“Yes, Your Majesty. Please speak.”

When Rinel’s voice, sexy even when speaking casually, called her, she seemed touched as if she had received a confession.

“Does Princess Shatonil not know that one can touch a person with just their gaze?”

At his words, cracks began to form on her perfect and pretty face.

But she quickly changed her expression and smiled freshly.

“I know that too. Ohoho… Your Majesty is truly romantic.”

The princess spoke as if impressed by his words, flipping her pink hair back.

But while her mouth smiled, her eyes were still full of tension.

Having watched the princess since childhood, I could tell how dumbfounded she was right now.

Until now, no one, especially no man, had ever disagreed with her opinion by saying “I don’t think so.”

But now the Emperor of the Raphion Empire.

Moreover, the man who was almost her husband.

No, the person she believed she would soon remarry.

Had not agreed with her opinion.

More than that, she seemed even more shocked that Rinel showed affection towards me.

“What does the Empress think? Am I romantic?”

He wanted to confirm from me the compliment he received from Princess Resilia.

The princess’s gaze on me was quite sharp.

Unconsciously aware of her, I quietly replied to Rinel.

“You seem to be… becoming more so.”

Just as I’m becoming prettier in Your Majesty’s eyes.

I whispered the last words softly so only he could hear.

He chuckled as he patted my thigh under the table.

Prince Tessler and Princess Resilia exchanged glances and simultaneously furrowed their brows.

“You two… seem to be getting along very well.”

Prince Tessler, who had been quiet all along, said as he carefully observed him and me.

“We’re getting better and better.”

Rinel replied to the prince and then smiled as he pulled my shoulder into his embrace.

I quickly slipped out of his embrace and adjusted my posture, watching Prince Tessler’s reaction.

At my request, he had been refraining from showing affection in front of the concubines, but thinking there was no need to be careful in front of people from the Empress’s home country of Shatonil, he showed an even more affectionate side than usual.

Generally, there would be nothing strange about this situation, but that was only if I were the “real Empress.”

In reality, his affection was blatantly revealed in front of the very people we should be careful around.

This could really become troublesome…

“How well does the Empress know these two?”

I couldn’t help but sigh at Rinel’s question.

The word “acquaintance” wasn’t quite appropriate.

“I’ve seen them occasionally at the palace since childhood.”

Noble young ladies and gentlemen from lowly families or illegitimate children like myself often mingled with royalty of the same age during childhood.

Like living toys.

Would it be more accurate to say we were playthings for the royalty?

I was just one of them, not someone who shared a close friendship with those siblings.

Though there was a time when I believed so.

“We were like real sisters, Your Majesty.”

Princess Resilia suddenly interjected and chirped with her cute lips.

She was pretty enough to make one want to believe even her lies.

But, did all her real sisters burn to death?

I turned my head to the side and quietly mouthed a curse, then turned back and met eyes with Prince Norton.

The prince had one corner of his mouth raised.

…Could he have read my lips?

Feeling awkward, I fiddled with the nape of my neck.

Just then, servants entered the reception room carrying trays.

It was coffee that Princess Resilia said she had brought directly from her kingdom.

Coffee with abundant foam was placed in front of us along with some light snacks.

To my eyes, it looked like a large ball of soap bubbles placed on top of a cup.

“Your Majesty, please try it! The fragrant and rich vanilla foam doesn’t diminish throughout drinking the coffee. Of course, the coffee itself is delicious, but like this…”

The princess paused mid-sentence and took a sip of coffee.

“Mmm, the vanilla foam itself tastes good too.”

Her upper lip was covered in vanilla foam.

Everyone sitting around the table focused their eyes on her lips and the tongue that had come out for an outing.

Hah, what’s the intention behind this?

She stared intently at Rinel while slowly licking the vanilla foam with her tongue.

It was clearly a seductive gesture for anyone to see.

I felt like one side of my heart had slipped and fallen askew.

I wanted to immediately put the vanilla foam over the princess’s eyes.

“The Kingdom of Shatonil seems to have a rather unique way of enjoying coffee.”

He looked curiously at the vanilla foam that wouldn’t settle as he slowly rotated the coffee cup in his hand.

I missed seeing Rinel’s expression as he watched the princess clean off the foam with her tongue, as I was busy watching her do so.

Instead, I observed the expressions of the other two men.

The expression of Prince Norton, sitting diagonally across from her, was hard to gauge.

He certainly seemed surprised, but it was ambiguous in what sense,

And Prince Tessler wore the expression I often saw at the royal palace.

‘Should I kill her, or let her live?’

He would look at Princess Resilia with such eyes whenever she acted out impulsively.

“I enjoy this coffee for the taste of the vanilla foam.”

The princess’s body suddenly jerked as she spoke gently with a gaze that said ‘You’ve all fallen for me, right?’

“Oh my! How clumsy of me.”

