Chapter 68………….

That was only natural. After all, everyone had just witnessed in real time the kiss between the hero and the imperial princess—someone they had thought was dead. How exciting could that be?

“Wow.”

Xenia tried her best not to bow her head as her face turned red.

If she showed too clearly how embarrassed she was here, people would definitely start talking even more.

She closed the mouth that had been hanging open in shock and tried to act as calmly as possible. Well, I’m technically his fiancée right now, so something like this shouldn’t be a big deal, right?

As if!

“I didn’t expect the hero to do something like that.”

She agreed. Even knowing the two were supposed to be engaged, this was still shocking and strange.

According to Lumiere, even if they were engaged, they had always acted distant with each other.

‘Why on earth would he do something like that?!’

And what if those people discovered that the princess standing here wasn’t the real one? She didn’t even want to imagine it.

Xenia glared at Lumiere.

In truth, she couldn’t quite meet his eyes and ended up staring only at his jawline.

If he apologized again, she had already decided that she would kick him in the shin, no matter how many people were watching. But instead, the hand that had been touching his lips regretfully fell away.

Before she could react, Lumiere took a step back.

“Let’s return.”

Xenia startled and lifted her head. Lumiere had already turned away from her and was walking toward the priests.

“What? Wait, but—”

“You’re leaving like this?”

The priests’ gazes fell on her. Xenia, who had been staring at Lumiere in disbelief, flinched and looked away.

Meanwhile, Lumiere urged the priests on.

“It would be better to move quickly. Before more people gather.”

As if that snapped them back to their senses, the priests hurriedly led Lumiere away without even hearing a proper explanation.

As he grew farther away, Lumiere glanced at her. Xenia stared back without even blinking.

So Lumiere was leaving.

Leaving her here alone.

‘Just leaving me…?’

With everyone’s attention returning to her after Lumiere departed, Xenia felt like she might faint. In fact, she already felt half out of her mind.

She couldn’t demand an explanation of the situation, nor could she grab him and stop him from leaving.

Xenia simply stood there like an idiot, rooted to the spot, replaying the lingering sensation of the kiss—the soft, moist feeling of his lips.

The scent that lingered at the tip of her nose.
The hot hand gripping her neck.
His trembling eyelids.
The damp sound that came from their parting lips.

And those strangely wet blue eyes that made her neck tingle and her face flush just thinking about them.

“They must be really close. I never thought I’d see something like that. What on earth happened?”

“Well, love always blooms in adversity, doesn’t it?”

“Are they finally getting married?”

What nonsense!

The ridiculous comments finally snapped her back to her senses.

‘I worked so hard to create this opportunity. I can’t let it slip away like this.’

She bit her lip, trying to focus, but the soft sensation from earlier surfaced again and her face almost collapsed into embarrassment once more.

Xenia clenched her fists and forced her expression under control.

Please stop thinking about it. Are you just going to stand here like an idiot until someone grabs you?

Scolding and threatening herself internally, she racked her brain until finally remembering something that might help.

‘If you go straight to the left, you’ll find it.’

Those were Lumiere’s words before they kissed—the place where Lerazier was.

Having found a way out of the situation, Xenia lifted her head and looked around.

The people whispering among themselves either hurriedly looked away when their eyes met hers or stared with sparkling curiosity.

At that moment, a knight who appeared to be the commander among the gathered soldiers approached her.

“Ahem. Your Highness.”

The knight spoke with a forced cough, trying to appear composed.

Xenia opened her mouth, hoping desperately that her face looked calmer than she felt.

“Hello, Sir.”

“Well, it’s just that… remaining here like this…”

Xenia nodded.

“Actually, I’d like to be alone for a moment.”

“What? But—”

As a knight sworn to the imperial palace, leaving the princess alone when there had been an intruder made no sense.

Xenia deliberately lowered her head and said,

“Even if there was an intruder, wasn’t it someone connected to Lumiere? I’m not saying I’ll go alone somewhere—just that I’d like a moment by myself.”

“Ah.”

She fidgeted with the hands she had clasped in front of her, making it clear she was extremely embarrassed.

