Oops, I stumbled. Thank you, Duke.

You are most welcome. I am glad Your Highness is unharmed.

I thought he would let go of the Queen’s hand now that business was concluded, but Sikar was asking the Queen for a dance.

Your Highness. Would you care to dance with me?

And the Queen did not refuse.

To receive a dance invitation from Duke Blake—what an honor. Shall we dance one song?

I knew he had asked for the dance to examine the Queen’s memories more closely, yet for some reason, I felt uneasy inside.

So I completely forgot what I had heard that morning.

‘This medicine has side effects. Do not drink champagne or wine or such things.’

But I forgot that warning and snatched a glass of wine from a passing servant, gulping it down greedily.

After drinking a few more glasses, Vika Lamberst approached and snatched the wine glass from me.

You should stop drinking, Madam.

Oh, Master Vika… I was just so thirsty…

Vika gulped down the wine he had snatched from me, then spoke.

It must make your throat burn to see the Duke dancing with the Queen. I am not exactly pleased either.

Master Vika… why…?

Could Vika possibly be jealous?

Seeing my expression and guessing my thoughts, Vika straightened his face as if to deny it.

What are you imagining? I meant I dislike seeing the Duke dance with such a fox-like Queen. She is our enemy, after all.

Ah. That is what you meant.

The Duke is merely my benefactor and my enemy. Once this oath is broken, I will kill the Duke first. So please do not misunderstand me.

How could he speak so bluntly about killing the Duke right in front of me?

Normally, I would have just laughed it off, but right now, under the full effect of the medicine and the wine, I was not myself.

Master Vika. Isn’t that too harsh? The oath was made in exchange for the Duke sparing your life—why blame him so much?

…Huh?

I mean, he saved your life when you were otherwise doomed to die—isn’t that too harsh?

I did not raise my voice, but I spoke clearly and firmly, glaring at him with wide-open eyes.

Ordinary people might have been flabbergasted, but Vika just stared blankly at me.

Are you drunk? From just a few glasses of wine?

I believe my words are not wrong, Master Vika?

Not wrong at all.

The voice behind me belonged to Sikar. Sikar walked over with a blank expression and stood beside me.

Didn’t I tell you not to drink alcohol?

I was thirsty, so I drank.

Vika stood watching us, then muttered grumpily.

How wonderful for you, Duke. Madam is now entirely on your side.

Then he immediately left with a sour expression. Sikar, seemingly pleased, smirked slightly.

Did you dislike it so much when Vika insulted me?

No? I just said what I thought was right.

Drinking was wrong, but your reaction—not tolerating insults toward your husband—is quite praiseworthy.

I didn’t say it to earn your praise.

You seem very angry.

Why would I be angry? I’m not angry at all.

Sikar took my hand and started walking toward the stage.

What are you doing?

We should dance too.

I don’t really feel like dancing.

But Hersia is calling us over?

Looking toward the stage, I saw Hersia dancing with Aaron. Hersia waved at me, beckoning me to come over.

Ignoring a friend’s wave is not the etiquette you always talk about, so shall we go?

Before I could even answer, Sikar immediately wrapped his arm around my waist and began dancing.

Perhaps because dancing with him felt familiar, despite it having been a while, there was no awkwardness at all.

The most important thing while dancing is to keep eye contact. At first, exchanging glances with Sikar felt scary; then it became embarrassing.

But now, under the medicine’s effect, I felt completely fine—or so I thought. To Sikar, I probably looked slightly unhinged.

You seem properly intoxicated by the medicine. Your pupils have lost focus.

Just sleepy, I guess.

For someone sleepy, your arm strength and leg strength are quite good.

That’s your strength.

Sikar chuckled and pulled my waist more firmly.

You seem unhappy, somehow.

It’s just because I’m sleepy that I look that way.

Really? If it’s not because I danced with the Queen, then you don’t need to worry, right?

Right. Don’t worry. I am perfectly fine.

Speaking of which—since you’re fine—I wanted to write a letter, but truly, the situation never allowed it.

His sudden mention of letters caught me off guard.

Why bring up letters all of a sudden?

It seemed you were waiting eagerly for my letters.

Not waiting for letters…

Then… were you waiting for me?

Not that either…

Well, you clearly knew I would return alive, so you weren’t worried about my life or death—just very curious about my news. From now on, I will keep in touch wherever I go.

I turned my gaze away without answering—meaning, do as you please.

Sikar, sensing I wasn’t satisfied, added once more.

I will contact you until you’re thoroughly sick of it.

He was the type who kept his word once spoken—truly someone who would contact me until I was sick of it and then some.

Hearing that, I suddenly snapped to attention.

I’ll pass on that.

Your permission is unnecessary. If I decide to do it, I will.

