Reina, who had been suppressing her anger with effort, revealed her true colors as soon as she entered the reception room of Dietrich’s mansion.

“How dare you break your promise to me? No matter how lightly you think of me, there’s a limit!”

Gritting her teeth, Reina glared at Dietrich, who had arrived late to the reception room.

The neckline extending over the black collar, the broad shoulders dropping at right angles, and the distinct features.

The red eyes beneath the black eyelashes were as dry as a desert.

Dietrich, with an indifferent face devoid of any emotion, didn’t even offer Reina tea.

“I’m not sure what promise you’re referring to.”

Reina’s entire body trembled at Dietrich’s attitude, which was clearly drawing a line.

“My tolerance for you has its limits. If I just tell my elder brother, that wench would immediately be ki—”

“Princess.”

Dietrich cut off Reina’s words.

“If you touch even a hair on Celiya’s head, your wrist will fly off.”

“…”

“If you harm Celiya, your neck will roll.”

Dietrich no longer maintained any courtesy.

It’s because he had been too lenient that she was trying to climb over him.

He didn’t care about people who clung to him.

But if someone tried to threaten him using Celiya, it was a different story.

“Dietrich!”

Unable to contain her anger, Reina slammed the table with a loud bang.

Dietrich spoke, seemingly unconcerned whether Reina was angry or not.

“It would be better to find someone else to warm your bed. I seem to have a bit of a cleanliness obsession.”

Dietrich pointed to the reception room door with his chin.

“The exit is that way.”

[This is the timeline separator]

“Hahaha!”

Ileon, upon hearing the news, threw his head back and laughed loudly.

Ileon’s subordinate, who had served him for a long time, looked at him curiously, as it was the first time he had seen him laugh so loudly.

Ileon’s younger sister, Reina, had been thoroughly humiliated by Dietrich.

The subordinate had expected him to be upset upon hearing the news, but instead, he was laughing out loud.

The subordinate kept glancing at Ileon nervously.

“What happened to what I mentioned before?”

“…I apologize, but it failed. Since His Majesty’s coronation, Dietrich has completely stopped leaving the mansion. Today, he even had a knight feed the stables, so it seems almost impossible to bring a new person into the mansion right now.”

Upon hearing his subordinate’s words, Ileon thought for a moment, then spoke.

“If we can’t get in, why don’t we draw them out?”

The subordinate blinked, not understanding the incomprehensible words.

“What do you have in mind?”

“Isn’t there a ball in a few days? We should send an invitation then. To Celiya Brillyon.”

The subordinate questioned Ileon’s answer.

“Your Majesty, do you mean to send an invitation only to Celiya Brillyon?”

“If we send it to just one person, the other will inevitably come, so there’s no need to send invitations to both.”

“But without an invitation, it’s impossible to attend the ball. Surely Dietrich wouldn’t disobey orders and come to the ball?”

“Just wait and see. He’ll come, no matter what he has to do.”

[This is the timeline separator]

The sunlight slanting into the room woke Celiya.

Awakening from a deep sleep, Celiya raised her drowsy body.

It seemed like she might have had a bad dream, or mumbled something in her sleep.

‘I think I heard Dietrich’s voice in the middle of it.’

But perhaps due to being in a deep sleep, she couldn’t remember anything he might have said to her.

‘…Was it a dream?’

Celiya tilted her head. She must have been thinking too much about Dietrich last night.

The important thing for her was revenge, but because she had become accustomed to living with Dietrich, she kept getting buried in unnecessary emotions.

The death of her father, the king, and her mother, the mournful cries of the kingdom’s people, were still vivid as if they happened yesterday.

‘Don’t become complacent. Don’t become weak.’

Her heart had gone to Dietrich because she was mentally and physically exhausted.

Her emotions had grown on their own because she wanted to depend on him.

“This is an unnecessary emotion.”

Celiya muttered to herself.

Pressing her hand on the bed, Celiya cast her gaze towards the window.

The sound of birds chirping could be heard through the open window.

The more comfortable her body felt, the more comfortable her mind felt, the more endlessly guilty she became.

The last princess of the Shan Kingdom.

The ill-fated princess of a kingdom that had completely disappeared from the map.

The guilt of being the only survivor tormented Celiya.

Perhaps she had been too relieved that Dietrich was from Inata Principality, an allied country.

If the emperor she had killed wasn’t really her enemy, if the three dukes were her true enemies as Dietrich said, Celiya planned to use her ability on all three dukes at once and then go somewhere where no one knew her to face a lonely death.

