“I came to the training grounds and you didn’t come out… I thought a guest had arrived.”

The man stared at my face intently as he replied to Commander Markrom.

“I am Norton Asalman of the Partsha Empire.”

He introduced himself first.

Ah, so this is the 3rd Prince.

But why has he arrived in the Raphion Empire so early?

There’s still a week left until the dignitaries from each country are supposed to arrive.

“Greetings, Your Highness.”

As I greeted Prince Norton while observing the situation, Commander Markrom stepped forward and introduced me to him.

“This is Sir Bonith, in charge of guarding Her Majesty the Empress.”

“Ah? Sir Bonith…”

Prince Norton’s eyes looked as if he knew my true identity.

But that couldn’t be possible.

This was certainly the first time Prince Norton and I had met.

“Markrom, I was wondering who you were talking to…”

Prince Norton trailed off, gently raising the corners of his mouth.

The situation was quite awkward.

Even if I passed as the Empress’s guard knight today, when I officially meet Prince Norton with Rinel tomorrow, my true identity will be revealed… What should I do?

But revealing right now that I’m actually the Empress of the Raphion Empire didn’t seem like a good idea either.

Since Commander Markrom had already introduced me as a guard knight, it would be strange for me to suddenly say I’m the Empress.

What would be the best way to handle this?

My mind was in turmoil without any clear solution coming to mind.

Prince Norton has already seen my face…

I bit my lower lip hard as I looked down at the sword in my hand, then raised my head again, feeling like I had been avoiding Prince Norton’s gaze for too long.

“Have you finished deliberating whether to get rid of me or not?”

A hint of playfulness flashed in Prince Norton’s violet eyes.

…How did he know?

Just earlier, while looking down at my sword, I had thought, ‘If I could just get rid of Prince Norton, no one would know about my presence coming and going from the training grounds.’

So I had briefly considered the ridiculous idea of eliminating him before giving up, but for him to see right through my thoughts.

It was strange.

“Wh-What do you mean by that?”

I glanced at Commander Markrom, who had an unclear expression, and asked Prince Norton.

“You kept looking down at your sword, so I wondered.”

The prince smiled enigmatically.

“How could I dare to have such impure thoughts towards the prince of the Partsha Empire!”

I swallowed hard as I replied.

“Hahaha, don’t be so tense. His Highness is just joking.”

As Commander Markrom laughed heartily and interjected, Prince Norton burst into laughter as well.

“Yes, it’s a joke. Actually, I recently had a near-death experience, so I’ve become quite sensitive to others’ killing intent…”

His words sounded meaningful.

A near-death experience? Why?

“Did you have some kind of unfortunate accident recently?”

I asked him out of simple curiosity.

“I was hit hard here, in this spot.”

Prince Norton slapped the back of his head with his palm as he answered.

I was confused whether he meant he had actually been struck on the back of his head by someone, or if he was using that expression to indirectly say he had been betrayed.

In any case, it didn’t seem like a pleasant memory, so I didn’t ask further.

“But Your Highness, why are you speaking so formally to Sir Bonith?”

Commander Markrom asked him in a tone full of doubt.

It was only after hearing Commander Markrom’s words that I realized the prince had been speaking formally to me.

It was clearly strange for a member of the royal family to consistently use formal speech with a knight, even if they were a guard for a foreign empress.

Especially while speaking casually to Markrom, the knight commander.

“Well, I wonder why?”

Prince Norton replied ambiguously, trying to hold back a smile.

“Is it because you sense an extraordinary aura? Well, I felt the same when I first met this fellow.”

Commander Markrom said as he patted my shoulder with his thick hand.

“If you could see Bonith… Sir Bonith right now, you’d understand why I’m doing this. It’s a shame.”

Damn it, does Prince Norton really know my true identity?

All my nerves were on high alert.

But somehow, I didn’t think he would reveal my identity to Commander Markrom even if he did know.

“Why? Does Sir Bonith have such a fierce face?”

Commander Markrom asked seriously.

Shing- Thud!

Without realizing it, I had half-drawn my sword from its scabbard before exercising patience and putting it back.

“Just now… What was that sound?”

Commander Markrom raised one eyebrow sharply as he turned his head towards the prince and asked.

“That was the sound of you nearly dying.”

Prince Norton chuckled as he answered the commander.

“Ahem, I should be going now. Your Highness, you’re staying at the guest palace where the dignitaries are lodged, right? If you’re heading that way, I’ll escort you. Shall we go together?”

Since my identity would be revealed to Prince Norton tomorrow anyway, I thought it would be good to talk with him separately while walking through the cypress forest.

