The wind touching the skin felt increasingly cold, perhaps because of being outside for a long time.

But strangely, there was no desire to go back into the banquet hall.

“…Huh?”

At that moment, Callid draped his outer garment over Bellia’s shoulders.

“We can’t have you catching a cold.”

“Thank you.”

Bellia smiled brightly and held onto the garment. She hadn’t realized she was cold, but wearing his clothes made her feel warm all over.

To think that just having someone put a coat on her shoulders on the terrace of a party venue could make her feel warm. Finding that thought amusing, she was about to smile when Callid spoke in a low voice.

“Earlier, what did you talk about with Raul?”

“Pardon?”

“You’ve seemed down ever since you danced with that guy.”

Callid carefully asked, as if curious about what nonsense Raul had spouted to Bellia.

At first, he kept his mouth shut, seeing that Bellia didn’t seem to want to answer, but as he watched her become increasingly lost in thought, he eventually had to bring up the topic again.

“……”

However, Bellia still hesitated, keeping her lips tightly sealed and not answering.

There was no way Raul had said anything good about him. So surely in that small head of hers, she must be debating whether to relay the words or not. He could imagine how many thoughts were flowing through her mind.

“The princess thinks too much.”

At his words mixed with a sigh, Bellia carefully opened her mouth. It wasn’t as if she had been trying to hide it anyway.

“Prince Raul asked if I wouldn’t regret it. He said I would surely regret it if I chose you.”

The more she thought about him, the more her mood sank.

Then why did she meet such an end when she had chosen Raul?

“So I told him that wouldn’t happen.”

“I see. So that’s why that Raul fellow’s expression was like that.”

Callid nodded, arms crossed, as if satisfied with her answer.

“Such words don’t bother me at all. So there’s no need to hide them like that.”

“…Still, there’s no need to hear unpleasant words.”

“Thank you. For thinking of me like that.”

Callid looked up at the night sky and chuckled.

It wasn’t much of a story compared to what he had thought.

Yet seeing Bellia purposely keeping quiet for his sake made him feel a bit better. So he impulsively spoke.

“That guy and I don’t get along well.”

At this sudden remark, Bellia looked at him, and Callid met her gaze. Then, drawing an arc with his lips, he continued.

“You might think it’s natural that we don’t get along since we have to fight for the throne. But actually, we were very close when we were young.”

“Is that so?”

“Until I realized that his kindness towards me was pity. I truly looked up to him as an older brother.”

Callid’s expression was nonchalant as he said this.

As if he had become so numb that it no longer affected him.

“If you come with me to the empire, you’ll naturally come to know. How insignificant of a prince I am.”

“Your Highness.”

“So it’s not strange if Raul mocks your choice of me.”

Bellia didn’t like the self-deprecating way he spoke.

“If I marry you, I’m sure I’ll become your strength.”

“Hahaha. As expected of a princess of Ronica to say such things.”

As Callid tried to brush off the conversation with a laugh, Bellia spoke somewhat stiffly.

“Besides, you’re not going to just sit back and give everything to the First Prince, are you?”

“Does it look that way?”

“If that wasn’t the case, you wouldn’t have accepted my proposal. The gold mine, whether he discovers it or not, wouldn’t have mattered at all.”

But the moment he read the letter and came looking for her.

She clearly realized that he had some plan to bring down Raul.

“That’s why you accepted my absurd proposal of marriage, just saying the conditions were good.”

It must have been his move not to hand over the Kingdom of Ronica to the First Prince of the Empire.

If he could use the power of the Kingdom of Ronica as well, it would have been even better, so it must have been like a blessing in disguise for him. Moreover, with the current state of the Kingdom of Ronica, it goes without saying.

He wasn’t lying when he said Bellia was a desirable partner.

That’s why she appreciated his cautionary attitude even in a situation that was much more beneficial to him.

“…Indeed, you have good instincts.”

Callid’s expression hardened slightly.

“You’re smart. Quick to judge situations too.”

“Thank you for the compliment.”

“That’s why I’m more suspicious.”

But soon he relaxed his expression and shrugged.

Despite the serious words, his tone was light.

“Honestly, there are more than a few things that puzzle me.”

Bellia bit her lip as she looked at Callid speaking like that.

Bellia had many things she needed to do with him at the forefront.

But if he were to demand the source of that information and doubt her every time. It was clear that small doubts would pile up and eventually crumble from within.

That’s why she didn’t want to leave even a small possibility.

“…As you work with me, there will be many moments of doubt like this.”

Bellia chose her words carefully for a moment.

Callid raised an eyebrow as if waiting for her next words.

“Can you just trust me each time?”

“You mean about the gold mine?”

“No. All the information I give to Your Highness.”

Her gaze firmly fixed on him.

She couldn’t tell him about the regression.

Even if she painfully brought it up, he surely wouldn’t believe it.

