Chapter 77

“Are you all right, Uncle?”

“Do I look like someone who wouldn’t be? With a face this fierce, who would dare come at me?”

“Haha…….”

Just as he said, Uncle’s body was very sturdy and robust for his age.

If it came down to sheer muscle, he might even surpass Diano.

“Still, please take care of yourself, Uncle Helmer.”

“I will. You get home safely too.”

Uncle Helmer, as if reluctant, did not go back inside until I had completely disappeared from sight.

By then, dusk was falling over the streets.

Gazing at the slowly sinking sunset, I turned and looked up at Essen, who had been following behind me.

“Shall we head back now?”

“Want to walk for a bit?”

Huh? I had expected him to say we should go straight back.

“Artie. As you said, it’ll be hard to come out for a while, so I thought a little looking around wouldn’t be bad.”

“Ah. I’d like that!”

At Essen’s unexpected consideration, I smiled and nodded. As expected, Lord Essen was surely a wingless angel.

We walked together through the evening streets bathed in the glow of sunset.

It was somewhat more bustling than Eldorado Street, the high-end commercial district, but the Rantree market was noisy and warm.

We looked around the market and shared small talk.

“Before you entered the imperial palace, you lived with that man called Uncle Helmer?”

“Yes. He’s a very grateful person who took care of me when I had nowhere to go.”

“It was obvious at a glance how much he cherishes you. I’d believe it if you said he was your father.”

“Actually, Uncle Helmer is no different from my father. He’s the only family I have left in this world.”

I had visited Uncle Helmer’s house with Terni before as well, but he had never been curious about me.

That was why Essen’s question felt fresh.

Because no one had ever been curious about me before I entered the imperial palace.

“After the three years you promised Adrian are over, what do you plan to do?”

“Now that my face has been revealed as Artienne, staying in the capital will be difficult. Wouldn’t it be better to go down to a smaller city?”

“As expected, that’s how it would be…….”

If Essen seemed somehow regretful, was that my imagination?

“Let’s head back now, Lord Essen.”

“All right. Ah, wait a moment―.”

Essen, looking down at me, drew closer and reached out his arm.

In an instant, the distance between us closed, and Essen’s body pressed close.

“I…….”

“Ah, because of this. You were startled, weren’t you? Sorry.”

In Essen’s hand was a dry fallen leaf. I took the leaf from him without much thought and dropped it to the ground—that was when it happened.

“……Wait.”

“What?”

Essen’s expression hardened in an instant.

“Someone is following us.”

“Following us?”

Surely not those suspicious people Uncle Helmer had mentioned earlier?

I scanned the surroundings with uneasy eyes, but I could see nothing but passersby walking leisurely along the street.

“Are you sure they’re following us? There are so many people here—couldn’t you be mistaken?”

“No. I’m not mistaken.”

Essen answered firmly and took my hand, heading toward a place with fewer people.

Eventually, when there was no one passing by, Essen set me against the wall and spoke quietly.

“Wait here a moment.”

The moment he finished speaking, Essen’s figure vanished in an instant.

I waited anxiously for Essen to return, thinking about the suspicious people.

What was the reason they had been lurking around Uncle Helmer? And why had they followed us? Is Lord Essen all right?

Just as my anxiety reached its peak―

Clang!

The sound of swords clashing rang out vividly.

I suppressed the urge to run and check the situation immediately and waited for Essen.

But the sound of clashing swords did not come again.

“Hey! Why are you here?!”

At Essen’s shout, I frowned and ran toward the sound.

I could understand why the sound of swords had stopped after only one clash.

“……The weather is nice.”

This man, answering in a shameless tone and sheathing his sword back into its scabbard, was…….

None other than Crown Prince Adrian!

Chapter 20. The Weather Is Really Nice Today

Adrian had not the slightest intention of going outside the imperial city. He had plenty of work to handle and was tired as well.

That made sense, since lately he had not been sleeping properly due to the excessive suspicion that had been plaguing him.

‘Essen. That bastard is suspicious.’

The way he looked at Artie was utterly impure.

It was a sight to behold—someone who had never been kind to anyone in his life, pretending to be gentle.

“Yes. Then good work.”

“Yes, Father.”

Having finished his conversation with the Emperor, Adrian returned straight to his office.

There was one urgent document that needed handling.

Sitting down and picking up the document, Adrian froze.

[Went out with Artie for a bit. Good work.]

“…….”

Adrian was left speechless by the rude note.

The note, which had thrown all formality to the dogs, did not even bear the sender’s name. And where had he sold off the destination this time?

Above all, the document they had left the note on…… was a confidential document.

