The outside of the dining room, or rather, the interior of the mansion, was incredibly magnificent.

The chandelier lights reflected on the marble and shimmered while valuable paintings adorned the walls. There seemed to be an abundance of attendants, at least three times more than a typical dining room. They were all moving busily, and Carinne grabbed one of them and asked.

“Do you know where Archen is?”

“Excuse me? I’m not sure who you’re referring to…”

Oh, maybe she should clarify. Carinne quickly corrected herself.

“I mean the Duke’s aide.”

“Oh, if you mean him, he should be in the garden. I saw him leaving earlier.”

He should be in the garden.

Carinne thanked the attendant and went outside. The path was quite complex, and she had to stop a few servants and ask for directions until she reached the exit of the mansion.

Outside, the refreshing evening air greeted her.

As she looked around the mansion, she noticed a pathway leading to the garden on one side. It was a path she hadn’t noticed before. She followed the path and entered the garden.

And she had to admit one thing…

‘The Duke has excellent taste.’

Like the royal gardens she had seen in pictures, the arrangement of trees, grass, and bushes was incredibly harmonious. Every tree and bush seemed perfectly pruned, without a single out-of-place branch.

Yet, it didn’t feel artificial at all. It felt like admiring a well-groomed piece of nature rather than a man-made creation. Carinne strolled through the garden, forgetting who she had come to meet. Then, she discovered a particular spot and stopped.

Between two conical-shaped trees, there was a bench, and it was adorned with what appeared to be a cluster of blooming flowers.

It would look lovely when the flowers bloomed in the warmer weather.

“It would be beautiful to take a picture here.”

“What is a picture?”

It was him.

“Archen!”

Carinne turned around with a bright smile.

As always, he stood there in his blue frock coat. She was tempted to bring up beauty pageants when she saw his flowing blond hair, but she restrained herself.

After all, there was a promise to keep. She couldn’t resist teasing him a little. The next moment, something twinkled near his chest, and her eyes widened. It was the tie pin she had given him. It seemed he really liked it.

She couldn’t hide the smile on her face. She ran towards Archen, then noticed his curious expression, realizing she needed to explain.

“Oh, a picture is… It’s a bit different from a painting. It captures what you see with your eyes and puts it on paper.”

He still looked puzzled as he gazed at the square she created with her hands, framing the bench within it.

“It’s a way of transferring what you see in this square onto paper.”

Archen found the landscape inside the square that Carinne made with her hands fascinating.

“It’s a fascinating magic. I’ve never heard of it. Is it ancient magic?”

Ancient magic? Well, you could say it’s the mystery of science.

“Hmm, maybe? I can’t remember. I learned about it somewhere, too.”

The expression ‘learned about it somewhere’ proved to be useful. He nodded as if he understood and didn’t ask any further. Carinne stood next to him, admiring the garden. The cool breeze of early evening brushed her cheek as it passed by.

‘Should I ask him now?’

He had a faint smile on his lips as he gazed at the scenery in the garden. It was a peaceful evening, with moonlight shining, and they were alone in the serene garden.

If not now, then when?

Yes, now was the perfect time. She swallowed nervously and counted silently.

One, two, three.

“There’s something I’ve been curious about…”

Fortunately, there had never been any interruptions or unexpected events that caused the conversation to be cut off.

Archen’s face silently turned towards her, and a pair of jewel-like blue eyes stared at her curiously.

A sense of tension surged through her body, sending shivers down her spine. Her tongue felt as dry as grains of sand, and her heart began to beat forcefully. The pounding of her heart was so loud that she was afraid he could hear it.

“Well, you see…”

Her tongue felt like a desert, and her heart was pounding so hard that it felt scary.

“Does that earring… did you personally choose it?”

Carinne couldn’t say it because of what her dry tongue was screaming due to being too tense.

‘No, I’m not ready yet!’

Her tongue was screaming like a whale. Filled with anger, she bit down hard on her tongue. The bite was so strong that it involuntary let out a cry of pain.

Archen looked at her in surprise.

“Oh, it’s nothing.”

D*mn tongue. Why did it suddenly bring up the earring? Well, now she had to hear what he had to say. She was actually curious why Archen always wore the same earrings.

“You must really like that earring. You wear it all the time.”

Carinne spoke with a hesitant tone.

Archen looked at her suspiciously, then raised one hand and touched the earring. The tear-shaped aquamarine earring was quite elegant, to say the least. The craftsmanship of the cut gemstone was remarkable. It seemed like it could fetch a high price if sold.

Archen hesitated for a moment, then began to explain.

“This… was with me when I was found at the orphanage. It’s a bit uncomfortable, but it’s the only clue I have to finding my biological parents.”

“Ah…”

The atmosphere settled down, and Carinne replied.

“I see…”

So, there was a story behind it.

Well, it didn’t really suit Archen to go to a jewelry store and carefully choose an earring saying, ‘Give me this.’ It had been with him since he was left at the orphanage. So, he was hoping that his family would recognize him when they saw the earring.

“May I ask you something as well?”

Archen suddenly asked.

Thinking that it was an opportunity to change the mood, Carinne quickly agreed. She could answer his question and then smoothly bring up what she wanted to say earlier. However, despite asking, Archen remained silent.

She patiently waited for him to speak.

After hesitating for a moment, he finally opened his lips.

“Why… does the Princess…”

“Carinne, come and eat cookies! Aide, come in too!”

