As the Duke approached, those standing beside him naturally cleared a path. At the end of the vividly parted way stood Idel.

With another man, not himself.

Caeron clenched his fist. Though the Duke’s face maintained its usual icy composure, the sinews beneath his neck subtly bulged.

The first to notice the Duke’s presence was Reynion. Meeting Caeron’s dark, settled eyes, a blue fury flickered. His lips, tightly sealed, slowly parted.

“……Idel.”

“Your Highness……?”

Hearing her name called in a low voice, Idel turned her head. Her eyes widened upon finding Caeron.

“What are you doing here?”

“I was conversing with Lord Reynion.”

Idel looked toward Reynion beside her as she spoke. Reynion returned her gaze with a faint smile.

“We’re in the same Department of Public Administration. He’s highly knowledgeable and of good character. There’s much I can learn from him.”

Introducing her new friend Reynion to Caeron, Idel’s words were filled with innocent goodwill. But as she heaped praise on Reynion, Caeron’s mood darkened.

At the same time, a prior conversation with Reynion flashed in his mind.

[Dash] I’ve suddenly become curious……

[Dash] Speak.

[Dash] Did you meet the person you wanted to see at the entrance ceremony?

It was an instinctive question, inspired by seeing the prince unable to look away from the duchess. The prince’s eyes wavered upon hearing the question, but Reynion soon looked back at Caeron with a firm expression.

[Dash] Yes, I met her.

[Dash] ……That’s good to know. I was curious whether you had met that ‘woman’ you seemed so eager to find.

It was a sort of warning. To remember the woman for whom the prince had so desperately sought during the entrance ceremony.

‘Could it be…… that woman is…….’

Caeron’s forehead suddenly furrowed. His keen intuition was pointing to who that woman might be.

“……Idel.”

As he called Idel’s name, he grasped her wrist and pulled her toward him. Startled by his abrupt action, she drew in a sharp breath.

“Your Highness…!”

In his parched touch, Idel’s body inclined as if being drawn into Caeron’s embrace. He sensed his already fast heartbeat becoming more intense as he smelled her fragrance.

The emotions he was struggling to suppress were likely provoked by her scent. He felt the desire for her that he had barely managed to restrain before attending the ball erupt again.

“Let’s go.”

“What? Why all of a sudden……”

“We need to return to the ducal residence immediately.”

Grinding his teeth, Caeron spoke. An uncontrollable, strong desire increasingly took hold of him. Idel felt the increasing tension in his grip.

“Ah……”

A short moan escaped from between Idel’s lips. It was due to the pain seeping into her slender wrist. Seeing her slightly grimaced face, Reynion grabbed Caeron’s arm.

“Miss Idel is in pain.”

Caeron loosened the grip on Idel’s wrist and enveloped her hand within his. Then he shook off Reynion’s hand that was holding his arm.

“Prince Reynion.”

Though his eyes were ablaze, his voice was icy.

“The reason you study here is because of the peaceful relations between Yupiter and Lisandro.”

Looking puzzled, Reynion stared at Caeron who abruptly brought up the peaceful relations between countries.

“Do you know why the peace between our bordering nations has been maintained so far?”

Caeron locked eyes with Reynion. His cold tone momentarily sharpened.

“It’s because we’ve maintained ‘boundaries.'”

The beast, exposing its teeth, would not allow invasion into its territory. A palpable tension enveloped the three of them.

(This is a time separator.)
The carriage returning to the Duke’s residence was silent except for the sound of horse hooves scraping the ground.

Idel caressed her wrist that had been grabbed by Caeron. Sitting across from her, Caeron furrowed his brows with worry upon seeing this.

“……Does it hurt a lot?”

At his question, Idel slowly shook her head.

“I’m fine. Rather than that…….”

She faltered and licked her lips. She felt that Caeron had shown too clear a hostility toward Reynion.

‘Why……?’

When they had first greeted each other upon arriving at the ballroom, Caeron and Reynion seemed to have a formal relationship. They had displayed no emotion, maintaining decorum at an appropriate distance.

‘What happened while I was away for teatime?’

Idel speculated that there must be a reason for Caeron’s abrupt change in attitude toward Reynion.

After exchanging greetings, while she had gone for teatime with Lady Roselin and Duchess Katrina, if anything had happened between the remaining Caeron and Reynion….

Idel was bothered by the twist in their relationship. After a moment of hesitation, she seemed to make up her mind and asked him.

“Did something happen with Lord Reynion?”

As Idel cautiously inquired, Caeron raised one eyebrow.

“What do you mean……?”

“It seemed like the relationship between you two has changed.”

Caeron peered into Idel’s eyes filled with concern. His gaze was as if he knew nothing. He let out a heavy sigh through his lips.