“Just for tonight… Can’t we?”

“Would that be appropriate?”

The Crown Prince awkwardly rubbed the back of his head.

“…Is it too much of an imposition on the newlyweds?”

“You know it well.”

The Crown Prince looked at Arthur with a seemingly disappointed expression.

“…Do you have to be so serious about it? You’re with your lady every day. Can’t you spare me one day?”

What an absurd comparison.

“I’ve been with Your Highness for the past five years.”

“But we won’t be together in the future. Aren’t you feeling sad about it?”

“I’m sick of it. I don’t understand. Why do you want to be with me?”

Reina’s pupils trembled.

Is it okay to speak to the Crown Prince like that?

Arthur, as if to prove his point, turned his head without hesitation and spoke to Lord Lionel, who was standing awkwardly behind.

“Go tell the Marchioness that the Crown Prince is here and ask for a guest room.”

The Crown Prince hurriedly grabbed Lord Lionel and shouted at Arthur.

“Ah, come on! Do you think I’d do this if I really had nowhere to sleep? I just want to have one last drink with you, tell your wife to take good care of you, say some final farewells. That’s why I’m doing this!”

Arthur coldly retorted.

“What do you mean take care of me? Have you ever been responsible for me? You just want to delay your return to the Imperial Palace for one more day.”

The Crown Prince smiled shamelessly.

“You know me well. Just let me off this once.”

Arthur responded mercilessly.

“Do I have to let you off again?”

“Just one more time.”

Arthur’s face twisted terribly.

“What difference does postponing make? Please just go already!”

Reina was frozen.

Is it okay because he’s the one who saved his life?

No, even if he’s a lifesaver.

Or is this just the casualness between brothers?

“!”

The Crown Prince seemed to change his strategy and turned to Reina with a smile.

And in a rather polite voice, he said.

“My lady.”

Before she could freeze, Arthur stretched out his arm to block Kyle.

“Don’t trouble my wife.”

The Crown Prince asked politely.

“My lady. Are you troubled?”

Again, before Reina could even open her mouth, Arthur answered.

“This is what’s troubling. You’re using your hierarchical power to make it impossible for her to refuse.”

The Crown Prince retorted, sounding wronged.

“What hierarchical power do I have? It doesn’t even work on you.”

Arthur said, rubbing his furrowed brow.

“Why are you pretending not to know? Kyle, the very name of Crown Prince itself has a dignity that…”

“That dignity has long been crumpled before the dignity of the ‘Brilliant Star’. Who’s pretending not to know now?”

Reina’s heart sank and her expression hardened.

So the Crown Prince had seen that newsletter.

The Crown Prince was speaking as if it was nothing, but Reina felt a chill down her spine.

Having read all the newsletters she could find about Arthur, she fully understood the political difficulties he was facing.

‘The Brilliant Star of the Imperial Family’ or ‘The Rising Light of the Imperial Family’ were phrases often used to describe Arthur in various places.

Praise for Arthur was easily heard as mockery towards the Crown Prince, so it was expressed metaphorically.

But sometimes there were people who used expressions that seemed dangerous even with metaphors.

Like saying ‘The next sun of the empire’ had lost its light before the ‘Dazzling Star’.

If His Highness the Crown Prince had seen that, he would surely have been offended.

“…”

Reina fidgeted uneasily, watching Arthur and the Crown Prince’s reactions.

“Have some decorum!”

“Who’s the one embarrassing whom!”

“…”

Is this really okay?

Crown Prince Kyle’s life was saved thanks to Arthur, but he clearly lost face.

And Arthur, the illegitimate child, was in an awkward situation due to saving him.

Excessive fame and popularity surpassing the Crown Prince, and the resulting checks from the Empress’s family.

From the position of an illegitimate child without any backing, it was a difficult situation where he had to receive thanks outwardly while having his sincerity doubted inwardly.

Reina didn’t know if it was okay to just listen to such dangerous conversations.

Shouldn’t ‘Christina’ somehow intervene to soften the atmosphere?

Or is it okay because they can speak so casually?

Is Lord Arthur making such an unreasonable refusal to the Crown Prince because I’m a ‘fake Christina’?

If I wasn’t a fake, would Lord Arthur not have had to make such an unreasonable refusal to the Crown Prince?

The Crown Prince just pleaded with a good-natured face.

“Let’s just have one drink. It’s really the last time.”

Arthur looked at the Crown Prince with contempt and said.

“Didn’t you force me to drink with an imperial order last time, saying it was the last time? Is it another imperial order?”

The Crown Prince frantically denied it.

“No, no. I said there would never be such a thing again. It’s just a suggestion, a request, a recommendation, something like that…”

Arthur refused, emphasizing each word sharply.

“I told you, I’m never drinking with you again.”

The Crown Prince muttered with a shocked face.

“So cold…”

Arthur frowned mercilessly and waved his hand.

“Will you please leave now?”

The Crown Prince grumbled bitterly.

“…You stingy guy. Yeah, you’re lucky to have a wife. How can a person without a wife live with such loneliness.”

Arthur rubbed his forehead with a tired face, looking elsewhere.

“You’re getting married soon too. Why do you think social gatherings were banned for five years? Even though it was pretended to be for the sake of the soldiers, it was actually because of you, right?”

