Why did I do that!

I pulled my hair out in frustration.

I’m not going to like this atmosphere.

I smiled as nonchalantly as I could.

“Of course not, I like it. It’s like…”

His words trailed off.

I’ve said it before, but there are two ways to piss someone off…

“It’s like a date.”

“Gulp.”

I’m glad I wasn’t drinking tea.

If I had, I would have spewed it all out.

First of all, it’s officially a contractual relationship, so the word “date” makes sense.

However, it was one thing to think about it and another to hear it.

I felt my face heat up.

‘Let’s get a grip. Even if he has an idol-level face, he still has a future wife…’

When I hesitated, unable to answer, Kahen stroked my chin with his hand.

Then, with a fake smile, he said.

“If you think of it as a rehearsal, it won’t be uncomfortable.”

“Ah.”

I nodded obediently.

Yes, a rehearsal.

It would be Bella, not me, who would stand next to him.

I leaned back in my chair with ease.

Something in me relaxed.

For some reason, I felt an unexplainable tension in Kahen’s presence.

It was different from what I was afraid of when I first met him because I couldn’t dare to guess his intentions.

Something about his demeanor seemed to have changed since the ball.

“Then how about this weekend? It’s a festival from then on. I heard that you go to play every time during the festival.”

From who?

I thought for a moment, then shook my head.

He was a high nobleman, so I didn’t think he’d set foot in a festival with a lot of commoners.

Bella was also skeptical about going to the festival at first.

But after going with me a few times, she liked it more and more, saying that she didn’t have to hide her expression like she did in front of the nobles.

“Great!”

The festivities starting this weekend were for the Emperor’s birthday.

The current emperor was so ill that he couldn’t even move. They don’t know when he will die.

But the crown prince was going to make a big deal out of this festival. As if it were the last festival of the emperor’s life.

‘Surely, the emperor will pass away after the celebration of this birthday.’

It’s hard to tell from the original text, but perhaps the crown prince had something to do with the emperor’s illness.

Elios Hakan Leonid. Crown Prince of the Empire and a villain.

Now that the emperor’s illness was deepening, no one could do anything to him at the pinnacle of power.

A young lady from a poor family like me could disappear without a mouse or a bird knowing.

No one would protest, not even if they wanted to.

His masterpiece has reached even the low-ranking servants of the duke, but can’t touch upon the Viscount’s lady.

I had to do my best to stay under his radar.

The Emperor’s birthday festivities were usually held throughout the empire, but it was unusual for them to last for an entire month.

‘It’s fortunate that the national treasury is still not empty.’

Even in the original work, since the crown prince ascended the throne and rolled around for about a year, I wonder if the bottom has not been seen yet.

We don’t know where all the money comes from. The commoners enjoyed the festival, but the nobles added to it.

For one thing, the palace is open for two weeks.

That’s a pretty big deal.

First of all, everyone is allowed to participate, even if they’re only a minor noble.

On the last day, I’ll wear an unusual mask.

‘I’m sure Viscount Arhen will come too, so I’ll never set foot in it!’

I didn’t want to see the crown prince, but having to face a face I hated even more in one place was the worst.

It’s better to enjoy the festival outside pretending to be a commoner.

But Bella and Kahen’s attendance was compulsory.

If high ranking nobles, as high as dukes, didn’t come to celebrate the Emperor’s birthday, it would be the talk of the town.

They’d say there must be something wrong with them.

‘Dirty nobles!’

Still, Bella insisted I go with her, and last year I attended a masquerade ball.

I liked the idea of covering my face with a mask and the fact that it was held in the evening.

If I happened to run into Viscount Arhen, who was using the occasion to try to make a move on a high capital noble, he wouldn’t recognize me.

The masquerade balls at the imperial court were famous.

Provincial nobles with no connections to the imperial court were allowed to attend.

The idea was that everyone would wear masks and not recognize each other, so they could mingle together regardless of status.

Anyway, it was fun to blend in as a commoner at a festival that wasn’t held in the imperial palace, but in the center of the capital.

There wasn’t much to see in the early days, so I went out a lot in the final week when the atmosphere was lively.

“Oh, yeah, there’s also the part where the polymorphic Hert falls for Bella when she comes out to play alone.

Ho-ho-ho.

An evil chuckle threatened to escape.

The great dragon might be good at illusion magic, but he wouldn’t be able to control people’s emotions at will.

There was also a photography tool here.

Except they were eye-poppingly expensive.

When I first came to the capital, Bella gave me a bunch of stuff, and that was one of them.

I’ll have to raid the warehouse when I get to Kahen later.

It was disposable, but it would be perfect for blackmailing Hert with footage of him falling for Bella.

How dare you threaten our butler’s mental health, I’ll repay you with centuries of black history.

Suddenly, Kahen’s gaze bore into my face as he realized I was smiling.

I felt a sting, but I pretended not to notice.

I cupped my cheek, wondering if I’d offended him, and smiled wryly.

“I’m looking forward to the festival.”

I didn’t lie.

Though I was more looking forward to the chance to collect Hert’s black history than to the festivities itself.

***

After promising to meet at the festival, Kahen didn’t visit the mansion until the day before.

He even had a letter hand-delivered to me by a servant, in case he was worried about me waiting for him.

“The young master told me to give it to you.”

There was something off about the way he said it.

Why, why.

As I reached out to receive the letter, I saw his brow wrinkle slightly.

‘There’s obviously no contact between Hashin and me… Surely they wouldn’t be doing this because they cut his salary, right?’

Well, then his anger is justified.

But first of all, do something bad to your master and come back.

‘No, you can’t be negative from the start.’

I decided to ignore the fierce glare he was giving me.

When I gave him a curt wave to tell him to go away, he gave me a slightly dumbfounded look.

Well, what can I do? Should I offer him tea?

He glanced at the closed gate for a moment before turning back to me.

Something seemed to rise in his throat to say something, but he didn’t say it.

After making sure Hashin was back on his horse, I quickly returned to his room, tossed Bebe aside on the bed, and opened the letter.

[Dear Lady Bessia.]

The handwriting was tightly pressed.

‘Wow… How do you write so well?’

The letter, with its fluid handwriting, was perfect enough to keep as an heirloom.

I smiled wryly, feeling as proud as a mother who had raised him as a child.

The message was simple.

After skipping the preamble about taking care of himself, about how it’s a nice day and how I should go for a walk, and about how staying at home would make me unwell, he got to the point: something untoward had happened to him and he couldn’t visit the mansion.

But don’t worry, he said, he’d be here on the weekend.

“Unfortunate.”

I sat up in bed.

I set the letter down in front of me, crossed my arms, and pondered.

No matter how carefully I read the original, I couldn’t possibly recall every event.

Not everything was written down in the first place.

Anything that didn’t stick in my head was probably mundane.

The crown prince sent assassins… took poison…

“It’s not exactly normal.”

Haha… Although it would happen often to Kahen even in normal times.

I wonder what it’s like to have your life threatened?

I brought a hand to my throat.

Bessia was going to die, too.

I organized the letters, resolving to be nicer to him.

The manor would be quiet for a few days without Kahen, I thought.

Of course, I was sorely mistaken.

There was a visitor who hadn’t come because of Kahen’s daily visits.