“Valter? I heard you’ve been quite busy recently… Why is that?”

“I have something to ask you. Can I call you for a moment?”

Sione hesitated briefly before nodding.

“Although the Rose Palace is under lockdown, Valter is an exception. The Captain of the Knights can enter and exit freely.”

“Great!”

I clapped my hands and asked her to call Valter as soon as possible.

Of course, I didn’t clarify the reason.

If I revealed my intentions too early and Sione opposed, it would likely ruin things.

‘Valter would be suitable as Raven’s swordsmanship instructor.’

In fact, when it came to swordsmanship alone, Valter was among the best in the kingdom.

He was the only person who could cross swords with my father, the strongest in the kingdom, for over 10 minutes, making him more than qualified to be Raven’s instructor.

‘Furthermore, if it’s Valter, the likelihood of my father interfering is reduced.’

Inviting an outsider to the Rose Palace was a very delicate matter at the moment.

Even I, the princess, was only taught by my nanny Sione, because my father had strictly limited outsider access.

If it was known that I had invited a swordsmanship instructor for Raven, it could irk my father.

However, if that person were Valter, things would be much different.

He held a special position as the closest confidant and only vassal to my father, making him the most suitable person to persuade my father in place of me and Sione.

And a few days later, Valter arrived at the Rose Palace.

He had brought with him an enormous bouquet of flowers.

“Wow, you’ve really grown! Congratulations, Your Highness.”

With a somewhat exaggerated bow, Valter handed me a bouquet of flowers.

However, behind him was another bouquet.

A bigger and more lavish bouquet of purple flowers.

“This one’s for you, Sione. You used to like these flowers, right?”

As Valter suddenly handed her the bouquet, Sione seemed at a loss.

Understandably so, as hers was much bigger than the princess’s bouquet.

‘I suspected as much, but he really is serious about Sione.’

The flower he gifted Sione was of the same type I had once given her for her birthday.

Considering how hard it is to buy, he must have harvested them himself near the main palace by the lakeside.

The fact that he remembered and made such an effort made me secretly happy.

“But why have you come to see me? I heard you had something to ask.”

“Wouldn’t it be better to have this discussion over tea in the garden?”

At the suggestion for tea time, Valter simply nodded.

Throughout our walk to the garden, a smile never left his lips.

Not even appearing interested in my request, he simply seemed happy to be by Sione’s side.

Whether it was asking her to dance at the previous ball or now, Valter never hid his feelings.

It seemed that Sione was the only one unaware of Valter’s burning affection, while even the maids and passing soldiers grinned at the sight.

‘How could Sione not notice when he’s so openly affectionate?’

So, today I intended to play Cupid for him.

When we reached a secluded rest area in the garden, I turned to Rosa behind me and said,

“It’s really hot today. How about some refreshing fruit tea?”

“That’s a good idea. I’ll tell the kitchen to prepare some ice. It’ll be even better if it’s cold.”

“Ice? That’s easy.”

Snap.

With a flick of my finger, a large chunk of ice appeared in the air.

With another flick, the ice shattered into perfect drinkable sizes.

As I swirled my hand to guide the ice into our cups, Valter let out a quiet exclamation.
“I’ve heard from Sione, but you really are quite adept at magic. You’ve been awake from the sleep spell for just over a year. That’s impressive.”

“No big deal. It’s just ice.”

“That’s not true. Most vampires take over 20 years to master their first spell. Especially ice magic, which is hard to control. Shattering it instantly is not easy.”

Sione nodded as if agreeing with him.

I had naturally learned magic from the moment I was able to use it, but it seemed more difficult than I had thought.

Before getting down to real business, we enjoyed some drinks and refreshments prepared by the maids and made small talk.

Naturally, the first topic was about the recent assassin.

“Walter, how’s the investigation on the assassin’s backers going? Any progress?”

“I’m focusing on influential noble families. I’m trying to crack the dark web for information, but it’s not easy. It’s going to take some time.”

“Lord must know about what you’re doing, right?”

“I’ve been reporting regularly, but he seems to know even without me saying.”

Maybe it’s because we were talking about my father.

Walter averted his eyes from Sione and stared at me intently.

It looked like he had something to say, but he swallowed a sip of his drink and changed the subject.

“But how is that Venian kid doing these days? I heard he was the real target of this assassin.”

“Yeah, he got hurt a little, but he healed quickly. Seems like he has better healing abilities than normal demons.”