She spilled coffee on her hand as she put down the coffee cup, supposedly by accident.

Whether it was a real accident or not, well, I’m not sure.

“Ah, hot, hot, hot!”

Despite the coffee having cooled somewhat, Princess Resilia made a fuss as if she had dipped her hand in a pit of fire.

Seeing her make such a scene over this level of heat, I suddenly felt anger welling up inside me.

Do you know how hot the red reagent you dropped on my right cheek was?

That feeling of having a red-hot iron pressed against flesh?

It was too much pain for a mere seven-year-old child to bear.

But the gazes of people after I was burned were even more painful.

I placed my hands on my knees and tensed them, as Rinel might see if I clenched my fists.

My kneecaps started to hurt, but it was nothing compared to the long-standing wound in my heart.

“Oh dear, wipe it with this.”

Rinel politely handed the princess a handkerchief from his pocket.

It was Prince Norton’s handkerchief.

The handkerchief was all crumpled up, showing how tightly he had wrung it.

I glanced sideways at Prince Norton.

The prince’s expression darkened as his handkerchief was passed to the princess, like someone watching an important document fall into enemy hands.

Prince Norton’s face was as crumpled as the handkerchief.

The only thing blooming brightly in this reception room now was Princess Resilia’s face.

She quickly took the handkerchief Rinel handed her and wiped the back of her hand.

“Thank you, Your Majesty! For you to give me your handkerchief… I’m honored.”

Princess Resilia said to him in a voice filled with emotion.

Rinel then began to say, “Ah, that handkerchief is…” intending to reveal the handkerchief’s owner.

“May I keep it as a cherished memento?”

She asked shyly, deliberately placing the handkerchief on her voluptuous chest.

Is she crazy…

She looked ready to stuff the handkerchief into her bosom right away if he gave permission.

“That, I think you should ask the prince about that?”

Rinel nodded towards Prince Norton.

“Pardon? What do you mean…?”

Princess Resilia drawled, rolling her eyes towards the prince.

“The prince is the owner of that handkerchief. I was originally going to cherish the prince’s handkerchief deep in my heart, but since the princess seems to like it, I’ll gladly yield it.”

Rinel spoke as if he were bestowing a great favor.

I laughed at his behavior.

Conversely, the smile disappeared completely from Princess Resilia’s face.

She placed the handkerchief she had been clutching like a treasure on the table without any lingering attachment and awkwardly said to Prince Norton:

“I’ll return it to you, Prince.”

“You may throw it away.”

“Oh, no, it seems like a nice handkerchief, we shouldn’t carelessly discard it.”

“When even people are thrown away, what does a mere handkerchief matter?”

Prince Norton was smiling, but his tone sounded quite aggressive.

“…Pardon?”

The princess gulped and opened her eyes wide.

“Just throw it away, Princess.”

Prince Norton emphasized once again.

“I’m not the type to throw anything away, be it objects or people.”

She said in an innocent voice, blinking her eyes.

Some incomprehensible exchanges passed between the two.

From the perspective of those listening to their conversation, it seemed somewhat strange, but the parties involved seemed to understand each other.

My throat is feeling parched for no reason.

I wanted to drink water, but only coffee that looked like soap bubbles was placed before me.

I had no choice but to take a sip of the coffee Resilia brought, feeling like I was drinking poison to wet my throat.

“Your Majesty, we will now retire to the annex where the guest rooms are located.”

Prince Tessler, who had been alternately looking at Princess Resilia and Prince Norton, looked much more tired than when I first saw him.

“Go ahead. You must be tired from the long journey, so rest well today, and let’s discuss the hunting competition over a meal together tomorrow. And catch up with the Empress on things you couldn’t talk about before.”

“Thank you for your consideration.”

Prince Tessler glanced at me and slightly bowed his head to him.

“Is that alright, Empress?”

He asked for my opinion.

Although it was not at all to my liking, I had no choice but to answer.

“Yes, we shall do so, Your Majesty.”

“…Ah, you startled me.”

Rinel looked at my face and leaned back in surprise.

“What’s wrong, Your Majesty?”

“Empress, I thought the Chief Minister had arrived for a moment.”

Rinel said with a laugh, placing his hand on his heart.

“Pardon? The Chief Minister?”

“Your lips.”

He said in an amused voice, circling his finger around his own mouth.

“Ah!”

It seemed he was saying that vanilla foam was on my lips.

Even so, did he have to say I looked like the Chief Minister with a full white beard?

If vanilla foam gets on Princess Resilia’s lips it’s cute, but on mine it looks like a white beard?

I tried to lick off the vanilla foam on my lips like she did, but gave up.

Why use my tongue when I have hands?

I raised my hand to wipe my lips, but what my hand touched wasn’t my lips but the back of Rinel’s head.

What’s going on?!

Suddenly his closed eyes, his long eyelashes, came into view.

