Ariadne couldn’t help but retort out of concern for Alfonso. She hated the idea of Alfonso being in danger more than death itself.

Alfonso soothingly consoled Ariadne.

“I spoke well. I had to dance one more song because I spoke so well.”

Alfonso kissed Ariadne’s cheek with his own. Ariadne pushed him away with a fake sullen glance, but she couldn’t hide the crescent smile forming at the corners of her eyes.

“You’ll smudge my makeup.”

“So, forgive me.”

He clung to her like a spoiled child.

“I had a hard time speaking well so you wouldn’t scream or cause a fuss.”

Ariadne couldn’t hold back a small giggle and stroked Alfonso’s hair.

“You did well, our puppy. You worked hard.”

A big smile spread across Alfonso’s face. He confirmed that she was no longer angry.

“But our kitty, while her owner was away, snuck out and danced with a strange man.”

Now that she has cooled down, it’s time to scold the cat who misbehaved. Alfonso teased Ariadne by messing up her hair.

“Why on earth did you dance with Count Cesare? Where was that rascal Rafael when he left you alone with him?”

“Ouch, ouch.”

Ariadne exaggeratedly complained about her hair being messed up. Alfonso stopped tormenting her and Ariadne pouted her lips and replied.

“If the prince is dancing with his fiancé, can’t I dance a waltz with a strange man?”

Alfonso, at a loss for words, protested in silence while caressing Ariadne’s neck. Blaming the innocent was a bonus.

“Rafael did wrong.”

“He went to dance the second waltz with Julia.”

“Whether it’s his sister or not, he should have protected you!”

Even though he had only asked Rafael to escort her and never asked him to ‘keep the riffraff away from my girl’, Alfonso was angry anyway.

The fact that his Ariadne danced with Cesare… Alfonso, who couldn’t be angry at Ariadne, only had the choice to vent his redirected anger on the unfortunate Rafael.

Whether Ariadne had read Alfonso’s mood or just wanted to tease him more, she continued the conversation.

“But it seems the Marquis Baldesar is very weak. He’s been sickly since he was young.”

“What? Him? Didn’t he say he prepared to be a knight?”

“He said he had to quit because his body was weak.”

Alfonso, baffled by his friend’s pretense of being weak, clicked his tongue.

“Raphael is the finest swordsman in the kingdom. No one can match his swordsmanship. He had to stop because the sunlight hurt his eyes and he couldn’t train outdoors. Where is he weak?”

“Poor thing……”

Ariadne was sympathetic to Raphael, but it was not because he was weak.

“He has talent and will, but he has to change his path because of objective limitations……”

And Alfonso didn’t stand idly by as his woman wasted sympathy on strange places.

“Do you want to keep talking about other men in front of me?”

“Alfonso, when you become king, you have to create a world where everyone can bloom their talents.”

Ariadne looked at Alfonso seriously.

“Whether it’s a commoner, a bastard, or a woman, a society where anyone with ability can enter the Curia Regis and anyone with talent can succeed their family.”

She was talking about the future, but she was almost clinging to the prince standing under the arch in the middle of the garden full of the scent of flowers.

Above the deep neckline of her deep blue dress, Ariadne’s white neck, collarbone, and chest lines fluctuated with her breath in front of Alfonso, irresistibly tempting.

“This isn’t just good for the marginalized. It’s also bad for the parties whose paths are determined to be high nobles. Raphael actually wants to become a theologian, but he has to inherit the family…”

Alfonso pulled Ariadne closer and held her.

“……Ugh!”

He didn’t want to hear any more men’s names from Ariadne’s pretty rabbit lips. Without a word, he covered her lips to stop her from speaking.

Ariadne hit Alfonso’s chest a couple of times with her hand, but soon she succumbed to the invading affection and indulged in a sweet kiss.

The young couple shared a passionate kiss under the pale shattering moonlight. His golden hair reflected and shone in the white moonlight, and her jetblack hair and white skin glowed eerily as they welcomed the moonlight.

Alfonso in light blue formal wear and Ariadne in a deep blue dress were a matchless pair of handsome man and beautiful woman.

“……!”

In the small garden filled with the scent of flowers, a figure saw the passionate kiss of the young couple.

She had a plain midtone brown hair and chalky skin. The dress she wore was a very bright dress mixed with bright pink and light yellow, but it didn’t suit her dull appearance at all.

The woman in the bright red dress standing tall at the entrance of the flower garden thought she was a foreigner who didn’t belong here.

‘Prince Alfonso…! And that woman is…!’

The woman in the flower garden, Princess Lariesa, stared at the couple kissing without thinking to identify the other woman. The black hair and blue dress shone in the dark, and after waiting for a while, the woman’s side was faintly reflected in the moonlight.

‘The second daughter of Cardinal de Mare…! It was her…!’

The first emotion she felt after witnessing the kiss of Prince Alfonso and the second daughter of Cardinal de Mare in the flower garden was intense shame.

‘I’m ugly and ordinary, so the prince chose her over me.’

Whether it was true or not didn’t matter. Lariesa truly believed so.

The second emotion she felt was burning jealousy.

‘But what’s better about her than me? Is she a unique beauty? Does she have a high social status? Why does she take my fiance?’

This quickly turned into anger.

‘She must have done something dirty! That woman seduced my man!’

Her resentment against Prince Alfonso was unconsciously folded up neatly. No, it was her fault. If it weren’t for her, the story would have been, ‘The prince and the princess lived happily ever after.’ That woman ruined everything.

Lariesa had both rising anger and selfrighteousness. But she couldn’t dare to rush into this scene screaming.

She knew, albeit faintly. Today she heard a firm breakup declaration from Prince Alfonso.

Charging in now only makes her a madwoman throwing a fit at a perfectly healthy couple. The justification she had, the accusation that Prince Alfonso had ruined the negotiations between countries, those things only worked when other people were around.

Even Princess Ariadne, who didn’t use her head well, could see what the outcome would be if she charged in in a situation where only the three of them were present. Alfonso would treat Ariadne as a crazy person, and he would carefully protect his vixen.

Imagining that, a flame of anger surged up from Ariadne’s chest.

She turned her body in the daffodil garden and headed towards the palace with rough footsteps, thumping away.