“Ah, no! Don’t misunderstand!”

I cried out, feeling my face flush hot.

“……I’m sorry for interrupting your pleasant time.”

However, Anselot gave a crooked smile, bowed, and disappeared.

I was misunderstood! And quite thoroughly at that!

“We’ll talk again later, Maria!”

After hastily saying goodbye to Maria, I immediately ran after Anselot.

“Wait, Anselot!”

And I caught up to Anselot, who hadn’t gone far yet.

“It’s a misunderstanding!”

Forgetting that I had been upset with Anselot, I blurted out with a bright red face.

“What is there to misunderstand?”

“That, well…! Come this way!”

I grabbed Anselot and led him into an empty terrace.

Then I passionately poured out my grievances.

“This is all the System and Piya’s scheme! They gave me strange choices, saying to pursue that woman and whatnot!”

I explained so fervently that I was panting.

“Alright, I believe you since you’re saying it like this.”

Anselot chuckled and handed me a box.

“Take this, Your Highness.”

“What is this?”

“A gift.”

Then he said in a low voice:

“I can’t promise I’ll be by your side from now on. I’m sorry.”

“Oh…. No. I’m sorry for getting upset over nothing.”

I replied, tapping the floor with the tip of my shoe.

“You don’t have to do that. You have your own path to follow, so I understand…”

“But, you were hurt.”

Anselot interrupted me.

“You were hurt, Your Highness.”

“……”

I held my breath for a moment at his red eyes staring straight into mine.

Because as he said, the realm of understanding and the realm of emotions were different.

“I don’t want Your Highness to force a smile while suppressing your hurt feelings.”

“……”

“Because that’s ultimately because of me too.”

He muttered a faint whisper with a self-deprecating smile.

“When you say it like that, it makes me feel even more sorry.”

Just this morning, I was upset with Anselot and even disliked him.

I felt sorry for him for considering my feelings first, even with my actions that might have seemed like tantrums.

“Did you bring a gift to cheer me up?”

“Even if I’m not here, as long as Your Highness doesn’t throw it away, this will remain.”

“So, what is this?”

“Open it and see.”

Anselot gave a gentle eye smile.

I carefully pulled the ribbon and opened the box.

Inside was a small dragon figurine.

“…!”

My eyes widened in recognition.

“This…! This is a sacred object!”

It was a statue of the God of Light, Rus, and the Light Dragon, Helheim, found in every temple.

This crazy Anselot had taken it!

“How could you take a sacred object!”

“It’s my feelings for Your Highness.”

Anselot smiled broadly, his eyes narrowing into crescents.

“You… madman…”

I realized anew that while I couldn’t spit on a smiling face, I could still curse.

“Quickly put this back! I don’t want to become a criminal in a far-off country!”

“What’s the big deal? It’s fine, I brought it without anyone knowing.”

“That’s not the issue here!”

If caught, we’d be immediately arrested for blasphemy and theft.

“If anyone says anything, just mention my name. Then no one will be able to say anything.”

“My infamy has already increased because of you!”

“I worked hard all day to bring this, are you not going to accept it?”

“Even so, how could you steal a sacred object…!”

“Then Your Highness can put it back in its place.”

“……”

If I tried to return the sacred object, I would surely be caught by the temple priests.

In the end, I decided to quietly accept the gift.

“What’s the big deal? We’re going through all this trouble because of that Light God nonsense, so let’s just keep this gift with peace of mind.”

If my mother in Azester had heard that, she would have been extremely pleased.

If he was going to take something, he should have taken Rus’s statue, why did he take Helheim?

Was he trying to reminisce about our memory of defeating the dragon together or something?

Anyway, I couldn’t follow his thinking.

I sighed deeply and looked at the dragon statuette.

Though each temple has these statues, they differ slightly according to regional characteristics.

Uniquely, Azester displayed this in the imperial historical museum rather than in a temple, and it was so large and majestic that one had to crane their neck back to look up at it.

But Luenhart’s statue was as small as Piya.

That’s because Luenhart’s statue was made by carving jewels. If it had been made as large as Azester’s, it would have cost an enormous amount of money.

I stared at the sparkling white dragon.

The Light Dragon, Helheim.

‘The Dark God Nox, who lost his divinity due to the Light God Rus’s scheme, became the Light Dragon Helheim.’

I remembered the story Anselot had told me once.

“You said the Dark God became the Light Dragon. But this statue is white.”

I vaguely thought it would be covered in black scales since it was the Dark God.

