While Karina couldn't even finish half of the Jam hard, Mikhail quickly ate all of the remaining jam hard.
'Ice Prince, what is it?'
Karina looked up at Mikhail with an expression of admiration and wonder. Mikhail, who was licking his lips as if he was disappointed at Karina's gaze that was staring at him, looked back at her.
"Can you not eat anymore? Should I eat it for you?"
'You want to eat more? Even though it's what I was eating?"
Karina was a little surprised, but nodded, feeling like she couldn't eat anymore.
'I'll just eat the parts I didn't put my mouth on and throw them away.'
Karina held out the Jam hard stick to Mikhail, intending to hand it over. Mikhail, who was watching Karina with his head tilted, smirked. It was like the expression of a cat hunting for fish. Mikhail suddenly bent down and took a big bite of the Jam hard Karina was holding.
"...!"
Karina was so surprised that she dropped the Jam hard she was holding in her right hand.
"Oh, what a shame...
Mikhail, seeing the jam hard that had fallen to the floor, quickly grabbed Karina's other hand.
"Don't drop it."
Mikhail pulled Karina's hand towards him and took a bite of the jam hard she was holding. Karina was frozen in place, unable to move. She could see Mikhail eating the jam hard in her hand with a pretty face from up close. His neat white teeth were visible between his apple-red lips, his skin as smooth as porcelain, and his long eyelashes. Beneath them, his red eyes, which contained a radiance, were looking at her. In that state, holding a piece of ice that sparkled red and looked like a jewel in his mouth gave off an extremely mysterious and sensual atmosphere.
Karina's face turned red with surprise and embarrassment.
"You... You..!"
Karina opened her rabbit eyes and even stuttered her words.
"Why? Were you nervous?"
Mikhail, who had swallowed the ice cube in his mouth, laughed like a lion on a full stomach. Karina turned her head away, not knowing what to do about his mischievous prank.
"...!"
Karina turned her head and was startled once again when she saw the gazes of those looking at her with crumpled expressions.
"We're still preparing. The New Year's Festival is in two days. Everyone will be very excited."
Merchants said downtown shops were busy with final preparations for the festival.
"The atmosphere was a bit chaotic. It's a shame."
Hasten, who had been mumbling to himself, blurted out to Aiden.
"It's okay. Just come out again when the festival starts."
Aiden answered as if he didn't care.
"If there's anything you want to eat, just tell me. Since we're in the city, we should buy something delicious and eat it before we go."
At his suggestion, Aiden pointed to a candy store he saw nearby.
"It's candy. I've always wanted to try it."
Hasten came out of the candy store Aiden had pointed to, holding a large glass jar filled with colorful candies.
"Eat until you get sick of it."
"Wow! It's big!"
A smile appeared on Aiden's face as he received it. Aiden opened the glass bottle lid, picked out a green candy, put it in his mouth, and rolled it around. A look of satisfaction appeared on Aiden's face.
"Is it delicious?"
Aiden nodded.
"It's mine since you bought it for me."
Aiden said, hugging the bottle tightly like an iron fist.
"Yes. Eat a lot."
Hasten snickered cutely and ruffled Aiden's hair.
"Oh, really!"
Aiden avoided Hasten's touch, telling him not to do so.
"Kid. But why did you really follow me?"
Hasten asked in a nonchalant tone.
"I want to see the capital."
Hasten raised an eyebrow at Aiden's answer.
"You wouldn't have risked your life by saddle-riding just to take a look around the capital city, would you?"
Before Hasten left for the capital, he brought up Aiden's behavior of coming to them and insisting that they take him with them.
"..."
After continued questioning from Hasten, Aiden finally confessed the truth.
"I went to help out at Uncle Roberto's workshop, but they said that the people in the capital still think that the people in the north hate the Grand Duchess."
Aiden continued with a pointed expression.
"That's why I came here to let them know that it's not true, and also to spread good rumors about the Grand Duchess. I wanted to be of help to the Grand Duchess."
Hasten looked at Aiden's confession with a knowing expression.
"For a little kid like you, it's helpful to just eat well and grow up well without any problems."
Aiden's eyes widened at his reaction.
"Stop calling me a brat."
In response to Aiden's protest, Hasten nodded in understanding.
"Yes. From today on, you are no longer a little kid, but an old man."
"I hate that even more!"
Aiden frowned and frowned. Then.
"Huh? Aren't those the Grand Duchess and her escort?"
Aiden found Karina and Mikhail eating Jam hard on the street. At those words, Hasten turned his head to look at the two.
"I guess you're done with your work."
Aiden looked excited as Hasten muttered.
"Then can we go sightseeing together?"
"Why don't you go and ask...?"
Hasten, who had been saying that, suddenly frowned as if he had seen something he shouldn't have seen and covered Aiden's eyes with his palm.
"What is it? Why are you like that?"
Aiden asked without knowing anything.
"Just stay still for a moment. I'm afraid the child will see it and learn something."
"What is it?"
"It's a good thing there's no one around."
Hasten clicked his tongue without answering. Aiden, frustrated, stamped hard on Hasten's foot.
"Ah! This dirty little brat!"
Aiden, free from Hasten's touch, turned his eyes over with his fingers and stuck out his tongue.
