Desire that did not match the place and situation dwelled in his eyes.

“It’s delicious indeed.”

“!”

Without realizing it, I glanced sideways at the expressions of the concubines.

They were surprised by Rinel’s sudden kiss, and then surprised again by the words he whispered to me after the kiss.

Even as I looked at him, I could hear the concubines’ envious breaths in my ears.

“Why don’t we end lunch a bit early?”

Rinel said, glancing at the concubines.

“The Empress looks very tired.”

“Your Majesty, I’m fine.”

I rose from my chair again to see him off.

“Stay seated. I’m not okay.”

“Mmph.”

He kissed my shoulder and then gently pressed it with his hand.

My shoulder, where his lips had touched, twitched greatly while my legs went weak at the same time.

Because of that, I had no choice but to sit back down in the chair as he said.

“You seem to be lacking energy because I tormented you too much last night.”

At Rinel’s words, the faces of the concubines turned red all at once.

I need to send him away quickly.

“Your Majesty… please look at Stian’s expression.”

I quickly spoke, looking at the chamberlain behind him who had an urgent expression.

“Why.”

He turned to look at the chamberlain at my words.

“Your Majesty, if you don’t want to run like before, you need to hurry now!”

The chamberlain pleaded, repeatedly stretching his hands towards the dining room exit.

“Please go now, Your Majesty.”

I also grabbed his arm and gently pushed him away.

Then he suddenly intertwined his fingers with my hand that had grabbed his arm and replied like this.

“I can run when I leave too.”

“…But it’s hard for you.”

“The Empress doesn’t need to worry. Anyway, my heart beats at the same speed these days whether I walk or run.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“It’s better if you don’t know. It’ll be troublesome if you find out.”

“Your Majesty, if you’re not feeling well, you should get treatment!”

“That’s why I came.”

“Pardon…?”

Smooch−.

“This is treatment for me.”

He kissed my cheek and said in a serious voice.

“The problem is that the symptoms get worse when I receive treatment.”

A red rose bloomed on my cheek where his lips had touched.

I didn’t want to show my flushed face in front of the concubines, but it was an unavoidable situation.

“The Empress just had dessert, so you don’t need this, right?”

He picked up one of the croissants that had been placed in front of me.

“I’ll take this since I’ll get hungry quickly if I run.”

Rinel winked while lightly licking his lips.

“What? Ah, yes…”

I was mesmerized by his slightly parted lips before quickly answering.

“There’s no time for more kisses. For now, endure by eating this at least.”

He whispered in my ear as he tore off a small piece of the croissant and put it in my mouth.

When I glanced at him slightly in response to Rinel’s playfulness, he smirked and turned to the chamberlain.

“Stian, you’d better start running now. I’ll catch up anyway.”

At his words, the chamberlain hurriedly bowed to me and the concubines, then dashed out of the dining room.

“Today will probably be hectic.”

He said, putting his hands behind his back.

“I heard.”

“So I might need a late-night snack.”

He leaned his upper body towards me again and whispered in my ear.

“Not this kind.”

When I stared at his face blankly, wondering what he meant, he waved the croissant in his hand and gave me a look that said ‘You know what I mean, right?’

When I shook my head with an expression that said ‘I don’t know?’, he pointed at my lips with his finger.

“I mean this.”

“…Really?”

“Of course. So end lunch now and rest in advance.”

“Is that an order?”

“It’s the Emperor’s request.”

Rinel answered seriously and then turned around.

The concubines greeted him again, but this time he just waved his hand casually and left the dining room with quick steps.

Rinel disappeared like that, leaving only words that couldn’t be shared with the concubines.

They seemed very curious about what he had whispered to me.

I didn’t want to brag.

But it was true that I couldn’t help but straighten my shoulders when I saw the longing looks in the concubines’ eyes towards him.

After Rinel’s surprise visit, the expressions of the concubines alternated between complicated and dejected.

The already awkward atmosphere with the concubines became even more awkward after Rinel’s appearance.

It was necessary to break this subtle mood and change the topic at this point.

While thinking about how to resume the conversation that had been interrupted by Rinel, my eyes met with Rosie, who was sitting next to Melanie.

“Rosie, you look a bit tired today?”

As it happened, there were dark circles under Rosie’s eyes that looked like fountain pen nibs.