“Let’s do that. It would be an honor.”

Prince Norton readily agreed to follow me.

“Bonith, guide him well.”

“Yes, Commander.”

Commander Markrom still had a puzzled expression because of the prince speaking formally to me, but he bowed without being able to ask him the reason further.

“Prince Norton, then I’ll see you later. If you need a sparring partner, please call for me anytime.”

“Thank you.”

[This is the timeline separator]

This is really uncomfortable.

I left the training grounds with Prince Norton and entered the cypress forest path.

I needed to bring up the topic quickly before reaching the Empress’s Palace, but the words wouldn’t come out.

Recalling Commander Markrom’s words earlier, I spoke to him.

“Your Highness. If you arrived in the Raphion Empire today, does that mean you haven’t met His Majesty yet?”

Caw, caw, caw-.

Just as I finally managed to speak after hesitating, a flock of crows cawed loudly from somewhere.

It gave me an ominous feeling for no reason.

“No, I plan to formally request an audience and pay my respects tomorrow. To Her Majesty the Empress as well.”

Prince Norton answered while looking up to where the crow sounds were coming from.

“Ah, yes… Your Highness will participate in the hunting competition too, right?”

“Of course, I came here specifically because there’s a beast I want to hunt.”

“Oh, what kind of beast is it?”

“A very cunning and dangerous beast.”

Prince Norton’s voice sounded somewhat cold.

“Dangerous? Um, as far as I know, there are no magical beasts in the northern continent forests where the hunting competition will be held…”

“What I’ve come to hunt isn’t a magical beast. Though it is a beast harmful to humans like magical beasts…”

What is he saying?

Prince Norton seemed to be holding back his words.

“Her Majesty the Empress will participate too, of course?”

“Yes… Huh?”

I answered Prince Norton’s question naturally like an idiot and then immediately flinched.

Should I just confess the truth at this point?

Before I knew it, we had reached the end of the cypress forest path and arrived at a field full of blooming canola flowers.

I stared at the Empress’s Palace visible right in front of me, then slowly turned to face Prince Norton.

“Um… Your Highness.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

“!”

I had my doubts, but… Prince Norton already knew my identity.

But since when did he know?

How did he know my face?

I just stared at Prince Norton with surprised eyes, unable to continue speaking after calling out to him.

I needed to confirm once more if he really knew my identity.

“What… did you just say?”

“Your Majesty may not know of my existence, but I’ve seen you a few times at the royal palace.”

“…Where? At the Chateau-nil royal palace?!”

Unlike me, whose face had frozen in shock, Prince Norton nodded with a relaxed expression.

“How did you remember me when there are so many people at the royal palace…?”

I tried to stay calm, but the tension was already evident in my tone.

“No, more importantly. What business did you have visiting the Chateau-nil royal palace?”

I fired questions at Prince Norton one after another.

“I was part of a mercenary knight order hired by the royal family.”

“Ah!”

The Chateau-nil royal family had once brought in a specialized mercenary knight order to eliminate troublesome first-class magical beasts that were destroying diamond ore.

But why was Prince Norton in the mercenary knight order?

“At a time when there was a struggle for royal power in my home country, the Partsha Empire, I left the empire and joined a mercenary knight order while hiding my identity. After wandering various places, fate brought me to the Chateau-nil Kingdom.”

“Ah, I see. I’m sorry I didn’t recognize you.”

“It’s alright. It’s natural that you wouldn’t know me since we never met face to face.”

Prince Norton smiled and waved his hand.

“Then how did Your Highness…”

“I happened to see Your Majesty alone near a valley where I often took walks.”

“Could that valley be?!”

Sweat ran down my spine at Prince Norton’s words.

“Yes, the Poiden Valley close to the royal palace.”

If he saw me there… does that mean he witnessed what I did in the water?

I occasionally enjoyed going into the valley stream and swinging my sword.

I enjoyed the feeling of resistance from the water against my hand and arm movements while holding the sword.

When my body couldn’t move freely as if facing a strong opponent, and I struggled to break free from that pressure, my body and sword always created new solutions.

It was a place where I felt a strange sense of pleasure all to myself.

I never thought someone might be secretly watching.

“It was a magnificent sight. I wanted to approach and speak to you several times, but I couldn’t.”

That means… it wasn’t the first time he saw me in the valley?

“…Why not?”

Even if Prince Norton had spoken to me in the valley, I probably wouldn’t have been very pleased, but I was still curious about his reason.

“Every time you came out of the valley, your clothes were soaking wet, so I couldn’t bring myself to approach you.”

“!”

