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Yevgenia sighed, rubbing the area around her burning clavicle bone.
“Young Lady, do you regret it?”
“A little?”
She reached for a cookie, but deciding that a dry lump of flour wouldn't be enough to clear the unpleasant taste in her mouth, she picked up her teacup instead.
She moistened her lips, but finding the lukewarm temperature unsatisfying, she set it back down.
Yulan, who had been watching her silently, took a small pill from his pocket and held it out to her lips.
Even before it touched her, a refreshing scent wafted into her mouth.
As if possessed, she opened her mouth, and the round pill popped right in.
“……What is this?”
“A cleanser and a stimulant…… though you probably won't believe me if I say that.”
“Yep, it's a stimulant.”
He called it a ‘stimulant,’ but it was essentially like a sugar-free peppermint.
Since peppermint candies didn't exist in this world, people likely used them simply as stimulants rather than enjoying the sensation of waking up their senses.
Rolling the pill around in her mouth, Yevgenia asked casually.
“How about reducing the amount of stimulant in this—I mean, peppermint—and coating it in sugar or chocolate to sell as a dessert after meals? I think it would be perfect for when your mouth feels icky after eating.”
“……I think you might actually have a talent for business, Young Lady.”
“Success is usually born from accident. If I hadn't had this unpleasant experience, I never would have thought of it.”
Yulan burst into laughter at Yevgenia's pointed criticism.
He laughed loudly—hahaha—but it didn't sound particularly hearty.
Was it her imagination, or did he seem more in agreement with her description of it being an ‘unpleasant experience’?
As the laughter gradually faded, an awkward silence settled in.
Tapping the armrest of the sofa with his index finger, he spoke.
“From now on, make your appointments through Madam. If what you wrote in your letter is true, I think it would be dangerous for you to keep visiting the guild.”
“Mm-hmm. My father has a bit of a persistent side. It's better to nip the buds in the bud.”
“Wait at least a month between contacts. You can't possibly have a new dress made every single day.”
Yevgenia's mouth hung open slightly at his words, which showed he knew absolutely nothing about women—or more accurately, the noble Young Ladies of this era.
Eighty percent of her reaction was absurdity, nineteen percent was surprise, and one percent was pity for his past, as it was clear he had never had a noblewoman by his side.
“Your Highness, when you eventually welcome an Imperial Princess, make sure you never say something so stupid.”
“……What?”
“Telling a woman—who has tea parties the day after tea parties, banquets the day after banquets, and balls the day after balls—not to have a dress made every day is practically saying she's lacking in status.”
She shook a circle made by her thumb and index finger for emphasis.
Only then did Yulan seem to realize his mistake, his mouth snapping shut.
Finally able to smile faintly, she continued.
“Well, I agree that we don't need to meet often. I'd rather we just overlap our bodies than do this….”
“Hmm? You were so absorbed that your lips were trembling; I thought you quite liked it.”
“You crazy…!”
Her head knew it was a joke, but unable to contain her sudden surge of anger, she instinctively threw a punch at his shoulder.
However, only her fist, which had struck his forearm, felt a stinging pain.
“……Do you have stones tied to your shoulders? Why are you so hard?”
“Anyone listening would think I'm intentionally trying to hurt your hand. It's just that you are excessively weak and frail, Young Lady.”
She couldn't argue.
In this world, the only exercises a noble Young Lady could do were dancing, walking, and lifting teacups, so it was only natural that she had nothing to say against being called frail.
Still, since she was still annoyed, she kicked him in the knee this time.
“Ah!”
“I may be frail, but my shoes aren't.”
“It… seems so.”
Seeing Yulan rub his knee with a slight frown made the tightness in her chest feel a bit relieved.
Narrowing her eyes, she asked in a low voice.
“So, is this thing a one-time deal? Or next time too…?”
“Well……. For now, I've only taken one step toward proving my hypothesis.”
She wanted to demand a straight answer immediately due to his uncertain tone, but she held back.
Setting aside her personal feelings, his words were quite logical.
Conversely, this meant she intended to call him out the moment she spotted a single flaw in his logic.
Consequently, Yevgenia's eyes narrowed even further.
Whether he noticed or not, Yulan was lost in his own world.
“When we first slept together, you said you felt no pain at all, right?”
“……Yeah. It was uncomfortable, or, well, overwhelming, but I didn't feel the kind of pain I felt when my name was erased raw.”
Her face flushed, wondering if her expression had been a bit too explicit.
However, Yulan didn't mind at all and continued to organize his thoughts.
“How was it today?”
“Today too…… my throat and the back of my tongue hurt, but it wasn't that other kind of pain.”
It was something she hadn't thought deeply about at the time because she had been so distracted.
Immediately afterward, she had been too busy recalling the ickiness and unpleasantness of the act; she hadn't felt any of that breathless pain she had experienced for the first time.
It was quite shocking that she only realized this after he pointed it out.
Following that, a wave of curiosity hit her.
“……What on earth is happening? What kind of mechanism is at play for this to….”
“Let's meet again on this day next month, provided you don't have a prior engagement. I need to check other methods as well.”
This day next month.
Yevgenia unfolded a calendar in her mind, meticulously checking the dates one by one, and suddenly let out a hollow laugh.
“Why? Do you have something busy going on?”
She stared intently at Yulan, who still seemed clueless.
Perhaps because they were the only ones of their kind in the world, his green eyes looked particularly lonely today.
After hesitating, she finally spoke.
“That day is the Imperial Crown Prince's birthday banquet.”
“……Ah.”
His reaction was as if he truly hadn't expected it at all.
Perhaps the only saving grace was that he didn't seem to take this fact very negatively.
‘……No, so what if he takes it negatively? What does that have to do with me?’
Unlike her, whose only family under the sun was Duke Martir, he at least had an older brother, the Imperial Crown Prince.
Regardless of their relationship, the fact that there was at least one other person sharing the same blood was quite reassuring.
Especially if that person was the Imperial Crown Prince, the one man below only the Emperor.
Though it might not feel that way to the person whose relationship was strained…….
Sensing the mood, Yevgenia asked tentatively.
“So, you're not attending again this year?”
“Ah……. Well, I suppose so.”
“Why bother……. No, I'm sure you have busy things to do.”
She brushed it off and pointedly changed the subject.
“When is your birthday? A birthday banquet for the Second Imperial Prince has never been held, so nothing comes to mind.”
“The 7th of next month.”
“The 7th…… oh my god.”
Her eyes widened in shock.
The Imperial Crown Prince's birthday was the 8th of next month, and the Crown Prince and the Second Imperial Prince—meaning Yulan—were known to be born in consecutive years.
So, that meant…….
‘Is the Empire doomed? Three months after the Crown Prince was born, oh my god, what a crazy Emperor!’
Yevgenia's face gradually turned pale.
Watching this, Yulan smirked and exposed her inner thoughts.
“You're thinking that His Majesty the Emperor of our Empire is a peerless son of a bitch, aren't you?”
“Y-you shouldn't say such things……!”
Pale as a sheet of paper, Yevgenia stammered.
Even though she knew perfectly well that no one was around, her anxious glancing around was quite amusing.
Half-reclined on the sofa, Yulan chuckled.
“Who cares. I can curse my own father if I want to.”
As he spoke, Yulan somehow looked angry.
Unlike his laughing mouth, a hidden hostility flickered in his eyes.
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