I didn’t know because Azester’s statue was colorless, but Helheim was a snow-white dragon.

“Because even darkness was taken away by Rus, and he was driven to the mortal realm.”

Red jewels were set in Helheim’s eyes.

Perhaps because the carving was so intricate and detailed.

Even though it was the terrifying Light Dragon I had to defeat, I thought it was beautiful.

So while I was staring at it as if entranced, Anselot asked:

“It’s pretty, isn’t it?”

“Yes.”

I nodded.

“It’s so pretty, yet it’s the villain we have to defeat. That’s sad.”

Then Anselot smiled with satisfaction.

“Why are you looking so pleased?”

“I’m glad it seems to be to Your Highness’s liking.”

“Well… I was surprised, but it is pretty.”

“Then are you a little less upset now?”

“W-Who said I was upset?”

I jumped up, strongly denying it.

Of course, I had been visibly upset to the point where even the oblivious Klaus, Ilei with his childlike mentality, and even Piya who wasn’t even human could tell.

“Right. Your Highness was never upset.”

Anselot readily agreed with me.

That made my heart feel ticklish for no reason.

I stared intently at the statuette.

My face reflected in the red jewels of the statue looked particularly flushed.

[This is the timeline separator]

Meanwhile, Maria, who was left alone on the terrace, had lost all traces of the kind smile that had been on her face just moments ago.

Maria glared at the spot where Luibel and Anselot had disappeared with eerie eyes.

Maria Blair.

She, who had manifested holy power and become a saint of the capital’s temple, was originally of common birth.

Because of this, there were noble ladies who looked down on her, but Maria was not the type to meekly submit to them.

However, just now she had put on airs, conscious of Luibel who would have attended this gathering.

When she had accidentally encountered Luibel on the street, Maria felt a powerful sense of destiny.

Without a doubt! This person is my destiny, bestowed upon me by the Goddess of Love, Amor!

She was a noble, beautiful, and splendid person incomparable to the countless men who had hit on her until now.

It wasn’t difficult to learn that her name was Luibel.

Immediately after she and her companions left, rumors swept through the streets that Prince Salto had returned.

And Luibel’s name was invariably mixed in with the rumors about Prince Salto.

She truly was as beautiful, brave, and kind as the distant rumors had said.

How did such a person fall in love with Salto?

Although she knew the noble ladies would be annoying, the reason she attended the party today was all because of the expectation that she might encounter Luibel again.

But Prince Anselot interfered with her fateful meeting with Luibel.

She already disliked him, thinking that the noble Luibel’s reputation had worsened because of Salto.

On top of that, seeing Prince Anselot next to Luibel, they didn’t even seem to match well.

“I need to separate Prince Anselot. Our Luibel’s reputation is falling along with Salto’s.”

Huhuhu.

An ominous laugh escaped from between Maria’s lips.

“Wait for me, Lady Luibel. This Maria will save you from Salto’s clutches.”

[This is the timeline separator]

After safely storing the statuette Anselot had gifted me in my inventory, I returned to the party hall with him.

“Oh right, Anselot. About Prince Arno. He was supposed to be one of the key figures in this scenario…”

As I was trying to explain about Arno to Anselot, Crown Prince Enger spotted us and approached.

“We meet again, Princess Luibel.”

It was admirable how he approached so steadfastly again, despite having heard harsh words from Anselot just a day ago.

Anselot seemed to have the same thought, as he poured out harsh content in a gentle voice.

“Didn’t I tell you to remove your filthy mouth and eyes?”

“A familiar name caught my ear, and my feet were drawn here before I knew it, Uncle.”

However, Enger did not back down and smiled gently towards me.

“I heard Brother Arno’s name, is that correct?”

“Yes. I was actually looking for him, where is Prince Arno now?”

“Brother Arno…”

Enger glanced at Anselot and continued slowly.

“He met his fate at the hands of Uncle Anselot a few years ago.”

“What?”

I gaped in shock.

The next part of the story was supposed to unfold with a duel between Prince Arno and myself, but Salto had twisted the original work!

‘Then the next quest is…!’

As I was in confusion, a system notification sound rang out.

[SYSTEM] Quest arrived!

[Main Quest: Love and Duel! (2/3)]

Luenhart’s Salto threatens your love. Defeat in a duel to humiliate him, and win the love of !

▷Clear condition: Victory in duel with , Spectator

▶Reward upon success: Experience +27150, Skill points +10, Festival date with