As the sun set and the red sky gradually turned pitch black, David arrived at the castle where Karina and her party were.
"Welcome, Your Highness the Crown Prince."
The lord hurried out and greeted David as he got off the imperial carriage.
"Thank you for coming such a long way. Please go in."
"You've worked hard."
He also set out separately from the imperial family, and because of some work that delayed his arrival, his arrival was also delayed.
'Still, I'm glad I got to join the Grand Duke on the first day.'
He received the lord's guidance with a lazy smile.
"I have prepared a meal. Since you are here, I will take you to the restaurant right away."
"No. I would rather rest than eat. I would like you to show me to the room where I will be staying."
"Let's do that."
David asked the lord, who nodded obediently.
"Are those who arrived first resting well?"
He brought up the idea of going to see Karina.
"Ah..."
The lord hesitated with a slightly embarrassed look.
"Why is that? Was there a problem?"
"No. It's not so much a problem as..."
David asked again with a puzzled expression at the unusual reaction.
"Didn't I contact you before I arrived? I even told you in advance so that you wouldn't make a mistake. Didn't you hear?"
"No, of course, I heard it."
The lord cleared his throat and continued speaking cautiously.
"I prepared that part as you told me in advance. But..."
"However?"
"It seems that His Highness the Grand Duke was greatly surprised, either because he was unaware that His Majesty the Emperor had permitted the divorce..."
The corners of David's mouth went up in a smile as he heard the lord's words.
"Oh, like that."
The expression on his face was completely opposite to his tone of regret.
"I can imagine what the situation must have been like. He must have been in quite a difficult position."
The lord who saw him had a strange feeling inside that he had anticipated this situation. However, he did not do the stupid thing of asking the question out loud.
"The Grand Duchess must have been very surprised. Where is her room?"
David told Karina directly that the divorce had been approved, but pretended not to know and asked her where she was staying.
"It's the third room from the right end of the second-floor hallway."
"Yes."
David said he would go alone and left the lord behind, heading to Karina's room. On his way, he found Karina at the front of the hallway. She was walking towards him from the opposite room.
He paused for a moment as he was about to call her. Her expressionless face seemed to be deeply sinking as if she was thinking about something complicated.
“Hoooo.”
Karina came out of Jeremiah's room, took a deep breath, let it out, and started walking back to her room.
'Divorce is absolutely not allowed. Absolutely not.
Even when she asked for a divorce, Jeremiah kept his mouth shut for a long time and did not respond. Then, he finally managed to squeeze out a response. His answer or intention was not important anyway. All the circumstances would lead to their divorce.
'As time goes by, he will have no choice but to admit it.'
His rejection and opposition did not come across as a big problem, though.
'What was that just now?'
Her footsteps stopped abruptly. Even though his face was stiff as if he could never accept it, she clearly saw his lips tremble as he said no. And the look in his eyes, looking sad and pitiful as if he was deeply hurt, felt strangely familiar.
'When did I last see those eyes?'
Sometime after marriage. Karina tried to recall her memories with a strange sense of foreboding, but it had been so long that she couldn't remember at all. It was like searching for something in a thick fog that made it impossible to see even an inch ahead, and she couldn't even find her bearings. Karina raised her hand and pressed it firmly between her eyes.
'I'm tired.'
She felt like she needed to quickly go back to her room and rest.
'Stop thinking useless thoughts and go to sleep.'
The moment she was about to take another step.
"Grand Duchess."
A voice called her from ahead.
"Your Highness the Crown Prince?"
Karina asked in surprise at his sudden appearance.
"When did you come?"
"I just arrived."
Karkna heard in advance that he was coming separately because he had something to do.
'So I thought we'd meet after arriving at the temple.'
David opened his mouth, smirking as if the thought was reflected in his expression.
"I came running in a hurry because I wanted to see the Grand Duchess quickly. I felt uneasy leaving you alone."
"...?"
Karina didn't really understand why she felt uneasy.
'And you're alone?'
There were skilled knights and the magician Mikhail, and although it was not pleasant, there was also the Saintess Lucia and Jeremiah, who could not be defeated by force.
'Who in their right mind would mess with those two in a group?'
Even they were on their way to the temple after receiving the imperial order. The moment they touched them, they were as good as dead. They were the people who arrived at the temple safely even if a horde of demons came and attacked them. The Crown Prince thought that he had worried for nothing.
'Or is the imperial guard not so good?'
She figured it would make sense since she had once been captured by a monster in the middle of the capital.
"Are you okay?"
David asked abruptly. It seemed like he had a lot of kinship with her since they were captured together by the monsters.
"Of course. I'm fine, except for the fact that I'm a little sore from being in the carriage for so long."
She shrugged and answered.
"No, that's not it. Umm..."
David looked a little confused at her response but soon smiled faintly.
"No. I'm glad you're okay."
He smiled softly and gestured towards her room.
"I have something to tell you. Do you have a moment?"
"..."
