After finally escaping from the crowd of adults, Prince Alfonso gestured towards the back garden to Ariadne. Ariadne gladly followed Alfonso out.

“You had a hard time getting out.”

Ariadne offered words of consolation to the prince who had made his way through the crowd.

“No, not at all!”

Despite having pushed his way through the throng of noble men, the prince strongly denied it and smiled brightly.

“I didn’t know you were coming here today. How did you end up coming? Did you come with… your mother?”

Ariadne shook her head.

“Mrs. Romani, my governess, temporarily served as my chaperone so I could come. She’s a relative of Viscountess Chivo.”

“Well, I’m glad you’re here. How have you been? Do you like your dress today?”

Reminded of the incident on the elm tree last time, Ariadne blushed.

“I think it’s better than last time.”

“What about the hairpin I gave you?”

Ariadne blushed again. This time it was out of embarrassment.

Ariadne had refined and elegant features, or some might say slightly sharp. The adorable bright pink flower-shaped jeweled hairpin didn’t suit her at all.

But she felt too apologetic to say such a thing to the person who had given her the gift.

“It was pretty… but it doesn’t go well with today’s dress. I’ll make sure to wear it next time.”

The two continued to make idle small talk as they made a round of the Chivo viscounty’s back garden.

It was mostly casual conversation about how they had been doing, and strictly speaking, there was some important information mixed in, such as Ariadne’s reputation among the court nobles. But in the end, if one were to summarize their conversation in a single sentence, it could only be described as “trivial chatter.”

That was because in fact, the words, the sentences they formed, and the content conveyed by those sentences were not at all important between the two of them at the moment.

In Alfonso’s eyes, all he could see were things like Ariadne’s smooth skin, jet-black hair, deep green eyes, and crescent-shaped eyes when she laughed. Even when he tried not to look, his gaze was drawn there.

When Ariadne laughed in disbelief, her white front teeth and plump upper lip overlapped, making her look a bit like a rabbit. The thought of pressing his lips there sent a shiver down his spine.

But he couldn’t go any further than that. He was a prince and the future monarch.

The country would become his, but in return, he had to dedicate himself to the nation. That was how it was for a ruler he considered proper. His marriage would be decided by his father and mother.

It was highly likely that the woman he would meet in the future would be the daughter of some monarch from across the sea.

He did not know if she would be beautiful, kind, or a good person, but she would come to marry him, bringing with her gold, jewels, and the security of the nation, either by ship or packed in carriages and horses.

In return for his acquiescence to that marriage—attaching himself to an unknown woman, building a family with her, and having children—his nation and his people would become safer and more prosperous.

“Alfonso, isn’t that pretty?”

Prince Alfonso was suddenly pulled from his thoughts. Ariadne was pointing at the hydrangeas in full bloom in the Chivo viscounty’s back garden, turning to look at Alfonso with an innocent expression.

There was a narrow passage where hydrangeas filled both sides of a small path.

“Let’s go there!”

Following the girl’s lead, thinking it would be all right since he wasn’t the one initiating it, the hydrangea path they stepped into was spectacular.

The seemingly endlessly tall, all-white hydrangea bushes blocked the view of anyone who entered, and after taking a single step into the passage, all that could be seen were the white hydrangea flowers, the deep green leaves visible at both ends of the passage, and a piece of the blue sky if one raised their head.

It was just the two of them.

Amidst the waves of white hydrangeas, a single purple hydrangea stood out. It was the only one that had changed color so intensely while the color of the hydrangeas subtly shifted.

He thought he shouldn’t.

His reason dictated that if he didn’t touch it now, didn’t get close, didn’t pluck it, and kept a good relationship from a distance, putting off the moment of decision as long as possible, he could keep smiling at her. In other words, maintain a safe distance. But his mouth moved of its own accord.

“Do you want that one?”

“Can we just pluck flowers from the Chivo viscounty’s garden as we please?”

“Let’s pick it secretly.”

Ariadne let out a refreshing laugh.

“How do you expect me to hide a picked flower and take it inside? Pick it and throw it away right after? What a waste.”

“Hide it in your skirt and bring it in.”

Ariadne burst into a polite laugh and smacked Alfonso’s shoulder. The touch of the girl’s hand on his shoulder made the fuse in Alfonso’s head go out.

Previously, when he had met Ariadne at the abandoned fountain in the queen’s palace, he had helped her climb the tree without much thought.

He could pride himself on having grasped her arm and held her in his arms with no ulterior motives. But since then, the image of that black-haired girl in a white dress from that time would suddenly appear just before he fell asleep.

The sensation of holding her arm then, the breath that came from her mouth, the scent of her soft skin and hair would overwhelm him as he lay in bed.

Once recognized, it was uncontrollable. Today, the touch of Ariadne’s hand might objectively be nothing, but subjectively, it was special. Alfonso couldn’t stop himself from calling out to Ariadne in a low voice.

“Come here.”

“Huh? What?”

Alfonso grasped Ariadne’s waist and lifted her up. Now, he couldn’t even make the excuse that he wasn’t the one who reached out first.

At first, Ariadne seemed startled, but once Alfonso lifted her up, she used her newly gained height to pluck the purple hydrangea blooming at the top of the hydrangea bush with her own hand.

Ariadne held the picked hydrangea in her hand like a bouquet.