Ah, that’s right.

As Prince Norton said, I was always completely drenched after training in the water.

So I would change clothes right after coming out of the water…

Gasp! Don’t tell me he saw all of that too?!

I rolled my eyes and stared at him without realizing it.

“No, I didn’t.”

Prince Norton immediately said firmly, as if he knew what I was worried about.

Seeing me still glaring at him, he quickly added:

“Really. At that time, I was also occupied with someone else, so I had no reason to watch you changing clothes.”

Prince Norton said with a slight smile, but it seemed like a sad smile for some reason.

“Occupied with someone? Ah, do you have a lover?”

Or was there someone you liked in the royal palace?

I finally relaxed my eyes.

Prince Norton’s face, shrouded in some kind of mystery, aroused a strange curiosity.

“Not anymore.”

Did they break up?

“Anyway, rest assured that I’ve never seen the kind of scene Your Majesty is worried about.”

“Th-Then, Your Highness knew that I was the Empress…”

“I heard that you had become the Empress from a friend from the Chateau-nil Kingdom that I recently made.”

Prince Norton stopped walking for a moment and answered seriously.

“Someone from Chateau-nil? They must be a noble, I suppose? Since they knew I came to the Raphion Empire as Empress.”

“Yes, quite a distinguished noble.”

He nodded lightly.

“Then why did you pretend not to know at the training grounds?”

“Commander Markrom didn’t seem to know about Your Majesty’s existence yet. That meant your visits to the training grounds must be a secret from His Majesty as well.”

“Thank… you.”

“It’s nothing. I’m used to hiding my identity too, so I understand completely.”

Prince Norton smiled gently and started walking again.

I have an even bigger secret than that…

I looked down at the ground and smiled bitterly for a moment.

As we approached the back garden of the Empress’s Palace, this time I stopped walking.

“Your Highness, I have a favor to ask.”

“I understand. I’ll do as you wish.”

“…Pardon? You haven’t even heard what the favor is.”

“You want me not to act like I know you in front of His Majesty, isn’t that the favor?”

“That’s right…”

It seemed Prince Norton was skilled in mind reading.

“I’ll do so. You should go in now, it looks like a lady-in-waiting has been waiting by that back door for a while.”

As Prince Norton said, Sharon’s face was popping in and out of the laundry room’s back door.

“Thank you for today. Then I’ll see you tomorrow… Ah!”

I was in the middle of sincerely expressing my gratitude to him.

Suddenly, Prince Norton covered my mouth with his hand and pushed me against the corner wall of the Empress’s Palace building.

Then he put his index finger to his lips while looking at me.

“!”

When I nodded, he turned his back to me as if trying to hide me.

I could see Prince Norton’s broad back and dark blonde hair right in front of me.

A few seconds later, the voices of guards could be heard from somewhere.

When the presence disappeared, Prince Norton turned back towards me and whispered:

“That was dangerous.”

“Y-Yes, it was…”

“I almost broke my promise to keep your visits to the training grounds a secret.”

“Thank you so much. Then, I’ll see you tomorrow, Your Highness.”

I greeted him again with a flustered face.

“Yes. When we meet again tomorrow, please greet me very warmly as if we’re meeting for the first time.”

Prince Norton kissed the back of my hand and gracefully disappeared.

[This is the timeline separator]

After safely coming up to the bedroom through the stairs connected to the laundry room with Sharon, I finished bathing and sprawled face down on the bed.

“No matter how I think about it, it seems like he came here with some purpose…”

I muttered, thinking of Prince Norton.

In any case, I was relieved that he agreed to keep my visits to the training grounds a secret from Rinel.

Maybe because I’ve been lacking sleep at night lately, my eyes closed on their own.

[This is the timeline separator]

How long have I been asleep?

What time could it be?

It seemed like it was still the dark early morning.

My eyes opened from the cool sensation I felt while half-asleep.

I thought the terrace door might be open, so I slightly raised my upper body and turned my head towards the terrace.

“Ah, you startled me…!”

Rinel was lying next to me.

He was curled up tightly towards me, sleeping soundly.

When did this man come and fall asleep so peacefully?

The sight of him sleeping quietly without waking me was incredibly endearing.

It seems I’m certainly less considerate compared to Rinel.

Without realizing it, I started to wake him up.

“Rinel, won’t you wake up…?”

Though my voice was a soft whisper, I deliberately shook his shoulder hard.

He twitched his eyes and then opened them with difficulty.

Meanwhile, I climbed on top of his thighs.

“Zelda, what are you doing…?”

His blue eyes, still heavy with sleep, looked up at me in surprise.