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The noble, quickly picking up the conversation, had eyes that burned with intensity.
Raymond Larsen, the target of all these heated gazes, had absolutely no intention of playing along with them.
After all, the only ones who had followed him during the Huya Festival were just mediocre Young Nobles from mediocre families.
And some of them had only followed because of Stella, who was by his side.
They were nothing more than a disorganized rabble; there was no need, nor reason, for him to go out of his way to appease them.
“Hmm, it seems the Young Noble has hidden something in a very complicated location.”
“Yes, yes. Indeed. I'm sure he is currently focusing all his concentration on recalling the exact spot.”
A voice suddenly cut into the whispered conversation.
“Of course! Ray is such a thoughtful and kind man, there is no way he wouldn't answer your questions!”
In an instant, Raymond's brow furrowed sharply.
He looked down at Stella, who was clinging to his side, with eyes narrowed in displeasure.
‘I told her not to follow me, yet she persists... Stubborn, despite being an idiot. Dammit.’
Raymond hadn't brought along those foolish Young Nobles for no reason.
He had a larger plan.
As he thought of Yevgenia, the objective of that plan, Raymond's face twisted even more severely.
“Crazy wench...”
Startled by his own low mutter, Raymond stealthily glanced sideways.
However, Stella seemed to have heard nothing and was simply smiling foolishly.
Hmph. With a small snort, Raymond looked straight ahead with a murderous gaze.
‘She definitely went this way. She's truly gone mad. How could she brazenly mess around with the Imperial Crown Prince at a banquet I attended?’
The things Yevgenia had done to incite Raymond's jealousy were truly immense.
Among them, messing around with the Imperial Crown Prince was perhaps only mid-tier in terms of shock.
However, the fact that the Imperial Crown Prince was a married man changed the story entirely.
‘She screamed so loudly at me that I thought she knew how to conduct herself, but it turns out she was just bragging about grabbing a big rope. Even so, as long as there is an Imperial Crown Princess, she's bound to be discarded!’
It was utterly galling that while she was shamelessly engaged in a ‘real’ affair, she had caused such a scene just because Raymond, who was legally a free man, was looking for love.
He had decided to take his time observing her to bring Yevgenia down by any means necessary.
He hadn't expected to catch such an absurd weakness in less than a month.
‘Blackmailing her by saying I'm the only one who knows is amateur hour. The Imperial Crown Prince would have plenty of ways to silence me. But...’
What if there were more than one or two people who needed to be silenced, and their parents were the type to have incredibly loose lips?
No matter how powerful Duke Martir was, he wouldn't be able to cover up this scandal.
‘Just like that commoner scandal. Moreover, this is a real affair!’
A vile smile played on Raymond's lips.
He had merely come out to show them the beautiful garden he had seen before the banquet; he had absolutely not come out to expose their affair.
To push forward this way, he had to use Stella, whom he had been inwardly disregarding.
It was a bit tedious, but...
“Stella, I'm sorry for making you walk so far. It's just that I saw a truly lovely garden. I really wanted to show it to you.”
Wasn't that a perfectly convenient excuse?
Looking at him, Stella replied with a bright smile.
“Really? Oh, Ray! Actually, while I was wandering during the banquet, I saw a truly beautiful garden too! Could it be that we saw the same place? We must be destiny.”
* * *
“Um... could you put me down?”
“Hmm? Why?”
“I really didn't think I'd ever say these words with my own mouth...”
Yevgenia, rubbing her face in exhaustion, let out a sigh and pointed downward.
Specifically, to her own body resting on Yulan's thigh.
“Being like this... I, um, don't think my body is that light.”
“It's fine. You're like a feather.”
“Oh, please. Stop bullshitting.”
Yevgenia continued her endless face-rubbing.
It was true that Yulan's attitude had become noticeably softer after Yevgenia's barrage of gifts.
Regarding this part, Yevgenia thought it was understandable, as her first gift... was something originally exchanged between lovers.
Yulan often showed this unexpectedly romantic side whenever they spent the night together.
‘If only he could cure his distrust of love, he's the kind of man who would treat his partner like a candy soaked in honey.’
Just by acting cute once, she ended up sitting on his lap, with his lips and tongue fussing over her, touching her here and there...
Aside from the fact that they didn't take off their clothes, what they did was enough to earn a proud "Adults Only" rating.
Of course, in her desire to verify the original work, she was more than happy, but the problem was... this was the Imperial Palace!
Another long sigh followed.
“You haven't forgotten where we are, have you?”
“Of course. It's my damn father's residence.”
“I'm glad you still have the mental capacity to curse your father. Anyone seeing you dressed like this would think you're the Imperial Crown Prince. I don't want to be swept up in an affair scandal for no reason.”
“Truly, you seem to know nothing of romance.”
“Just so you don't misunderstand forever, let me tell you: this isn't romance, it's called the thrill of having your life hanging by a thread.”
Despite saying that, Yevgenia couldn't deny that she was inwardly quite fluttered by the situation.
The problem was that she wasn't sure if her heart was racing because of the fear of being caught, or because of the man in front of her.
‘...Then, can't we just go somewhere where there's no fear of being caught?’
It was a thought that occurred to her on a whim—actually, 99% impulse.
Both of them had already officially departed from the Huya Festival.
Where they went afterward was up to them.
Of course, Yevgenia had a guardian who would be waiting with eyes wide open, so staying out all night might be difficult, but...
“Listen.”
“Yes.”
“Usually, until what time... does the Huya Festival last?”
With that one cautious question from Yevgenia, Yulan seemed to have grasped her entire intention.
With a smirk, he wrapped his arm around Yevgenia's waist and planted a short kiss on her clavicle bone.
“I heard that since the Imperial Crown Prince became an adult, the banquets usually wrap up shortly after midnight. Since it's a banquet that allows a bit of ‘freedom,’ it might be possible to say we enjoyed the party until morning...?”
“Even so, saying it lasted until morning is nonsense. ...I might be able to stretch it by two or three hours, but...”
“Oh, so, our Imperial Princess is now commanding me to find a place in this Imperial Palace where we can spend more than two hours alone, away from everyone's eyes?”
Now that he laid it out slowly, it was an absurd stretch of logic.
However, she didn't feel like denying it.
Clearing her throat with a small cough, Yevgenia said jokingly,
“You're the man with a 100% request completion rate. Are you scared?”
“No. It's so easy I'm almost yawning.”
As they gazed at each other, their heads slowly drew closer.
Their lips met, craving one another as if they would never part.
Meanwhile, in the garden not far from the pavilion where Yulan and Yevgenia were.
Rustle, rustle—
“Young Noble, is this really the place? It's just too dark.”
“I agree. It seems the grass isn't being managed well... Look at how the bushes have grown.”
“Good heavens, if one leans down, a person could hide in these bushes. How could there be a place so poorly maintained in the Imperial Palace...?”
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