“Dorothy?”
I narrowed my eyes.
The young woman who had come barreling toward us from across the room was none other than Dorothy.
“It’s been so long! And you look ‘incredibly’ handsome today, as always, Your Grace!”
“Why are you talking like that?”
Dorothy ignored me entirely.
“Hey, Dorothy! Where do you think you’re—oh my, the Duke?”
Kate had followed at a run, as though she were chasing down a runaway horse. She spotted the two of us and addressed herself — exclusively to Kael — while still catching her breath.
“I wore the earrings you gifted me today! They’re so absolutely beautiful!”
Kate clasped both hands together and looked at him with eyes shining with emotion.
“…Girls. Am I invisible?”
“Oh, Ivelina! You look stunning tonight! Is that dress from the Duke as well?”
Dorothy turned her admiring gaze on my navy silk gown.
The bodice, sleeves, and hem were set with tiny white diamonds that glittered like scattered stars. It was one of the dresses Kael had commissioned from Madame Antroi — chosen for me, as it happened, by the Dowager Duchess from among the dozens that had arrived.
“Oh — look at these earrings. The color is extraordinary. Are they opal?”
“…Yes.”
The round-cut opal was one of the gems Colton had brought — also selected by the Dowager Duchess.
At last I had my friends’ attention.
Though, as it turned out, their attention was not for me — it was for Kael’s gifts on my person.
The head steward’s voice rang out across the hall, calling the banquet to order.
“We are deeply honored to welcome all distinguished guests gathered here today. This occasion, in celebration of the empire’s star, His Imperial Highness the Crown Prince…”
A long, meandering address followed — the sort that had the quality of a headmaster’s assembly speech — before the guest of honor himself appeared at last.
‘He really is less handsome than Kael.’
I had once believed the Crown Prince to be the most striking man in the empire. Meeting Kael had thoroughly revised that view.
The golden-haired, blue-eyed young man took his place at the podium and addressed the room under the weight of everyone’s attention.
“Thank you for coming to my birthday banquet. I hope you all enjoy the evening.”
Brief to the point of almost rude.
Crown Prince Ian already looked faintly exhausted. He had been subjected to the steward’s lengthy preamble and looked heartily done with formality. He finished his greeting in a handful of words and disappeared somewhere almost immediately.
‘Where is the Princess?’
The heroine of the story — the one making her entrance tonight. Princess Reina of the neighboring Kingdom of Calon.
‘Pink hair and golden eyes, wasn’t it? She must be breathtaking.’
Given the nature of the story — it was that kind of novel — she had rather a lot of suffering ahead of her, but still.
Then, from somewhere nearby, came a voice that was pleasingly smooth with just a hint of performance.
“Hey!”
A figure made his entrance with a greeting that somehow managed to be both casual and theatrical.
Crown Prince Ian.
He cut directly toward Kael and me.
“You never even replied to my invitation — I thought you weren’t coming, but here you are, and — oh?”
He saw me and his eyes went wide. His lips parted into a matching circle.
I was so flustered I forgot to bow entirely, and stood there looking just as startled as he was.
‘Are these two… close?’
Strange. The original novel had described their relationship as strictly surface-level — cordial cousins with no real warmth, who happened to become rivals over the same woman.
But then again — standing before me was the Crown Prince. I needed to compose myself.
“I — I am honored to be in the presence of the empire’s star. I am Ivelina Florence.”
“Oh yes! Count Florence’s daughter — I thought I recognized you from somewhere.”
“Don’t be familiar with her. You’ve barely been introduced.”
Kael’s voice cut through, cold and precise.
I seized his sleeve in alarm.
‘You can’t speak to the Crown Prince like that! Cousins or not, there are lines!’
“That’s rather harsh of you. I consider every lady of the court a personal acquaintance.”
“Tch.”
The Crown Prince looked back at him with languidly drooping eyes.
Kael clicked his tongue.
‘Was this always how it was between them?’
Surprise after surprise.
“I know all about where things stand between the two of you. Tell me — is Kael good to you?”
“I — beg your pardon?”
He spread his palm beside my ear to shield our exchange from the room.
“Does he buy you nice things? Plenty of good food?”
I found myself nodding earnestly.
“Yes — very much so. An enormous amount.”
Kael reached out and drew me behind him by the wrist.
“Don’t make friends with him. He’s odd.”
He looked down at me with complete seriousness and delivered this warning with full conviction. His expression was stern enough that I nodded before I’d thought about it.
“Really, now. To attribute impure motives to such transparent goodwill.”
The Crown Prince raised both hands.
Kael remained visibly wary of him, having positioned himself squarely between us, cutting off any further proximity.
“Not at all, I’m sure. The Crown Prince is a very good—”
Kael looked at me without expression.
‘Choose carefully.’
“…person, I’m sure?”
I held my breath, keeping my gaze carefully on those red eyes.
“Oh — Kael. Have you heard?”
“Heard what?”
“Princess Reina of Calon is attending tonight. I’ll be escorting her — it is my banquet, after all.”
‘There she is. The heroine.’
Kael gave no reaction. He simply lifted his whiskey glass.
“Word is she’s quite remarkable. Beautiful and kind-natured.”
“Is that so.”
“Three daughters in that kingdom, and the youngest — Princess Reina — is said to be the most beautiful of them all.”
“Is she.”
‘Absolutely soulless. How can anyone be so thoroughly uninterested?’
Princess Reina was the female lead of the original story — and by reputation, well known throughout the empire for her extraordinary beauty and gentle character.
I tugged Kael’s sleeve softly.
“Kael.”
“Yes.”
“You’re not curious?”
“About what?”
“About the Princess. What she looks like in person.”
“Why would that be of any interest to me?”
“…Ah. Never mind.”
Those slightly furrowed brows. Those utterly empty eyes.
He looked genuinely mystified — and if anything, mildly put out. I fell quiet immediately.
‘This is very strange.’
* * *
‘Ugh, so overwhelming.’
I was paying in full for the privilege of standing at Kael’s side.
Every noble of any consequence had descended on him with their attentions, and as his fiancée, I was obliged to receive all of it alongside him. As the banquet wore on and the atmosphere deepened, a small ripple of excitement moved through the room.
The Princess had arrived.
‘Oh. She really is beautiful.’
Exactly as described.
Princess Reina had hair like pale spun cotton candy, and warm golden honey for eyes. A beauty you couldn’t look away from.
I glanced sideways at Kael.
And Kael, upon seeing Princess Reina—
“……”
Blank expression. Complete silence. Absolute indifference.
The face of a man for whom the world contained nothing remarkable.
‘What?’
I turned the original novel’s words over in my mind.
‘Kael, who had never felt a single emotion toward any woman, described the moment he saw Princess Reina:’
‘Into a world that had been nothing but darkness, a single ray of light descended.’
‘In that instant, something violent surged through him — something like possession, something like desire.’
‘That is not what possession looks like. That is what nothing looks like.’
I continued watching him carefully.
‘How can he genuinely be this unmoved? A woman like that, right in front of him?’
Even I, a woman, was on the verge of staring.
Crown Prince Ian offered Princess Reina his arm. She accepted it with a gentle smile. The host of the evening escorted the guest of honor through the glittering crowd.
I looked at Kael one more time — and he was already looking back at me.
“Ivelina.”
“Yes?!”
“Is something the matter?”
“W-why do you ask?”
“You’ve been looking at me.”
“Oh. No I haven’t.”
‘He saw every single glance.’
I was scrambling for a reasonable explanation when—
“Kael!”
Crown Prince Ian and Princess Reina were making their way toward us.
