“Uunngh……”
“Miss Therapist!”
“Lucy……”
“Oh come on, Miss Therapist!”
The high ceiling seemed to spin round and round.
Letier squeezed her eyes shut from the dizziness.
“Why are you spinning me around like this……?”
“I’m not! Please try to focus!”
Letier felt someone gently shaking her arm.
“Uuugh… don’t shake me…”
“Oh, I’m so sorry!”
Sion quickly let go of her, startled.
Recognizing his voice, Letier furrowed her brow and slowly opened her eyes.
Where… is this?
Familiar yet unfamiliar carpet lay beneath her feet, and as she lifted her gaze, she saw unfamiliar statues in front of her.
This wasn’t the banquet hall she had been sitting in all evening.
Realizing that, Letier froze in place like a puppy refusing to go for a walk.
“Are you feeling a bit better?”
From beside her, Sion’s face popped into view.
His thick eyebrows drooped on both sides as he looked at her with a very worried expression.
“Sion…”
“Yes, that’s right. It’s me, Sion! You drank that traditional liquor too quickly. It’s a lot stronger than it looks, so people tend to underestimate it their first time.”
Sion relaxed slightly, seeing Letier speak in coherent sentences.
Letier slowly looked around at where she was standing.
“This place… where is it?”
“Ah! We’re in the palace corridor. I thought a bit of fresh air might help, so I was bringing you out. If we walk a little farther, we’ll reach the garden.”
“Oh, I know this place… The chamberlain took me back and forth here so many times…”
Letier muttered with a grimace.
The terrifying palace tour from her first day flashed through her mind.
As Sion scanned her with concern, he stepped in a little closer and spoke.
“Shall I help you walk? If you sit down in the garden for a bit, the alcohol should wear off.”
“I’m fine…”
Letier began to stagger forward.
Sion followed right behind, unsure what to do with his hands, worried she might fall.
“Turn right there!”
“Okaaay…”
Teetering unsteadily but managing not to fall, Letier passed through a rounded arch and slowly stepped into the garden.
The moment her feet touched the grass, a cool breeze blew past, tossing her hair.
“Phew…”
“Are you alright, Miss Therapist?”
Sion guided her to a bench not far from the entrance.
Once she leaned safely against the backrest, he crouched down in front of her instead of sitting next to her, meeting her eyes.
Looking at Letier as she leaned back and exhaled deeply, Sion spoke.
“I didn’t know which room you were staying in, so I couldn’t take you back directly.”
“I see…”
“Once you feel a little better here with me, I’ll take you back right away.”
“Okay…”
Letier exaggerated her nod.
She looked exactly like someone who was completely drunk, but Sion blushed slightly, looking down at her like he found even that side of her adorable.
“Miss Therapist.”
“Yes…”
“Do you have time tomorrow?”
“Tomorrow…?”
“Would you go out with me?”
Letier frowned slightly at his suggestion.
“Go out…?”
“You said you wanted to go look at ingredients together, remember?”
“Ohh, the ingredients…!”
At last, her expression brightened completely.
Letier nodded enthusiastically.
“Okay. Tomorrow. Let’s go look at ingredients.”
“Wow! That’s a promise, then?”
“Yes!”
“Here—pinky swear with me!”
Sion held out his hand in a natural gesture.
Letier looped her finger around his thick pinky and shook it up and down.
“Alright! It’s a promise!”
“Hahaha, a promise it is!”
“You’re having fun, I see.”
Suddenly, a low voice broke the gentle mood like a glass shattering.
Letier and Sion turned their heads at the same time.
Dante, seemingly out of breath, had rushed over. He had removed his formal jacket and was holding it in one hand, unbuttoning the top button of his shirt with the other.
“Your Highness?”
Sion, startled, quickly straightened his posture and bowed to him.
He didn’t know why the prince was here, but he couldn’t be disrespectful.
“Letier, get up.”
Ignoring Sion completely, Dante walked straight to Letier.
“Uuh…”
Still not fully sober, Letier blinked her unfocused eyes up at the prince in front of her.
What is this…
Dante ground his teeth as he met her hazy gaze, cursing inwardly.
She let that guy see her like this…
“Your Highness…?”
“This is insane.”
