Arkan’s eyes moved slightly from side to side.

As Erdene narrowed her eyes, immediately suspicious, he put on a deliberately wronged expression.

“Why are you looking at me like that?”

“Because it seems like you will say something twisted again. Or something so absurd that I can’t even snort in disbelief.”

Arkan said,

“I just… thought it was unexpected for you to pity someone like that.”

“Your Majesty must have thought I was a cold-blooded person without tears or blood.”

“I didn’t think you’d be without both tears and blood!”

“Then did you think I’d be missing one of the two?”

Erdene persistently caught his words in a mischievous manner. At that, Arkan suddenly sat up straight with a serious attitude.

“We were complete strangers. So I had no choice but to rely to some extent on what others said.”

“I got it, so stop making that uncomfortable expression.”

Arkan’s heart, which had expected mature communication, heard the sound of another crack forming.

“Then what about you?”

Erdene turned her head to look at Arkan.

“What do you mean, Your Majesty?”

“You must have heard about me, right? I’m asking what kind of person you thought I was.”

“No one told me stories about Your Majesty, and you probably don’t want to hear what I thought anyway.”

Arkan’s brow slightly tensed.

“Now that you say that, I absolutely must hear it.”

As he pulled his chair closer, their knees brushed against each other.

Like a leaf swirling in the wind colliding with a lush branch, the sensation of contact was brief but vivid.

Erdene, who had glanced down, spoke with a faint smile.

“I’ll say this in advance, but it was Your Majesty who said you must hear it. I didn’t force you to listen.”

“What in the world are you trying to say, beating around the bush like this?”

“An innocent greenhorn.”

Arkan’s eyes widened.

“And I thought you’d be weak in both body and mind. When I first saw you, that is.”

Erdene watched Arkan’s face gradually crumple with eyes that looked like she was having the time of her life.

Finally, like a thoroughly upset child, he even twisted his lips carelessly and stood up from his seat, deliberately knocking over the empty glass.

“The tea was delightful, Queen.”

And just as it seemed he would leave like that, he suddenly whipped his head around and added,

“Today’s conversation was enjoyable and beneficial as well!”

The sound of steady footsteps echoing loudly on the floor faded beyond the corridor of the Queen’s Palace.

When Erdene leaned back and burst into laughter in a cheerful voice, Sophia, who had been out of sight the whole time, suddenly appeared and said,

“Your Highness, what did you say this time to make His Majesty so upset?”

Erdene, who had difficulty stopping her laughter, raised her flushed face and looked to where he had left.

Then, instead of answering Sophia’s question, she rubbed her eyes that had become teary from laughing so much.

“He pestered me to tell him even though I said I wouldn’t. He was going to react like that anyway. The more I see him, the funnier he is.”

Sophia gestured for a maid doing chores to clear away the empty glasses.

Then, as if nothing had happened, she sat lightly next to Erdene like before and turned back with a deliberately surprised face.

“This is the first time I’ve seen His Majesty get so worked up. He’s someone who smoothly brushes off anything anyone says.”

Erdene, laughing with a satisfied expression, tapped the armrest.

“I thought he would be a man who is always slick and does things that leave a bad taste in your mouth. But when I poke him each time, he reacts like that, so it’s a bit c…”

Erdene’s pursed lips stiffened.

Sophia blinked her eyes a few times like an innocent young lady who knew nothing, and faithfully asked about the words Erdene had swallowed.

“C?”

“…Cumbersome and funny.”

Sophia slowly nodded her head and said,

“That’s a relief.”

“What’s a relief?”

“I thought Your Highness was going to say that His Majesty looks cute. People say that cute is the most dangerous, more so than handsome, beautiful, or alluring. They say that once someone starts looking cute to you, it’s over.”

Erdene’s complexion gradually turned pale.

Sophia pretended not to notice that fact and snickered inwardly while feigning ignorance.

‘I was worried at first about how it would be, but they seem to be an unexpectedly well-matched pair. I thought there would only be boring quarrels, but this life might be unexpectedly fun.’

Arkan, who had been hit in succession by the words “innocent greenhorn” and “I thought you’d be weak in both body and mind,” grumbled and huffed all the way back to the King’s office.

“You’re back, Your Majesty.”

Platt, the chief attendant who had been doing odd jobs while Arkan was away, didn’t ask what was wrong even after seeing Arkan’s upset expression.

