During the time she faced him, her mind thought.

How to make up an excuse to avoid suspicion.

A late night walk? But that wasn’t enough reason to be lingering in front of the annex. Then suddenly she remembered the paper she had scribbled on earlier that day. Yes, that would be sufficient. Ariel, who had prepared an excuse, asked him first without entering:

“Are you injured again?”

The act was perfect. The worried voice and expression. Even the gaze directed at his injured arm.

“But why are you here? Did you come looking for me? Do you need treatment?”

Kaius, who had been staring at her, nodded slowly. After confirming this, Ariel swallowed her laughter before crossing the threshold of the annex.

Passing by him and entering, Ariel immediately approached the bed and said to him:

“Take off your clothes and lie down.”

A chuckle escaped Kaius’s lips at Ariel’s bold words. She had entered without hesitation even after seeing he wasn’t seriously injured, and now she was telling him to undress.

Quite fearless indeed.

Kaius approached Ariel with long strides. It was close enough to touch if he reached out.

“How did you know?”

Kaius asked, staring into Ariel’s eyes as if trying to find something hidden.

“Know what?”

As if to say, what do you mean? At her innocent look of questioning, another chuckle escaped Kaius’s lips.

“Let me rephrase. Why did you come here?”

Without a moment’s hesitation, Ariel turned her head towards the desk and said:

“I left something behind. If you’re not here for treatment, I’ll be going now. It’s too late.”

As Ariel walked to the desk, Kaius snickered. He had just seen the contents written on that paper earlier.

Contract marriage. Greenhouse. Flower. Treatment. Secret. 1 year. Divorce. Dragon. A word starting with ‘Ma’ with the end erased. Except for a few incomprehensible words, they were all related to him.

If his intuition had been that of an ordinary person, he would have been completely fooled by her, but Kaius was a warrior who dealt with auras. Her hesitant gestures in front of the door several times. The sound of quiet sighs. Judging from those, it was certain that she hadn’t come just to find that piece of paper.

But he decided to pretend to be fooled by her cute lie. Thanks to her appearance, he was the one benefiting.

Kaius sat on the bed and unbuttoned his shirt. Ariel, who had retrieved the paper, checked that he was quietly undressing and let out a sigh of relief.

Ariel’s face flushed when she saw his bare body without wounds. If they got married, she would have to treat him often. It didn’t seem like something she could ever get used to.

Hurriedly shifting her gaze to his eyes, Ariel untied her hair ribbon and covered his eyes.

“I don’t mind how you change.”

“But I do.”

Ariel removed the artifact and began the treatment.

“Is Berry House preparing well for the ‘Le Cordon Bleu’ competition?”

Emperor Hart asked Catherine, who was sitting opposite him in a neat attire, drinking tea.

“They seem to be focusing more on desserts, thinking there won’t be much difference in steaks.”

“Desserts are good for attracting people’s attention these days. Still haven’t found out what Kaldenbach is preparing?”

“No, not yet.”

Catherine answered casually. Taking a bite of the soft bread in her hand, she smiled as softly as the bread.

Although the representative of Berry House was her father, Duke Lantiano, most of the important ideas came from Catherine. Even the hotel project in the capital was an opportunity that Catherine had goaded out of her father and Emperor Hart.

The nobles of the capital didn’t want change.

They still wanted to be superior to others and to be treated well. But Kaldenbach didn’t give them that. Knowing that Kaldenbach was at the forefront of change, they failed this time. It was Berry House that exploited this gap.

Le Cordon Bleu. All the judges would be nobles, and they wouldn’t side with Kaldenbach. So no matter what they prepared, Berry House was sure to be the winner.

“Didn’t you say you had a distant relative staying at the Elbartan ducal house? Why don’t you try to recruit that woman?”

Emperor Hart, holding a steak knife, saw Catherine’s smiling face.

“Looks like you’ve already done it. As always, I like how quick you are to act.”

Emperor Hart chuckled and began cutting his steak. Catherine’s brow furrowed slightly at the sight of blood oozing from the meat.

“I didn’t recruit her because I thought we’d lose. It’s just a precaution for any unforeseen circumstances.”

Emperor Hart raised an eyebrow.

“Kaius will move personally, won’t he?”

“Even so.”

Catherine’s confident attitude satisfied Emperor Hart. He was willing to support anyone who could bring down Kaius’s high nose. As he chewed the meat, Emperor Hart’s face hardened. Spitting the meat into an empty bowl, he rang the bell to call a servant.

“Fire the person who cooked this, and bring me a new one.”

