“Tell me what happened first.”

Pellarhar said.

Honestly, Arkan wasn’t in the mood to have a conversation with anyone right now, but he knew that just sighing all day wouldn’t solve anything.

Even if he opened up, it’s not like a solution would come out of it…

“…That’s what happened.”

After laying out everything that had happened last night, Arkan downed the tea that Platt had brought and left in one gulp, as if his headache was returning.

However, before he could even swallow what was in his mouth, Pellarhar burst into laughter as if he was about to bring down the ceiling, nearly causing Arkan to spit out all the tea.

“What?”

Arkan’s gaze was not kind as he looked at Pellarhar, who was laughing like a madman, as if he was casting a spell to completely upset him when he was already as irritated as he could be.

“Arkan, you idiot.”

Arkan glared at him with angry eyes, but Pellarhar was too busy laughing to see that gaze.

With his face red from laughing so much, Pellarhar continued to giggle and said,

“That’s exactly the importance of the object in a sentence.”

Arkan slowly furrowed his brow and tilted his head as if to ask what that meant… Suddenly, his eyes widened and he stood up abruptly.

[I think about it all day!]

What had he said before? Right, he had asked Erdene if she spent all day thinking about ways to upset him.

Erdene had asked why he would waste time like that…

That response had suddenly made him feel hurt and angry.

It wasn’t just the fight, but her image that wouldn’t disappear from his sight was driving him crazy.

If he lowered his gaze, it felt like all the blood in his body would boil, so he just kept looking at her face, but even that became harder to bear as time passed.

So he forgot what he had been saying just a moment ago…

He recalled how he had spent that entire day thinking about Erdene at random times, getting angry, feeling sorry, then indignant again, and repeating the cycle of regret.

He had expected Erdene to do the same.

It was closer to a wish that she would, but still…

‘But I was so focused on the words “waste of time”…’

In his anger, he had ended up blurting out whatever came to his mouth. That he “thought about it all day.”

“You should have said you think about ‘her’ all day. Ah, this is killing me. The more I think about it, the funnier it gets. My face feels like it’s going to burst.”

Pellarhar rubbed his cheekbones with his fingertips, his eyes glistening with tears.

The sight of him rolling his cheeks with his lips rounded was quite comical, but the sight of Arkan sitting back down with a half-dazed expression was even more of a spectacle.

“If you just say ‘I think about it all day’ there, what does that mean? It becomes ‘I spend all day thinking about ways to upset you’, doesn’t it? Oh, goodness. I feel like laughing again. I’ll be laughing about this for a year.”

Arkan crumpled up a piece of paper and threw it at Pellarhar, who was chuckling annoyingly, and then clutched his forehead with both hands.

Pellarhar said,

“Arkan Cyprosmine, for the first time in your life, you make a desperate confession, but because one word is missing, it turns into a declaration of war instead. It’s like some comedy advertisement. Isn’t it?”

“You, just get out.”

“Still, it’s admirable, you know? I thought you couldn’t warm up to Her Highness… the Princess at all, but it means you’re paying enough attention to think about her all day just because of one fight.”

It wasn’t particularly comforting. At least not to Arkan right now.

‘That’s why she said those things…’

He could clearly recall Erdene’s voice and expression as she said, “We’ll see.”

He felt as helpless as if he had kicked a small stone and caused an avalanche.

If he went and said it was a misunderstanding, that it wasn’t meant that way, would she understand?

If he said that he wasn’t thinking about ways to upset her all day, but that he was thinking about her all day, would she believe him?

“There’s no way.”

It was a foolish self-answer. Arkan tilted his head back and let out a long sigh, somehow feeling deflated.

Watching this, Pellarhar inwardly clicked his tongue.

‘Again, that habit of his is showing. He used to do this in the past too. He doesn’t do this with other people, but whenever it involves Uncle or Aunt, he gives up prematurely, thinking they won’t understand even if he confesses it was a mistake.’

Although Arkan himself didn’t seem to realize it, his behavior patterns were more evident to Pellarhar who was observing from the side.

The more important someone was to Arkan, the more precious he considered them, the more reluctant he was to reveal his true feelings in front of them.

It was clear that the words repeatedly emphasized by the previous king were still weighing on his subconscious.

