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She didn’t have to know that it was Dion who sat next to her.

[I actually sent him a letter saying that I’m here, but I didn’t expect him to come.]

After all, it was already so late at night.

Moreover, he was still the acting High Priest of the Astello Temple. Therefore, he wasn’t someone who should be out alone.

[I know that he’s capable of protecting himself, even so...]

“If I didn’t come, I won’t get to see you since I’m always the last in your priority,” Dion said in a teasing voice. “You’re not even looking at me right now.”

.....

That pricked her conscience.

But it wasn’t like he didn’t want to see him.

Right now, she was in a small and shabby-looking bookstore in Valmento. To be precise, she was sitting on the floor while leaning against the bookshelf behind her.

Since they were in the capital of the Holy Land, Dion was wearing a hooded robe that covered his face. Although the bookstore was nearly empty (it was only the two of them and the bookshop owner), it wouldn’t hurt to be extra careful.

“It’s not that I don’t want to look at you,” Paige said, then she closed the book in her hands to look at Dion. “I’m just afraid that I wouldn’t be able to leave once I see you again.”

Dion let out a small smile while pulling down the hood of his robe to show her his face. “Don’t leave. Don’t leave. Don’t leave.”

She couldn’t help but let out a soft laugh. “What are you doing?”

“Performing an incantation to make you stay?”

She covered her face with the book in her hands to muffle her laughter.

[How can he say that with a straight face?]

“Please don’t cover your face,” he pleaded with her. “We didn’t see each other for a long time.”

It was true.

She rarely dropped by at Valmento while she was traveling to both the West and East Continent to learn more magic. There wasn’t much magic to learn from the Holy Land, after all.

“Lady Paige?”

She pulled down the book from her face to look at Dion properly. “You’ve heard about it, don’t you?”

“About what?”

She snapped her fingers to create a barrier in order to protect her conversation with Dion. As she said earlier, it wouldn’t hurt to be extra careful. “The circumstances of the future new saint.”

Although Paige was separated from Prince Neoma and her “siblings,” they would still often update each other with important news.

“I’ve heard about it,” Dion said while nodding. “Actually, His Majesty called me a few days ago to inform me about their decision to suppress the new saint’s divine power in order for Queen Brigitte to deliver her child safely.”

“That means you’ll be stuck as the temporary High Priest longer than expected,” she said. “The new saint’s divine power will get scattered the moment he’s born. In order to help him become the new saint of the Astello Temple, we have to collect his scattered divine power first.”

“I’m not worried about that,” he said. “I’ve personally seen Princess Neoma’s tenacity. I’m sure that she’ll collect the new saint’s scattered divine power successfully. Moreover, she has you and her other “children.””

She nodded in agreement. “But will you be fine, Dion? The news about Calyx Dalton has reached Valmento, too.”

Calyx Dalton was the student who appeared during the Royal Moon Academy’s first and second entrance exam.

The boy looked exactly like Prince Nero and Emperor Nikolai.

Although Calyx Dalton didn’t have the physical characteristics of the de Moonasterios, his uncanny resemblance to the current emperor and Crown Prince had shaken up the empire. A rumor that Calyx Dalton could be Emperor Nikolai’s child spread across the continent like wildfire.

Since Calyx Dalton was older than the royal twins, some of the nobles that were supporting the Crown Prince were wavering now.

“Yes, we’ve already heard about the appearance of the boy who looks like the emperor,” Dion confirmed. “But the Astello Holy Knights don’t care about that. After all, they supported the Crown Prince because of his Roseheart Blood and not his de Moonasterion blood.” He tilted his head to one side. “The Holy Knights of this generation is pretty strange.”

She smiled fondly at him. “But it seems like you’ve taken quite a liking to them.”

“You’re still the person I like the most in the world, Paige.”

She covered her face again with the book in her hands to hide her goofy grin from him. That kind of silly smile didn’t fit her usual calm and elegant demeanor, so she hid it from Dion. She didn’t want to ruin her image in front of him, after all.

“Why are you hiding your face from me again?” Dion whined like a child. “I want to see your face, Lady Paige. And...” He fell silent for a while as if he was gathering the courage to speak his mind. “And I want to hold hands.”

She gasped softly.

[He wants to hold hands already? But it’s only been a year since we officially started seeing each other with marriage in mind! I didn’t know that Dion is this... manly.]

She slowly removed the book from her face and shyly took a peek at him.

Dion looked at her with a soft expression on his face, then he shyly offered his hand to her. “May I?”

Still embarrassed, she nodded her head while putting the book down on the floor. Then she put her hand in his a bit too eagerly. “We’re going too fast, don’t you think so?”

He shook his head while entwining their fingers together.

Now she felt her cheeks get flushed.

Dion just didn’t hold her hand- he even entwined their fingers together!

[Do young people of this generation move this fast when seeing each other?]

She didn’t hate it, though.

“Actually, I want to do something else. Not now, but maybe soon,” Dion said shyly. This time, his face had turned red and he couldn’t even look her in the eye. Ah, he must really be embarrassed. “I want to embrace you, Lady Paige.”