"Ha. Me too."
Hasten swallowed a hollow laugh with a truly tired expression. Aiden quickly ran to where Karina and Mikhail were.
"Oh my, this is my fate. As expected, looking after a child is the most annoying thing."
Hasten followed behind them, lamenting his fate and walking slowly.
***
Aiden and Hasten approached Karina and Mikhail.
"Your Highness! Are you done with your business?"
Aiden asked with a bright smile.
"Uh... yeah."
Karina answered, hesitantly.
"Rhat..."
Karina chose her words with a somewhat embarrassed expression.
"Have you... seen it?"
Aiden asked brightly with an expression of ignorance in response to Karina's ambiguous question that cut off both the beginning and the end.
"What?"
"No. It's nothing."
Karina felt relieved inside. Aiden didn't seem to see it. Then she turned her eyes and glanced at Hasten, who was standing a step behind him with a trembling expression.
'He must have seen it...
She could confirm it since their eyes met. Karina couldn't look at Hasten's face properly because she was embarrassed.
"Are you still sightseeing downtown?"
Mikhail spoke to Aiden as usual as if nothing had happened.
"Since we've met like this, should we go sightseeing together?"
Mikhail asked Karina with a bright smile.
"..."
Karina's hands were sweating from awkwardness and embarrassment.
'No, why do I feel like I'm the only one who feels this way?'
Karina felt a little wrong. While Karina was unable to answer, Aiden opened his mouth.
"But since the New Year's Festival starts in a day or two, the stores are busy with the final preparations for the festival. So there's less to see than you might think."
Aiden walked around and told the merchants what he had heard.
"I see. Then you probably didn't get to see much?"
When Mikhail asked, Aiden showed him the glass jar full of candy he was holding in his arms.
"I didn't get to see much, but instead, Mr. Hasten bought me some candy."
"Oh, really? That must have been nice."
Karina, who was listening to Aiden's words from the side, thought it was unexpected.
'I thought we'd just end it with a quick walk around the city since you seemed so annoyed.'
It seemed that Hasten had been taking Alden around more diligently than she had thought. She thought that maybe Aiden liked children more than he looked. Karina looked at Hasten's expression again. He had a sullen expression on his face as if he was dissatisfied, but since he was still, she didn't think he would say anything about what he had seen. Karina decided to be a little shameless.
"Since we've already met like this, why don't we invite Selena and go eat something delicious together?"
"Great!"
Aiden welcomed Karina's suggestion with open arms.
"Let's go."
Karina and her party headed back to the inn to pick up Selena.
***
Meanwhile, there was someone else watching them from afar. It was Jeremiah.
"I see that She wasn't alone with the escort. She had other companions with her?"
Ron said as he watched them walk away. However, Jeremiah's hardened expression did not soften despite Ron's words.
Jeremiah closely examined the faces of those who had been with Karina. And he remembered them exactly. The child with her was one of the children Karina had brought to the last charity event, saying that he was from the Elia Orphanage, which was supported by the Grand Duke's family. The other large man, who was not an escort, was clearly the man who had acted with Karina in the mine owned by Lamberda. He did not understand why they, who had been in the North, were in the capital, and at this very moment, with Karina.
"Ron. Investigate every single one of them."
Jeremiah commanded with a heavy voice. His eyes were deeply sunken.
***
As the sun set, the blue sky mixed with red sunset. Jeremiah returned to the mansion, staring blankly out the window and recalling the Image of Karina he had seen in the city. Karina's face, smiling as if she was happy to be with people he didn't know, never left his mind.
'Who are they?'
He saw them all entering the inn together.
'Why on earth did you rent the inn? What are you doing inside?'
Jeremiah's chest began to grow anxious and curious. After all, if Ron investigated, he would find out who they were and what they were doing.
'Should I ask her directly...?"
Although he wasn't sure if Karina would tell him the truth, he had a strong urge to ask her. Jeremiah waited for Karina to return. And as soon as he heard that she had returned, he went down to the main gate.
"You rented an entire inn on the outskirts of the capital. Why did you rent it?"
Jeremiah asked directly, without even trying to hide the fact that he had investigated Karina separately. Karina was not at all flustered by his question. Instead, she answered coolly as if she had nothing to be afraid of.
"I told you during the New Year's Festival that I would divorce you. Wouldn't it be ridiculous if I continued to stay in the mansion owned by the Grand Duke's family after declaring my divorce?"
"..."
Jeremiah was left speechless in response to her.
"I plan to stay at the inn I rented until I receive His Majesty's approval for the divorce."
It was a great shock to realize once again that Karina had prepared so thoroughly for the divorce. However, it was a plausible reason, separate from the shock Jeremiah had felt. However, that did not mean that he liked it at all.
"If you want a place to stay after the New Year's Festival, you could have asked for a place to stay at your parent's house, the Marquis of Millainer, or you could have asked for a place to stay at the temple."
At the word temple, Karina's eyes immediately sharpened.
"Never bring up the topic of the temple in front of me again."
Karina's voice was as cold as ice as she spoke. Karina immediately let out a long sigh as if trying to control her emotions.
"Whew. Let's not waste our energy on each other before the New Year, yes?"
Karina left those words behind and went up to her room.
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