The next morning, Blair came down to the dining hall and had a meal with Heradin as usual. Only the sound of the two utensils clinking could be heard in the restaurant.

Now, in the familiar silence, Blair recalled the conversation with Agnes a few days ago.

After the consultation, when Blair asked when hypnosis could be performed, Agnes responded with an awkward expression.

“That part requires your consent first. Your Highness had given such instructions when we started the consultation.”

Blair thought that Heradin was doing this to observe the process of hypnosis as before.

Anyway, since Agnes seemed unlikely to move without Heradin’s consent, Blair obediently stepped back.

But after meeting Katrina yesterday, her mind became restless. It wasn’t just because of the contract with Heradin.

She was curious. What was the truth that Katrina was so afraid of?

“Heradin.”

Instead of answering, Heradin raised his gaze to look at her.

Blair went straight to the point.

“To perform hypnosis, I need your consent. Can you agree to it?”

Heradin’s gaze, which had been quietly listening to her words, stopped.

Blair continued.

“Now that the condition has improved a lot during the consultations, maybe we can try hypnosis again—”

“No.”

Before Blair could finish her sentence, Heradin responded firmly and decisively.
Then Blair’s puzzled gaze fell on him—a silent question asking for the reason.

“I heard that you’re planning to host a banquet soon. It might be inconvenient if you fall ill again like last time.”

Blair, now distracted by yesterday’s meeting with Katrina, recalled the forgotten schedule for the banquet. It seemed Mason had reported to Heradin in the meantime.

“You don’t need to rush, considering other schedules may be disrupted.”

“Then, after the banquet, will you grant permission?”

“Well…”

Heradin casually replied, lifting a cup of water to his lips.

Blair’s delicate eyebrows subtly furrowed at his ambiguous response. At the same time, her small lips pressed together in apparent displeasure, an unconscious gesture.

As if unintentionally revealing her emotions.

Behind the glass, Heradin’s lips twitched slightly as he discreetly observed her, but they were hidden.

Putting down the cup a beat late, he added.

“We’ll see when the time comes.”

Though Blair sensed that his response wasn’t to her liking, she decided to abandon further attempts to persuade him and began to finish her meal.

As the meal concluded and they rose from their seats, Heradin spoke.

“Oh, today, Ruth will assist with the banquet preparations.”

Blair’s eyes widened at the unexpected news.

Ruth’s expression was dark as she headed towards the reception room where Blair was waiting. Her demeanor resembled that of a child reluctantly approaching a disliked homework assignment.

Ruth sighed deeply, recalling the conversation with Heradin a while ago.

“Mason fell ill. Now he doesn’t seem to be in the same condition as before.”

“Well, he’s getting older. Not feeling well, I assume?”

“He seems to be responding well to the medicine, so no need to worry about that side.”

“That’s a relief.”

“Mason is taken care of, so today, you’ll have to help Blair a bit.”

“Yes. …What?!”

“He said he’d start preparing for the banquet today.”

Ruth, who didn’t immediately grasp Heradin’s words, blinked her eyes and understood a beat late. She was taken aback.

He found Blair awkward.

In front of her, he put on a socially appropriate smile and maintained a level of courtesy that wasn’t impolite. But regardless, she was still someone to be treated accordingly as her superior.

Observing Blair from behind Heradin’s shoulder over the past few months, Ruth felt that Blair wasn’t quite like the other members of the royal family. Nevertheless, as a member of the royal family, she remained someone to be cautious of.

Ruth disliked this sense of alienation. The more she learned that Blair was different from the other members of the royal family, the less she wanted to get closer to her.

“Well, I don’t live in this mansion, you know?”

“For now, that’s true. But you’ve been here for a long time.”
Originally, it was Heradin’s mother, Eloise, who had taken a child living as a pickpocket in the back alleys and raised them as a duke’s daughter.

Ruth had lived under her grace ever since. Until Heradin returned from the war and became his aide, receiving a title before gaining independence.

Perhaps more than Heradin, and probably after Mason, Ruth was the person who knew the internal affairs of this mansion well.

“Well, that’s true, but…”

“Even so, it’s not like you’re going to follow and catch the monsters.”

Today, Heradin was planning to go out to the outskirts to subdue the monsters.

Spring was approaching, and with the thawing weather, reports came in that the monsters that had been dormant were waking up.

So, Heradin entrusted Ruth with the uncomfortable task and left.

“Sigh…”