Okay, that made her blush even more.

“I want a hug, too, but my heart isn’t ready for that kind of skinship yet,” Paige said shyly. This time, she averted her gaze away from him because she was too shy to see his reaction. “Can you wait until I’m ready to be held, Dion?”

“Of course,” Dion, who was clearly embarrassed yet excited like her, said while gently squeezing her hand. “I’ll wait for you, Lady Paige.”

***

JURI WAS pissed.

She was already worried about Princess Neoma because of the appearance of a boy who apparently looked like Emperor Nikolai’s son. As if that wasn’t enough, she had to deal with her older brother who went to see her just to say nonsense.

“Consider my allegiance with Prince Nero?” Juri asked her older brother. Of course, when she said ‘Prince Nero,’ she actually meant Princess Neoma and not the recovering Crown Prince. “Brother, are you holding a grudge against Prince Nero because he exposed our family’s corruption regarding the Hisa Tree issue?”

Justin Wisteria, her older brother and the successor of House Wisteria, flinched as if he was guilty since she hit the bull’s eye. “It’s not like that, Juri,” he said softly. Although her brother looked tough, he was actually a coward deep inside. “I just want our family to make a wise decision regarding our position since I heard that a boy who could be His Majesty’s older son has appeared-”

“You’re a scholar, brother. So, you’re supposed to be smart,” she said, cutting him off with an “innocent” smile. “Why are you saying dumb things now?”

Her brother’s face turned red, as if he was embarrassed. “Juri, I’m still your older brother. You should respect me-”

“Did you respect my decision when I said ‘no’ to the marriage interview that our family wants me to attend? You didn’t, did you?” she snarled at her older brother. “You still sent my profile to the marriage interview organizer, even though I made it clear that I’m not interested in getting married.”

Not now, at least.

She was open to the possibility since she didn’t hate the idea of getting married and having children. But she wanted to do it at her own pace.

“Juri, you’re already in your twenties. I’m just worried about you,” Justin insisted. “Girls younger than you are already married with good families. Do you want to be like our Aunt Sera who’s growing old alone?”

“Aunt Sera isn’t that old yet, and she’s perfectly happy with her single-blessedness.”

Her brother’s eyes went wide. “Are you saying that you want to be like Aunt Sera?”

“That’s none of your business, brother.”

“Juri Wisteria, how can I leave you alone when you keep on making worrisome decisions?” Justin said, then he let out a frustrated sigh. “As if pledging your loyalty to the Crown Prince without consulting our family first wasn’t bad enough-”

“What’s your problem with the Crown Prince?”

“Well, if an older prince appears, the current Crown Prince might not be able to keep his position,” her brother said worriedly. “After all, most nobles don’t like Prince Nero because of his Roseheart Blood. So, I have reasons to believe that His Royal Highness doesn’t have what it takes to be the future emperor.”

“Is that your honest thoughts as the successor of House Wisteria, brother?”

“Yes,” Justin said confidently. “What about it?”

“You’ll cause the downfall of our family then, since you don’t have the eye for judging the right people to follow,” she said while shaking her head. “Brother, you should be thankful that ladies aren’t allowed to inherit titles. If we compete as the successors of House Wisteria, I’ll definitely beat you without that much effort.”

“Juri Wisteria!”

Juri just rolled her eyes before walking out.

When she got out of the mansion, she saw Jeno Dankworth waiting by the gate with a blank look on his face.

[He’s spacing out again.]

“Hey,” Juri greeted Jeno when she stood in front of him. “I didn’t ask you to pick me up, did I?”

Jeno focused his gaze on her face, but he still had that stupid look on his face. “Juri, have you ever been scolded by the old people in your household? Including the ones from the vassal families?”

“I think that’s a universal experience for every noble child in the empire.”

.....

“What did you do then?”

“Well, I followed my Aunt Sera’s advice, so I made a scene by smashing the table to shut the oldies up,” she said. “Why were you scolded by your family?”

“They were forcing me to get married already.”

She let out a frustrated sigh. “I had the same argument with my brother just now.”

“Your family also wants you to get married?”

“Unfortunately, yes.”

“Then... should we just get married to get them off our backs?”

To say that she was surprised would be an understatement.

But to be honest, it didn’t sound so bad.

[Jeno and I used to fight a lot in the past. But after spending the past few years together, we learned how to avoid getting on each other’s nerves. Perhaps we’ve also matured.]

But she knew that it wasn’t the only reason for their peace lately.

[Jeno fights with Xion more these days, so he doesn’t have time to piss me off.]

She raised an eyebrow at him. “So, like a contract marriage?”

Jeno nodded firmly. “You get it. We don’t need to live as a married couple. After all, we’re just going to get married for the sake of shutting our families up.”

“That’s not a bad idea. Let’s talk about it more,” Juri said while nodding, then she gasped softly. “But how will we tell our “mother” about our marriage?” She addressed Princess Neoma as their “mother” because she couldn’t carelessly mention her name outside. “I bet she’ll freak out.”