“Was there something like that?”
I tried to retrace the moment, but nothing came to mind right away.
‘It didn’t seem like Princess Selene was looking at Rastan with the eyes of a prospective fiancee.’
Or was it Lady Terrant who tried to attack me and ended up taking a hit from me instead?
“…It was just that, a few things like that. Anyway, since it was something I did, I will take responsibility so that your name is not unnecessarily mentioned during the investigation into that slave trade case.”
It was hard to say anything more, so I just said okay, but my head was complicated.
When entering into this engagement, I had thought that perhaps we could quietly inform only the Imperial Family that we were engaged.
‘And I was running a hope circuit, thinking I could live quietly in the ducal manor and then leave after fulfilling the contract period… but for it to be announced on such a large scale.’
If that was the case, then one thing was certain.
‘Quietly parting ways after just fulfilling the contract period is no longer possible.’
Things kept unfolding differently from what I had originally thought, and it felt like that was mostly because of Rastan.
‘I learned yet another lesson that before signing a contract, everything needs to be laid out openly and discussed in detail.’
As we talked and walked while holding hands, we soon arrived at the front gate of the Imperial Palace. A carriage from House Blake was waiting for us there.
‘Now, just seeing House Blake’s crest attached to the carriage feels welcoming.’
I was about to approach the carriage, but Rastan stood tall beside it and didn’t move.
Since my hand was still being held by him, I couldn’t move forward either and ended up looking up at him.
“Rastan? Why…?”
Without saying a word, he was glaring fiercely at somewhere over there.
Wondering what was going on, I followed his line of sight, and at a distance of a few dozen meters, a blond handsome man was standing there, looking this way.
“Oh? Ifrit?”
Seeing him after a long time, I felt a little pleased and my eyes widened.
When he lightly waved one hand toward me in greeting, Rastan’s expression grew even colder. It felt as if the temperature around us had dropped.
“Oh come on, why are you like that? From the looks of it, he was probably passing by after taking care of some business at the Imperial Palace, then stopped because you were glaring at him.”
While I lightly chided Rastan, Ifrit approached us.
He casually exchanged a greeting glance with Rastan, who was looking at him as if he might exorcise him on the spot, then came over to me.
“It’s been a while, Lyn. What brings you here?”
Even though we had agreed to speak formally when others were around, he used casual speech with a gentle smiling gaze right in front of Rastan. Thanks to that, casual speech came out of me naturally as well.
“Uh, yeah. I attended Her Highness the Imperial Princess’s tea party.”
Only after speaking did I feel Rastan’s spark-shooting gaze on my profile, which made me flinch, but I pretended not to notice.
“I see. I also had some business at the Imperial Palace…”
But Ifrit couldn’t finish his reply and trailed off.
Following his gaze as it lowered slightly, I saw that he was looking at the hands Rastan and I had interlaced together.
In an instant, a shadow fell over his face, which had been like spring sunlight.
‘Oh no.’
No matter how close we were as friends, he was someone who had proposed to me before.
‘Was I being inconsiderate? He probably doesn’t know yet that I’m engaged to Rastan.’
I felt unnecessarily sorry, so I tried to subtly pull my hand out of Rastan’s grasp.
But I couldn’t pull it away. For some reason, instead of letting go, he tightened his grip on my hand and refused to release it.
‘I need to make sure the three of us never gather together again…’
In the end, with my hand still held by Rastan, I had to send Ifrit off with a forced smile.
“M-Make sure you finish your business and head back safely. I should get going too.”
“…All right. Let’s meet again soon.”
Ifrit, who returned the greeting weakly, left with a dark expression.
Before turning away, the glance he cast at Rastan looked quite frightening… or so it seemed, but it was too brief to be certain.
The Ifrit I knew was usually someone who smiled brightly.
Without taking his eyes off Ifrit, Rastan asked in a voice full of dissatisfaction.
“Why are you always so soft on that person?”
“Why do you dislike him so much, then?”
Rastan pressed his lips together with an irritated expression, then finally let out a long sigh.
