The large sealed room without any windows was filled with various rare taxidermy specimens.

The head of a rare silver deer hung limply on the black wallpaper, and tiny spirits caught from fairy forests were contained by color in glass jars placed on a white table.

“Hm, hm, hm~”

Arthur, the owner of the sealed room, continuously hummed a tune in his private workshop located in a corner of the room.

Arthur’s platinum hair shimmered in the light of the lamp hanging on the wall.

A butterfly with wave patterns emitting a blue glow from its entire body frantically flapped its wings in his hand, trying to stay alive.

“I’ll let you live, even if it’s inside a taxidermy frame. Because I’m generous.”

Arthur smiled as he placed the living butterfly into a square taxidermy frame.

The butterfly, which had been vigorously flapping its wings inside the frame, soon went limp, as if realizing it was trapped.

“You’ve given up already? Hey. Try harder!”

Arthur tapped the frame with his hand, as if displeased.

After weakly fluttering its wings a few times, the butterfly eventually refused to emit light on its own.

Arthur clicked his tongue and shoved the frame into the trash can.

“Why do beautiful things never last long? Is there really no way to permanently preserve living things in their fresh state?”

In response to Arthur’s mumblings, the middle-aged butler with a monocle, who had been silently watching him from a corner, announced the current time.

“Master, the current time is thirty-two minutes past noon. It has been two years and two hundred sixty-four days since you locked yourself in this sealed room to conduct research, and exactly that long since I have been handling all the tasks you should be doing…”

“…”

“Master? Are you listening to me?”

Arthur was completely lost in his own thoughts.

The middle-aged butler pushed up his monocle and let out a deep sigh.

“I don’t understand why the master, once called a genius magician, is attempting to taxidermy living things. Originally, living creatures have a strong tendency to resist when in danger, making it impossible to maintain them in a fresh state.”

“…”

Damn, persuasion is hopeless today too.

The butler closed his eyes with a heavy heart.

“Even such tiny creatures can’t endure being trapped in a narrow frame for a few minutes, so it would be impossible with living humans.”

Arthur muttered. The butler felt a chill down his spine at his voice, which was as thick as a swamp.

“Master, who exactly are you trying to taxidermy?”

“No, if I actually see them and they don’t meet my expectations, I might be too heartbroken to get up… Should I just keep the anticipation in my heart? Never seeing them at all.”

“So, who are you talking about now?”

Arthur’s golden eyes glowed yellow like a snake’s.

With skin so pale it seemed like he had never seen sunlight for even a day, he might have been mistaken for a corpse if not for the piercing light in his eyes.

“The angel of Brillion. Do you know about it, butler?”

“…Yes, I’ve heard of it.”

“There are rumors that it’s truly, truly beautiful, but if the real thing doesn’t live up to those rumors, I think I’ll be very heartbroken. For something not beautiful to pretend to be beautiful. I absolutely cannot tolerate such a cruel act.”

What a pervert. The butler swallowed the curse words in his throat.

However, it was good that he was showing interest in someone.

At least it meant he had some will to leave this sealed room.

“As a matter of fact, Duke Gredrick sent a letter this time.”

As soon as the name Duke Gredrick came out of the butler’s mouth, Arthur frowned sharply.

“Why that cunning bastard? We’re not even close.”

“…Well, I brought it right away to show you first, Master.”

The butler took out the letter from his chest and handed it to Arthur.

Arthur, who had been reading the letter with a bored expression at first, was so excited by the time he read the last line that he let out a flushed moan with reddened cheeks.

“Ah! I need to go to the imperial palace right now.”

“So in other people’s eyes, we’re officially lovers now?”

At Celiya’s words, Dietrich’s movements as he was cutting his steak stopped.

Dietrich quietly looked at Celiya.

As he stopped what he was doing and looked at her, Celiya pressed firmly between his eyebrows.

“Your brow. It’s furrowed.”

Dietrich smoothed out his furrowed brow without showing any signs of displeasure.

Seeing this, Celiya let out a soft laugh.

“Why aren’t you getting angry?”

“Why should I be angry at you? We’re lovers after all.”

At Dietrich’s words, which were prone to misunderstanding, this time it was Celiya’s brow that furrowed.

Why was he talking about their fake relationship as if it were real?

“Your brow is furrowed,” Dietrich said, returning Celiya’s words to her.

