Rumors were shadow.

Naturally, the drawing room was frozen by the unexpected appearance.

…Why, why is Prince Lyon—??

…How much did he hear—!?

It seemed that the voices of Amilia and Mia were louder than I thought. I looked at the person in front of me, appalled.

Milk tea-colored hair—the brown color appeared to be melting—and purple eyes. An amethyst color only inherited by those of the royal lineage.

Despite the current atmosphere, Prince Lyon seemed nonchalant. He looked around, staring at our faces.

Then, he finally graced us with a beautiful smile.

S, scary! I don’t understand why, but his smile seemed so scary!

Probably because he had listened to our gossip…

“Excuse me, it seems that I’ve wandered off too far. I’m sorry that I’ve overheard your talk, but can you guide me to His Highness?”

He gazed straight at me.

Certainly, it was better to ask me, who had a good friendship with him, rather than Mia; whom he didn’t know—or Amilia, whom he had last met ten years ago.

Moreover, even if he belonged to another kingdom, he was still a Crown Prince. Besides that, it was still my obligation, because I was the Prince’s fiancée. I stood up, withholding a sight.

Why is this person in my kingdom…?

“Amilia, Mia, I’m very sorry but, I must leave my seat at once. I will return once I’ve guided Prince Lyon to His Highness’ place… no, to be honest, this should be enough for today.”

It wouldn’t be possible for us to nonchalantly let our thoughts out anymore. It might be better to avoid holding tea parties at the Royal Palace for a while…

Mia nodded curtly at my suggestion.

“Yes, yes we should… after all, I have a dance lesson after this… I was also thinking that I should depart soon.”

“Then, I shall excuse myself too. Let’s have a tea party again next time.”

Amilia smiled softly and left the palace. Alas, Amilia’s face appeared to be a little stiff.

“…Alright then, Your Highness Lyon, we should be on our way too.”

Around this time, His Highness should be in his office.

Speaking of which, just a while back, I had heard that that Baroness was also in his office.

Uwa, talk about awkward…

Whenever I met the Baroness, I would become dispirited… as such, I prefered to not meet her at all.

Before I knew it, I was already low in spirits. I tried to push away such thoughts.

Lyon, who walked beside me, seemed to have noticed something.

Purple eyes with long lashes. If he caught my gaze, I would have surely froze down to my spine. His eyes were so sharp…

…Still, why is His Highness Lyon in this kingdom of all the places…?

Should I ask him? No, never mind.

It wasn’t a good thing for a lady to poke her nose into the kingdom’s state of affairs.

If I did that, I would be seen as despicable.

However, I was also the fiancée of the future king, maybe it wouldn’t be a problem after all.

No, I wondered why I wasn’t notified of Prince Lyon’s stay even though I was the future King’s fiancée…

Oh, was it because my relationship with His Highness was deteriorating?

Was that why he prefer not to tell me anything? How distasteful.

“What do you think about this kingdom, Prince Lyon?”

I started some meaningless chitchats.

He looked at me for a moment before nodding.

“It’s lush, and the land is fertile. Many would aim for this kingdom.”

“…!?”

What’s that—!? A war declaration—!?

Did you forget the crisis your own kingdom is in—!?

What a thing to say—!! Are you trying to provoke me—!?

In spite of that, Prince Lyon chuckled.

“You don’t seem to be used in negotiating yet, Miss Tiarize. For almost this entire time, you’ve probably been wondering to the reason of my visit.”

I… I was found out!

I curtly responded with, “The Kingdom of Dirlia is truly abundant with Partza. It’s really a warm kingdom, isn’t it?”

By the way, Partza was some kind of gem that could only be mined from the land with warm sunlight.

The Dirlia Kingdom was also renown for its crunchy, sweet, fruit called Ywar—which, by the way, also couldn’t thrive without the existence of warm soil and a sunny climate—which were what the Kingdom of Dirlia was famed for.

Who would’ve though that I would be found out like that!? It turned out that he was fishing for my reaction all along! As expected of a Crown Prince—no, was it I whom was too naïve?

“…yes, I’m ashamed to admit this, but I truly wasn’t told of anything regarding this.”

“Yes, it’s unexpected, coming from Will…”

…it turned out to be true after all, His Highness no longer cared about me. It wasn’t just mere assumption anymore…

I was convinced I was disliked, and my stomach started to churn. Ugh, gastrointestinal drug, please…

My stomach ached even more when I pondered about the possibility of meeting His Highness and that Baroness today.

I was getting closer and closer to his office. The knight guarding the office immediately bowed his head when he saw me.

“Lady Tiarize and a frequent guest… His Royal Highness, Prince Lyon Dirlia…”

The one who came to receive us was Kevin, one of His Royal Highness’ attendant.

Kevin was a good-looking man. He was beautiful—too beautiful, he could be mistaken for a woman. Even more so when he tied his long, red, hair together. His eyes were the same red color as his hair.

“Lord Kevin, is now of an appropriate time to visit His Highness?”

Kevin seemed unfazed, he must had been informed of Lyon’s visit.

…So I’m the only one in the dark…

All of the sudden, all I wanted to do is vanish from this place.

“Yes, it would be, but…”

Kevin seemed that he wanted to say something—and I immediately realized what it was.

She was there, wasn’t she? That Baroness.

“…very well.”

Kevin furrowed his eyebrows deeply and opened the door.

I could hear a happy voice coming from inside.

“That’s why I said you don’t understand a maiden’s heart…”

“Should I even try? After all, there will only ever be one person in my heart that I want to understand well.”

“Fufu~ then, should I give you a hint?”

“Albeit helpful sounding, your advice doesn’t actually seem useful. If you’re going to provide vague gestures, will you stop?”

“No can’t do~ if I stop, then Will won’t notice, what would be the point of that?”

The conversation was so lovey-dovey couple like, no matter from which perspective you heard it. I felt my head spin.

In front of me, that Baroness would always try her utmost to refer to him as ‘Lord Williant’, but in front of His Highness, she was casually referring to him as ‘Will’, now?

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**T/N: Great, just, great… the future Queen of this kingdom is a presumptuous open-book ._.) … Schmia ain’t even trying to hide her THOT-y nature anymore *Thot-Slayer Blade shook in the translator’s hand IT WANTS FRESH BLOOD!!!!!

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