A grand tea party had been prepared in the room where Becky led them.
Upon seeing the mountains of various cookies and cakes piled high on silver plates, Joel smacked his lips and approached the table.
Having been conscious of the eyes of the palace staff and the complex imperial etiquette all day, he had practically starved himself.
Although the Crown Prince had thoughtfully sent snacks whenever he could spare a moment from his busy schedule, the nervous Joel hadn’t been able to eat a thing during the long audience schedule.
While Joel ate sandwiches until his cheeks were bulging, Benjamin merely poked at a strawberry atop a cake with his fork.
Joel, however, didn’t even have the luxury to spare a glance at the person sitting across from him.
It was only after he had devoured four sandwiches and polished off two cups of milk tea with extra sugar that he finally regained his senses.
“Why aren’t you eating anything?”
To Joel, who was belatedly showing concern, Benjamin waved his hand dismissively.
“Oh? Ah, right… I overate a bit during lunch. I’m fine, don’t worry about me.”
Benjamin spoke as if it were no big deal, but his face looked much worse than when Joel had last seen him.
His cheeks were hollow, and the dark circles under his eyes made it clear that he was deeply troubled.
Joel moved to sit closer to him.
“I don’t think that’s it. Do you have something on your mind?”
“Worry? Well, I wonder.”
Benjamin gave a vague smile and shifted back slightly to avoid Joel, who had leaned in uncomfortably close.
In truth, his purpose in requesting an audience today was to warn Joel.
While Joel had been missing, disrespectful rumors regarding him and the child in his womb had been spreading secretly throughout high society.
The Crown Prince had announced that Count Lucas had hidden Joel away while he was pregnant with the imperial heir to use him as leverage, but rumors were circulating that Joel had actually fled because he was carrying someone else’s child.
Benjamin guessed that the source of such rumors was likely the salon of the House of Viscount Scott.
Aaron Scott, the eldest son of Viscount Scott, was a social and extroverted person.
His reputation wasn’t bad, and even Benjamin had once relied on his friendly exterior.
However, because of an incident on the night of a ball three years ago, Benjamin had remained wary of Aaron.
To explain the grievance Benjamin held against Aaron, one would first have to explain the small incident that occurred before it.
That incident was none other than Joel approaching Benjamin and dousing him with punch as soon as the first song of the ball ended.
The reason, of course, was that Benjamin had secured the spot as the Crown Prince’s partner.
Benjamin had felt a piercing gaze of jealousy directed at the back of his head the entire time he danced the first set with the Prince, so he had sensed something like this would happen.
As expected, Benjamin was showered with punch and let out a long sigh; the Crown Prince looked at Joel with annoyed eyes; and the ballroom immediately fell silent at Joel’s bold move of dousing the eldest son of the House of Duke Melphis.
“Oh, I’m sorry, my apologies. My hand slipped while I was passing by. Please, don’t mind me and carry on. Ben, are you alright?”
No one in the ballroom believed it was an accident.
But Joel wasn’t discouraged in the least; he gave Benjamin’s state a perfunctory check and immediately linked arms with the Crown Prince.
“Your Highness, I have something urgent to tell you, so this is perfect. Come upstairs with me.”
Of course, the Crown Prince didn’t want to be dragged away, but it was undignified to get into a scuffle in front of so many people with Joel, who was whining, “The first song is over anyway, so it’s fine to chat with me for a bit.”
He eventually sent a look of apology to Benjamin and had to follow Joel’s lead.
As soon as Joel disappeared with the Prince, the quiet ballroom began to buzz again.
Everyone whispered about Joel’s lack of decorum behind their fans and looked at the abandoned Benjamin with pitying eyes.
And the person who supported Benjamin amidst those sympathetic gazes was Aaron.
With his formal wear ruined, Benjamin had no choice but to leave the ball.
In fact, this was something that could have been foreseen since he received the invitation.
Walking quickly while supporting a pale and staggering Benjamin, Aaron poured out insults toward Joel.
“A mere mare adopted into the House of Count Lucas because of his secondary gender… I don’t know how he can be so tactless. Benjamin, you really have it hard.”
Benjamin just smiled bitterly.
Because he had read the faint hint of apology mixed within Joel’s thorny gaze, he couldn’t truly hate him.