And before I could say anything, I felt a stubborn sweet sensation on my lips.

It was Rinel’s lips.

He was diligently stealing away the vanilla foam on my lips with his own mouth.

“The foam is delicious too.”

Only after rubbing my lips several more times did his bouncy softness find its place again.

“Your affection… seems deep. From the Shatonil royal family’s perspective, this is truly… a joyous occasion.”

Prince Tessler showed a cunning smile and asked him as if testing.

As he did so, the prince looked at me while fiddling with his pinky finger, then moved to massage near his wrist.

Disgusting bastard.

His gesture seemed like a warning and a threat that next time, he might cut off Bonisse’s wrist.

“It seems only I am deep for now.”

Rinel curtly replied to Prince Tessler.

“Pardon? Only Your Majesty is deep?”

“If I don’t approach the Empress like this, there’s no opportunity at all. I was a bit rude due to the rare chance.”

He smirked as he slightly raised his teacup.

That one remark of his seemed to have saved me and Bonisse.

“My… Empress, why don’t you be a bit more affectionate towards His Majesty?”

Prince Tessler deliberately spoke as if scolding me.

“Please understand, Your Majesty. The Empress has never been one for aegyo since childhood.”

Though her fawning voice was quite irritating, it wasn’t a lie.

“Oh my, such a consistent person.”

But Rinel looked at me as if he had heard praise about me, speaking in admiration.

“?”

I was very curious about what expression I was making right now.

I couldn’t frown or smile at his words.

“Anyway, thanks to the coffee the princess brought, I got to properly taste the vanilla foam. Thank you.”

His gaze fixed on my lips as he spoke to Princess Resilia.

Displeasure flashed across her face, and she ended up standing up from her chair even before Prince Tessler.

“I, I will also return to the guest room now…”

[This is the timeline separator]

The two siblings of the Shatonil royal family hurriedly left the main palace and boarded the carriage again to move to the annex where the guest rooms were located.

“What’s so good about that beggar-like woman that he cleaned the foam off her lips with his own?”

Princess Resilia’s irritation began the moment she got on the carriage.

“Resil, shut your mouth!”

At Prince Tessler’s shout, she pouted her lips.

The prince felt like his head was about to explode just from Norton’s issue alone.

‘A mercenary knight of unclear origins turns out to be a prince of the Partsha Empire? Moreover, he survived falling off a cliff?’

[This is the timeline separator]

Upon arriving at the annex, the two were guided to the guest floor where they would be staying.

Prince Tessler entered the guest room assigned to the princess together.

“What were you thinking doing such a thing! I told you to just smile and do nothing!”

He had cautioned her like that before coming to the Raphion Empire.

As soon as the bedroom door closed, Prince Tessler shouted.

Before bringing up the topic of Prince Norton, he first scolded her for her behavior in the reception room.

“Brother, how on earth did that Zelda thing manage to butter up the Emperor? This doesn’t make sense.”

Princess Resilia ignored the prince’s scolding and was indignant at Rinel’s attitude of showing no interest in her at all.

“What the hell is going on…”

Prince Tessler was equally irritated.

“Did Zelda feed him something strange? Otherwise, how could the Emperor look at that thing with such tender eyes!”

“Lower your voice, you rascal!”

Prince Tessler pressed his hand to his forehead.

“Why did you needlessly spill coffee and show a sight that didn’t need to be seen?”

“Ah, I don’t know, I don’t know! Elder brother, get me a magic potion that changes eye color.”

“What? What nonsense are you suddenly talking about?”

“I hate that my hair color is exactly the same as that Zelda’s.”

She began brushing her lush pink hair, sweeping it all to one side.

“While we’re at it, wouldn’t it be nice to have black eyes that you can’t tell who’s reflected in them?”

The princess, who had been frowning, looked in the mirror and spoke in a nightingale-like voice.

“Stop talking nonsense.”

Prince Tessler liked seeing his reflection in Zelda’s clear pink eyes.

Zelda with black eyes… It didn’t suit her at all.

No matter that she was his younger sister, he couldn’t help but sigh when she threw such unreasonable tantrums.

“You, did you really not know that guy was a prince of the Partsha Empire?”

Prince Tessler asked, pressing his hand to his forehead.

“If I had known, would I have betrayed Norton and followed the royal knights? But it’s strange. Why did he hide from me that he was a prince?”

“Haa, that might have been because there was a bloodbath within the Partsha imperial family at the time.”

“Ah, you mean when the 2nd Prince killed the 1st Prince and started a rebellion?”

“Yes. That’s why he came to the Northern Continent, he probably didn’t want to reveal his identity.”

‘Bastard, that doesn’t mean you had to survive falling off a cliff, does it? As the 3rd Prince.’

Prince Tessler sneered bitterly.

“I need to meet Norton.”

Princess Resilia, who had been rolling her eyes and biting her nails, said with a determined look.