“Please clear the area a bit.”

No matter how mature she might seem, she was still a princess who had only just come of age—someone who had just been caught in an intimate moment with her lover in front of a crowd.

Understanding her gesture, the knight looked flustered and quickly began dispersing the onlookers.

“Everyone, move back! The danger hasn’t been resolved yet!”

Xenia gave him a small nod of thanks and gestured that she would step aside until the people were gone.

The knight nodded in return and worked even harder to chase people away.

“Stop gossiping! You! Yes, you! Don’t hang back!”

Taking advantage of the confusion as the crowd scattered, Xenia headed in the direction Lumiere had pointed.

One step. Two. Three.

The farther she got from people, the hotter her pale face burned.

She prayed no one would see her like this. But, as always, the gods were not on her side.

After barely turning the corner without attracting attention, Xenia came face to face with Lerazier, who was standing there puffing out steam with a flushed face.

“Ahhh!”

Anyone could tell he had definitely seen what had happened earlier.

Seeing his face full of excitement and delight reminded her of something Lumiere had said.

‘I’m really sorry.’

Then don’t do something you’ll have to apologize for!

She had never been this embarrassed in her life.

Xenia wanted to avoid Lerazier’s burdensome gaze.

Using his magic to escape the palace safely had been good. Hiding in the mansion she had prepared in the imperial capital, just as she had planned, was also fine.

But Lerazier’s sparkling, curiosity-filled expression was unbearable.

She had struggled so much just to coax and calm him while he babbled excitedly on their way out of the palace.

‘I can’t exactly smack him over the head…’

She felt like she had been having far too many violent thoughts in just a few hours.

At least there was one fortunate thing: Lerazier had something more important than Lumiere’s kiss.

For example, the safety of the Demon King, who had disappeared in a burst of magic.

But that was Xenia’s misunderstanding.

Even when she pulled out a book and spoke, Lerazier didn’t seem particularly concerned.

“His Majesty will be fine. More importantly, shouldn’t we talk about something else?”

Xenia had always suspected that Lerazier’s loyalty came from the Demon King’s beauty. In other words, she knew his loyalty was only half-hearted.

Still, for him to be this indifferent…

It was so shallow that, despite having no right to, Xenia almost felt sorry for the Demon King.

“I mean that kiss.”

When the topic returned again, Xenia wanted to cover her ears.

But Lerazier spoke faster than she could act.

“It looked really nice. Truly. In a place with so many people—haha—honestly.”

He chuckled as if the two of them had been the only people in the world, then glanced at Xenia cautiously.

“But perhaps it lacked a bit of consideration?”

He asked whether she didn’t dislike drawing attention like that.

If you know that, please just keep your mouth shut, she wanted to say.

“Were your emotions running so high you couldn’t see anything else? Quite brave.”

She couldn’t take it anymore. Xenia reached out to cover his mouth, but Lerazier—still smiling—continued,

“Is that how heroes are supposed to be?”

Her raised hand dropped limply.

Only then did reality sink in.

This wasn’t the time to be embarrassed.

Since the Demon King knew, it was possible Lerazier had already learned about Lumiere’s true identity from him.

But what if that’s not the case?

What if Lerazier had realized Lumiere’s identity after seeing him remove his mask and disappear with the priests back at the palace?

If so, Xenia’s position would become extremely difficult until the Demon King reappeared.

Which is it?

It was true that Lerazier seemed to have taken quite a liking to her—enough that she had even thought she might be able to rely on his help if problems arose later.

But the situation now was special.

The Demon King who was with us disappeared.

There was plenty of room for Lerazier to interpret the situation badly.

Just moments ago she had been clicking her tongue at his shallow loyalty to the Demon King—but now she realized that had been a pointless thought.

Xenia looked up at him with a stiff expression.

He was still smiling beautifully.

And because of that, she couldn’t read him at all.

What is Lerazier thinking right now?
Is that smiling face real—or fake?

“Xenia.”

She swallowed dryly and barely managed to answer.

“Yes.”

Lerazier crossed his legs and smiled sweetly, the corners of his eyes curving.