* * *

20 minutes passed after being captured by the Empress.

The Empress began to urge the attendants to ask why Zerkan didn't come. Raphine sighed in relief.

'It seems to be late because of work.'

Now is your chance.

Raphine jumped up.

"My Majesty, the Empress, I have to leave today. Today, Violet's sister decided to come visit us in the evening. We decided to choose a dress together."

"I see.... Hmm, then there is nothing I can do about it."

The Empress returned Raffine with a lot of regretful tea.

As soon as Raphine left the Crystal Palace, she breathed a sigh of relief.

At that moment, a murmur was heard in the distance.

'Hey, it's Zerkan.'

As soon as she found a group of people believed to be coming with the Crown Prince, Raphine hurriedly hid behind the pillar.

"... Lady, what are you doing now?"

"Shh."

When the attendant who had decided to guide Rafine to the carriage asked, Rafine emphasized by waving her finger to her lips.

Suddenly, the servant also had to squat down and hide.

'By the way, why am I hiding?'

Raphine herself was puzzled, but once she hid behind a pillar and glanced at Zerkan passing by.

'Wow....'

Raphine opened her mouth involuntarily.

I saw it from a distance, but Zerkan is really... She boasted great beauty.

I wondered what a person looked like.

'Wow... Is this what it feels like to see celebrities from afar?'

Why is the face so small and the proportions so good? Look at the radiance of your skin....

'Wow. What's the chin line?'

Raphine, who had admired her for a long time, finally came to her senses and hurriedly returned to the carriage.

And that moment.

Zerkan stopped walking and turned around.

It was because he could feel the infamous chuck hiding behind the pillar disappearing one after another.

"Who is that?"

At Zerkan's question, the courtier looked at it.

I could see Raffine's back as she headed towards the carriage with gunfire. The courtier answered immediately.

"Ah, this is the daughter of the Duke of Aston. It seems that you have come to visit your Majesty the Empress."

who? The Duke of Aston, Raphine?

Zerkan blinked and frowned.

for a moment. So you're saying it was Raffine who hid behind the pillar and watched me?

But do you have any urgent business? Why are you running away like that? ....

for a moment.

Zerkan stood there for a moment, as if in shock, and stiffened.

'now... Maybe you avoided me.'

He thought for a moment, then shook his head.

'No way.'

Raphine had no reason to avoid herself.

Zerkan thought nothing of it and entered the Crystal Palace.

* * *

About 3 weeks after that.

It wasn't an illusion.

Zerkan pounded the desk in the office with her fingernails, thinking.

Ever since the day I first doubted that Raphine was avoiding her.

Zerkan made several attempts to meet Raphine.

There were times when I was close in my own way, and there were times when I received help.... Besides, isn't he the younger brother of the most precious friend?

I was trying to say hello by giving excuses like that....

'You are sure to avoid me.'

After five or six attempts, he never met Raphine.

I couldn't guess the reason, so I was just bewildered.

So a few days ago, when Zerkan met Violet and Adrian, he had brought up the story.

I didn't ask openly.... turned around and said

When he returned to the capital, he said he had never met Raphine yet.

What was the reaction of Violet and Adrian when they heard the story...

Adrian blinked as if he could possibly do that.

Violet also muttered tremblingly.

Soon after, Violet and Adrian made eye contact with Zerkan in the middle.

About 5 seconds of silence passed....

'Awkward.... Ha ha, ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!>

The two started laughing like crazy. Violet was lying on the couch, about to faint, and Adrian giggled enough to cry.

It is unknown why the two of them burst into laughter, but Zerkan felt very bad.

So strange things started to happen.

* * *

On the other hand, Raphine struggled as she looked at the list Orphana had picked.

"But this young-ae has a spirit to meet, right? Rumors are spreading in the capital, so why did you put this young girl in?"

"Didn't you hear that rumor? that spirit... I had an affair with a common woman and ran away."

"What?"

