Room cafe in the imperial city.

I was sitting face to face with Kashar.

The interior was extremely quiet, as if we had rented the entire second floor.

‘This is driving me crazy.’

I had followed him here on impulse, but my head still ached from the unabated heat.

‘I really thought he was going to kiss me.’

We didn’t actually touch, but I felt like my heart was about to leap out of my mouth.

‘What kind of innocent man is this?!’

Despite having no experience, he was both slick and skillful.

He was completely different from me, who froze up before doing anything.

‘It’s unfair.’

I should have just grabbed his neck and kissed him earlier.

Kashar’s and my romantic experiences were similar, if anything.

But when compared side by side, it felt like looking at a novice and a master.

‘Are handsome men different from birth?’

It was quite a serious pondering.

Seeing me still dazed, Kashar wiped away his tears.

“Your skills are excellent. I’m genuinely surprised.”

Kashar had been laughing like a madman since arriving at the reception room and had just barely stopped.

Feeling somewhat annoyed, I replied flatly.

“…Emma is good with her hands.”

The makeup was all Emma’s handiwork.

When I looked in the mirror after it was done, I had become a completely different person.

“It’s not just your appearance. Your acting was quite good too.”

Despite how I look, I was in the drama club in middle school.

Although my role was a tree.

“So, have you decided to accept?”

It was a leisurely question.

I didn’t like his nonchalance, but I couldn’t bring myself to refuse.

‘After all, I’m the one who started this.’

I acted that way earlier because I knew that woman was the Empress’s person.

Two days ago, I visited the Palace Personnel Office to receive my salary.

It was a place where all sorts of people gathered, so there were many rumors to be heard.

The maid of Jeiana was there.

‘Our young lady is supposed to meet with the Duke in the rose garden! Our young lady will become the Duchess!’

Whether she was loose-lipped or what, Jeiana’s maid was spilling all the details about her mistress to her close maid friends.

A maid’s status is determined by her mistress’s status.

Jeiana’s maid was already putting on airs as if her mistress had become the Duchess.

‘If it’s tomorrow.’

It was the day Kashar was supposed to come see me.

If those words were true, then the appointments overlapped.

‘Making double appointments with two women?’

For some reason, I felt indignant.

I glared at the boastful maid with fire in my eyes.

‘I’m sorry, but that’s not going to happen.’

There’s no better place to draw people’s attention than the rose garden.

In other words, anything that happens there spreads beyond the imperial palace to the entire capital.

I clenched my fist.

Finally, I made up my mind.

‘I’ll make it so you can’t back out.’

If he wants to be my lover that badly, I’ll have to oblige.

I decided to use Kashar in reverse.

‘Well, I’m sorry to Jeiana, but.’

I thought the name sounded familiar, Jeiana was the ‘villainess #1’ in the original story.

‘She pushed the female lead into the lake and her family was exterminated by Kashar’s hand, probably.’

It was too cute an act to be called villainous, but the male leads wouldn’t stand by and watch.

‘It’s better for her to hate me instead.’

At least she won’t end up on the streets.

“But I have a condition.”

It was time to get to the main point.

Trying to speak as haughtily as possible, Kashar asked generously, as if appreciating my effort.

“Let’s hear it.”

“Please become the guardian of Louis and Evan.”

The condition I wanted was for Kashar to become Louis and Evan’s guardian.

‘The guardianship system.’

It was a system where a child without a background is protected until adulthood under a high-ranking noble or mature royal family member. Although rare for royalty, it wasn’t completely without precedent.

‘I can’t protect the children alone.’

To protect Louis and Evan, immense power and strength were needed.

‘But with Kashar, it’s a different story.’

He was a mad dog that no one dared to touch carelessly.

The reason I made such a fuss by interfering with Jeiana and Kashar’s appointment was to make it impossible for him to refuse.

“Hmm.”

Finally, Kashar raised his upper body as he listened to my words and said.

“It’s because of the Empress.”

“…How did you know that?”

As I asked with surprised eyes, Kashar laughed.

“That woman wants to kill all the royals except her first son. Moreover, her suspicion is at a pathological level. She’s quite a neurotic woman.”

Just as Wayeno Empress was investigating Kashar, he was also well aware of the Empress’s actions.

“Alright. I’ll become the guardian of your princes.”

At those words, I almost let out a sigh of relief but barely held it back.

The deal wasn’t over yet.

“Then let me set a condition too.”

“A condition?”

A condition for pretending to be a fake lover.

In that moment of surprise at the unexpected words, he presented his condition.

“Cook for me.”

I was worried it might be something outrageous, but it was an unexpectedly easy proposal.

‘Did he like the pollack soup that much?’

His face looked more serious than ever as he stated his condition.

It was nothing to act as a lover and cook, but still, this kind of thing needed to be clarified.

“Until when?”

“Until I no longer want it.”

It was an ambiguous statement.

But I knew how to end this much.

‘I’ll just make food so bad he can’t stand it!’

To the point where he no longer wants it.

“Alright. Then let’s write a contract.”

“What kind of contract?”

“A contract about being fake lovers.”

For future reference, this agreement needed to be documented.

As Kashar observed my serious face, he rang a bell, and there was a presence from the next booth.

Soon, the curtain to our seat was lifted, and a man with gray hair stood before us.

‘It’s that man.’

It was Kashar’s adjutant who had delivered the letter to me.

‘No, why are you coming out from there?’

I asked with a dumbfounded face, but couldn’t get an answer.

After glancing at me, he calmly stood in front of Kashar.

“You called, sir.”

“We’re drafting a notarized contract.”

“…Understood.”

Soon, he took out a quill pen and paper.

Kashar nodded at me as if telling me to speak first.

I cleared my throat as if I had been waiting for this.

“Since there will be an end anyway, when it’s time to break up, we’ll say goodbye coolly.”

“The conditions for breaking up?”

“When either of us finds someone we truly love.”

Actually, I had two plans.

One was for Kashar to become the guardian of the princes.

The second plan was.

‘To help Kashar find another love.’

After the female lead gets together with the real male lead, Kashar ends up starting a continental war.

‘What will happen to our princes then!’

In the end, he shouldn’t fall for the female lead, and for that, a new love was needed.

‘I need to find a woman who’s not related to the Empress and is as kind, wise, pretty, and affectionate as the female lead…’

Someone so beautiful that even Kashar would fall for her at first sight.

The original story was already starting to crumble. It didn’t seem like a problem to tweak it a bit more.

Because.

‘As long as I don’t interfere with the true protagonists’ love.’

After all, the purpose of the novel was the true love of the two main characters, so as long as that wasn’t twisted, it would be fine.

It felt like killing two birds with one stone.

‘I think I’ve used my head well.’

While I was basking in the joy of victory.

Kashar prompted Mihail.

“Aren’t you going to add anything?”

I asked curiously, but Kashar didn’t answer.

‘He seemed to be in a good mood just a moment ago?’

Was it my imagination? His mood seemed to have soured.

“Sign it.”

But it didn’t matter. I was about to take the first step towards my first goal.

I wrote my name in the signature field. Next to it was Kashar’s handwritten signature.

“I’ll keep the contract.”

With the sight of Kashar putting the contract in the safe, the agreement was concluded.

“I look forward to working with you.”

I extended my hand to Kashar.

It was the first step as partners.

He stared at it for a moment before grasping my hand.

I thought he would surely shake hands.

But.

“Likewise, my lover.”

Hot lips branded my hand.

His gaze turned up towards me.

Was it my imagination?

His red eyes were gleaming as if trying to trap me.