At that moment, Callid chuckled in the locked gaze and said,

“You’re asking too much of me. Do you realize that?”

“…Is asking for trust such an excessive request between collaborators?”

After all, hadn’t they agreed to be allies?

And then engagement and marriage on top of that.

They were to spend a very long time together.

Reading Bellia’s sullen emotions, Callid whispered quietly in her ear.

“You, who don’t speak any truth, ask me to trust you completely.”

“That’s…”

Callid was once again irritated by the sight of Bellia biting her lip and mumbling her words.

He knew for certain that she had no personal interest in him.

That she would stay by his side solely for her own purposes.

If that was the case, they should just take advantage of each other. But why.

‘It bothers me.’

So he wanted to check.

Why he becomes so generous and lenient only to her.

Why the princess who was just interesting keeps getting on his nerves.

Callid pulled up the corners of his mouth.

“Princess.”

Bellia looked at him at the sound of his voice calling her.

“You’re hiding many things from me, but I think I’ll try to trust you.”

Then he reached out and adjusted the coat draped over Bellia’s shoulders.

It was just one step.

With just one step he took from beside her to in front of her, the air flowing around them changed instantly.

The density of the air, which had been incredibly light and cheerful, became heavy and stifling.

“…Your Highness Callid.”

It was strange.

It was a name she had called many times before.

But the name that just left her lips rolled around in Bellia’s mouth as if the letters had a will of their own.

“Bellia.”

This time, he called her name with utmost tenderness.

Was it because she was intoxicated by the subtle atmosphere here?

Was it because she couldn’t adapt to the suddenly changed air?

Avoiding his gaze by turning her head, exhaling the breath that had risen to the tip of her throat.

None of it was easy.

Her heart started beating violently, making a thump, thump sound.

“If I trust you completely, someday you’ll tell me the truth too.”

He continued speaking while still fiddling with his coat draped over her shoulders.

“As I said before, I don’t have much. That’s why I don’t let go of my people or my things even more. I can’t lose the few things I have. So even if you hide the truth.”

Callid very slowly tucked Bellia’s disheveled hair behind her ear.

“Once you become my person, since you asked me to trust you, I will trust you.”

Of course, I’ll verify things, but.

“So just don’t betray me. That wouldn’t be a very pleasant feeling.”

His voice, which had lowered considerably, was not at all gentle unlike when he called her name.

His tickling gaze kept shaking her.

Bellia stared at him with trembling eyes, even holding her breath.

“Your Highness…”

Just as she was trying to painfully part her lips that wouldn’t separate,

Callid approached close enough for his lips to almost touch Bellia’s.

“Then I will do my best to make sure you don’t regret choosing me instead of Raul. How about it?”

His voice resonated softly.

His touch caressing her ear also became increasingly subtle.

‘Get a hold of yourself, Bellia.’

The moment she saw his blue eyes, which had come so close, glittering in the moonlight, Bellia sensed it. That if she left things as they were, she would be completely entangled with him.

She couldn’t let that happen.

Bellia gently pushed Callid away with a bit of force in her hand.

“If Your Highness does just that, our contract will become much stronger. That’s fortunate.”

Bellia reminded them that they were just in a contractual relationship.

She shouldn’t waver anymore. This was just an unnecessary emotion.

“Ha…”

Callid, who had been trying to confirm how he felt about her, felt somewhat disappointed by Bellia cutting him off so sharply, telling him not to come any closer.

“We made an equal contract, so it’s natural for both of us to make efforts. If Your Highness trusts me, I won’t betray you. Does this create a little trust?”

It was also disappointing that she could say such things so calmly.

Because Callid was being helplessly shaken by Bellia. He knew that although he disguised it as being irritated, in fact, all his attention was focused on her.

“…Not bad.”

Callid couldn’t stand the fact that she wasn’t completely in his grasp.

An inexplicable possessiveness crept up and consumed Callid.

So he blurted out nonsense to try and disturb her heart.

“But what if I develop sincere feelings for you?”

“…I know it’s just curiosity.”

Bellia stiffened at his words, but soon smiled and answered. Callid had no response to Bellia’s reaction either.

“Let’s stop the useless talk and focus on our first goal. First, confirming the existence of the gold mine, and me not getting engaged to Prince Raul. We can discuss the rest later.”

After finishing her words firmly while hiding her trembling voice, she glanced at Callid and saw that he looked somewhat dejected.

“Understood?”

Bellia demanded Callid’s confirmation once again. Callid sighed and touched his forehead.

“…Alright.”

At his reluctant answer, Bellia, who had been forcing a smile while hiding her trembling heart, nodded.

But Callid didn’t feel like smiling at all.

“Let’s go back now. We’ve been away for too long.”

Bellia took off Callid’s coat that had been wrapped around her shoulders and returned it to him.

“Thank you for the coat.”

Then, as if leaving no lingering feelings, she opened wide the terrace door leading to the banquet hall.