The atmosphere at the Hersher family’s dining table was subdued.

This was because Aria, their flower and hope, did not have a good expression.

The Duke and Duchess were very curious about what Aria had experienced outside.

Until she left to play with her friends, she was forcing a smile.

But now, her face was completely dark.

As the two quietly observed Aria’s mood, new news arrived.

“Your Grace, the Young Master has come to see the Young Lady.”

“What time is it now, to come without any notice?”

The new information irritated the Duke’s already poor mood even more.

The Hersher family was not a low-ranking family that one could visit without notice.

Rather, within the empire, they were among the top five.

The high-ranking are accustomed to respecting each other’s positions.

Unless it was to openly disrespect, like the Hersher family and the Odoi family with completely different political inclinations.

The Hersher family and the Percy family were on good terms.

They were somewhat close as they were both in the Emperor’s faction.

Nevertheless, Lloyd continued to act in ways that made them frown, far from observing proper etiquette and formalities.

Until now, there had been instances where the Duke and Duchess had apologized behind the scenes, but the Duke was dissatisfied that Lloyd showed no signs of remorse compared to his parents.

“Lloyd is here now?”

Aria also seemed flustered, as if it was something she hadn’t expected at all.

The Duke was pleased with Aria’s reaction.

Even among close relationships, there were lines that should be observed.

So he postponed responding to Lloyd for a moment and brought up what he wanted to say.

“Aria, His Highness the Crown Prince has granted an audience.”

When the topic of Admund came up, Aria’s gaze turned to the Duke.

She didn’t seem very pleased with the Duke’s words.

Surprised by this unexpected reaction, the Duke continued.

“Have a serious conversation with His Highness the Crown Prince that day.”

“Ah, Father.”

“So please grant my request as well.”

“What is it?”

Recently, rumors spreading throughout the capital were all about Admund.

They were about him walking down the street with another woman, or sharing skinship like kissing.

Even the Duke, who had been trying to observe quietly, now felt urgent.

After requesting an audience several times a day, he finally got this golden opportunity to meet, and the Duke asked Aria:

“Can you cut ties with Lloyd Percy?”

“With Lloyd?”

“Yes, as you know, that child has a fiancée.”

Hearing the Duke’s words, Aria almost furrowed her brow for a moment.

She remembered what Clea had told her during their academy days.

It was a question of why she was so close to him when he clearly had a fiancée.

At that time, Aria had answered that she was just meeting him happily as a friend without any special intention.

When her father, the Duke, brought up the same thing, Aria felt uncomfortable about opposing.

The Duchess, watching from the side, wanted to take Aria’s side, but she was also conscious of public opinion.

“People might spread false rumors about you and that child being so close.”

“But Father.”

“And I believe you know that child is not approaching you simply seeing you as a friend.”

A simple friend.

Aria wasn’t unaware.

She knew that the strange gaze he sent her was the same as the gazes of other men looking at her.

However, Aria herself did not have feelings beyond friendship for Lloyd.

It wasn’t just towards Lloyd.

Aria enjoyed gaining favor from those around her and subtly confirming those emotions.

She didn’t cross any lines, nor did she do it only with specific individuals.

So everyone thought it was just one-sided feelings of those clinging to Aria, not considering Aria to be involved in the rumors as well.

It was enjoyable to enjoy the affection directed at her from a safe position. Aria didn’t care if others got hurt reflexively because of it.

It was fun, and she thought this relationship would be helpful for Admund later on.

But after hearing the Duke’s words, her thoughts began to change.

“I’m saying this for your sake, Aria. Cut ties with Lloyd now. Otherwise, I’ll have nothing to say in front of the Crown Prince.”

“Yes, I will.”

“Really?”

It was a relationship that had continued for several years already.

Thinking she might not easily break off the friendship, he was considering how to persuade her, but Aria answered briefly and concisely.

That she would cut ties.

The most important thing to her was Admund, not Lloyd.

The situation had changed.

Seeing Admund’s unexpected actions, she felt a sense of urgency.

Now was the time to focus solely on Admund.

If it were her original personality, she wouldn’t have changed her mind, but as Clea took Admund, Aria was losing her composure.

She wanted to somehow claim the position of Crown Princess and be by his side.