It sounded like he was openly declaring he would obsess over me—but maybe not.

Normally, I would have just thought that and let it go, but right now, I was fully under the medicine’s effect.

So I said something I would never have said sober.

If you obsess, you’ll die.

Even drunk, I likely would never have said that.

Yet here I was, stone-cold sober, staring straight at Sikar and saying exactly that.

At my audacious threat, Sikar smirked, lifting one corner of his mouth.

As expected—you truly have the constitution of a wicked villainess.

You seem to misunderstand something. A villainess doesn’t speak like this.

Then how?

I grinned and stomped hard on Sikar’s foot—with all my strength!

Then, with exaggerated innocence, I pretended it was an accident and looked apologetic.

Oops! What a mistake!

Sikar frowned slightly at having his foot stomped, but he didn’t look particularly pained.

Doesn’t seem like an accident?

Listen to the end. A villainess would pretend it’s an accident and stomp on your foot like this.

Whether his foot didn’t hurt, or something amused him, Sikar chuckled.

You also seem to misunderstand something. Normally, people don’t let their feet get stomped on so easily.

You mean you deliberately let me stomp on you? Why?

Call it my expression of support for you becoming a villainess. Next time, stomp on Count Hamel’s foot like this.

Surely you won’t see Count Hamel again?

Of course you will. This marriage won’t be canceled just because of your one threat.

Perhaps because we danced for quite a while—or because I stomped on Sikar’s foot—I felt the medicine’s effect beginning to fade.

Once the effect faded, I became intensely curious about what Sikar had seen from the Queen—my mouth itched to ask.

After the dance ended, Hersia suggested having another cup of tea, but I bid her farewell, promising to meet again next time, despite her visible disappointment.

As soon as we boarded the carriage, Sikar knew what I was curious about.

You must be quite curious about what I saw from the Queen.

If there was nothing important, you wouldn’t have gone so far as to dance with the Queen. What happened?

Sikar paused briefly, then answered with a reluctant expression.

Fortunately, Queen Dianne is quite interested in politics. She enjoys eavesdropping on Gillian’s conversations and receiving reports from Lape, so there was much to learn.

Lape is Gillian’s spirit master and Queen Dianne’s brother.

It is said the King assigned spies on Reidox because Reidox does not support the current monarch.

Recently, they witnessed a suspicious scene—it was none other than Seo Yeon.

The spies monitoring Reidox’s marquis residence reported to the Queen upon seeing Seo Yeon leaving that house.

Lately, the Queen, seeing that the King trusts Pasium more than her own brother, wished to fully credit her brother Lape for discovering the black-eyed humans.

Thus, she tortured and killed the spies. The man Vika discovered was one of those spies.

So after that, they’ve been searching for black-eyed people?

Sikar nodded slowly.

But the more troubling issue seems to be something else.

Then?

Princess Veronia is in the North.

North? Which part of the North?

We’ll have to search the entire North to know. Queen Dianne seems to know nothing more than that.

Because the King knows of Seo Yeon’s existence and has hidden Veronia, matters have become complicated.

Or rather, Veronia might be in danger—or Seo Yeon might be in danger. After all, Reidox is openly hostile toward the current King.

Suppose Reidox gets along well with the King, and I claim I’m Seo Yeon’s sister—could that resolve the situation?

Sikar sighed deeply and shook his head.

If that happens, it would imply a deep connection between Reidox and me, and the King might begin suspecting Kian again. For now, I must visit the marquis residence tomorrow.

It seemed he intended to warn Reidox.

If only I hadn’t carelessly called it the Duke’s residence back then—perhaps Seo Yeon’s existence wouldn’t have been exposed.

Then we shouldn’t send Kian to the marquis residence anymore.

No. We will proceed as before. We must pretend we noticed nothing and return to our ordinary lives. And I will travel to the North for a while.

Are you planning to search for Princess Veronia yourself?

Since Veronia is in the North and Easterners have appeared there, I cannot leave it solely to Durion. Searching through people’s memories will be much faster.

I felt slightly disappointed that he was leaving again, but given the gravity of the situation, I absolutely could not show any sign of disappointment toward Sikar.

So I said with a very casual expression.

Take care.

I haven’t left yet.

That’s my way of wishing you a good trip in advance.

Then, is there no such thing as a reunion greeting in advance?

A reunion greeting in advance?

Can’t I give you now the greeting I would give when I return?

This crazy man is saying strange things again.

Why give that greeting now?

Because you just gave me a farewell greeting.

That’s because you’re leaving soon.

I will return soon too.

He said such nonsense.

What kind of reunion greeting do you want?

This kind.

Before his words even finished, Sikar kissed me.

Was it because I drank wine, or because he drank wine too? A faint, sweet scent of grape wine drifted gently between us.