Dante was sitting casually near the entrance of the tent, looking up at her.
“Your Highness! What are you doing here? Please stand up!”
“I figured it would take a while.”
Dante slowly rose to his feet as he spoke.
Letier looked up at him — he seemed even taller now somehow.
“Why did you come out? Was the play not interesting?”
“Oh, it’s not that…”
Dante gave her a puzzled look.
Yeah, why did I come out…?
Frowning slightly in thought, Letier fidgeted with her fingers and answered.
“It’s just… it was a bit too predictable. It’s just an ordinary love story, after all…”
“That’s strange. Women usually like predictable love stories.”
“That’s not always true. For me… it was boring!”
Letier blurted it out, trying to cover for herself.
Otherwise, there was no way to explain why she had suddenly left in the middle of the play.
“Boring?”
Dante’s eyes widened.
Soon, a smooth smile formed at the corner of his lips.
“Our young lady must know quite a bit about love to find such stories boring.”
“You could say that.”
“Hahaha.”
Dante burst out laughing.
Letier thought he was teasing her again, but seeing him laugh like that wasn’t unpleasant.
“Shall we go over there? I saw a bench.”
“Oh, but I can’t stay long. I was planning to go back in soon. Sion’s waiting…”
Dante’s eyebrow twitched subtly at the mention of Sion.
That secretary really got on his nerves.
What was he thinking, bringing Letier to a festival like this? Dante could practically see his dark intentions and he didn’t like it one bit.
“Then, just for a moment.”
He had already decided he wasn’t letting her go back inside that tent.
“Okay. Just for a little while…”
Letier muttered softly as she followed behind Dante.
They sat side by side on a bench behind the tent.
Since the main event, the play, was ongoing, hardly anyone was passing by behind the tent.
“Did you enjoy the festival at least a little?”
“So-so.”
‘So-so? What kind of answer is that?’
Letier rolled her eyes and asked again.
“Why did you come out alone? Was the princess too busy?”
“Rubia and I aren’t close enough to do things like this together.”
Dante said firmly.
He hoped she understood, but Letier looked like she had completely misunderstood.
Maybe because Princess Rubia was royalty from Eustian, it was difficult for her to move around freely?
Let’s just leave it at that…
“With that secretary…”
Dante asked in a low voice.
“Huh?”
“You seem to have gotten very close to that secretary.”
“Oh, you mean Sion?”
Yeah, that guy.
Dante gazed off into the distance with a very irritated expression.
“Sion does keep me company. Eustian is a bit boring, after all.”
“Eustian is boring?”
“Of course. You haven’t given me much work to do, Your Highness.”
Letier fell silent.
She realized her tone sounded a bit like she was blaming him without meaning to.
“I just wanted you to have time to relax.”
“But doing nothing gets boring too.”
“If you’re bored, come to me.”
Dante said.
Letier turned her head. His eyes were very close to hers.
“Huh? But you’re busy. It’s not like you have a skin condition that needs treating.”
“If you’re bored, I can always make time.”
“Hahaha, it’s fine. It would be much better if you spent that time with the Princess.”
Letier laughed and firmly drew a line.
If she didn’t do that… her heart kept wavering in a way she didn’t know how to stop.
His Highness already has a fiancée.
She had to repeat that in her mind over and over.
Dante frowned in frustration and let out a low breath.
Soon, a heavy silence fell between them.
‘Ahaha… this is awkward.’
Letier glanced up at the sky for no reason, then at the ground, then tapped the dirt lightly with the tip of her shoe.
Now that they were alone together, she didn’t know what to talk about.
After thinking for a while, Letier straightened her back and started rummaging through her handbag.
She pulled out a small glass bottle.
“This! It’s the prize you won for me earlier.”
“What kind of perfume was it again?”
“It’s not just any perfume! It’s ‘a perfume that seduces the opposite sex’!”
Letier said with a wide grin.
“Isn’t it funny? I’ve never seen anything like this in Eustian before. I even thought it might be a fun idea to create a new cosmetic with this kind of concept.”
“To seduce the opposite sex… does it actually work?”
Letier shook her head.
“Of course not. According to Sion, it’s just a sweet scent. It’s supposed to have a psychological effect that softens the atmosphere when you’re together.”
