The uproarious Cassel Montra suddenly quieted down.

Then, Evie, who had been sitting on his back, got up and kicked the man with her foot.

Cassel collapsed on the spot as if he had lost consciousness, and Zion, who had been watching the spectacle from afar, felt very strange.

“I knew he wasn’t ordinary, but….”

I didn’t know he’d go that far.

From a tower where he could see the whole rose garden, Zion watched Evie rubbing her foot against Cassel Montra’s back, half admiring and half bewildered.

Just a few hours earlier, Evie had fainted from shock at Cassel’s behavior.

So Zion naturally assumed Evie would be dejected when she woke up again. He thought she would cry when she hung her head and shrugged her shoulders.

But instead, Evie, who had lifted her head, didn’t cry, but with a face flushed with anger, immediately found pen and paper. Then, she began to scribble something as if pouring out her hatred.

With a quill in hand, Evie muttered phrases like “An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, a back for a back,” “There will be a storm of blood tonight,” laughing ominously, and Zion continued to watch her, wondering what to do.

But afterwards, Evie didn’t give Zion a chance to interfere.

Instead, after finishing the paperwork, she thanked Zion with a bow and a nod. Then, stepping on chairs and furniture, she scrambled up the secret passage in the ceiling. With a nonchalant hand that Zion had carelessly reached out, she returned alone to her room.

Thus, Zion, who was left alone, suffered from a peculiar sense of isolation.

Until now, problems arising in his territory had always been reported to him first.

This was the case at the border in the east and also in a small village in the southeast of Biss. Whether he held the position of commanderinchief or a meanspirited teacher, he had always been in a position to hear and solve the appeals of those around him.

But Evie, right next to him, who he had laid down and even treated during her collapse, ignored Zion and quickly went on her way.

This made Zion feel somewhat abandoned, and he had to ponder where this irrational emotion came from.

Eventually, the conclusion he came to was rather lame, even to his own thinking.

Zion Laurel had a duty to protect what was in his territory as a born ruler.

And for complex reasons, Evie Ariate was also defined as someone he needed to protect, and Zion naturally expected Evie to share her troubles and frustrations with him. It was in the same vein as asking how she wanted to deal with the Count the night before.

He thought he would step in if Evie said just one word. Knowing the situation, he was ready to do as she wanted, or maybe even more.

But Evie neither said anything nor asked for help, and went off to fight on her own.

So, the Emperor, preparing for a proxy war, felt quite ignored, even felt that his rights were violated.

In other words, he was disappointed because he thought she would rely on him, but she didn’t.

Of course, the Count, who disliked wasteful things, concluded that this feeling was very unbecoming and useless.

So he tried to ignore this situation. It’s not like she asked for help, so why bother? She can handle it herself, he thought, and tried to brush it off.

But despite such efforts, Zion couldn’t help but leave his room in irritation just half an hour later. He was annoyed because he really didn’t want to interfere, but it kept bothering him.

So the Count, who went on this selfimposed hardship, found Evie without his staff and subordinates, and watched her with eyes that were not very friendly.

If Cassel Montra was about to do something foolish, he was ready to strike him with lightning and pretend not to know.

But Evie, without the satisfaction of Zion watching, subdued Cassel by herself, and thanks to that, Zion was not only feeling isolated but even a faint sense of deprivation.

“…Shall I go back?”

Zion was aware that his current state was pathetic.
So she was about to leave quietly, when suddenly Evie, who had finished venting her anger, pulled at the hem of Cassel’s clothes.

Thus, the man rolled over half a turn and ended up lying down, and Evie brushed her hands off as if she had no more business to deal with. Then she walked towards the peony flowerbed and pulled out the item she had hidden there.

‘What’s that?’

Zion frowned and stared at the object Evie had pulled out.

It can’t be a weapon to cut off the Duke’s breath.

Contrary to Zion’s concern, it was far from a weapon. The quaint object with a handle was a basket that suited a picnic.

Seeing it, Zion’s doubt deepened further.

Why a basket in the middle of the night? Was she packing it to escape?

Zion looked at that unpredictable being with a slightly weary feeling.

But Evie, oblivious to all of this, began to walk briskly towards the other side of the peony garden, shaking the basket like a girl really going on a picnic.

.

.

.

Some time later, the Evie that Zion found again was sitting on a bench located in the corner of the peony garden.