“Ah, I went to bed late last night… Do I look terrible?”

Rosie smiled broadly and rubbed under her eyes vigorously as if to erase her dark circles.

“Oh my goodness. What are you doing?”

Melanie said, slapping away Rosie’s hand.

“You’ll get wrinkles! Fine wrinkles have already appeared under your eyes.”

Melanie exclaimed ‘This is unacceptable!’ while tapping Rosie’s hand several times and asked her.

“But His Majesty wouldn’t have gone to Lady Rosie’s chambers either, so why did you sleep late?”

“Ah, well…”

Rosie scratched her nape and smiled broadly again.

Then Catherine, who had been quietly sipping her juice, raised an eyebrow and spoke.

“Yesterday… It seems His Majesty didn’t come to your chambers either, Melanie?”

“What do you mean…? His Majesty did come to my chambers yesterday.”

Melanie replied to Catherine, raising her chin.

“Liar.”

Catherine said with a small sneer.

She seemed certain that the Emperor, who had not come to her chambers, would not have gone to Melanie’s chambers, the Second Concubine.

“L-liar…? There’s a witness here!”

Melanie crossed her arms in front of her and retorted against Catherine’s dismissive tone.

“Witness? You mean your maids?”

Catherine’s sneer increased by a level.

“My maids are witnesses too, but more than that!”

Melanie raised her voice while constantly glancing at me.

“Here, Her Majesty the Empress is the witness…!”

At Melanie’s confident exclamation, Catherine widened her eyes and rolled her eyeballs towards me.

“Is it… true? Your Majesty?”

Just as I was about to slowly part my lips, Melanie quickly interrupted.

“It’s true that His Majesty came… Her Majesty the Empress came together too.”

“Together?”

Catherine’s expression became more confused.

I took a sip of tea and then calmly said.

“Yesterday, Melanie said she was sick, so I went to visit her with His Majesty.”

“Sick? She doesn’t look sick at all? Melanie looks much better than Rosie sitting next to her.”

Catherine looked at Melanie and Rosie’s faces alternately with a disapproving gaze.

Regardless, Rosie continued to rub her dark circles with her hand as if she had no interest in this conversation.

“It’s true!”

Melanie said again in a confident tone and looked at me, and I had no choice but to nod at Catherine.

“So… did the two of you come to Melanie’s chambers together and leave together?”

Catherine wasn’t curious at all about why Melanie had been sick.

Her interest was solely on whether Rinel had stayed in her bedroom or returned with me.

“Yesterday, His Majesty…”

As I was about to tell the truth, Melanie blurted out again.

“I! I told the two of you to return together… Because I was worried Her Majesty might be scared of the night road. I told His Majesty to go together…”

It wasn’t entirely wrong, but Melanie’s words were mixed with a cute lie.

It’s true that he and I returned together, but you didn’t send him away out of concern for my night journey, did you?

“Is what Melanie says true?”

Catherine glared at Melanie and asked me.

“That’s right. She pleaded with His Majesty to do so.”

When I joined in Melanie’s lie, she gave me a grateful look.

Yet Catherine’s eyes were full of doubt.

It was a very reasonable look that Melanie wouldn’t have shown such consideration.

The lunch gathering, which was quite entertaining with everyone deceiving each other, was coming to an end.

However, there was one person who remained on the periphery of the conversation until the end of the meal.

It was Pecilini, the concubine from the Asto marquis family.

While she listened intently to the conversations between me and the other concubines, she didn’t talk about herself.

She seemed to be watching this situation intently like an audience member at an opera.

As if she had to remember all the conversations well and report to someone.

Of course, that must be my imagination.

“Is Pecilini usually this quiet?”

I addressed her for the first time.

“Yes? Ah, I tend to prefer listening.”

Pecilini flinched greatly, startled more than necessary even though I hadn’t raised my voice.

“Is that why? Pecilini, you seem to be very observant.”

“M-me?”

She dropped the fork she was holding upon hearing my compliment.

Feeling somewhat strange, I carefully observed Pecilini’s face from then on.

Come to think of it, she had been intentionally avoiding eye contact with me since earlier.

“Pecilini, is this gathering very uncomfortable for you?”

“Ah, no, Your Majesty. I’m just very shy around new people…”

Pecilini answered with her head bowed low.