Ah, the cliché of someone interrupting and cutting off the conversation happened in the most unexpected moment.

Iris suddenly interrupted, and Archen’s words came to a sudden halt.

“What about me?”

“No, nothing. Let’s go inside.”

“Don’t just leave it hanging, tell me. What about me?”

“It’s nothing important.”

Carinne looked annoyed, though Archen seemed to have no intention of speaking further.

What’s this? Why did he start speaking and then stop?

She grumbled as she followed Iris into the mansion. They walked through a long corridor and entered the drawing room, where Duke Lucas was leaning against a sofa in a comfortable position.

“Were you with the Princess?”

“I kept her company for a moment.”

The Duke nodded as if he understood.

‘D*mn this sarcastic demon king.’

“Keeping her company? When did the two of you become so friendly?”

Expecting such a reaction, Carinne shrugged her shoulders and sat diagonally across from the Duke. Iris sat next to the Duke, holding her hands and pressing her cheek against her.

“It’s been a while since the four of us gathered like this!” Iris sent a bright smile to everyone.

“Have you all been well?”

“….”

The four of them had become closer than before, but they hadn’t become close enough to have intimate conversations about their current situations. However, they all knew what would happen if they ignored Iris’ words.

“I’ve been doing well.”

“I’ve been doing well, too.”

“Has anything happened to lady?”

Instead of answering Iris’ question, the Duke chose to respond with a question.

“Oh, I’ve been doing very well! Thank you for asking!”

Iris seemed greatly impressed by the fact that the Duke spoke to her first. She blushed and bit her rosy lower lip, just like the female protagonist in a romantic fantasy novel.

She looked incredibly lovely. Nonetheless, Duke Lucas seemed uninterested in Iris. He didn’t even look at her. What should she do in this situation? Should she play the role of a love cupid even though she had no idea what to do?

Carinne thought it was quite a headache to have so much work to do, and she picked up a cookie from the drawing-room table.

It had been a while since dinner, but she was already feeling a bit hungry.

Carinne brought the cookie to her mouth and took a bite. The cookie was quite delicious. She almost wanted to ask about Duke Lucas’ chef.

After finishing one cookie, she picked up another one.

“Do you have something to say to me?”

She casually spoke without thinking while trying to put the cookie in her mouth when she saw that the Duke was staring at her.

His crimson eyes had an unexpectedly intense gaze.

Carinne froze with the cookie still in her hand when she realized what she had said.

“Why don’t you come to my office later?”

“What?”

Carinne swore to God she wouldn’t have even looked at the Duke if she’d known she was going to hear that question.

“I have something to ask you about regarding the meeting.”

‘Oh, thank goodness. I was worried it was something terrible.’

She felt relieved that it wasn’t as dreadful as she had feared. She had expected a day like this to come eventually.

Since the incident with the annex, the Duke had been evaluating himself quite highly. Asking various questions during dinner and now asking her to come to his office indicated that. Nevertheless, regardless of how the Duke evaluated herself, Carinne didn’t want to get involved with him.

“It would be a great help if the Princess could come.”

“No…”

Carinne was about to refuse, but she stopped when she saw the Duke’s gaze.

His eyes, usually blood-red, had a desperate glimmer. Knowing how bitter the Duke was about the meeting in the original, Carinne couldn’t help but waver. Even if he racked her brain for clever policies, he was often ignored by other nobles.

The Duke’s lush hair was surprisingly impressive despite the stress.

‘He must have had dinner too. Should I go and listen to what he has to say?’

The problem was that Carinne had very limited knowledge about politics beyond what she had read in books. Her knowledge only extended to what was written in the original story. She couldn’t guarantee that she would be of any help to the Duke, especially since this wasn’t a political novel.

Carinne hesitated but answered honestly.

“I probably won’t be much help.”

“It doesn’t matter. So you’ll come?”

Carinne reminded herself that the Duke was a persistent person. Well, it wouldn’t hurt to show some kindness once in a while. Besides, if the Duke found out that she wasn’t of much help, he probably wouldn’t bother her anymore.

“Okay.”

“Good.”

The Duke smiled satisfactorily and stepped back.

“Wow, Carinne, you’re so cool.”

Iris, who had been listening to the conversation between the Duke and Carinne, exclaimed sincerely.

“Ahaha… Would you like to come as well?”

It would be much livelier with Iris.

Carinne wouldn’t have to be alone with the Duke, and Iris would be able to see the beloved Duke Lucas. It would be a win-win situation for both of them.

“No, I don’t know much about politics. By the way, this cookie is really delicious. Try one.”

Unfortunately, it seemed that Iris hadn’t thought that far.

Iris smiled innocently and then handed everyone one of the same kind of cookies she had eaten.

The cookie had an excessive amount of chocolate chips. It looked like the chef had been experimenting to see how many chocolate chips he could fit into a cookie. Iris bit into her cookie with a happy expression, while Duke Lucas looked at it with a disapproving look on his face and popped it into his mouth.

And Archen was…

When Iris wasn’t looking, he quietly put the cookie down on his plate.

Why wasn’t he eating it?

As she watched Archen set the cookie aside and sip his tea, Carinne couldn’t help but think, ‘Does he dislike cookies?’ But really, he was quite handsome.

Her thoughts momentarily drifted in that direction.

“Do you have something to say to my aide?”

The Duke spoke up, alternating his gaze between herself and Archen with a questioning look.

—