“How could you do this?”

Clea smiled.

The purest smile she had ever shown Lloyd.

Lloyd still had a disbelieving expression while looking at that smile.

Clea asked as if reminding him of the truth.

“I suppose you don’t remember going out with other women while abandoning your fiancée?”

How could he be so brazen?

Hearing those words, Lloyd stood up and glared at Clea.

She scoffed at his gaze, tainted with betrayal.

Clea was dumbfounded.

The one who betrayed first was the other party.

Was her actions all just romance found in novels?

She thought she shouldn’t have pushed him down. She should have slapped him instead and told him to come to his senses.

“Then is that rumor true as well?”

Clea paid attention to the words that came out of Lloyd’s mouth.

She remembered him coming to her not long ago and asking if the rumor was true.

She hadn’t forgotten the content of the rumor he had asked about then.

“That you enjoyed secret meetings with Admund separately.”

Anyone else might have felt ashamed, but not Clea.

Rather, she raised her head with an even more dignified attitude.

Because she no longer had any pride as a noble, nor any beliefs to keep with him.

Seeing her attitude, Lloyd bit his lip.

“You were a filthy woman who can’t control herself around men, it seems.”

“That doesn’t seem like something you should say, Lloyd.”

Admund, who had been watching Lloyd’s attitude, was starting to get annoyed.

It was clear that there was a line to be drawn even between close friends.

He could overlook Lloyd visiting his office uninvited early in the morning.

But Admund didn’t consider him close enough to overlook the continued rudeness.

Of course, he could have endured if he wanted to. Like he had been enduring all this time because of the Percy Grand Duchy.

But.

“Admund!”

“You’re the one who played around with this woman and that woman while having a fiancée.”

Admund was angry now.

Anyone could see this was something Lloyd brought upon himself.

Does he really have the right to insult Clea here? Admund shook his head.

Lloyd had nothing to say either.

Would anyone who witnessed his attitude towards Clea think they were engaged?

The relationship between the two was already completely cracked.

And the one who held the biggest share in making it so was Lloyd.

He would approach Aria at the slightest chance while having a fiancée.

He even openly displayed insulting remarks towards her in public places.

Saying things like Clea lacked charm, or that she was very unattractive as a fiancée.

Clea silently watched Admund like that.

“Rather, I want to ask you. Clea was engaged. You knew that. So why!”

From others’ perspective, Admund didn’t have any affection for Clea usually.

Objectively speaking, it would be correct to say he had no interest at all.

That’s why Lloyd couldn’t believe it when he saw the two of them together here.

Admund didn’t explain at length.

“I came to like her.”

Hearing Admund’s answer, Clea looked at him with wide eyes for a moment.

He was still looking at Lloyd.

Lloyd seemed even more indignant after hearing Admund’s answer and glared at the two as if he would kill them, but soon turned his back and disappeared, roughly opening the door.

When Lloyd disappeared and she was left alone with Admund, Clea let out a sigh of relief.

She put her hand on Admund’s shoulder beside her and whispered quietly.

“Thank you for saying that for me.”

To provoke Lloyd.

It didn’t matter to Clea, who no longer needed to consider her relationship with the Grand Duchy, but Admund’s situation was different.

He was a man who would have to be mindful of many things if he ascended to the throne and became emperor.

Especially knowing the scene in the original where Admund agonized deeply between Aria and the Percy Grand Duchy because of love, Clea was grateful to Admund.

However, she thought his reason for doing this was simply goodwill.

Goodwill shown first out of sympathy for someone driven to the edge of a cliff.

The same scene kept appearing in her mind.

The man before her falling in love and spending happy days with Aria Hersher.

Such scenes came to mind very specifically. There was the original content, but she had also directly seen the three of them, including Lloyd, hanging out together at the academy.

From Clea’s perspective, Admund was someone who could leave at any time, and a man she could let go of at any time.

‘Even if I try to hold on, he won’t be caught at all anyway.’

She thought it would be better not to have feelings from the start if she was going to get hurt anyway.

Thinking that, Clea tilted her head down, and Admund frowned as if he didn’t like it.

He brushed her hair back to examine her expression and said.

“I just spoke my heart.”

His touch was so gentle that Clea lifted her head.

Meeting his gaze, she smiled.