Nine times out of ten, whenever Arkan encountered Erdene, he would return uncharacteristically fuming, so Platt just let it slide.

However, before Arkan even sat down, he glanced at Platt and asked,

“Can’t you see my expression?”

Platt, dumbfounded, blinked his eyes and said,

“Of course I can see it, but…”

“Then shouldn’t you ask me what’s wrong?”

“Did something happen, Your Majesty?”

“I don’t want to talk about it.”

Platt, who had been staring intently at Arkan with a look that said “what do you want me to do,” shifted the topic while cutting off his words.

“By the way, Your Majesty, the wife of Viscount Fiddlers sent another letter.”

Arkan looked at the letters in Platt’s hand—there must have been at least ten of them—with eyes that wanted to throw them all away.

After the banishment order was issued, the wife of Viscount Fiddlers sent Arkan long-winded letters every single day, saying that she was reflecting on her mistakes and would never repeat them.

Although Arkan never sent a single reply, the letters arrived daily, and there were even days when two or three letters arrived at once.

Arkan simultaneously waved his hand and shook his head as if shooing away a fly.

“I already have a mountain of headache-inducing issues to deal with, and now I have to read the letters from Viscount Fiddlers’ wife?”

“I knew you would say that, so I didn’t even untie the string. Then I’ll dispose of all of these as well.”

Arkan had no interest in whether Platt disposed of the letters or not.

Platt, who had instructed a trainee attendant to burn all the letters, looked at Arkan holding his head and hesitated for a moment before speaking.

“Did something happen?”

Arkan glanced at Platt as if he had expected this, but didn’t reprimand him much this time.

However, he let out a deep sigh as if the ground would cave in and deeply furrowed his brow.

“Is she acting so annoyingly because she dislikes me?”

“Pardon?”

After sighing deeply once more, Arkan raised his head with a complicated expression.

It seemed to be a mixture of irrepressible irritation and hurt feelings.

For Platt, who was accustomed to Arkan maintaining a calm and rational attitude in any situation, it was a difficult appearance to accept.

“I thought the Queen… of course, even if she didn’t want to marry me, I thought she would quickly accept reality. But she still hasn’t changed at all. Why is she doing this? Every time we run into each other, she acts like her tongue will curl up if she doesn’t somehow torment me.”

Platt answered indifferently.

“Isn’t it because she doesn’t know what manners are?”

At that, Arkan looked at him with a displeased expression.

“Do you think the Queen is a brawler who grew up recklessly on the streets? She received sufficient education in the imperial palace. Just as I did.”

It was impossible to tell whether he wanted Platt to take his side or not, but Platt maintained his position without showing it.

“Of course she would have, but the laws and etiquette of Betor aim for noble, calm, and neat human beings. It’s a tradition passed down from long ago. The education in the Empire is probably not the same as ours, Your Majesty.”

Arkan, who had been staring at him blankly, made a light tutting sound.

“Platt, you’re a bit strange.”

“Strange, you say?”

“I know you are conservative and particular about manners, but even so, this is too much. Haven’t you been too strict only toward the Queen for a while now?”

Platt hesitated for a moment before answering calmly.

“I’m worried that discipline might be shaken because Your Majesty treats her too leniently.”

“Discipline, you say?”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

Tok, tok… There was a sound. It was the sound of Arkan tapping the table with his fingernail.

When that light sound continued for four, five times, Platt finally tensed up and straightened his chest.

He knew well that it was Arkan’s habit whenever something displeased him.

Arkan took a deep breath and said,

“That’s right, discipline… It’s important. You’re right. But Platt, if I remember correctly, isn’t your nephew abroad?”

“…That’s right, but…”

“Aren’t you curious about what it’s like outside Betor? I could give you a rather long vacation.”

Platt’s face turned pale as he finally grasped Arkan’s intention.

Not long ago, after seeing how easily that persistent wife of Viscount Fiddlers was driven out, Arkan’s words didn’t sound like a joke to him.

“I misspoke, Your Majesty.”

Arkan glanced at Platt, who was bowing his head, and said,

“I can complain about the Queen’s attitude, but keep in mind that others can’t do that recklessly. Come to your senses before I fish out a herring to replace you.”

“A herring…?”

When Platt asked back in confusion, an attendant entered and bowed his head in front of Arkan.

“Your Majesty, His Highness Pelehar has arrived.”

Arkan pushed back his chair and abruptly stood up.

“Who has arrived?”