"So that young-ae is grinding her teeth to get revenge."

"Wow... I didn't know."

Raphine looked at Orfana, who was more socialized than herself, with blurred eyes, and then turned her gaze back to List.

"Hmm...."

There were about 15 people on the face-to-face list.

Through a survey disguised as a psychological test, even the young children's intentions were confirmed.

And a few days ago, through Adrian, I also talked about Zerkan's situation.

"Brother, maybe the Crown Prince."

"Like an older brother and Violet older sister who went through a difficult time with each other and fell in love... Didn't the Crown Prince have such a person too?>

When he asked that question, Adrian's pupils shook wildly.

Adrian had a confused expression as if he had just heard the secret of his birth. Raphine immediately added more words as if making an excuse.

"It's not that, Her Majesty the Empress was very worried.... Every time I visit him these days, he tells me about it, so I said he would ask my brother instead."

"Oh, was that so?"

Adrian sighed in relief and smiled. Then he said softly.

"Yeah, not at all."

When Raphine couldn't hide her disappointment, Adrian was relieved once more.

As such, Raphine let out a deep sigh as she recalled all the conversations she had had a few days ago.

'If there was someone else, there would be no need for such trouble....'

It was sad in many ways.

At that time, Orphana asked as if she was not at all reluctant.

"But, sir, do you really have to do this?"

"Huh?"

"Honestly, whoever the Crown Prince marries, what does it have to do with the master? You can just ignore it."

"It is, but...."

Orpana is right, but... Raphine felt a little sorry for Zerkan.

With Violet and Adrian getting married through his ruse, Zerkan must find the person he needs for a contract marriage again...

Still, there is the loyalty of childhood and a conscience, and I thought that it would be polite to do this to this extent.

"Chi. I don't know when the coordinates will appear...."

Orphana grumbled as she looked down at Raphine. It was as if he had the mind to be concerned about such things.

Raphine glared at her, and Orfana just shut her mouth.

'By the way, these days, strangely, I keep running into Zerkan.'

Every time it happened, I used my quickness to avoid it, but I wondered if I ran into it a bit too often.

'Somehow, I kept avoiding it....'

When he looked at Zerkan, his conscience seemed to be stabbed.

And to be honest, if you think you're so good-looking and have a conversation... I was out of breath. Obviously, your mind will go blank.

'I don't know, let's keep avoiding it anyway.'

But the very next day I decided to do so.

Raphine faced Zerkan in the face. There was no place to escape.

"Raffine?"

It was when he received a letter from the Empress saying that he had something to say and went to the Hwangseong Fortress.

In the entrance garden of the Crystal Palace, Raphine ran into Zerkan.

Zerkan was approaching me with a welcome expression in front of me. Raphine was restless and bowed her knees slightly to show respect.

"The Crown Prince."

"long time no see."

Zerkan, who came one step closer, smiled slightly.

Raphine couldn't answer and stared blankly at Zerkan before lowering her head again.

As expected, my brain became as white as a blank sheet of paper.

'Wow... He's really handsome.'

Up close, he looked more handsome and his skin was no joke.

Besides, it seemed that Zerkan somehow smelled of freesia flowers. He couldn't tell if it was a buff from his appearance or the smell of perfume.

At that time, Zerkan bit the secretaries and servants around him as if he had only waited for this moment.

When they were alone, Raphine tensed up and clenched her fists.

"Shall we walk for a moment?"

As Zerkan suggested, Raphine creaked and nodded.

'OMG. What do we do.'

All sorts of thoughts came to mind, but I couldn't express it at all on the outside.

"Did you hear about Violet and Adrian getting married?"

"Yes, yes... I heard."

"The Duke and Duchess of Aston must be delighted."

"Yeah...."

All of Raphine's answers were short-answered.

The atmosphere was so gloomy that the servants who stood and watched from afar started moving their feet.

Every conversation that came and went was overflowing with an awkward airflow that seemed to suffocate.