She steadied her breath and asked in an aggrieved tone. “When did I ever touch Your Highness?”
“You touched me at the training ground last time.”
“No, that was… your cheek…”
“Even a cheek, touching is touching.”
“Your Highness said it was fine at the time.”
“It is fine. But separate from that, you do like my body.”
“…”
Diana bit her lip in frustration. After all her efforts to help suppress Kayden’s magical seizures, the outcome was being treated as a pervert… Kayden didn’t know Diana was a dark attribute elementalist, so it was understandable in a way.
Feeling slightly upset, Diana smiled brightly and joked. “That’s right, I do like Your Highness’s body.”
“Cough.”
This time, Kayden hastily put down his glass and covered his mouth with his hand as he choked on his drink. He looked at Diana with startled eyes. “What?”
“I said I like Your Highness’s body.”
“Uh, uh…” Kayden, who had initiated the joke, was greatly flustered.
Diana gave a triumphant smile and delivered the final blow. “So don’t keep teasing me. What if I decide not to divorce you?”
“…” Kayden was momentarily stunned by those words.
As Diana waited for his response and saw him frozen in place for a long time, she laughed and took back her words. “I’m just kidding. So relax.”
“…Ah.”
“Don’t worry. Once Your Highness ascends to the crown prince position, I will surely divorce you.” Saying this, Diana focused on her meal, chewing her food.
Kayden, who had experienced his heart rise and fall multiple times in a short span, felt disturbed belatedly. This again… He pressed his hand against his chest.
Their divorce had been planned from the beginning, and there was nothing wrong with Diana’s words. But why did her assurance of a definite divorce make a part of his heart feel cold and disappointed?
Kayden tried to brush it off as a natural feeling when someone he held affection for drew a line. To lighten the atmosphere, he joked again. “But you weren’t joking about liking my body, were you?”
“…No?”
“There was a beat before you answered. Your silence was the answer.”
“I said no.”
“Alright, alright. Let’s eat. I’ll eat a lot to maintain the body you like.”
“…”
* * *
After the eventful meal, Kayden and Diana walked into the garden of the Third Prince’s palace, waiting for Patrasche to bring Antar.
“Ah, here he comes.” Kayden spotted Patrasche first and stopped walking. Diana also stopped and turned to look beside her.
“Master, I’m here. Her Highness is also with you.” Patrasche greeted them as he approached. Behind him, Antar walked with his gaze lowered.
Kayden stepped forward and patted Antar’s shoulder. “Is this the first time since we saw each other in Vitas? I hope your wounds have healed well.”
“Thanks to your concern, I’ve almost fully recovered. Thank you.” Antar bowed deeply.
Since leaving Vitas, with Patrasche’s help, he had treated his wounds and tidied up, revealing quite a handsome face. His slightly shorter hair better showcased his mysterious blue eyes.
Kayden patted Patrasche’s shoulder in approval and then introduced Antar to Diana. “Diana, this is Antar. He’s a new elementalist joining the Fourth Order. Antar, this is my wife.”
“Greetings, Your Highness the Third Princess Consort. May the light be with you.” Antar knelt on one knee in front of Diana. Having walked through the imperial palace with his eyes lowered, overwhelmed by the unfamiliar grandeur, he now only saw the hem of a lady’s dress. As Patrasche had taught him, Antar extended his hand to kiss the back of the third princess consort’s hand.
Diana watched him silently for a moment before speaking softly.
“I am Diana Bluebell, Sir Antar.”
“…!”
Startled, Antar quickly raised his head. Swish— The lady’s long hair swayed in the wind, backlit by the sunlight. As Antar stared blankly at Diana, she extended her hand and smiled meaningfully.
“Sir?”
Her voice broke through his daze, and he hurriedly lowered his gaze and carefully took her fair hand. His heart, which had remained calm even when facing monsters, beat wildly. Could it be D. Obscure… Despite his confusion, Antar felt an undeniable joy.
After contracting with Mizel, he hadn’t seen D. Obscure. Even wanting to ask Mizel about Obscure’s whereabouts, he couldn’t do so due to their contract. In such a situation, joining the Fourth Order under the third prince meant he thought he would never meet her again. But the person he was seeking was here, in the imperial palace, by the side of the one he should serve.
Ah. Realizing this, his mind cleared like cold water was poured on it. Kayden’s words belatedly came to his mind.
“Antar, this is my wife.”
Wife… He felt a pang of pain in his heart. But Antar fiercely controlled his emotions. His feelings should never take precedence over Diana’s wishes.
Antar brought his lips to the back of Diana’s hand and then quickly withdrew. Even the act of bringing his lips to her snow-white hand felt overwhelming.
Despite introducing Antar to Diana, Kayden felt uneasy seeing Antar kiss her hand. I’m a petty man… Kayden clicked his tongue inwardly and as soon as Antar finished his greeting and let go of Diana’s hand, he naturally took her hand and smiled sweetly.
“Shall we continue our walk?”
Diana, seeing Kayden’s smile, flinched for a moment. Ah, right. Antar is watching now. Thinking this, she calmed her pounding heart.
Once she regained her composure, Diana smiled shyly and held Kayden’s hand. “Alright, Your Highness.”
Kayden, holding Diana’s hand tightly, commanded Patrasche. “Pat, show Antar to the training ground and have him practice with the other knights. Coordination is crucial for team battles.”
“Understood. Let’s go, Antar.”
Antar obediently followed Patrasche. But as they left the garden, he instinctively looked back.
“…”
In the distance, he saw Diana laughing and playfully interacting with Kayden. There was a clear warmth in her eyes as she looked at Kayden. Different from when she looked at him.
“Antar, what are you doing?”
“…Nothing.”
In the end, Antar couldn’t go against Diana’s wishes. If what she wanted from him was to be of use to the third prince… Even if his heart was torn into a thousand pieces, he would willingly do it.
* * *
Finally, the day of the mock battle arrived. The imperial palace was silently bustling with tension and anticipation from early morning.
The mock battle was divided into two stages. The first was an individual tournament. And the second was the highlight of the mock battle, the capture battle.
The individual tournament was mainly to gauge the opponent’s strength and warm up before the capture battle, so the results didn’t have a significant impact. Moreover… For several years, the top two spots have been fixed.
Diana glanced at Kayden as they headed to the central palace training ground for the individual tournament. Kayden, wearing light armor for the tournament, looked quite fitting in his mercenary-like attire. The only problem was that the light armor emphasized his chest and torso more than usual… Diana couldn’t help but glance at Kayden whenever the armor glinted in the sunlight.
Noticing her gaze, Kayden chuckled and whispered in her ear. “Why? Should I not wear it if it bothers you?”
“What if you get hurt…”
“So, you do mind?”
“…”
“Alright, I won’t tease you. Don’t glare at me.” Kayden chuckled softly and patted Diana’s head.
By the time they arrived at the central palace training ground, Kayden’s smile had vanished.
Today’s mock battle was practically his last chance to surpass Rebecca, so his tension was understandable. At that moment, Diana silently reached out and took his hand. As soon as he touched Diana, Kayden felt the tightness in his chest ease and let out a deep breath.
With the warmth she shared, Kayden managed a small smile. “…Thank you.”
“Go get them.”
“Yeah.”
Kayden squeezed Diana’s hand once and let go, sending her to the stands before heading to the center of the training ground.
There, Rebecca, Ferand, and Carlotta, who had arrived first and were warming up, turned to look at him.
Ahh! So cute. The teasing makes me grin.
Is his mercenary armor supposed to reveal his bare chest?