Soon, the prepared main coffee was brought out and placed in front of Casius.

Casius couldn’t take his eyes off the coffee cup in front of him.

“This is the first time I’ve seen this coffee.”

“It’s the most popular coffee in the Eastern countries these days.”

“The most popular?”

It was actually nonsense. But Casius would have no reason to look into the origins of this coffee.

I bet my small and precious mana that he’ll forget the name of this coffee as soon as he leaves here.

That’s to say, there’s no way Casius would be interested in what I say to that extent.

And that meant I could spout more nonsense.

“It’s called Cloud Coffee, and I personally instructed to prepare it because the sweet and bitter taste is nice.”

Speaking of this coffee, the rising foam gives the feeling of a couple meeting, hence the name Cloud Coffee.

Cloud Coffee is not a unique item of the Eastern countries, but it started to become popular as a couples’ item.

The more fundamental reason why this coffee became popular for couples was something else.

It was because of the superstition that if you drink this together, your love will come true.

Of course, it’s just a marketing tactic, but people believe such superstitions very well.

That’s how desperate their hearts are.

I, too, had this coffee made with that sentiment in mind.

Of course, it didn’t end there.

The [Secret to Romance] book described in detail how to utilize this coffee with illustrations.

And it was my turn to put that into action.

‘Watch closely, Casius.’

I took a sip of the coffee.

As the bitter taste of the coffee lingered on the tip of my tongue and faded away, the soft and sweet cloud foam rose to my lips.

My appearance was vividly reflected in the mirror placed behind Casius for today.

The lips with white foam were exactly the same as I had seen in the picture.

‘It’s like disguising as Santa Claus’ beard.’

If I just picked up a bag of presents here, I would be the spitting image of a reincarnated Santa Claus.

‘Men like this kind of thing.’

Their tastes were truly unpredictable.

Anyway, the author of that [Secret to Romance] book was quite renowned in this field.

Emotions, too, are ultimately a matter of statistics.

The tactics of the author who has experienced countless successes must be credible.

‘How much practice did I do for this process?’

It was a training process that felt as long as the days I used to train to slice the air with a sword.

At the end of it, now, I succeeded in allocating the cloud to the left and right of my lips in a 5:5 ratio.

Now it was Casius’ turn.

According to that secret book, he would approach me and steal a kiss.

Of course, I didn’t rashly expect it to go that far.

Because we’re not at that level of relationship yet.

What I’m hoping for is the second-closest stage behavior described in there.

Something like gently wiping it off with his hand.

Couldn’t he show such a light courtesy, at least out of manners?

Even if we’re not close, he’s the one who even offered to have lunch with me out of guilt.

I had every right to expect that much.

As I stared at him to the point of being sick of it, Casius slowly lifted his head and our eyes met.

Worried that it might not be visible properly, I stuck out my lips forward.

His gaze slowly shifted to my lips that were protruding out as if to greet him.

For a moment, his brows furrowed subtly. As if he was contemplating what to say.

After that, for quite a long time, his blue gaze lingered on my lips.

‘What are you thinking about? Just wipe it off.’

But.

He turned his head as if he hadn’t seen it.

His brows were slightly furrowed on his lowered face.

As if he had seen something dirty.

This reaction was completely unexpected.

My heart, stained with wounds, trembled.

In the meantime, he calmly gulped down the coffee.

As if wanting to leave this place, the hot coffee quickly flowed down his throat.

The sound of gulping echoed through the space.

‘That’s coffee, not alcohol! You’re not supposed to drink it so informally!’

What’s even more absurd is that while I’m in this state, his lips that took a shot were clean and smooth.

The cup that returned to the table was completely empty.

There was no trace of the foam piled up like a mountain.

‘I was going to try it myself if it failed…’

It was evident that if I made such a profane attempt on such clean lips, even this lunch would fall apart.

‘What should I do now?’

The dilemma branched out and only deepened.

What cut it off was Casius’ firm voice.

“I think we’ve seen everything the empress has prepared.”

“……”

“Let’s get up now.”

I felt like the only fool still smeared with cream.

Even in the midst of this, such thoughts came to my mind.

