Ariel’s small figure standing alone between the two largest people in the banquet hall was enough to draw everyone’s attention. Moreover, the current situation was a great prey for nobles who liked to gossip about others.

“I told you to let go, didn’t I?”

The lowered voice had the power to overwhelm the other party. Ariel stared blankly at Kaius, forgetting even the pain in her wrist.

Could it be? Is he worried about me?

It might have simply been gentlemanly behavior, but the size of her hope that he might accept her proposal grew a little larger.

As the murmurs around them grew louder, wondering if a fight might break out, Ariel hurriedly opened her mouth. She had to step in and resolve this situation herself. There was absolutely no way that Ludvian, the Duke of the Demon Realm, would listen to the words of Kaius, a human.

“Let go of this. Now.”

Ludvian chuckled at Ariel’s quiet but firm tone and obediently released her wrist. However, he immediately extended his hand without hesitation and asked her to dance. Sighing wearily at the sight, Ariel politely greeted Kaius to send him back to his seat.

“Duke, it was a pleasure.”

I’ll see you later.

Instead of voicing those words she couldn’t say out loud, she expressed her affection only with her eyes. However, Kaius, unaware of Ludvian’s threats, tilted his head at the sight of Ariel bidding farewell to him.

She seemed to offer him everything first, but afterwards, she was always with that man.

Marriage. Festival. Dance. It was all the same.

As if to show off.

Kaius, who had been quietly watching Ariel, turned away. A sneer escaped between his lips as he began to walk slowly. Although it wasn’t the marriage he had wanted, the current situation was not particularly welcome. Kaius, returning to his seat, stopped and turned back to look at her again.

Hands touching another man. Seeing the red marks left on Ariel’s white wrist, Kaius’s brow furrowed involuntarily. With a strange displeasure, Kaius turned his gaze away from her.

“Your Excellency.”

Lemon, who had been watching the scene from afar, was so flabbergasted that he tried to say something, but when he met the insensitive gaze of His Excellency, the words were swallowed back. He had to wait since a decision had not yet been made. Sighing, Lemon filled the empty glass that His Excellency had held out with wine.

Ariel, whose good mood had sunk to the bottom in an instant, quietly sighed. She suddenly couldn’t understand this demon. He just needed to grow flowers, why did he want to dance? Ariel’s eyes became fierce on their own.

“Are you thinking of marrying that man?”

Unlike usual, Ludvian addressed her without a smile. His voice seemed to have sunk as well. Ariel tilted her head at his change but that was all.

“Isn’t that obvious? He is my fiancé. Even if we get married, I’ll grow the flowers as promised, so don’t worry.”

He was probably anxious about that and kept trying to interfere, so it would be enough to reassure him.

“I’ll send the oil to the Duke’s house with someone. They can pretend to be delivering news from Letiana.”

“You’ve already thought that far, I see.”

Of course. I’ve been thinking about such things for the past year. Although she hoped Ludvian wouldn’t follow her to the Empire, that wouldn’t happen. Even in the past, when she liked him, he had come to keep an eye on her.

“Please don’t think about coming yourself.”

Although he probably wouldn’t listen, she wanted to say it anyway.

“Let’s take it slow. You might not even get married.”

“…?”

Does he perhaps know something? Like Kaius came with divorce in mind or something like that. Ariel, whose heart raced at Ludvian’s words, felt this performance was too long. After briefly glaring at the innocent musicians, when Ariel shifted her gaze to Kaius, he seemed to be chatting with the person who was said to have come as the representative of the delegation, sitting with his long legs crossed.

Meanwhile, Kaius couldn’t readily answer Count Hamond’s question about when the engagement would take place. As he unconsciously looked around for Ariel’s location, Count Hamond spoke again.

“She’s a beautiful person, isn’t she? When I saw her before, she had dazzling silver hair, but it seems to have changed a bit as time passed. I think her eye color has changed too.”

Silver hair?

While it wasn’t strange for appearances to change as one grows up, as it applies to everyone, usually eye color and hair color don’t change. Kaius, who had been quietly looking at her, slowly put down the wine glass he had been drinking from, feeling a bit frustrated.

“Lemon, there’s something I need you to find out right now.”

Kaius instructed Lemon to obtain portraits of Ariel from three years ago to the present, then leisurely rose from his seat.