“Oh, come on.”

Then Rosie, sitting across from Pecilini, said with a teasing smile.

“Your Majesty, Pecilini’s family leads the largest merchant guild in the Rapion Empire.”

“Is that so?”

“Yes, so Pecilini has traveled a lot since childhood. But to say she’s very shy?”

At Rosie’s words, I looked at Pecilini again.

“It’s true that I have experience visiting various countries and cities with my father. But I’m nervous because I’m in front of Her Majesty the Empress.”

Pecilini said shyly.

You’ve visited many countries?

“Have you ever visited my home country, the Kingdom of Chatonille?”

“Ah, that Kingdom of Chatonille…”

Why is she so flustered when my question isn’t even difficult?

Pecilini pressed her lips tightly as if nervous, then spoke again.

“I stayed there briefly.”

“Really? At the royal palace?”

I asked again with a smile, feeling pleased.

“Yes, Your Majesty. But it was when I was young, so I don’t remember well. I only remember that it was a beautiful kingdom.”

“Hmm, I see.”

It was difficult to continue the conversation after her answer that she had no particular memories of the Kingdom of Chatonille.

At that moment, Pecilini’s hand holding the teacup was trembling slightly.

I chatted a bit more with the concubines, then ended the lunch gathering and went to the Empress Palace lobby to see them off.

[This is the timeline separator]

Catherine left first without even making eye contact with me, and Melanie also hurried away saying a dress designer was scheduled to come to her palace.

Surely she’s not planning to cut off one sleeve of all her dresses?

Pecilini lingered around me as if present yet absent.

When I said she could go back now, she linked arms with Rosie and said she would go with her since their palaces were close.

To this, Rosie looked at Pecilini, who was clinging to her arm, with a puzzled expression as if wondering why she was suddenly acting friendly.

Moreover, Rosie seemed to have something she wanted to say to me separately.

I spoke to her first.

“Oh right, Rosie. What interesting book were you reading last night that made you stay up?”

“There’s a field I’ve started reading about with interest lately, but the information is so vast that I got excited and…”

Rosie replied with sparkling eyes.

“I’m curious. What book is Rosie reading so intently that she even forgets to sleep?”

At my words, she opened her mouth with an expression of having a lot to say, then glanced sideways at Pecilini who was sticking close to her.

“Ah, that is…”

She was clearly hesitant to speak because of Pecilini.

“Rosie, would you come to the Empress Palace sometime with the books you’re reading?”

The book Rosie was interested in didn’t seem to be a simple novel.

Besides, didn’t she say she had studied healing magic?

I guessed it might be related to that field.

“If you invite me, I’d like to come tomorrow, Your Majesty!”

“Alright, I’ll call for you soon.”

“Thank you.”

“Ah, no. You said you have many books, right? There’s no need for you to come all the way here carrying heavy books. I think it would be better if I go to your chambers?”

“Y-you’ll come to my chambers in person, Your Majesty?!”

Rosie exclaimed in shock, placing one hand on her chest.

“Oh my! Lady Pecilini, let go of this for a moment.”

She shook off Pecilini’s hand that was holding her arm, excited by my words that I would visit her chambers.

“I saw on the way to Melanie’s chambers yesterday that the nearby garden is beautifully landscaped and good for taking a walk. I was thinking of dropping by soon to take a walk too. What do you think?”

“It would be such an honor for me!”

“Alright, I’ll send word separately before I come.”

As we approached the main entrance of the Empress Palace, Duke Martins entered through the gate.

What business does he have to complicate my thoughts again today?

“I greet Her Majesty the Empress!”

Duke Martins paid his respects to me with even more exaggerated gestures than usual.

He seemed to be doing it on purpose in front of the concubines.

“I see the concubines are here as well.”

Duke Martins bowed his head appropriately to Rosie and Pecilini too.

However, the Duke’s gaze lingered on Rosie and Pecilini’s faces for longer than seemed necessary.

“What brings you here, Duke?”

I asked, forcing the corners of my mouth up.

His appearance was unwelcome, but I couldn’t show the attitude of rebuking someone from the same kingdom in front of the concubines.

“I have brought a gift for Her Majesty the Empress.”

“A gift?”

Duke Martins was holding a small jewelry box in his hand.