Weak and small animals perceive danger well.

Angelica's eyes fluttered as she glanced at Raniero. She was so terrified that she could not even get down on her knees or pray. At the same time, a shawl borrowed from her loyal handmaiden was wrinkled without mercy.

As if she was about to faint at any moment, she caught her breath and struggled to smile.

"Didn't you go to see the spar?"

Her laughter, which she barely made up, was shattered in silence. Even though Angelica spoke in a trembling voice, she spoke as brightly as possible.

'I just came back from a walk because I had a headache."

Raniero beckoned to her.

Angelica was afraid. Although her instinct was screaming to turn around and run away, her reason stopped her.

...If she did, she would really die.

Comforting herself, she took a step towards Raniero. He twisted his lips and smiled at Angelica's pale face and her white hands, pitifully clenching her shawl tightly.

"You're scared. Did something bother you?"

The round, light-green eyes that gazed down at her toes turned towards him for a moment. Raniero, who was staring at her coldly with his chin on his hand, stopped for a moment,

A drop of water fell on the tip of Angelica's shoe.

Hot drops of water constantly filled and pushed out of her large eyes.

It was her tenacious survival instincts that helped Angelica survive to this day. She was not particularly smart or daring, though her desire to survive was great. With the determination that she could not die, she would always, momentarily, perform beyond her own abilities.

She sometimes does not know exactly what she is doing.

Angelica's hands were trembling.

"Th-that's just because Your Majesty is making such a scary face."

Raniero's intuition was great.

As he expected, Angelica met Eden. Even though the reason for his displeasure was in a different direction, she also had conversations with Raniero that should never be caught. Angelica was honest, and her expression revealed everything she thought. In front of Raniero, who sensitively grabbed the clues of her lies, her lies lost their power.

But now, she was too cornered.

The extreme fear made her lie to him, forgetting even the fact that she was acting herself. She was so desperate that everything he said was true in her mind.

Raniero closed his mouth and looked down at her. Tears constantly flowed from her innocent eyes. As Angelica rubbed her eyes with the back of her hand, her adorable front teeth bit her thick lips softly.

"Does Your Majesty—heukhik, doubt me?"

Her eyes turned red, and she turned her head away. She seemed more innocent than anyone else.

It was a picture of him driving an innocent woman without guilt.

The anger that seemed to swell and explode inside him turned into another emotion. In front of his wife, who gazed at him with her heavy tears dripping down, Raniero Actilus denied his judgment for the first time.

...He may have been wrong.

Was it not an overreaction to getting suspicious just because two people did not come to the same place at the same time?

Eyes? Did he not think a few days ago that such a thing did not matter?

Apart from everything, it was not something to be upset about, even if his wife liked him.

Then, what was the problem...?

Raniero was not jealous. How could humans be jealous of ants?

[ T/N: Yeah, right. Totally not jealous Raniero... (ㆆ ᴗㆆ) ]

'If my wife wants to have him, she can have him as her plaything.'

It does not matter at all that he was a paladin. It was because there was nothing the great son of Actilla could not plunder.

Yes. That was all he had to do, and it was nothing.

As he raised his hand, his wife crouched and trembled when his hand came close to her neck. His hand fluttered in the air. When his eyes were full with long pink hair that was about to tumble to the floor, he slowly knelt in front of Angelica.

It did not mean obedience. It was just to lower his body.

Even so, it was a posture he had never taken before. Raniero approached very slowly so that Angelica would not back down again in fear. Even though she was terrified and trembling, she did not avoid his hand. It was also an act that her survival instinct had meticulously calculated.

Raniero's fingertips swept over the corner of her eyes, and a damp tear hung from the tip of his thumb.

Angelica slowly opened her eyes as her pink hair fluttered haphazardly over her face.

"I, huek—I can't lie."

"...."

"Wha-what if I get caught? That's too, heuk, too scary."

Right.

Everything she thought was revealed on her face, and she was absurdly weak. Raniero, still without a word, placed his arm between Angelica's underarms and pulled her little body closer. As if burying her in his arms, he embraced her and soothed her frightened and weak existence.

"Yes. You're right."

"Sniff... You're not angry?"

When Angelica carefully checked, Raniero let out a long sigh.

He was angry. Of course, he was angry. Still, if he said that, she would be scared again. So, he told her what she wanted to hear.

"I'm not."

Only then did Angelica exhale quickly while digging into his arms, and soon, her cries gradually subsided as well.

Angelica tricked Raniero.

Without the two of them even knowing, there was a small reversal in their relationship.