“Haa… There is a reason for that. Come on, let us get in.”
In the end, I had to get into the carriage without even properly saying goodbye to Ifrit.
However, the slight regret I felt disappeared lightly, the moment I sat down on the soft, comfortable sofa.
Perhaps because I had been subtly tense from coming to the Imperial Palace, fatigue washed over me all at once as soon as the carriage door closed.
I sank deeply into the sofa and immediately switched into rest mode.
“Hoo, I am tired. When we get home, I should change into comfortable clothes and rest a bit.”
At that, Rastan, sitting across from me, looked at me with eyes that carried a strangely vivid light.
There was a faint emotion like happiness lingering in his carefully drawn smile, making it impossible not to ask.
“W-Why? Did I do something wrong?”
“I am happy that you think of the ducal estate as ‘home’.”
“Ah… I just said it without thinking.”
“Then I like it even more. It means you genuinely think that way.”
That was true, but…
‘I had been thinking that I would leave the ducal estate someday…’
I felt a little sorry toward him, seeing how happy he was that I thought of that place as my current home.
“Well… it is because you and everyone in the manor treat me so well. I am always grateful.”
“If you are living comfortably in your own home, there is nothing for you to be grateful to me for.”
‘Ah.’
From what I had learned through experience, this was exactly the kind of flow where I would end up getting swept along by him again if it continued like this.
Fortunately, I thought of a question that was suitable for changing the subject.
“Oh, right. Earlier, Her Highness the Princess said she had never even considered you as an Imperial consort. Why is what she said different from what you said?”
At that, Rastan’s pupils seemed to waver uneasily for a moment.
‘Why is he not answering right away?’
Just then, his eyes looked strange. Instead of their usual transparent blue like a deep lake, it was as if a very faint red tint was mixed in and flowing through them.
The inside of the carriage was a bit dark, but it was definitely different from usual. Just as I was doubting my eyes—
“Uh…?”
Suddenly, my vision became hazy. My head felt dizzy, similar to the feeling of being drunk.
But that strange sensation disappeared within a few seconds.
As my mind cleared again, I thought that this had happened before as well.
‘It definitely happened. Two or three times? It felt much weaker this time, though.’
At some point, I relaxed the slight frown that had formed.
Assuming it was low blood pressure, I didn’t think much of it and looked back at Rastan.
“Is it a difficult question to answer?”
At that, Rastan looked straight at me with slightly startled eyes.
The eyes that had looked strange had already returned to normal. As expected, it seemed I had been mistaken because I was momentarily dizzy.
However, the words that came out of Rastan’s mouth were completely unexpected.
“…It seems your mental-type ability has strengthened.”
What was he talking about all of a sudden? At the out-of-the-blue remark, I tilted my head in confusion.
“Of course it has. I have been in contact with you all this time, and I have also been practicing on my own.”
Rastan nodded slightly and murmured.
“Ah, I see. That’s right. So…”
Growing impatient, I grabbed his hand and made him look back at me.
“Do not try to change the subject with something obvious.”
“I was not trying to. I was simply surprised.”
I didn’t know why my ability strengthening was suddenly surprising to him, but that wasn’t what mattered right now.
“So then, why did you lie to me?”
Rastan lowered his gaze and seemed to think for a moment, then suddenly lifted his head.
“Evelyn. Why do you think that ‘I’ lied?”
“What do you mean by that?”
“You trust the Princess without question, and think that I am the one who lied, do you not?”
“Th-that…”
I reflexively tried to refute him, but realized that what he said wasn’t wrong.
‘That’s true. It’s possible that somehow Princess Selene found out about my engagement first, and lied because she didn’t want to end up looking like the dog chasing after a chicken.’
He had said a few days ago that our engagement had been registered at the Central Temple, so no matter how much it was kept secret, it was possible that someone of the Imperial Family had obtained that information first.
Rastan bit his lower lip with a thoughtful look, then spoke again.
“The Princess does not know everything that is discussed between the Emperor and me.”
For some reason, he couldn’t meet my eyes and turned his gaze awkwardly to the side.
