Chapter 29
“Please don’t take it that way. It’s just a light greeting, after all. I’ve actually heard about you from Roem before, you’re Sir Siedel’s nephew, right?”
Elise stepped in to defend Adelaide. She tried to smooth things over with a gentle smile, but Killian didn’t smile at all.
“Weren’t you about to leave?”
It was phrased politely, but it meant that there was no need for introductions and just leave. Elise caught the implication immediately, and her face turned red with humiliation.
“Killi!”
Adelaide couldn’t hold back any longer. She shoved him lightly and raised her voice.
“What is wrong with you? Why are you acting like this all of a sudden?!”
Flustered and upset, her voice rose naturally as she scolded him. Killian looked down at the spot on his shoulder where her hand had touched.
‘Why am I acting like this?’
Was she really asking because she didn’t know?
A dark shadow sank into his violet eyes. He should never have left Roem alone like that.
If Roem got himself a fiancee, it would only complicate matters with Adelaide. Delaying things had been a mistake.
His cold gaze shifted toward Elise.
The woman from the Winterbloom family—Roem’s chosen bride. He hadn’t liked her from the moment he first heard of her.
‘So she’s about to become family, is she?’
Her attitude of already behaving like a second countess, or as if she were Roem himself, irritated him.
By the time he had left the imperial palace, he had been in a good mood. That mood had long since been ruined.
It was true that he had barely managed to find time to come.
Ever since he’d kept Adelaide by his side, Killian had learned how to imitate social grace at least outwardly. No one openly questioned his qualifications as crown prince anymore.
But Fabian still remained a strong rival. The emperor did not want a situation where the throne that rightfully Killian’s was contested.
In all of this, Adelaide had already become a piece that had served its purpose.
A crown prince nearing twenty, still unengaged.
No one had said it outright, but those who were perceptive knew exactly why. The overwhelming workload pressing down on him was the emperor’s way of saying that it was time to remove Adelaide from Killian’s side.
And yet, Killian stubbornly pretended not to understand. He completed every task perfectly—just to carve out time to come here today.
On his way, he had even felt a flicker of excitement. He imagined Adelaide flustered and delighted to see him after weeks apart.
And yet this insolent attitude. How was he supposed to interpret it?
When Adelaide was with him, she was supposed to look at him—and only him. When they were apart, she was supposed to long for him. He had carefully shaped her to be that way.
And yet now, his pet had accepted affection from just anyone and had grown far too unruly in his absence.
Fortunately, Killian knew exactly how to correct that.
A soft smile suddenly bloomed across his previously expressionless face. It was as abrupt and unnatural as flowers blooming in a frozen winter field.
Elise flinched at the sight of it.
Killian turned to her and offered a perfectly polished bow.
“Please forgive me, Lady Winterbloom. It seems I spoke carelessly. But it was not as Adelaide believes. I merely thought you were preparing to leave and asked a question.”
A question? Elise would have wagered everything she owned that it was a lie. The hostility he had shown her moments ago had been unmistakable.
“My eyes often give people the wrong impression. Would you be so kind as to overlook my rudeness?”
Killian continued smiling, as if it made no difference whether she believed him or not.
“…Ah—no, it’s fine.”
Elise felt a chill run down her spine. The man standing before her was nothing like the one from just moments ago.
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