After saying that, she held the bottle and pressed the pump a few times.
A soft mist spread from the mouth of the bottle.
Letier brought her wrist, where she had sprayed it, close to her nose and began sniffing.
“What kind of scent is it?”
“Hold on. I’m not sure. I’m not very good at picking up scents.”
Letier tilted her head once, then this time, sprayed the perfume several times into the air.
“Aren’t you spraying too much?”
“You should smell it too, Your Highness!”
This time, Dante brought his face close to where she had sprayed and took a sniff.
It just smelled like an ordinary sweet fragrance…
Letier also aggressively leaned in and twitched her nose.
Sniff sniff!
No matter how much she smelled it, it was just a faint scent.
How much would she have to spray for the scent to be strong enough to stir someone’s heart?
While Letier continued searching for the scent, moving her head here and there, her eyes locked directly with Dante’s, who was also moving his face around.
“……!”
Both of them had been so focused on smelling the perfume that they had gotten far too close to each other.
Letier, startled, widened her eyes, staring into his crimson ones right in front of her.
“……Uh.”
There wasn’t even a palm’s width between her and His Highness.
She could feel the heat of his breath against her skin.
Soon, Dante’s pupils, which had been dilated just like hers, slowly collapsed.
Uh-oh…
Letier blinked.
She needed to pull back immediately, but her body wouldn’t listen.
“Letier.”
Dante slightly parted his lips, and a low, husky voice escaped.
Thump thump.
A rhythmic heartbeat filled her ears, she didn’t even know if it was hers or his.
Her face was so hot now it felt like it was burning. Letier slowly took a breath.
Then, Dante slowly lifted his hand and cupped her cheek and jaw.
Ah, this is…
Letier’s violet eyes trembled in confusion.
Maybe there really was something strange mixed into the perfume. Instead of feeling any rejection toward Dante’s sudden action, it was as if a thirst was growing inside her.
She couldn’t tear her gaze away from his burning red eyes.
Why, why am I like this…
“…….”
Letier weakly raised her trembling hand and placed it atop Dante’s hand that was holding her face.
Soon, Dante let out a soft breath and began to lean in closer.
Letier’s heart pounded fiercely.
Not knowing where else to look, she just squeezed her eyes shut.
Her lips, where all her senses had gathered, felt unbearably hot.
“Wow, we nailed it again today!”
Suddenly, the zipper at the back of the tent opened, and a crowd of people poured out.
Startled by their sudden appearance, Letier slammed her forehead right into Dante’s.
“Ouch!”
“Ah.”
Dante let out a short word and pulled back.
Letier jumped up from the bench and quickly tried to figure out who these people were, coming out from behind the tent.
The people who had thick stage makeup and were sneaking out through the hidden back entrance of the tent…
“Huh? Is the play over?”
“Huh? Yes! We just finished the curtain call and we’re on our way out.”
One of them wiped the sweat from his face with a handkerchief as he answered.
Wait, aren’t you the lead actor I was just watching in the play?!
“Ah, Sion!”
Leaving Dante behind, who was still sitting dumbfounded on the bench, Letier quickly turned and darted away.
There was no point staying there any longer.
She had almost kissed His Highness, swept up by the atmosphere?
How could she, with His Highness?!
“…I must have gone crazy!”
At this point, her running wasn’t about finding Sion, it was more about escaping the awkward situation.
In her current state, there was no way she could face Dante with a straight mind.
Letier hurried back to the front entrance of the tent and blended into the exiting crowd to look for Sion.
“Sion! Sion!”
She thought she spotted the back of his head in the distance.
“Sion!”
Hearing her call, he turned his head and locked eyes with her.
He made his way through the crowd and stood in front of her.
“Miss therapist!”
“Sion, I’m so sorry. I only meant to step out for a bit of fresh air… but I ended up missing the whole play. What should I do?”
“It’s okay, miss therapist. But what about you? You didn’t get to see the rest.”
Sion smiled awkwardly as he answered.
“Well, it can’t be helped… Sorry. You went through all the trouble to get those tickets for me…”
“More importantly, I have something to tell you. Could you spare a moment?”
“Right now?”
“Yes, right now.”
The usual playful look in his eyes was gone, replaced by a serious gaze.
