After feeding the snow lion until his belly looked ready to burst, I slipped out toward the garden to catch so fresh air.
I’d been running around since dawn, shouting orders, fixing mistakes, and double-checking every detail for the birthday banquet. Even I deserved a mont of rest—or at least to breathe without soone tugging at my sleeve.
But the mont I stepped into the garden, I froze.
A figure strolled leisurely along the gravel path, parasol in hand. Pale pink silk, matching the soft shade of her hair, frad her with elegance.
Alia.
Of course.
"It’s still early," I said as I walked over, eyebrows raised. "The official invitation ti hasn’t even arrived. Why are you here so soon?"
Her lips curved. "Is it strange to co early to see one’s fiancé?"
"...What?"
The word slipped out before I could stop it. I gave her a lukewarm look, the kind that said don’t ss with , but she only pressed her lips together, a mischievous smile tugging at the corners.
Then, with the smallest flick of her lips—silent words I caught thanks to my habit of reading them—
– Alice.
My gaze followed her signal.
And there she was.
Alice.
Beyond the hedges, standing where the roses blood brightest. Silver hair glimring in the sun as she leaned down, gloved hands brushing delicately over the petals.
"...She’s doing it herself?" I murmured without aning to. Alice tending flowers like so common gardener—that wasn’t sothing you saw every day. Normally, such tasks were handled by specialists.
It was... unexpected.
"You see?" Alia teased lightly, voice sweet but her eyes sharp. "Worth coming early, isn’t it?"
I kept my face neutral. "Countess Frost, arriving so early just for ... I hardly know what to do with myself."
She laughed softly. "Then you don’t mind. Good. I was worried I’d be unwelco."
I shook my head faintly, hiding a sigh. Alia and I were both skilled liars, slipping into conversation like slipping into a mask. No awkwardness, no fumbling—yet neither of us looked at each other.
Both of us were watching the sa girl.
Alice.
She bent slightly toward a blooming rose, closing her eyes as she inhaled its fragrance. The sunlight caught her pale lashes, softened the steel of her usual expression, and for just a mont, she looked nothing like the calculating duchess everyone knew.
She looked... beautiful.
"...Ah, how beautiful," Alia murmured beside . Her voice carried enough sincerity that I couldn’t tell if she was playing a ga or speaking from the heart. "Indeed, Alice."
I forced a chuckle. "Haha. The roses of the west are as red as rubies."
My words were ant to nudge her back into subtlety, to warn her not to say Alice’s na so recklessly. But truthfully... I couldn’t deny it either.
Alice Draken, standing there with her eyes closed, frad by roses—it was a sight sharp enough to pierce straight through all my practiced indifference.
—Thud.
A sharp pressure nudged my side. I glanced down to see Alia’s elbow digging into . Subtle, but enough to pull back to the present.
By then, Alice had already turned her head our way, her pale eyes gleaming faintly.
"Oh, Alia," she said, her tone as light as if she were discussing the weather. "It seems your fiancé is a little... distracted."
"...Haha."
Alia’s laugh was awkward, stilted, the kind you give when you’re cornered and can’t quite find the right words. I couldn’t bla her—when Alice decided to focus on you, there wasn’t much you could do but endure.
And ? I failed to deflect, failed to cut the conversation off at the root. My silence only gave Alice more room to press.
With a faint smile tugging at her lips, she left the flowers behind and began walking toward us, the air shifting subtly with her approach.
"I would also warmly welco Julius," she said, her voice dripping with casual amusent, though her eyes watched far too closely.
"Alice, really—stop with the bad jokes," Alia blurted, her words tumbling out before she could stop herself. "What about your engagent to the crown prince?"
Alice tilted her head, lips curving in mock thought. "Hmm. As I thought, you’re no fun to tease. If it were Julius, he would’ve retorted by now—in a fuss, no less."
...She wasn’t wrong.
The usual would’ve bristled, voice rising as I barked sothing along the lines of: Would you only be satisfied if you sent straight to the gallows, my lady?
It would’ve been reckless, sharp, but at least it would’ve steered her away from that faint, dangerous amusent that always lingered in her eyes when she prodded .
Instead, this ti, I stayed quiet. Which, judging by her expression, seed to amuse her even more.
Alice gaze—cool, assessing, faintly amused—slid from Alia to and lingered.
"You’re awfully quiet today, Julius."
My jaw tightened despite myself. "I’ve been working since dawn, my lady. Forgive if I’m not at my sharpest for your gas."
Her lips curved, soft and dangerous. "Ah, but your sharpness is the only reason I keep you around. Don’t tell you’re getting dull?"
"...If I am, it’s because you grind down faster than any whetstone," I muttered under my breath.
The words slipped before I could stop them. Alia stifled a cough—half laughter, half alarm—but Alice only smiled wider, her eyes glittering like ice catching the sun.
"There it is," she said softly. "The fuss I was waiting for."
I cursed inwardly. Walked straight into that one.
Alia tried to smooth it over, stepping forward with a sweet laugh. "Alice, really. If you tease him too much, he’ll collapse before the banquet even begins. And then who will keep your servants in line?"
"Hmm." Alice tilted her head as though in consideration, but her eyes never left . "True. A half-dead Julius would be useless. I suppose I’ll spare him—for today."
Spare . Like I was so criminal dangling on a rope.
I exhaled slowly, forcing myself into the mask again. "You have my gratitude, my lady. I’ll make sure to repay your... rcy."
"See that you do."
The way she said it made the air prickle with double aning, and I wasn’t entirely sure if she was jesting or warning . Probably both. With Alice, it was always both.
Alice smiled slyly and turned her back. "Then, I shall step back and not be a disturbance. Have a good ti, both of you."
It was a storm-like entrance and exit.
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