The Crown Prince smiled bitterly.

“Yeah. Thanks to that, I can’t even say I’m envious when I am.”

“What are you envious of?”

“I’m envious of you, Arthur, and I’m envious of Ryan Dalton. I should at least have had a fiancée to consider whether to become Ryan Dalton or not, but this…”

‘Ryan Dalton.’

At those words, as if on cue, Arthur and Reina’s eyes met.

Though it wasn’t something to be embarrassed about, Reina’s face flushed slightly and she avoided his gaze first.

After briefly looking at her like that, Arthur turned his gaze and looked at the Crown Prince with somewhat suspicious eyes.

“…”

The Crown Prince was just sighing deeply, looking at the ceiling.

…Does he know something?

On that day when he was forced to drink by imperial order, Arthur’s memory was ultimately cut off.

What did I say that day?

The Crown Prince sighed and ran his hand through his hair, then lowered the wine bottle he was holding in one arm.

And finally, as if giving up, he greeted Reina.

“I apologize, my lady. We brothers showed too informal a side.”

Surprised, Reina hurriedly lifted her skirt and bowed, belatedly showing respect.

“Not at all, Your Highness.”

“Most of what I just said to Arthur was just joking, so don’t take it too seriously.”

If most of it was joking, what part wasn’t a joke?

Reina hesitantly asked.

“Um… Then where will Your Highness sleep?”

The Crown Prince smiled brightly.

“Oh, I can sleep on the streets.”

“…”

Arthur became serious.

“Kyle.”

The Crown Prince said.

“I was originally planning to stay with Rembrandt, but thanks to someone, Rembrandt and Francis’s quarters are already separated under the guard captain’s watch. The ‘Crown Prince’ who is out on a brief escape, seeking a moment of freedom and rest while evading the imperial guards, can’t go there to sleep.”

“…”

The Crown Prince spoke in detail with a gentle attitude.

“Don’t mind at all. Sleeping on the streets is something I did every day for five years on the battlefield. I’m used to it.”

“…”

In the end, Reina could only look at Arthur, watching his reaction.

Arthur closed his eyes as if it was dreadful.

[This is the timeline separator]

And Arthur finally learned why Reina collapsed on the first day of the victory ceremony.

This woman… can’t handle alcohol.

[This is the timeline separator]

The last drinking session, hard-won against his expensive half-brother, ended before any real conversation could begin.

It was before they could even finish the bottle of wine Kyle had brought.

Arthur stood up, carrying Reina who had collapsed after just one glass of wine.

“…”

Although it felt like he had been scammed by a couple, the Crown Prince didn’t press any further.

Anyone could see that Arthur’s lady was flushed with intoxication.

And seeing Arthur’s expression of surprise when her body tilted, it seemed he hadn’t expected this to happen either.

Arthur erased the briefly flashed expression of surprise and, with his usual calm face, skillfully picked up his wife in his arms.

It looked very comfortable, as if he had done it often.

“Arthur. Where should I sleep…?”

As the Crown Prince tried to follow them out of the reception room, Arthur cut him off sharply.

“Not in the bedroom. Sleep in the reception room or wherever.”

“…”

And with cold eyes, he added with a gracious smile.

“It is my private reception room. No one can enter without my permission, so don’t worry and please sleep comfortably. It should be better than sleeping on the streets. Shall I bring you a blanket?”

The Crown Prince muttered dejectedly.

“Thanks…”

[This is the timeline separator]

“?”

The “VIP guest house” suddenly additionally provided to Rembrandt’s party became the domain of the captain of the imperial guards and the guard knights.

The butler and handsome footmen greeted them with courtesy.

“We hope you have a comfortable stay.”

“Ah, yes. Thank you.”

[This is the timeline separator]

Arthur carefully laid Reina down on the bed.

And with a sigh, he pulled the sheet up over her body.

“…If you can’t handle alcohol, you should have said so.”

“…”

Reina wasn’t completely asleep.

She just looked at him with a flushed face and giggled.

“The young lady… can handle alcohol well…”

“…”

“So I thought…”

Arthur chuckled back and gently brushed away the stray hair on her face with his fingertips.

As if enjoying the cool pillowcase, she buried her face in it with half-open eyes.

After lightly scratching her cheek with the sheet he had covered her with, she raised her reddened eyes towards him and blinked quietly.

“…”

…So defenseless.

“…”

His eyes caught on the uncomfortable dress she was wearing.

Arthur hesitated for a moment before finally leaning over her.

“…Hold on for a second.”

Whispering, he lifted Reina’s arms to wrap around his neck, then put his hand behind her waist and lifted her slightly.

Reina’s raised body tilted, leaning its weight towards Arthur.

…It seems I can just loosen the strings on her back and waist.

He let her body lean against him for a moment.

To make her clothes loose and comfortable, without actually undressing her.

Arthur reached his hand behind Reina’s back while letting her lean against his body.

“Arthur.”

Reina smiled drowsily, leaning on his neck.

“…”

His hand, reaching for her back while holding her, stopped.

“Arthur…”

Her voice, murmuring against his neck, vibrated through his body.

Arthur stiffened abruptly.