He walked slowly towards the exit, directly staring at Ariel the entire time. They had made eye contact several times, so his intention must have been sufficiently conveyed.

Since she saw, she’ll probably follow.

His footsteps led to a garden where roses were in full bloom.

Kaius went deep into the garden and found a bench far from the streetlights. As he sat down, a dark shadow of the moon enveloped him. Kaius, leaning back deeply, crossed his long legs and habitually took out a cigar and put it in his mouth. However, just before lighting it, he realized that this place was not appropriate for smoking cigars.

Exhaling a shallow sigh, Kaius loosened his tie and unbuttoned the top button of his shirt.

Ariel von Letiana.

A princess of a failing country. A woman forcibly matched by Emperor Hart who disliked him. She might even act as the Emperor’s spy. And there was another man too. If that was all, there would be no need to worry this much, but.

She had the healing power that he desperately needed.

But giving up everything for that one thing was not a small weight for the name of Elbartan to bear.

As he blinked slowly, the sound of light footsteps reached his ears. Turning his head slightly to check, it was Princess Ariel. As expected, she had come looking for him.

Should I get up now and reveal my location?

Kaius contemplated for a moment but decided to observe a bit more. As her footsteps slowly approached where he was, Kaius unconsciously held his breath.

Due to the Letianan dress that revealed her ankles, her thin white ankles contrasted with blue shoes appeared and disappeared repeatedly in the streetlight with each step.

“I thought he would be here… Maybe not?”

Ariel, who let out a small sigh, finally approached the front of the dark bench.

“Ah!”

She tripped over his outstretched legs and fell. As he leaned forward from his deep-seated position to catch her as she lost her balance, his figure, hidden in the darkness, was revealed in the moonlight.

Kaius pulled her towards him and embraced her as she started to struggle, startled as if she had seen something she shouldn’t have. If he hadn’t done so, she would have rolled on the ground ungracefully. This much seemed to fulfill the role of a fiancé.

Ariel was shocked almost to the point of fainting when she realized that she was now sitting on Kaius’s lap, embraced by him. Ariel, who instantly separated from him, turned her back and tried to calm her trembling heart.

After a long while, Ariel turned back and began to apologize.

“I’m sorry. It was dark and there was no sign of anyone…”

“Are you saying it’s my fault for not making my presence known?”

Kaius’s low voice was intimidating. His ability to make people feel intimidated with just his voice was still the same.

“No. That’s not what I meant.”

Kaius let out a light laugh at her quickly shaking her head at his words.

“…?”

Ariel was puzzled by his laughter. She opened her mouth to ask why he was laughing, but the question only lingered in her mouth at his emotionless gaze staring at her.

“Thank you for helping me not to get hurt, Duke. And, I’ve been looking for you.”

She had apologized and expressed her gratitude, so now she had to state her business. But she hesitated, feeling a bit embarrassed to get straight to the point.

Should I just ask directly?

What if he refuses then? What should I do then? As she was letting out a quiet sigh amidst these thoughts, he slowly rose to his feet. One step that had involuntarily stepped back due to his large presence was barely brought back to its place.

“Let’s walk together.”

Ariel nodded instead of answering. She gently grabbed Kaius’s sleeve as he started walking in the direction she had come from.

“Not that way, this way.”

Ariel gestured towards the opposite direction from where he was about to go, precisely towards a slightly darker place deeper in the garden.

His gaze, which had been fixed on the dark place for a long time, moved to her face. Then that gaze slowly moved downward.

It touched her thin neck and completely exposed collarbone, which he had consciously tried not to look at, then the emphasized chest line below, before moving back to her face and lingering on her lips.

Kaius’s Adam’s apple moved slowly at her words asking to go to a dark place alone with a man in such attire.

Feeling his gaze, Ariel turned her body to show her back. The back was not much different. Her white shoulders were fully exposed.

Ariel had only wanted to go to a dark place because she was worried that Ludvian would come looking for her if she was out of sight for too long. She became concerned that Kaius might have some strange misunderstanding because of her outfit.

“Don’t misunderstand.”

Today’s outfit was definitely a mistake.

Ariel kept pulling up the shoulder line of her dress that had fallen. But doing so made the chest line go down even more, leaving her at a loss, unable to do either.

Thud.

A large jacket warmly wrapped around her small shoulders. Ariel turned her head in surprise, and his hot breath tickled her cheek.