* * *
“No, it’s fine. It just means you think of me that intimately.”
Sylvian placed his hand on my outstretched arm but maintained an appropriate distance.
Even as we walked, he seemed preoccupied, carefully watching his own movements and pace.
The soft warmth that had clung to my body disappeared, leaving behind a faint sense of disappointment.
As we stepped out into the corridor, the nobles gathered for the charity event turned their gazes toward me and the duchess.
Karl, satisfied, smiled as he introduced Sylvian to those he was acquainted with.
Among them, some looked on with envy.
‘Damn it, there are too many people.’
Among the crowd was Timothy.
He had arrived early upon hearing that the duchess would be attending, but he couldn’t get close due to the distinguished ladies and gentlemen lingering around Marquis Rooster and the duchess.
From the moment he arrived at the bazaar, people had subtly built walls around him, pushing him out.
“Wait, I need to greet them too.”
“Be careful! I was here first!”
Those in a similar situation whispered warily among themselves.
“Thanks to you, I was able to see such beautiful works.”
As he wove through the crowd, the duchess’s lovely voice rang out.
Though their eyes met, they could only exchange glances from a distance.
Still, the sweet pheromones he had first sensed at the party invaded his nose once again, intensely overwhelming me.
“Argh!”
“Dodge properly, or you might lose an arm.”
While Sylvian attended various gatherings and socialized with laughter and cheer, Zeroth was in the imperial knights’ training grounds, where dust filled the air.
With a tone full of irritation, Zeroth swung his sword, and Aihin rolled to the side to evade it.
“Your Grace, the duchess has come to see you.”
As the training neared its end, a steward rushed over, calling out to him in a cautious voice.
“The duchess?”
“Yes.”
At the servant’s words, Zeroth turned his head toward the entrance of the training grounds.
Sylvian was peeking in, searching for him.
Did his schedule end early today?
“Escort him to the rest area.”
“Hah… Then does this mean… we get a break?”
As soon as Zeroth issued the order, the steward disappeared, and Aihin collapsed backward, still holding his sword.
“That’s not possible. Keep running.”
“Your Grace!”
“Or you can train all night at twice the intensity.”
At Zeroth’s sly remark, the crown prince cursed under his breath and got to his feet.
“There’s still plenty of time before the break officially starts. Focus. Second Knights.”
“Yes! While His Highness runs, we will continue to attack.”
“…Excuse me?”
The knights who had been sparring with the crown prince were dumbfounded at the mention of using aura.
What… what did he just say?
“Did you plan to just sit back and watch while His Highness ran?”
At Zeroth’s sharp rebuke, the knights swallowed nervously and fell silent.
The training had been relentless for fifteen days now, pushing them all to their limits.
They were barely holding up—juggling the task of appeasing an increasingly irritable duke and comforting a crown prince who was on the verge of collapse.
“N-No, of course not!”
“While I speak with the duchess, His Highness will run with a sword in hand, and the rest of you will attack him.”
‘Demon. That man is a demon.’
The crown prince’s whispered curses were clearly audible, but Zeroth simply responded in a calm voice.
“Begin.”
“Argh! Get away from me!”
“Your Highness!”
As soon as the order was given, the crown prince shot forward.
The knights, hesitant and uncertain, swallowed hard at the duke’s warning glance and immediately charged at the crown prince.
“Aaah!”
“How long is this going to last?!”
“I don’t know! Just don’t get in my way!”
As he made his way toward Sylvian, Zeroth glanced back at the crown prince.
After two weeks of intense training, he was at least somewhat useful now.
He dodged and parried the swords attacking him, even managing to fend off some knights with his fists.
“Zeroth?”
“Sylvian, what brings you here?”
Without hesitation, Sylvian spread his arms and pulled Zeroth into an embrace.
“I missed you.”
“Only now you’ve started to miss me?”
Zeroth pinched Sylvian’s cheek lightly, careful not to hurt him.
After all, the first step in anything was always the hardest.
He had allowed Sylvian to immerse himself in social activities as much as he wished.
At first, Sylvian had cautiously sought his approval for everything, but now, he was comfortable enough to lie beside him at night and chatter about his daily schedule.
“T-That’s because you’re always busy.”
“Lately, it seems like you’re the one busier than me.”
That was true.
The noblewomen Sylvian befriended after the party wouldn’t leave him alone.
His raw, unfiltered reactions to everything had made them eager to dote on him.
He had also shown mild interest in the story of the Viscount Nertian’s family, which led to him occasionally hearing about his mother from others attending similar gatherings.
Meanwhile, the viscount’s household was quietly amassing wealth in the duke’s absence.
Rumors even spread that anything Sylvian said would be granted by the duke without question.
‘They’re out of their minds.’
Leaning into Zeroth’s embrace, Sylvian inhaled his scent deeply and thought to himself.
How long did they think the duke would let them get away with this?
The only reason he had this much freedom was because Zeroth allowed it.
The moment he crossed the line, he would be yanked back without hesitation.
And that went for the viscount’s family too.
“Are you helping with the crown prince’s training?”
“Yes.”
He’s not going to die, is he?
Seeing the crown prince for the first time in a while, Sylvian noted that he looked half-dead.
He was supposedly training for three hours a day, yet somehow, in just fifteen days, he had the face of someone who had suffered for years.
“He seems… quite strong now.”
“His Highness is an excellent student.”
As Sylvian muttered while watching the chaos unfold, Zeroth nodded in satisfaction.
Even now, the crown prince was parrying the swords coming at him from all directions while still running.
“Urgh!”
“Y-Your Highness!”
A knight, seemingly by accident, had almost stabbed the crown prince and shouted in horror.
But Zeroth reacted faster.
“Stay focused and keep running! If that had been an enemy, you’d be dead!”
The knights, momentarily frozen in hesitation, gulped and resumed their attacks.
“What are you all doing standing around?! Use your aura!”
“Hah…! A-Are you serious?!”
“Are you disobeying my orders?”
At the duke’s cold command, the knights hesitated before reluctantly infusing their swords with aura.
‘Stay alive, Your Highness.’
‘We refuse to die at the duke’s hands.’
With determination in their eyes, the knights swung their swords at the crown prince.
“Are you sure this is okay?”
“Of course, my dear. Humans grow stronger in the face of death.”
Zeroth’s lips curled into a wicked smile.
Sylvian swallowed hard, relieved that the duke’s sword wasn’t pointed at him.
‘If I try to run, I’ll die for sure.’
The ominous premonition slithered down his spine.
Holt’s countess had said he would be able to meet her son soon.
With the expectation that the original story was finally beginning, Sylvian hoped that all the seeds he had sown would take root.
He hadn’t been wasting time attending noblewomen’s gatherings for nothing.
“Shall we return home together today?”
“Can we have dinner outside?”
That was exactly what he’d been waiting for. Sylvian looked up at Zeroth with expectant eyes.
“Where would you like to go?”
* * *