Emperor Hart’s picky eating habits were famous. It hadn’t always been like that. Kaius von Elbartan. It was said that he changed after tasting the steak that Kaius ate as a child. Jealousy had even changed his eating habits.

“The treatment is done. Do you still need more time to give an answer?”

Ariel, who had untied the ribbon covering Kaius’s eyes, asked while turning away, uncomfortable with his naked appearance. When the sound of dressing stopped, Ariel glanced at him sideways. Seeing him brushing back his fallen hair with all buttons fastened, she turned back towards him.

“Why do you want to marry me? If it’s because of the pressure from the empire, I could break off the engagement.”

“No!”

Gasp.

Seeing Kaius’s raised eyebrows, Ariel belatedly realized her mistake. That she had acted too hastily.

But patience is a luxury of those who have it. She didn’t have that kind of time.

“I’ll often be injured like today or last night, can you always treat me?”

“Yes! Of course. I’ll treat you anytime, even if I have to wake up in the middle of the night.”

Kaius’s face became calmer than before at the quick and firm answer without a moment’s hesitation.

In this deal, all she could gain was the gold mine he would pay to King Leon as the price of marriage. Clearly, it would be the best solution for him to break off the engagement, yet she refused.

This deal was unfair.

A deal that was only good for him.

Most of this kind of thing usually had something hidden, and that hidden thing eventually caused problems. It was precisely this fact that made him hesitate to agree to the deal readily.

As if trying to find that something, Kaius held her gaze and wouldn’t let go.

“Tell me.”

“Pardon?”

“The reason you want to marry.”

To save you. Because you’re about to die because of me. This was the truth, but how could one say such a thing unless they were out of their mind?

“Well, because of the promise with the empire…”

“Not that. The real reason.”

Ariel felt breathless under Kaius’s sharp gaze that seemed to pierce through to her heart. The flimsy excuse seemed far from enough to convince him.

What words would dissolve his suspicion?

Ariel turned her head away, uncomfortable with his direct gaze, but Kaius’s hand cupped her cheek, drawing her back to him.

“Well… Actually, I greatly admire you, Your Grace. Things like your victory in the battle against the demon realm or your business acumen. Along with the previous reason, I thought I could learn a lot by your side for about a year. You know the situation in Letiana well.”

She blurted out the hastily conceived thought without avoiding his gaze. It wasn’t entirely a lie, so it wasn’t too difficult to convey sincerity. She didn’t know if he would believe it, but for now, no other reason came to mind.

But at her words, the corner of Kaius’s lips twisted, and the hand cupping Ariel’s cheek slightly tightened.

“You expect me to believe that?”

“Yes. It’s the truth.”

A sneer escaped between his lips at the thought that she was telling lies so well with such an innocent face.

“Why don’t you just say it’s to act as Emperor Hart’s spy? That he’d forgive your debt if you did?”

Kaius had been suspicious of this all along, and finally voiced it.

“That’s not true!”

Ariel shouted in an angry voice. She seemed quite upset, and heat radiated from her cheek in his grasp. Twisting her head to escape Kaius’s grip, she continued:

“Don’t insult me! I won’t do such things as spying. It’s true that Emperor Hart threatened marriage with the debt, but that’s all.”

Ariel boldly glared at Kaius with wide eyes. Her gaze was fierce, as if asserting her innocence.

Ariel’s words, expressing with her whole body that it wasn’t a lie, were sincere.

Kaius knew it instinctively. Five years of experience as a commander in the army had given him at least that much ability. So, was it really for such a trivial reason?

“It’s true. That’s the only reason.”

Ariel conveyed another sincere lie to erase the doubt from Kaius’s eyes. And she thought it had worked.

After staring at Ariel for a long time, Kaius’s hand moved towards her face again. She tried to avoid it belatedly, but he was faster. His fingertips, which had been slowly caressing her cheek, touched her lips. Surprised, Ariel tried to back away, but his hand applied pressure, preventing her from moving.

“What are you…”

While she blinked, unable to understand his unfamiliar behavior, his fingertips slowly traced her lips.

“W-wait.”

Ariel, her face burning hot, once again twisted her head to escape his grip. Kaius let her go easily, letting out a chuckle.

“You said you admired me.”

Ariel, who had distanced herself from him, covered her lips with the back of her hand.

“This has nothing to do with admiration.”

As Kaius narrowed the gap again, Ariel ran to the door in an instant. When he didn’t stop walking, she, her mind in a panic, opened the door and fled.

It wasn’t until she entered the corridor leading to her bedroom after leaving the annex that she realized she hadn’t heard his answer again.

“I thought he was going to agree…”

She hesitated and looked back, but she was a bit afraid to return to the annex.