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Even in the Imperial Palace, where everything was perfectly managed, the somewhat desolate state of the garden remained.
It was a combination more than sufficient to snap the Young Nobles back to their senses, as they struggled to exhale breaths heavy with alcohol.
As the Young Nobles began to stagger back, attempting to slip away, a firm foot stepped forward and blocked their path.
“Surely there couldn't be any dangerous places in the Imperial Palace? Were you all always this cowardly?”
The red eyes of the owner of those feet, Raymond, glinted strangely as he looked at the Young Nobles.
“Ah, no... It’s not that we’re scared or anything...”
“Ahem, ahem. Exactly. It’s not that, but we were just thinking it’s almost time for the Huya Festival to wrap up, yes. That’s why.”
Thinking they had found a suitable excuse, a spark of life returned to the eyes of the Young Nobles as they exchanged glances.
However, that alone was far from enough to overcome the madness harbored by Raymond.
“Haha, officially, the Huya Festival doesn't end until His Imperial Highness the Crown Prince declares it. Surely you aren't trying to deceive me by pretending I haven't attended the festival much...?”
“That—that couldn't be!”
“How would we ever dare think of deceiving the Young Noble of Duke Larsen!”
At the sight of them hurriedly bowing just from a slight jab, the corners of Raymond's mouth curled upward.
“Then you won't refuse to tour this garden with me any longer, will you?”
“Eh? Ah, yes...”
“Ha, haha... To think we alone could enjoy such an honor, this is truly... embarrassing!”
The Young Nobles squeezed out flattery with awkward laughter to gloss over their mistake.
Raymond merely shrugged his shoulders and stepped past them, beginning to clear the way.
Of course, being the Imperial Palace, the paths themselves were well-maintained, but the unnaturally high brush had made it difficult to distinguish the trail.
‘Idiots. They can't even find a path, forcing me to step in myself?’
Unlike the Young Nobles, who had been aimlessly hacking through the brush, Raymond's footsteps had a definite destination.
‘I definitely saw the Crown Prince and Yevgenia enter this garden one after another. Where on earth did they go in the meantime?’
Raymond's pride had been severely wounded after seeing Yevgenia's attitude during their last encounter.
A defective piece of merchandise with no man to escort her or dance with her if not for him—how dare she!
His plan was to first frighten her by completely ignoring her at the banquet, and then decide whether to forgive her based on how her attitude changed.
And yet, this insane woman had seduced the Crown Prince—no, even a married man!
‘Her face is decent and her body is... well, sufficient enough to be the Crown Prince's one-night stand.’
However, while Yevgenia herself was committing actual adultery with a married man, interfering with Raymond's true love was crossing the line.
When everyone else pampered her for being the only Imperial Princess, who else would be as bold as he was to criticize and punish Yevgenia?
‘Yes, I'm really just trying to teach Yevgenia a lesson because she's so detestable. What else could it mean for them to disappear together into such a secluded garden?’
Perhaps because there were too many eyes at the main ceremony, they had only danced and parted, but seeing them clinging to each other and giggling as soon as the Huya Festival began, it was obvious what they were doing in the garden.
The Young Nobles, who were particularly loose-lipped and short-sighted, would see the half-dressed Yevgenia and the Crown Prince and go home chatting, saying, “This is a secret, but...”
All Raymond had to do was lead everyone to the scene of the adultery.
‘Still, it would look strange if I found them myself, so I tried to make those hangers-on do it. Tsk. Well, once they're discovered, I can just step back.’
Though he clicked his tongue, Raymond's pace was infinitely hurried.
Instead of the fact that this was an act of throwing both gloves in the faces of the Crown Prince, the Crown Princess, and the Imperial Family, his mind was filled with thoughts of shaming Yevgenia and lowering her 'value.'
‘Yevgenia Martir, you damn brat. Once we're married, I'll lock you in an annex and let you wither away.’
* * *
“Wait, just a second, I heard a sound...”
“Really? I can only hear the sound of your breathing. Ah, though it seems the sound of you swallowing is a bit loud.”
Yevgenia glared at Yulan's utterly sly words.
She slapped his shoulder with a loud thud and gave him a light scolding.
“Ssh. Are you possessed by a ghost that died because it couldn't kiss? It's time to stop.”
“What would you do if I actually was? Would you drive the ghost away for me?”
Slap.
Only after Yevgenia's hand made another cheerful sound did Yulan back off.
Still bothered by the sound she thought she heard, Yevgenia kept glancing around.
Though he had been pushed back, Yulan, who was still holding her waist as she sat on his lap, pouted his lower lip and spoke.
“Who else would come to a place like this?”
“That may be true, but...”
Yevgenia, who had been peeking up like a meerkat, lowered her head again and gazed quietly at Yulan's face.
“What if someone took a wrong turn and saw your face?”
“Why? Do you also find it ominous that the Crown Prince and the Second Imperial Prince are twins?”
“Ha. If I did, I wouldn't be rubbing lips with you like this.”
Though the conversation was playful, it was certainly a cause for concern.
The Second Imperial Prince, who was so frail he couldn't even hold a birthday banquet, was having a secret rendezvous with the Empire's only Imperial Princess, whose engagement had suddenly been called off?
Even though the succession was firmly established, it was a situation that smelled of rebellion.
And if Yulan were to pretend to be the Crown Prince?
Yevgenia's reputation, which she thought had already hit rock bottom, would plummet far beyond the floor and into the abyss.
After thinking it over, Yevgenia let out a deep sigh.
Yulan, looking down at her, gave a smirk and spoke.
“Don't worry. Why do you think I asked you to come all the way here?”
“Do you have some kind of trick up your sleeve?”
“This place was originally used by the Imperial Family for encounters that must never be discovered.”
Yulan nodded toward the entrance of the pavilion.
To be precise, toward another entrance in the opposite direction.
“If you go out that way, there's a place where you can hide.”
“Don't tell me it's something like a wardrobe or a chest of drawers?”
“No, a pillar.”
Yevgenia's eyes widened.
As she looked toward the pillars of the pavilion, Yulan pointed out the answer.
“I checked it before. It's completely hollow.”
“Scary, truly scary. Just how secret were these encounters that they went this far...?”
“Well. Probably something like the relationship we have, wouldn't you say?”
Yevgenia, staring up at Yulan's softly smiling face, lightly pinched the bridge of his nose.
“You just can't stop talking.”
“So, do you hate me?”
Yevgenia's lips pressed shut.
In the ensuing silence, just as their lips were about to meet again.
“...!”
“Yevgenia, you!”
Of all things, Yevgenia's face was positioned directly in view.
Of all timings, they were just about to kiss.
And of all people to come here, it was Raymond!
Turning pale, Yevgenia immediately pushed Yulan's shoulder.
“You! Hide, quickly!”
While lowering her voice as much as possible, she forcibly dragged Yulan's arm and shoved him toward the pillar.
In an instant, by a mere hair's breadth.
“Yevgenia Martir, what on earth are you doing here?”
Raymond burst into the pavilion.
Swallowing hard, Yevgenia looked him straight in the eye and stood up.
“I was throwing up, why?”
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