Karina didn't answer right away
'I want to rest alone right now.'
She doesn't know what he wants, but if it's important, she wants to hear it when she has a clearer mind, and if it's not important, she wants to do it later instead of now. Karina, who was thinking about it for a while, politely declined with a look of difficulty on her face.
"I'm sorry. I think it would be best to rest early today because of the aftereffects. I have a long way to go tomorrow, so if it's not important, can I come tomorrow?"
He naturally took Karina's hand, looking very disappointed at her rejection.
"Oh, man. If it weren't so late, I would have tried to sleep a little longer."
"..."
He spread her palm with his thumb and held something out. It was a small jewelry box. Before she could even recognize what it was, he opened it.
Click.
Inside was a pair of small earrings with sapphires.
"...?"
Karina looked up at him with a puzzled face, not knowing why he was giving her such an accessory.
"Do you remember the request you made to me before?"
"A request?"
The word request made her think of the Dark Statue. Karina quickly recalled her memories, thinking that it was probably a question asked by the owner of the Dark Statue. However, no matter how much she thought about it, she had never requested earrings.
"I think you've mistaken the order. I've never ordered earrings."
She shook her head, convinced.
"No. I just made the earrings because I thought they would be nice to wear, and they are actually artifacts."
He said that and told her what he had requested.
"You asked if there was anything that could save the situation or record the voice?"
"Yes...?"
Karina, who had been standing there dumbfounded for a while, suddenly remembered something.
'Oh, no way, at that time.'
By any chance...
Before being captured by the monster.
When Karina went to the Dark Place with Hasten to check on the progress of the commission she had given, she asked the employee wearing a white mask if there was any kind of video storage or recording device. At that time, she was trying to get permission for divorce by taking birth control pills, so she was going to use the device to save the doctor's infertility diagnosis and use it as evidence for the palace.
"One side can store video and the other side can store sound."
David continued his brief explanation.
'I don't need it anymore!'
The situation changed, so there was no need for it, and it wasn't even a formal request for which she paid money, but rather something she asked about in passing because it occurred to her. It was ambiguous to even call it a request.
"It wasn't a formal request. And it's no longer needed."
David approached Karina, who was refusing.
"You never know. Something might happen."
"Yes?"
His tone as he spoke seemed to be filled with certainty as if something was really going to happen.
'No way.'
Karina quickly shook off the vague feeling. David whispered softly to her as she tried to refuse him repeatedly.
"Then let's do this. Since I bought it, test its performance and drive it. Then let me know what you think."
"Performance test?"
"Yes. It wouldn't be difficult to do that much, right?"
"..."
Karina didn't know why he was asking her to do it instead of doing it himself, but she nodded, thinking that since she planned to continue to maintain a harmonious relationship with the Dark Lord, there was no reason to refuse.
"All right."
He smiled happily at her acceptance, took out the earrings, and leaned closer.
"I'll do it now, so just wait a moment."
"Yes?"
Karina flustered, tried to reflexively pull back, but he was faster at grabbing the earring. She consciously stopped herself from pulling back, surprised by the feeling of her ear being pulled. While she was at a loss as to what to do, David took off one of the earrings she was wearing and put on a sapphire earring.
"I'll put the other side in too."
Suddenly, the situation arose where the Crown Prince put on earrings. However, unlike the other side that went in easily before, this time it took some time because it didn't go into the hole well. David's face came a little closer to hers. Looking up close, she could see his long eyelashes, smooth skin, and even the fluffy hair on his face. His golden hair didn't lose its shine even in the dark, his eyebrows were beautifully shaped, and his blue eyes looked as deep as the abyss of the ocean, combined with his distinct features to create a soft yet delicate impression.
'It's certain that the young ladies will cause trouble!'
Karina understood the excitement of the young ladies she had heard while attending the New Year's party. While Karina was thinking about such useless things, she heard David's voice.
"Do you use any perfume?"
"Perfume?"
There were no special products used.
"I don't wear perfume."
"Really? That's strange. It smells really good. It's a scent that I want to keep next to me and smell."
"...?"
Since she doesn't really wear perfume, it would probably be the smell of oil or cosmetics that Jen puts on her hair every morning. She wouldn't be asking because she doesn't know the scent of cosmetics that she can often smell when she meets many young ladies at the banquet hall.
"If you want, I can ask Jen to get me the hair oil I use."
After thinking about it for a moment, he said so. Then.
“Ahaha.”
He chuckled as if he found it funny.
'Why are you laughing?'
She said she would give it to him after thinking about it herself. Anyway.
'It seems like it's taking too long.'
Karina could feel his exhaled breath on the back of her neck.
'The distance is too close.'
She thought that if someone saw this and misunderstood, she would have nothing to say.
"Your Highness, if it doesn't work out, I will do it myself..."
Karina was about to say she would do it, but why did It happen at that time?
"Oh."
"...!"
Lucia, who was coming up the stairs, saw two people stuck together.
.
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