[A king must not have a loose mouth or heart. It’s not something just anyone can do. Don’t reveal your emotions. Until now, you could live as you pleased, but the situation has changed now.]

‘Uncle went too far, really. Was it Arkan’s fault that Airis brother died prematurely? It’s outrageous.’

What could be done? Pellarhar thought. It was his turn to step in a bit for his utterly clueless cousin.

He had teased him enough, so he should do at least this much.

“I’ll go check out the situation, you just do your work.”

Arkan stared blankly at Pellarhar as if to ask what he meant.

There was also a hint of reluctance in that gaze.

It seemed he wasn’t at all pleased with the idea of Pellarhar going to meet Erdene alone.

Arkan stood up again.

“Forget it, if anyone’s going, it should be me. Why you?”

At that moment, for whatever reason, Pellarhar felt a slight sense of rebellion rising within him towards Arkan for the first time.

And disappointment too. The feeling that surged momentarily was so intense it was bewildering, but fortunately, it disappeared in an instant.

Pellarhar nodded.

“Well, that would be better. Go and explain ve—ry well. That you didn’t think about ways to upset her all day, but that you thought about her all day until you felt like you were going to be upset. So let’s continue what we were doing yesterday… Oomph!”

A cushion, thick with cotton and quite heavy, hit Pellarhar squarely in the face.

Arkan pretended to grumble as he strode out.

Pellarhar threw the cushion that had hit his face to one end of the long sofa and lay down casually, using it as a pillow.

As he closed his eyes, not really intending to take a nap, Erdene’s face appeared vividly in his blackened vision before quickly fading away.

[This is the timeline separator]

Arkan rushed to the Queen’s quarters in one breath, mumbling over and over that last night’s incident was a mistake and there had been a misunderstanding.

However, the situation did not unfold as he wished—as he had somewhat expected—it would not be so easy.

“Her Highness is unwell and is sleeping, Your Majesty.”

Sophia Fiddlers, who had come out running at the attendant’s message, faced Arkan with an expressionless face and voice that betrayed no emotion.

She only said that ‘Her Highness is unwell and sleeping’, adding nothing else, her intention clear.

Go away.

For a moment, Arkan thought he heard Erdene’s voice and his fingertips twitched. He closed his eyes tightly and let out a sigh.

“What ails the Queen?”

“I hear she was up all night. Because of that, she has a headache and has lost her appetite.”

“Then we should call the royal physician. It’s not something that will be resolved just by sleeping.”

“I said the same thing, but she said she didn’t want to make a fuss over nothing. She said she would feel better after a nap, so everyone is being careful not to disturb Her Highness.”

It was then.

Arkan frowned as he heard someone’s laughter leaking from inside the quarters that were supposedly being ‘careful not to disturb the sick Queen’.

“That voice just now, it sounds like Viscountess Weekes.”

“That can’t be, Your Majesty. No one has seen the Viscountess today. At least not those of us attending to Her Highness.”

Arkan reflexively scanned Sophia’s face, recalling the ridiculous habit that Duchess Fiddlers used to show whenever she lied.

But there was no way that the meticulous Sophia would be like her mother.

It was rather Arkan who was getting fed up with her indifferent appearance, not even batting an eyelash, let alone moving her lips.

“I’ll just take a quick look at her face and leave.”

“If I may be so bold, Your Majesty. Her Highness was very tired. Also, she is a light sleeper and wakes easily at the slightest sound.”

“Are you saying you can’t let me in?”

Sophia bowed her head slightly with an annoyingly proper posture.

“I trust you will understand with your great generosity, Your Majesty. Even though my mother committed a foolish crime, Her Highness trusted me and kept me by her side, so I too wish to prioritize Her Highness’s well-being and peace.”

Thank goodness I didn’t marry this one. Arkan thought.

Erdene was Erdene, but Sophia also had a talent for subtly turning people’s insides out.

She was praised as a perfect lady who had inherited Beator’s spirit intact, but to Arkan, she was just…

‘She’s exactly the same, just not breaking things and speaking in a quieter voice.’

The ‘they’ he referred to were, of course, Erdene and Sophia.

Calming his bubbling insides once again, Arkan said,

“Send me word immediately when the Queen wakes up. And tell her I’d like to have dinner together tonight. Understood?”

Sophia responded with irritating politeness.

“Of course, Your Majesty. I will convey your message.”