Riley was about to put on the dress when she suddenly realized.

“Hey, aren’t you not supposed to be here?”

“Why?”

“It’s your birthday party. Can you afford to be absent?”

“I’ve already dealt with all the important clients who must be dealt with, anyway.”

He referred to those who came to his party as ‘clients,’ furrowing his brows as if exhausted.

In a situation where the protagonist of the party wasn’t enjoying the party but stressed because the party itself was an extension of work.

“But now that I think about it, why were you facing the 7th Prince alone? Where did Livna and Nuna’s friend go? I distinctly told you not to leave you alone.”

At Givernan’s question, Riley suddenly regained her senses.

“One of the palace knights took my stepfather.”

“Knight?”
“Yeah, I wanted to follow him, but it might be dangerous, so I held back for now. I also firmly told Sak not to let Suck leave the party.”

Besides, there were too many eyes around, so she couldn’t casually leave her seat.

“Suck went out following my stepfather, glancing around. After a while passed without him coming back… While contemplating that, I went to the bathroom to cool my head and met His Highness, the 7th Prince, on the way back, and His Highness stopped me.”

“So, that’s what happened.”

“My stepfather’s behavior was definitely strange. What business could my stepfather have with the royal family? The announcement of the marriage was made today, and everyone gathered here probably didn’t even know about my stepfather’s existence. But suddenly being taken away by a royal knight…”

Instead of answering, Givernan became lost in thought as he put on his clothes. After he put on his pants and buttoned up his shirt, he slowly replied.

“I’ll find out.”

“Yeah.”

While Riley, now wearing a new dress, was struggling because she couldn’t tie the back, Givernan approached her from behind.

“I’ll tie it for you.”

He skillfully tied the string. As Riley, who had been accepting his touch a bit awkwardly, suddenly realized that she hadn’t given him the present, she looked around nervously.

“Where did I put my dress?”

“There.”

Spotting a pile of clothes in the corner, Riley picked up the champagne-soaked dress and delved into the deep pocket of the sleeve.

‘There it is!’

Having grabbed the present prepared to give to Givernan, Riley approached him. Then, she quickly tore open the wrapping.

“What’s this?”

“Just wait and see.”

Riley tied a tie around his shirt and carefully attached the tie pin she had prepared as a gift.

“I struggled a lot about what to give… I had no idea what you needed. It’s my first time giving a gift… I thought a lot about what to choose, what you might like…”

Riley couldn’t look into his eyes. While sneaking a glance, she continued to babble.

“Thinking about something practical that you can wear frequently on your body… I chose that.”

“…”

“I hope you like it… well, if you don’t, there’s nothing I can do…”

“Ha.”

Givernan sighed briefly, covered his face with his hand, and laughed. Then, he tightly embraced Riley, almost to the point of breaking her.

“Thank you.”

“…”

“I didn’t expect anything like a gift.”

“…”

“I really like it.”

Givernan laughed joyfully.

He was genuinely happy.

He wondered why he was so moved by the seemingly most ordinary tie pin, which might be the least attractive and possibly the cheapest among the numerous gifts he had received so far.