For her, emotions were nothing but a luxury.

Celiya slowly closed and opened her eyes.

The green eyes beneath her thick eyelashes sparkled like stars.

At that moment.

Knock knock.

Along with the sound of knocking, Dietrich’s voice was heard.

“Celiya.”

The voice calling her name was unnecessarily affectionate.

“Yes. Come in.”

The door to Celiya’s room opened.

Celiya’s eyes widened at the sight of Dietrich that followed.

It was because Dietrich had personally wheeled in a tray full of food into the room.

Buttered bread, a steak dripping with juices, a savory soup filled with various vegetables, crispy bacon, a fruit salad drenched in various dressings, and even lavender tea.

Celiya looked back and forth between the tray and Dietrich with a face that said, “What’s all this?”

“I thought you might be very hungry.”

Dietrich said nonchalantly as he placed the food from the tray onto the table one by one.

The fragrant smell of the bread and the aroma of the steak seemed to revive an appetite that hadn’t been there before.

Dietrich moved a chair from the table closer to Celiya’s bed, then scooped up some soup with a spoon and brought it to Celiya’s mouth.

“I can eat by myself.”

At Celiya’s words, Dietrich’s brow furrowed slightly.

Celiya felt puzzled by his expression, which somehow seemed displeased even though she said she could eat on her own.

“Why?”

“…”

Dietrich was silent for a moment, then asked Celiya.

“Can you really eat by yourself?”

Celiya felt bewildered by Dietrich’s attitude, as if he was dealing with a newborn baby.

Of course, it was true that Dietrich had fed Celiya things before.

‘Come to think of it… Dietrich has always fed me.’

In prison, in the mansion…

Habit was such a frightening thing.

She had become so accustomed to receiving food from Dietrich that she hadn’t noticed anything strange even after speaking.

“You don’t have to feed me anymore from now on.”

Dietrich’s face became incredibly displeased at Celiya’s declaration.

He furrowed his brows sharply and looked at Celiya with a dissatisfied face.

Seeing his face full of discontent, Celiya quickly snatched the spoon from Dietrich’s hand and said,

“Thank you, I’ll eat the food well and enjoy it.”

“…”

“Dietrich?”

Dietrich let out a deep sigh and opened his mouth.

“I’ll apologize for yesterday.”

“What happened?”

“I… made a decision on my own without discussing it with you. And various other things.”

Celiya shook her head at Dietrich’s words.

“You don’t need to apologize. We’re just in a contractual relationship, nothing more, nothing less. So you don’t need to apologize to me.”

As Celiya drew a clear line, a dark shadow fell over Dietrich’s face.

Celiya couldn’t understand why Dietrich was making such a sad expression.

“Why are you making that face? Dietrich.”

“Don’t you remember anything from yesterday?”

“?”

“What you said to me in your sleep.”

Celiya shook her head. She couldn’t understand what Dietrich was talking about at all.

Truly, she couldn’t remember anything.

“…Did I say something to you in my sleep?”

Dietrich didn’t hide his hurt expression.

But only for a moment, Dietrich returned to his usual dry face.

“If you don’t remember, it’s fine.”

Dietrich, who had spoken as if grinding his teeth, rose from the chair.

“Even if you don’t remember, it’s enough that I remember.”

With those final words, Dietrich turned and left the room.

Click.

Celiya stared blankly at the closed door for a while.

[This is the timeline separator]

For the past few days, an unusually peaceful time had passed.

Unlike before, there were no notable incidents or accidents at all.

Ileon, who had become emperor, seemed busy with various tasks, and Balt and Arthur were nowhere to be seen.

What had changed was the relationship between Celiya and Dietrich.

Dietrich didn’t seek out Celiya unless it was absolutely necessary or to bring food.

Before, they would often converse in the room even when there was nothing particular to do, but such occasions had completely ceased.

In this quiet time, like the calm before a storm, Celiya tried to gauge whether the three dukes were really her enemies or not.

But thinking alone didn’t lead to any answers.

After much deliberation, Celiya visited Dietrich’s room.

Knock knock.

As she knocked awkwardly, Dietrich’s voice telling her to come in was heard from beyond the door.

Celiya opened the door and entered.

Dietrich was sitting on a long sofa, his body leaning slightly.

In Dietrich’s hand, resting on the armrest of the sofa, was an invitation.

The invitation was in a tattered state, as if it had been crumpled while being read.

“What’s that invitation for?”

At Celiya’s question, Dietrich handed her the invitation and said,

“It’s an invitation from Ileon to you, for a masquerade ball.”