Adrian stared at the aide who had been guarding this office all along.

“Diano.”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

“When did Essen come and go?”

“Ten minutes ago.”

Ten minutes. That was not too late to catch up.

Adrian glared at Diano’s carefree attitude for a moment, then looked away. Even reprimanding him was tiresome.

Having changed into simple clothes, he mounted his horse and rode straight out the palace gates.

Having already received a report from Heukyeong about the direction Artie and Essen had taken, Adrian could ride without getting lost.

Before long, he spotted a carriage crossing the street.

“Where on earth are they going?”

The carriage was heading not toward Eldorado Street but toward Rantree.

What business could they possibly have in the commoners’ residential district?

‘If only that Essen bastard had told me the destination, I wouldn’t have had to come out of the imperial palace myself.’

The carriage turned into an alley, slowed, and soon stopped. Adrian watched the carriage from a distance.

Essen stepped down first, and then Artie.

Artie, dressed in the clothes commoners wore, looked plain and pure.

‘Damn it, she’s pretty.’

Thinking that he might have missed seeing her like this made his stomach churn.

Artie, stepping down from the carriage escorted by Essen, looked happy.

As expected, it was a side of her he never saw when she was with him.

Adrian observed them with an irritated heart.

Because he had perfectly concealed his presence, Essen had not noticed him at all.

After exchanging some words, they smiled and entered some ruined house.

Because of the direction, he could see nothing of the interior.

“……A ruined house?”

The purpose of Essen and Artie’s outing was becoming more and more incomprehensible. Adrian waited for them to come out.

Endlessly.

“Why aren’t they coming out?!”

His patience was beginning to reach its limit.

Adrian stroked his horse’s mane for no reason, trying to calm his restless mind.

In any case, Essen was the problem. Why was he acting so friendly with his fiancée and making him feel so rotten?

The sun began to set. No matter how long he waited, Artie did not come out, and Adrian fell into thought.

“Should I storm in?”

Not knowing at all what was happening in there was maddening.

‘Did something happen?’

With Essen there, that was unlikely, but one never knew.

“No. Let’s just wait.”

Just as he seemed to regain his senses—

“Let’s storm in.”

Adrian even left his horse at a nearby inn and prepared for a full-scale raid.

Just as he was about to walk toward the door to storm in, the door opened as if he had been waiting for it.

Adrian hurriedly hid himself in the next alley.

“Shall we head back now?”

“Want to walk for a bit?”

At Essen’s suggestion, instead of returning to the carriage, they began walking side by side down the street.

Whatever had happened in that house, the atmosphere between them was even warmer than before they went in.

‘How irritating.’

Why was Artie smiling so happily at Essen?

Seeing Essen playing along and putting on airs made his mood even filthier.

As he melted into the darkness and followed them, the conversation of passersby grated on his ears.

“Are they newlyweds? They look good together.”

“They do. What a pretty couple.”

‘……?’

Their gazes were fixed on Essen and Artie. Adrian could not understand at all.

Newlyweds? Look good together? Where on earth?

‘The only one who looks good with my fiancée is me.’

That was Adrian’s firm belief, without a shred of doubt.

‘I want to flip everything over.’

Just as Adrian was suppressing his instincts with tremendous patience, something happened.

In the middle of the crowded street, Essen bent toward Artie and slowly began to reach out his arm!

“……That bastard?”

Due to the tremendous emotional upheaval, he momentarily revealed his presence. Adrian quickly recovered it.

It had been only an instant, so Essen probably hadn’t noticed.

Especially in the middle of such a crowded street.

Adrian continued to follow them.

After that, Essen neither touched Artie nor drew close to her again.

Adrian was so distracted watching Artie walk while looking around that he did not even realize they were heading toward a place with fewer and fewer people.

By the time he realized, it was already too late.

A sharp blade flashed before his eyes. Adrian reflexively drew his sword and blocked the blade.

Clang!

With their swords locked, their eyes met.

Essen, having confirmed Adrian’s face, gaped.

Before long, the sound of Artie running over could be heard.

Adrian had no choice but to make a pathetic excuse.

“……The weather is nice.”

“……?”

Essen looked at him as if he were insane. Adrian did not avoid that gaze and met it.

A subtle exchange of looks passed between them.

Watching that heated battle of eyes, Artie came to a quiet realization.

‘It’s a lover’s quarrel!’

To gaze at each other with such passionate eyes—surely they must be in a tremendous love.

Artie, looking at Adrian, who had not given her even a single glance, abandoned the expectation she had secretly held.

‘I thought he had followed me…….’