However, since he couldn’t touch Celiya’s forehead with the hand holding his utensils, he didn’t press between her eyebrows like she had done to him.

Instead, he fed Celiya a piece of steak that he had cut into bite-sized pieces.

Her soft lips parted and she deliciously ate the steak he gave her.

Celiya’s eyes widened as she chewed the steak, savoring it in her mouth.

Dietrich watched with a gentle expression as she happily chewed, seemingly savoring the steak.

Dietrich continuously fed her the food that Celiya seemed to enjoy.

Feeding her one piece, then another piece.

Dietrich focused solely on feeding Celiya without taking a single bite himself.

Feeling like she was the only one eating, Celiya offered Dietrich a piece of steak.

“You eat too.”

“…”

“Come on.”

When Celiya urged him again, Dietrich reluctantly ate a piece of steak.

Dietrich ate the steak with a grave expression.

Seeing this, Celiya smiled, her eyes crinkling.

“It seems much more delicious eating with you.”

At Celiya’s words, Dietrich felt a tickling sensation in his chest.

‘…Tickling?’

Dietrich felt this sensation for the first time in his life.

So, he couldn’t tell exactly where this tickling was coming from.

When Dietrich suddenly made a serious face, Celiya tilted her head.

“What’s wrong?”

“…Nothing.”

Dietrich fed Celiya some food.

After finishing the mashed potato soup and steak, vanilla ice cream and sweet macarons were served for dessert.

“By the way, didn’t the mansion not have a chef originally?”

“…Actually, my assistant Anderson is good at cooking. I asked him to be the chef for a while.”

“Ah…”

Celiya paid deep respect in her heart to Anderson, who must have cooked with tears in his eyes.

The vanilla ice cream and macarons made by Anderson were incredibly delicious.

“Hey, Ileon. You knew everything from the beginning, didn’t you?”

Those were the first words Balt uttered when he came directly to the palace where Ileon was staying.

Ileon, who had been reading a thick bible, raised one eyebrow.

“What do you mean I knew everything?”

“That the Crown Prince would be confined in the tower and effectively deposed, that the Crown Prince’s face would be ruined, and…”

Balt’s dark gray eyes flashed sharply.

“Don’t tell me, you’re planning to break the covenant that has lasted for hundreds of years? To sit on the throne?”

I hate quick-witted guys like this.

Ileon, hiding his thoughts, feigned ignorance and asked back.

“What covenant? Balt, do you think I did all this to take the throne?”

“Don’t play dumb. To have planned all this. You cunning bastard…”

The smile on Ileon’s expression disappeared as if it had never been there.

“It’s fine if you insult me, but don’t blaspheme the god I serve by calling him cunning. I can’t forgive such a statement, even from you.”

“…You, do you still believe in that nonsensical prophecy?”

Balt looked utterly disgusted.

“Do you know how many people have died because of that damned ‘prophecy’? When I think about that time…, I want to cut off my own wrist that signed without any suspicion, believing your words.”

“…”

“Don’t joke around too much. If you really want to sit on the throne, use proper methods. Don’t use dirty tricks like back then. You damned fanatic.”

With those final words, Balt left the room.

Bang!

The door closed violently.

The expression of Ileon, who always wore a gentle face, became terribly distorted.

He had thought Balt was just a fool with unnecessarily large muscles, but he was indeed the head of the Portman ducal family.

“I brought him thinking he’d be useful, but he’s turned into poison instead.”

Ileon gathered himself by praying to the god he served. After finishing his prayer, he opened the bible from the first page.

Although there have been some unpleasant occurrences here and there, everything will flow according to the natural order.

God has always been on his side, and he is the one and only being connected to God.

But why.

The image of Dietrich and Celiya he saw earlier kept lingering in his mind.

Ileon saw through at a glance that the two had coordinated in advance to announce that they were a dramatically united couple.

No matter what conspiracy they might be plotting, they would look like a loving couple in others’ eyes.

It wasn’t a bad judgment.

But.

‘It can’t be seen as just a fake relationship…’

Despite being fake lovers, the two looked genuinely happy.

‘It’s truly strange.’

Even for Ileon, who had the insight to see through people, the two acted so well that he was confused about whether they were real lovers or fake ones.

‘…I’ll know if I watch a bit longer.’

He has many cards in his hand. So there’s no reason to be hasty.