In fact, he inwardly found that blunt side of Joel to be somewhat cute.
To be honest, it worked out well for Benjamin too.
Felix had been bedridden at the capital residence with a severe cold.
Benjamin suppressed his urge to rush back to nurse Felix and continued his act as a weak young lord startled by a sudden punch shower.
“It’s alright, thank you for supporting me. More importantly, Aaron, what will I do since you couldn’t enjoy the ball because of me?”
“To think you’re worried about that in this situation, you really are…”
Aaron beat his chest in frustration.
Acting as if he were angry on Benjamin’s behalf because Benjamin didn’t find Joel’s behavior offensive, he kept urging Benjamin that they needed to show that wild colt Joel a lesson.
“I… I’m really fine. I’m sure the Crown Prince finds it more enjoyable to have the lively Joel by his side rather than a quiet and boring person like me. I wish I had a sparkling charm like his.”
Regardless of Aaron’s prodding, Benjamin—who had no intention of retaliating against Joel—soothed the fuming Aaron.
At the time, he thought Aaron was a truly kind friend for getting so angry on his behalf.
He hadn’t dreamed that Aaron simply wanted to use him to put his rival, Joel, in a difficult position.
Perhaps it was because he hadn’t shown enough anger at having the Prince stolen from his side that day, but not long after, Benjamin witnessed a sudden rumor spreading about himself.
The rumor was that the famously dignified Lord Benjamin of the House of Duke Melphis was ditching the Crown Prince to carry on a secret love affair.
The one who spread that rumor was Aaron Scott.
Benjamin, who had considered Aaron a social and kind friend, was deeply shocked to realize that Aaron was actually a two-faced gossip-monger.
Fortunately, thanks to his mother who dominated the social circles, the false rumor was quickly silenced.
However, Benjamin could never forget the way people whispered low behind his back whenever he passed by.
This became the reason why the already timid Benjamin grew even more fearful of social criticism.
“Ben, Ben? What are you thinking about so deeply?”
Lost in his reminiscence, Benjamin snapped back to reality at the sound of the voice calling him.
Innocent blue eyes, like a puppy’s, were shining right in front of his nose.
“Huh? Ah… It’s, it’s nothing.”
Benjamin gave his usual gentle smile and picked up a napkin to wipe the milk foam from the corner of Joel’s mouth.
After returning to the capital and checking various noble residences and social gatherings, it seemed it was Aaron Scott’s doing to spread such malicious rumors about Joel—who had defeated a demon and saved the Crown Prince.
For now, everyone seemed to dismiss it as groundless hearsay, but rumors could become “fact” in an instant.
Benjamin had come to the palace as soon as he heard Joel had returned to the capital to inform him of the situation in high society.
“Ben, you’ve been strange for a while. You definitely have something worrying you, right? Come on, what is it? Is someone bullying you? Should I go scold them?”
But facing Joel like this, Benjamin grew very concerned about whether it was actually okay to tell him.
Joel already had a combative temperament; if he tried to retaliate against Aaron immediately upon hearing the story, it would be a disaster.
To make matters worse, Aaron’s place of work was not far from the room where he and Joel were currently staying.
Fearing that Joel might charge out with a fork in hand, Benjamin eventually changed his mind and decided to tell the Crown Prince about the social rumors instead.
“What is it? Which bastard is bullying you!”
“It’s really not like that, Joel. I think my face just looks a bit worn because I lost sleep over your disappearance. How could I live well when my only friend was kidnapped?”
Benjamin dodged the question like that, barely managing to soothe the agitated Joel and get him to sit down.
And this was true to some extent.
Although the primary reason he was skin and bones was due to personal circumstances, aside from that, Joel was indeed a precious friend to Benjamin.
Benjamin took the hand of Joel, who was still tilting his head and saying “I don’t think that’s why,” and spoke seriously.
“Joel.”
“Yeah?”
“I’m happy you returned safely. But know that not everyone is as happy about your return as I am. For the sake of the baby in your womb, you must behave very prudently from now on.”
“Of course. I’m trying my best, too.”
At Benjamin’s heartfelt advice, Joel’s eyes sparkled innocently as he began to chatter away about how hard he had been working to learn imperial etiquette.
Benjamin, truly worried for such a Joel, let out a secret sigh.