“I didn’t know you could say such embarrassing things.”

“A smile suits you well.”

Hearing Admund’s words, Clea felt good.

The pain in her chest had lessened a bit, but she felt purely good.

Clea laughed at the sight of Admund turning his head.

The redness of his ears was very cute.

She wanted to tease him more somehow, but she decided to let it go because she was so grateful to Admund for defending her in front of Lloyd.

Admund’s hands were fidgeting. Seeing that, she held his hand tightly.

Admund was startled by the sudden feeling in his hand and looked at her, but Clea closed her eyes and leaned into his arms.

“Thank you so much. Thanks to Your Highness, I didn’t have to hear unpleasant words.”

A filthy woman who can’t control herself around men.

Clea thought she wanted to return those words inwardly earlier.

Who’s the one who can’t control themselves around women?

However, the more she did so, the bigger the argument would become.

She felt annoyed. She didn’t want to waste her emotions confronting Lloyd.

It was troublesome, and she didn’t feel it was worth it.

So, just as she was wondering when he would disappear, Admund intervened. Thanks to him, she was able to escape from dealing with Lloyd.

“You called me Admund earlier, but now it’s ‘Your Highness’ again.”

“I can’t call Your Highness by name, can I?”

“Admund.”

Clea, to whom this scene was not unfamiliar, smiled and asked.

“Before answering Your Highness’s words, may I ask what our relationship will be like from now on?”

She was curious.

What would become of her relationship with him in the future?

To be honest, she really liked the man called Admund.

He was splendid and handsome, but unlike Lloyd who was called a bad man, she really liked that he only looked at one person.

But inwardly, she had other thoughts.

‘If he’s someone who will leave someday, it might be better to have a relationship that’s not troublesome.’

She thought of Aria Hersher.

Soft, fluffy pink hair and a cute face that anyone would like.

The green eyes within seemed full of innocence.

That innocence, rarely seen in noble society, must be why Lloyd and everyone else liked her.

Clea felt regretful thinking about his future heading towards her as well.

How nice it would be if at least this man before her could be wholly hers.

Meanwhile, Admund spoke.

“Did you really abandon the name Odoi?”

“Yes, I abandoned it. Completely from my life.”

“Then what problem could there be in keeping you by my side?”

Even though they were already close, Admund narrowed the distance with Clea.

Thanks to that, they became close enough for their lips to touch like before, but neither showed it.

“Will you keep me by your side?”

“Yes.”

“Until when?”

At the question of until when, Admund hardened his expression and said.

“I have absolutely no intention of letting you go.”

Although she was worried about what would happen in the future, Clea liked it.

As Admund tilted his head, their lips met.

In that brief but intense moment, she felt satisfaction.

* * *

Lloyd walked out, breathing heavily.

‘No way! This can’t be happening!’

His footsteps were so rough that they startled those passing by.

However, Lloyd didn’t care at all.

Right now, his eyes couldn’t see anything but Clea and Admund’s matter.

‘She said she loved me, how could she do this!’

Lloyd was furious at Clea.

The woman who desperately cried out that she loved him was now in another man’s arms, showing a radiant smile she had never shown before.

Lloyd felt sick to his stomach seeing them even kissing openly.

Although he knew he was the one who had neglected her until now, he was burning with anger rather than reflecting.

‘I even knelt down!’

What made him even more miserable was that she didn’t return even though he had knelt down.

He had no doubt that if he apologized for his wrongdoings and knelt down, she would return to his side.

He had thought that what she had been wanting all along was his attention, and that she was rebelling because she wasn’t receiving his affection.

But instead, she turned to Admund, seemingly to show him.

“Aria.”

In the midst of this, Lloyd uttered Aria’s name.

Having Aria by his side made him feel at ease.

He thought about how it would be if Aria were by his side right now.

At the same time, he considered that perhaps the current situation was for the best.

“Yes, think of it as the nuisance disappearing.”

That he never had any feelings of liking Clea to begin with.

Rather, that she was an existence hindering him and Aria from getting closer.

Now that Clea’s existence had disappeared, he smiled thinking there was no one to block his relationship with her.

Although he was at a loss for how to explain today’s events to his parents and others, he put it all aside for now and told the coachman.

To head to where Aria might be.