‘If I lick my lips with my tongue here, will it look like I planned it?’

I didn’t want to be seen as Rachel after cutting my hair to erase that image.

At the moment when I couldn’t do this or that, clenching my fists tightly. He approached me.

Unknowingly, I closed my eyes tightly. What was I expecting?

Of course, what I imagined didn’t happen.

The moment I slightly opened my eyes at the sound of footsteps stopping abruptly next to me, he threw a handkerchief down in front of me.

“Wipe your mouth.”

My heart pounded like a mortar at his rough but seemingly caring action for me.

That mortar shattered in just a brief moment.

“If someone else sees, it could hurt the empress’ dignity.”

So it wasn’t for me, but he was just thinking about the empress’ decorum.

After he left the room, the desserts boasted an awkward splendor in the empty space.

My appearance in the mirror placed at the end was as miserable as could be.

*

‘What was the empress thinking, bringing Cloud Coffee?’

Casius actually knew the superstition about Cloud Coffee well.

There was some nonsense about couples getting together if they drank it together.

Back when that superstition was in vogue, he had tried to bring Cloud Coffee to Rachel.

In the end, he couldn’t do it.

So when that coffee was brought to today’s lunch, he felt like his heart had stopped.

Remembering the promise he had made to Rachel a long time ago.

The desire to leave quickly became even more ardent.

That’s why he gulped it down in one go, with the intention of getting rid of the coffee completely.

There was bewilderment in the gaze watching him.

Well, it must have been absurd to take a shot of coffee, not alcohol.

But what was actually more ridiculous was on his side.

The empress’ appearance, blatantly revealing the bare face of the superstition in the coffee, was ridiculously absurd.

For a while, among the young ladies who had seen the popular play that swept the empire, such tactics were in vogue.

The act of seductively putting cream on the lips and blatantly inducing a kiss.

That behavior gradually became prevalent, and everyone started doing it, eventually ending up as an outdated trend of a season.

Because if you’re blatant, it’s not a subtle seduction, but a shameful struggle.

He didn’t even remember how many years ago that tactic was.

Who would try to seduce their partner with this kind of thing these days…

‘Could it be that she even prepared for this?’

Casius laughed hollowly and emptied the coffee cup.

The tingling heat in his mouth was only felt after leaving the Empress Palace.

On the way to the Emperor’s Palace, feeling the cool breeze, a purple flower came into view in the distance.

The woman planting flowers over there flutters.

So what.

Casius muttered in a low voice.

‘Crazy bastard.’

Even after returning to the Emperor’s Palace like that, Casius stared blankly into the void for quite a while.

The moment when the setting sun on the spire of the Empress Palace caught the end of his sight.

Only then did he realize that he had been thinking about the empress for quite a long time.

‘Was there something mixed in those desserts?’

Casius, who was berating himself that he couldn’t be like that unless that was the case, ended up getting a full-body examination.

Tikan, who had become serious along with his lord’s serious expression, was relieved to see the results.

“They say you’re clean.”

Even though he heard a fact that should have been reassuring, Casius’ face didn’t relax, but rather crumpled.

The results were terribly crumpled in his hand.

‘Damn it.’

*

After that, the luncheons continued at the scheduled times.

Each time, the empress did extraordinary things.

One time, when he refused to drink alcohol, she drank alone and passed out, and another time, she kept fanning herself saying it was hot, so when he left, a bewildered gaze followed him.

And another time…

Numerous scenes that were tiring to even talk about flashed through his mind.

At the end of it, today, he entered the Empress Palace, thinking about what extraordinary thing might happen again.

Vivian, who looked more normal than expected, didn’t do anything unusual today, pretending to be a sane person.

Her stiffened lips, which looked a bit serious unlike usual, captured his gaze.

Eventually, Casius became uncomfortable with this seat again today.

With the sole intention of finishing his business quickly and leaving the Empress Palace, he hurriedly moved the knife.

For a while, the cutlery clattered noisily against the plate. The empress’ voice flowed through the gloomy air.

“Now that monsters have appeared in Snowfell and Winterdell, the two places will be excluded from the tourist sites.”

“……”

“How are you going to prove that there are no monsters in Rosemary?”