In exchange for cutting ties with Lloyd, Aria made a firm request.

“But you must keep your word.”

“I’ll do my best.”

The Duke smiled at her words asking for help in connecting her and Admund.

As the troublesome young master was about to disappear from view, he felt like years of indigestion were being relieved.

Apart from the Duke and Duchess’s joy, Aria thought as she drank water.

‘Lloyd will definitely grant my request.’

Surely Lloyd would do anything for her.

Even if she asked to end their relationship.

Until now, he had never refused any of Aria’s requests.

But there was something Aria hadn’t considered.

It was that Lloyd’s feelings for Aria were much greater than she thought.

* * *

Lloyd was very flustered by Aria’s words.

“Let’s not meet anymore, what does that mean?”

He forcibly opened his mouth, which hadn’t fallen from shock, and asked.

Why she was suddenly saying such things.

Then Aria wiped the tears from her eyes and said nothing.

Feeling frustrated by Aria’s lack of response, Lloyd, as if his patience had reached its limit, spoke somewhat irritably.

“Tell me why you’re suddenly saying such things!”

Lloyd shouted, grabbing the iron-barred door.

At that sight, Aria looked at Lloyd with slightly surprised eyes.

Lloyd had always shown only a gentle smile in front of her.

It was quite different from her expectation that he would respond with a soft voice full of regret if she said this.

Aria looked at Lloyd, hesitating for a moment before finally speaking.

“You have a fiancée.”

“I no longer have a fiancée, Aria.”

“But you haven’t officially broken off the engagement yet.”

“Is it because of Clea? Is that woman the only reason you’re trying to distance yourself from me now?”

Aria doubted whether the person in front of her was someone else, so different from the Lloyd she had known.

However, the one before her eyes was indeed Lloyd, who had been her close friend.

Lloyd was angry as if something in him had broken.

“…Yes, you’re going to marry her soon.”

“What? Are you saying that seriously now?”

“Your fiancée has always been Clea Odoi.”

“I’ve never acknowledged such a woman as my fiancée.”

“Don’t take the engagement between families lightly.”

“Aria!”

Lloyd called her name in a booming voice. Aria frowned, her ears hurting.

Lloyd’s heart was being torn to pieces as he watched her reaction.

“Maintain your pride as a noble, Lloyd. Neither you nor I are naive children anymore.”

“Is that your wish?”

“Yes, Lloyd.”

At the words he finally heard, Lloyd was dumbfounded before laughing.

As Lloyd started laughing, Aria felt pity.

She honestly hadn’t thought he would show such a broken appearance because of her.

Seeing him falling apart, Aria thought to whisper to him out of sympathy.

That once she became the Crown Princess, and then the Empress, they could return to being friends like before.

But before that, she was interrupted by Lloyd’s words.

“You think I don’t know your intentions?”

“L-Lloyd?”

“I know everything. I’ve always known that from the beginning, you liked Admund, not me.”

Lloyd’s expression changed.

His eyes were filled with anger and hostility.

Perhaps because she had never seen Lloyd with such eyes before.

Even knowing that Lloyd couldn’t come through the iron-barred door, she took a step back for a moment.

Seeing Aria step back, Lloyd’s expression hardened even more.

“That’s not what I meant.”

“Did I look like such a fool that I wouldn’t even know that?”

“Lloyd!”

“Aria, Aria.”

Like a drunk person, Lloyd kept calling Aria’s name.

Aria felt chills and fear beyond bewilderment at his behavior.

But Lloyd didn’t think about Aria’s feelings.

“Your father, and you too. Have you forgotten that I’m a person of the Grand Ducal family?”

How could they not know that?

The Percy Grand Ducal family, second in authority only to the Imperial family in the empire.

It was because he was the heir to the Percy Grand Ducal family that Aria had approached him and tried to become his friend.

But now, Aria was somehow regretting that action.

“You and Admund will never be together.”

“Lloyd, don’t do this. It was all a joke, I tell you it was all a joke!”

Faced with Lloyd’s intensity, Aria tried to placate him.

She thought that persuading him somehow was the priority now.

However, Aria fell silent at Lloyd’s next words.

“I will never let you go. Never.”

With those final words, Lloyd boarded the carriage he had come in.

Even after he had left, Aria couldn’t move from her spot.