn’t enter, it was fortunate that he quietly opened the door.

Leoprick, who arrived with Arnold and opened the door first, instantly stopped all movements upon hearing the voices from inside.

“I will follow any of Your Highness’s orders, but what you originally proposed to me was not the position of empress consort, was it?”

Empress consort, empress consort?

Wasn’t it a meeting to keep Adela Gilroit closer because he was interested in her?

Even before the regression, Adela’s name had been on the list of candidates recommended as Amelia’s lady-in-waiting, so he thought it was for the same reason this time.

The moment he heard that, Leoprick recalled what his father had said on the day he secretly visited him after returning from their honeymoon.

That Count Vermerian had suggested bringing in an empress consort, worried that his daughter might feel lonely in the vast and solitary imperial palace.

And he seemed to be trying to make that happen somehow.

Leoprick wasn’t the only one surprised by the mention of an empress consort.

Arnold, who was standing next to Leoprick to announce his arrival, also widened his eyes and looked at his master.

Then, narrowing his eyes as if asking if it wasn’t exactly as he had predicted, Leoprick raised an eyebrow at Arnold.

He only had thoughts of how to make Amelia the crown princess and empress.

An empress consort out of nowhere?

Shaking his head slightly, he listened to the voices coming from inside.

And through the conversation between the two, he learned something unexpected.

‘This is the first time I’ve heard a love confession delivered with such a lack of emotion.’

Adela Gilroit had feelings for him?

In the course of living two lives, this was the first time he had heard such nonsense.

Adela Gilroit was someone who only cared about her own well-being.

A selfish person filled with thoughts of how to take revenge on her father, who never let her take the heir’s position until the end.

As a reaction to that, there wouldn’t be even a speck of affection for him, the crown prince she had approached.

Leoprick could bet everything on that.

Inwardly not hiding his displeasure towards her, he listened to the two’s conversation to the end.

And finally, when he heard Adela’s ridiculous demand for a contract.

Leoprick gestured to Arnold to announce his visit.

A contract?

As Amelia said, he had no intention of taking a concubine, so why was she getting ahead of herself?

That thought was infuriating.And he felt hurt that Amelia was even meeting empress consort candidates without saying a word.

So, he completely ignored Adela and made things uncomfortable for Amelia.

He never expected her wanting to meet Adela once to be for this reason.

Even last night, he just thought Amelia was having a nonsensical misunderstanding…

Leoprick swallowed the sighs rising from deep within him countless times.

As a result, he ended up facing such cold eyes.

“Your Highness doesn’t seem to know what kind of person his wife is.”

No way.

He knew her so well that it was always awkward and difficult.

He thought that while looking at Amelia cruelly pulling her hand away.

It wasn’t unreasonable for her not to understand his feelings.

In his previous life, he had never properly expressed himself to her even once.

And even in this life, he had never told her how his feelings for her began.

So in his own way, he was trying his best to express his heart to her.

Seeing her act like this, as if she had no idea about anything, he couldn’t help but feel suddenly hurt.

“I know, Amelia. Even while working for the merchant group, you have admirably maintained your position as the flower of high society, and now you are someone who should be duly respected as the crown princess.”

Today, he was the first to lower his head again.

“So please remember. You alone are enough for me, and it’s even overwhelming.”

Saying that, he also offered a brief apology.

“I acted that way because I was worried. Please forgive me if your feelings were hurt.”

It couldn’t be helped.

As a man before being a crown prince of a nation, she was someone to whom he should bow his head and concede in all matters.

He couldn’t be a burden to her, who already had many things to worry about even without him.

He wanted to throw a tantrum like a child and tell her to only look at him, but…

“You are my everything, so I couldn’t let my guard down even for a moment.”

After all, it was the one who fell in love first who had to give more.

Unlike my expectation that he would tell me what I did wrong, he quickly apologized and left.

I thought he would smile playfully and apologize, pretending not to know anything and acting as if nothing had happened.

Leoprick instantly erased the playfulness from his face, apologized again with a serious expression, and left.

Not forgetting to thank Betty, who was bringing out the tea.

“Did something happen, Your Highness?”

Betty, who entered carrying a tray with teacups and a teapot, asked with a puzzled face.

It was an expression asking why he suddenly left when he seemed to have something to do here.

But it’s not like I had an answer either.

He just used the excuse that he was worried Adela Gilroit might harm me to justify his rudeness to my guest, and he even apologized for that excuse.

Saying to forgive him if my feelings were hurt.

And then he left the room like that.

“…Who knows. I wonder what happened.”

“Pardon? Did something serious happen?”

You seem quite confused.

Betty set the tray on the table with a worried look.

“Why? Does my expression look that bad?”

“No, you just have a somewhat complicated expression.”

Betty said while pouring tea into an empty cup.

A complicated expression.

I quietly looked into the teacup Betty poured for me and let out a small sigh.

It was indeed complicated, but it was also something that needed to be sorted out one by one.

I raised my head again and looked at Betty.

“Betty, could you contact my father?”

“The Count? What should I tell him?”

So for now, starting with what I could do first.

“Ask him if there’s anyone else. It seems Father was mistaken this time.”

Rather than trying to find the reason for the inexplicable emotion, I decided to trust my instincts as I always had.

The feeling I had when I told her I couldn’t readily promise her anything.