“I will see you tomorrow, Your Highness.”

Patrick gave a polite smile, concealing his inner thoughts, and left the room.

The crown prince called a servant to the study after the aide went away.

“You called for me, Your Highness.”

“Relay to my father that I will be visiting him at once.”

“Understood.”

The servant left after receiving his command. The crown prince followed suit soon after.

‘In order to execute my plan…’

Crown Prince Bartèze planned to request something from his father, the king.

He wasn’t worried about having his request turned down. The king cherished the crown prince deeply. The king’s beloved, the queen consort, had just barely managed to give birth to Bartèze with her frail body. The king had never turned down a request from the son of the woman he loved.

‘I can’t wait.’

The crown prince crossed through the magnificent corridor triumphantly.

‘For the day Duchess and Duke Mayhard fall at my feet, sobbing, not knowing what force they had reckoned with. That bitch and bastard.’

Kek, kek. Kek, kek, kek.

“Bwahaha!”

The crown prince couldn’t contain his laughter. It rang through the vast halls of his palace and echoed in every nook and cranny.

***

“All done.”

After the maid had finished accessorizing Yelena, she looked at herself in the mirror. Then, her face crumpled into a scowl.

‘A party…’

The crown prince had invited the duke and duchess to a party he was hosting at the royal palace. But the party wasn’t to celebrate the crown prince.

The party was to celebrate the crown princess, the daughter of the first concubine. She had recently returned to her homeland after spending a long time studying abroad. Congratulating her on her return was the official purpose of the royal party.

Yelena tried to ignore the invitation at first. If the invitation had been the only thing to arrive at the ducal castle, then she definitely would have been able to do so.

But the crown prince’s invitation came with a royal subject.

“I was ordered not to return until you accepted the invitation.”

Clearly, the crown prince was pressuring Yelena to accept the invitation. As soon as she came face-to-face with that pressure, Yelena felt an ominous foreboding.

‘Knowing the crown prince, even if I had rejected that invitation, he’d probably keep sending more.’

Yelena had already sensed his obstinance from the fact that he had sent a royal subject along with the invitation.

‘I am obligated to accept at least one invitation that comes from the royal family… And if I have no choice but to attend at least one of their parties, it might as well be the one where I can be noticed by Her Highness the Crown Princess.’

Yelena sighed belatedly.

‘I don’t know if I made the right choice.’

Then, she heard two knocks on the door. Knock, knock.

“Come in.”

The door opened and in came Yelena’s husband, wearing banquet attire and a white mask.

“We will take our leave now. Please call us again if you need us.”

Abbie was quick to read the room, leaving with the other maids. These days, the castle servants were well aware that the ducal couple spent a lot of alone time together.

“Kaywhin.”

Yelena looked at Kaywhin with a troubled expression as he approached her.

On any other day, Yelena wouldn’t have been looking at Kaywhin’s face, but at the tightly-closed buttons on his shirt. But right now, she felt so anxious that she didn’t even notice how well-dressed her husband was.

“Will things be okay?”

Kaywhin got down on one knee in front of where Yelena was seated. He looked up at his wife sweetly.

“Nothing bad will happen. We are just attending a party.”

“But…”

Yelena hesitated and then closed her mouth.

‘Should I stop us from going?’

Yelena’s husband had said that it was just a party, but the fact that it was a ‘party’ was what bothered her.

‘A lot of people will be at the party.’

If her husband were to appear, he would definitely draw a lot of attention. And truthfully… it was difficult to anticipate that the attention would be positive.

Kaywhin quietly held Yelena’s hand, as if he had sensed her anguish. Then, he brought it to his lips and kissed it.

“I’m okay.”

“…”

“I have you by my side, don’t I? I’ll be fine no matter what happens.”

“Kaywhin…”

His warmth lingered on her skin. Yelena blinked and stared closely at the back of her hand, where her husband’s lips had touched and then parted from. Then, she opened her mouth.

“I think I’ll have to do my makeup again.”

“I’m sorry?”

“I don’t like my lip makeup. I want to remove and reapply it…”

The look in Yelena’s eyes changed subtly.

“Could you help me wipe it off, Darling?”