But the sense of relief did not last long.

As midnight approached, Liz grew restless again.

It was because Monica was lurking in the corridor.

‘Ordered by Mother, no doubt. “Keep a close watch, she’s the future empress, after all,” she must have said.’

To think that this was the kind of attention she was receiving for the first time. Liz was dumbfounded.

But now was not the time to worry about such things.

‘Getting past the stubborn Monica to enter this room? Impossible.’

Then it happened.

Tap-tap.

The sound was too clear to be someone knocking at the door.

Furthermore, it didn’t even come from the direction of the door.

Liz’s gaze went to the purple velvet curtain. It seemed the sound had come from there.

“Hey, don’t tell me. I must have heard wrong.”

Tap-tap.

Hearing the sound once more, it was difficult to think she had misheard.

Carefully, Liz parted the curtain. It was a feat she hadn’t fainted.

Kain was sitting on the windowsill, waving with a mischievous smile.

Good heavens!

She had jokingly thought that if he could easily jump down from here last time, then the reverse should also be just as easy. And it turned out to be possible.

Gathering her scattered wits, Liz unlocked and opened the window.

He effortlessly leapt in, closed the window, and turned to speak.

“You waited up?”

“You said you’d come, Your Highness.”

“Is that the only reason?”

Unsure of his intent, Liz simply let it slide.

“Why are you here?”

She asked, curious. He casually sat on Liz’s bed and returned the question.

“I heard you got a proposal from your uncle?”

“…….”

“It seems he’s caught on to something about me.”

Liz wasn’t overly surprised, as she had somewhat suspected.

Otherwise, there was no reason for someone like Duke Montaner, who enjoyed free love, to propose to her.

“How do you think he found out?”

“Well, I really don’t know.”

He had his suspicions but chose not to say. He didn’t want to see her berating herself for asking him to spare those thugs in the empty lot that day.

Liz, who had been silently pondering, cautiously asked.

“Do you think of me as your…lover?”

So if she accepted the proposal, would her crazy nephew come to kill him?

“Perhaps?”

What a pointless thought.
“The important thing is that he didn’t recognize me. He watched me tie my shoe laces and still couldn’t tell. He must be slipping.”

Kain chuckled as if amused.

“He must have stationed plenty of people around this mansion. To monitor who you meet. And he doesn’t even know the one he’s looking for is right inside.”

Liz felt slightly relieved when he mentioned the events of the early evening.

Because it seemed like he didn’t take the humiliation seriously.

“What should I do now?”

At Liz’s question, he gently patted the bedsheet next to him.

“Sit.”

Leaning back casually, he looked up at her languidly. Liz stared at him as if baffled, but eventually, she had no choice but to obey.

Once she knew who he was, there was an irresistible power in his words.

Liz sat as far away from him as possible on the spot he had patted, but she was still in his territory.

She realized this the moment she felt his long, delicate fingers tuck her loose strands of hair behind her ear.

“Did you ask what you should do?”

His hand slid slowly down her earlobe, turning her face toward him.

“Do nothing. I’ll take care of everything.”

His voice was soft but firm.

The wind that entered through the crack in the window made the candle flicker wildly, but Kain’s azure irises didn’t waver.

His eyes were like that. Even the golden pupils of the crown prince who had silently stared at her on the Maronie Street under the moonlight were like this; looking directly at her as if trying to engrave himself into her irises.

As if he wanted to become the absolute ruler that governed her.

For the first time in Liz’s consciousness, the two men merged. But it was brief.

“What… what are you going to do?”

Liz quickly asked, trying to hide her racing heartbeat.

“Well.”

The corner of his mouth lifted ambiguously.

The draft that slipped through the window once again extinguished a candle.

In the dark, whose depth seemed to change, Liz thought she glimpsed a longing in Kain’s eyes. But she could have been mistaken.

Just like she couldn’t tell if he was joking or not now.

“What would a man, maddened because his lover got a proposal from another man, do?”

Lilia felt somewhat relieved now.

Her sister is getting married.

She will be completely separated from Kain. She wouldn’t dare to bring Kain into her marriage, would she?
“Then I won’t let it go. Somehow, I will have Kain.”

Lilia was determined.

She had not yet decided what to do with Kain, but she felt she could figure it out eventually.

Kain had already rejected her confession once, but not because he disliked her. He just didn’t like the way she had confessed.

Yes, she had rushed it. She should have taken more time and approached him slowly.

Her impatience had grown due to her sister, making her uncharacteristically lose her caution.