“How is it? Pretty?”

“Really pretty.”

Their conversation seemed to flow smoothly on the surface, but in fact, the object they were referring to was different. The girl’s question was about whether the bouquet was pretty, but the boy’s answer was that the girl was pretty.

Other invited guests who had come out for a walk could occasionally be seen nearby.

In their eyes, everyone except the two of them seemed like inanimate objects, wall clocks, or furniture. But if one were to point out a commonality between wall clocks and other guests, it would be that they informed them of the time.

A man and a woman could naturally take a walk around the back garden or building, but if they lingered too long in the middle or holed up somewhere and didn’t come out, they would immediately become the subject of gossip.

A “natural round” meant that the other guests who were seen around them when they set out should still be visible nearby for them to be considered within a stable range.

Ariadne and Alfonso now realized that familiar faces were becoming few and far between, or almost nonexistent, around them.

“We should head back in soon.”

Alfonso reluctantly agreed with Ariadne, who was hurrying. The sensation of Ariadne’s waist, which had fit snugly in his hands earlier, lingered in his mind.

The yellow satin dress she was wearing had briefly been in his hands before slipping away, and it felt like the loss of sunlight that had momentarily entered through a window before being abruptly cut off.

“I would like to express my gratitude to Viscount and Viscountess Chivo for hosting this wonderful event today, to His Royal Highness Prince Alfonso de Carlo for gracing this occasion, and to all the gentlemen and ladies present.”

The art auction was finally starting. The merchant who had brought in the auction items was a middle-aged man in his fifties with a somewhat fierce appearance, a pointed beard, and an overly stylish demeanor.

“I am Vincencio from the Republic of Porto. I am honored to be the second son of the younger brother of Lord Benacio, who serves as the Minister of Finance in the Republic of Porto. Thanks to that connection, I have the privilege of presenting these fantastic artworks here today! You all know what will be showcased, don’t you?”

Although he emphasized his ties to a powerful family in the Republic of Porto, the man somehow gave off the impression of a street peddler.

However, the rumors about were indeed extraordinary, and the invited guests who had gathered and taken their seats in the hall buzzed with excitement, stoking each other’s anticipation.

“We will start with small and pretty items first. These are paintings by a new artist from Urbino. Even if they don’t catch your eye, please view them generously with the feeling that you are supporting a promising young artist. This is the .”

Ariadne chuckled. Bernardo of Urbino, who painted this picture, would receive critical acclaim for the portrait of the Duke of Urbino he would unveil next year, leading him to be scouted by the Imperial Court.

He would continue his career in the Imperial Court and, a few years later, be put in charge of the expansion, renovation, and murals of the Trebero Grand Cathedral, causing his value to skyrocket.

Bernardo of Urbino had a stable and solid composition and brushwork from his early style, to the point where it was embarrassing to call him an emerging artist.

Right now was the time when his youth pierced the sky and his works were even bold.

If an art enthusiast found this lacking, they were either someone who had no eye for art at all, or conversely, someone whose standards were so high that they had no choice but to pick up a brush and oil paints and start painting themselves.

“We’ll start at 5 ducats! Anyone?”

However, the merchant from the Republic of Porto had now opened with an excessively low-balled comment, calling only 5 ducats for a work whose value would multiply several times over in just a year and become unaffordable for any ordinary nobleman five years later. Yet no one raised a bid.

Ariadne didn’t want to draw attention, so she waited for one more timing before calling out a bid.

“5 ducats!”

“Oh, who is it? Ah, the second daughter of the De Mare family. The Cardinal’s second daughter has called 5 ducats! Anyone else?”

Perhaps because he was a foreigner, the way he addressed her lacked refinement. But that much could be laughed off.

“If there’s no one else, I’ll start the count. 5!”

“4!”

“3!”

“8 ducats.”

The person who made the second bid was the one who had just taken the seat right next to Ariadne.

He was a latecomer who had entered the hall with a rustle during the count, and while the seats were quite full, there were still some empty ones. Yet he had deliberately sought out the seat right next to Ariadne, which had been slightly irksome.

It was impolite for a lady to stare at the person next to her, and because they were in the midst of calling out bids, Ariadne did not look to see who the person next to her was.

Instead of Ariadne, the merchant from Porto posed a question to the person beside her.

“Who is the gentleman who made the second bid…?”

After a brief murmur, the merchant from Porto made an announcement after receiving confirmation from the hosts.

“Ah! It’s Count Cesare de Como!”

Ariadne was startled as if she had been burned and quickly turned to look at the person beside her.

Count Cesare de Como had just taken his seat and was taking off his hat and adjusting his attire.

His high nose bridge and delicate jawline peeked out from beneath his reddish-brown hair. He soon brushed back that reddish-brown hair and turned to look beside him, making eye contact with Ariadne, who was staring at him in shock.

He raised his left eyebrow and the corner of his left mouth slightly, making an ambiguous expression that was neither a smile nor a smirk, and nodded to greet Ariadne.

That expression was one Ariadne knew all too well.

Just then, the merchant from Porto found the next person to call a bid.

“Count de Como has called 8 ducats, 8 ducats have come out! The next gentleman or lady to bid…!”

Before the merchant from Porto could even finish his sentence, Ariadne shouted with determination.

“10 ducats!”