Frowning, Dante reached out to the dazed Letier.
He took hold of her swaying arm and spoke.
“Get up. I’ll take you back to your room.”
“Aah…”
Letier twisted her body and pulled her arm free from his grip.
Did she just pull away…?
Shocked by her reaction, Dante froze on the spot.
“Your Highness!”
Sion, who had been standing off to the side, stepped forward.
“I’ll make sure Miss Therapist gets back to her room safely. I don’t know which room she’s staying in, but if Your Highness could tell me—”
“I’ll do it.”
Dante said, voice low.
Startled by the intensity in his tone, Sion stopped speaking mid-sentence.
Dante exhaled sharply, as if trying to suppress his anger, then spoke again.
“Letier, please hang in there. I’ll take you back soon…”
“No…”
Damn it.
Dante frowned, realizing something was deeply, completely wrong.
It felt like something heavy had dropped with a thud inside his chest.
“What’s wrong?”
“……”
“Letier.”
Without hesitation, Dante knelt down in front of her.
Sion, who had been standing behind him, looked startled and took a step back in surprise.
The prince of an empire… kneeling before his skin therapist?
He watched Dante’s actions with a puzzled expression.
Dante placed a hand on Letier’s knee and tilted his head this way and that, trying to meet the gaze of the girl with her head down.
“Hmm? Letier. Look at me.”
“I’m going to get some air before going in…”
“Alright, do as you like.”
His voice and tone were gentle, like someone coaxing a sulking lover.
Watching the scene, Sion recalled Princess Rubia with a confused expression.
But His Highness is supposed to be with our Princess Rubia…
As if he had just seen something he shouldn’t have, Sion slowly backed away, then quickly turned around and hurried back inside.
Once the intruder was gone, Dante stood up and sat beside Letier.
He gently placed a hand on her cheek and carefully pulled her to lean against his shoulder.
“I’m sleepy…”
“You drank that much—it’s no wonder you’re tired.”
“But it was so tasty…”
“Sigh…”
He raised a hand to cover his eyes and let out a deep sigh.
He had dragged her out here to keep her away from trouble—and yet, even here, pests like that guy swarmed around her.
He couldn’t hide his growing anxiety as he breathed heavily.
From the moment Letier kept lifting her glass to her lips, he had felt nothing but unease.
He only half-listened to Princess Rubia, who was chatting beside him, as he kept glancing at Letier. But when King Peres asked him something and he turned away just briefly—they had both vanished. He nearly lost his mind.
His body had moved before he could think, and after rushing through the halls, he finally found them in the corner of the garden—holding hands.
“Damn it…”
“You’re swearing out loud now, Your Highness…”
“I’m sorry.”
Dante quickly added.
He stared off into space for a moment, thinking, then asked in the gentlest, most casual voice he could manage:
“Letier, what were you and that guy promising each other earlier?”
“A promise?”
“You two were linking pinkies.”
“Ahhh…”
Letier made a vague sound and quickly shut her mouth.
Getting anxious, Dante leaned down a bit.
“Hmm? What was the promise?”
“A promise is a secret. Only the people involved get to know…”
Letier replied firmly.
Dante felt like his insides were burning at her unusually uncooperative tone.
He took a deep breath and softened his voice again.
“You could tell me just a little.”
“No.”
“……”
Dante thumped the back of his head against the chair and stared up at the sky.
I remember that guy’s face clearly…
For a while, they sat in silence, listening to the sounds of insects in the grass, until Dante finally spoke.
“Why did you drink so much? Did you like the Eustian traditional liquor?”
“That too…”
“What else?”
Dante steadied her again as she began to slip off his shoulder.
Letier slightly opened her eyes, staring down at the grass beneath their feet.
Blankly, she parted her lips.
“…Because I was upset…”
Dante’s hand froze in place.
Upset?
He couldn’t believe what he’d just heard.
“What do you mean? What were you upset about?”
Letier quietly shook her head.
Dante felt his mouth go dry. He lifted one hand and gently patted her.
“Tell me. What made you upset?”
“……”
“Hm?”
“I don’t know… Just… everything…”
Letier murmured in a gloomy voice.
Dante looked down at Letier, who was leaning against him, with a serious expression on his face.
