Just as he was about to step back—out of respect for how much she clearly disliked it—a slender set of fingers quietly came to rest on his palm.

 

Perhaps embarrassed that she had silently accepted the favor she had so firmly refused earlier, Renata’s cheeks had taken on a faint blush.

 

For some reason, he found himself wanting to look at that face a little more closely. 

 

Even after helping her down from the carriage, he neither let go of her hand nor took his eyes off her.

 

As if she had sensed his intention, Renata quickly turned her head away under the pretense of looking around, hiding her face.

 

“Your Highness, this is the dressmaker’s atelier. Men’s clothing is over that way…”

 

“I came to buy clothes for you.”

 

He finished the sentence while quietly anticipating what kind of reaction Renata would show.

 

Honestly, part of him had hoped she might break into a bright smile.

 

“…Can I just look?”

 

But what came back was the kind of polite-yet-firm refusal one might hear from someone trying to fend off a pushy street vendor.

 

🦋

 

Renata was already on her third outfit change at an atelier so exclusive that even most royals and high nobility struggled to get a reservation.

 

‘This one riding habit costs half a year of my salary…’

 

Transformed into a completely different style from her previous look thanks to the staff’s deft hands, Renata was led out of the dressing room by the atelier’s owner, Madame Louise.

 

“Your Highness, this style is very much in fashion these days. If we layer it with a coat that reaches just below the knee…”

 

“Madame, her legs are completely visible.”

 

“When she’s mounted, only the ‘trouser-clad’ thighs peek through the coat’s slit, and in daily life, only the ‘trouser-clad’ calves are exposed—that’s all.”

 

“Still, the fact that anything is exposed is the problem.”

 

Theodore maintained a clearly dissatisfied attitude toward the tight-fitting riding breeches that revealed the outline of her legs.

 

Madame Louise looked as though she couldn’t understand what the issue was when everything that needed covering was covered, but she soon raised the white flag and said she would prepare another design.

 

While Madame Louise went off to prepare the next option—saying it would take a little time—Renata took the opportunity to approach Theodore.

 

“Your Highness, these are a bit too much.”

 

“I agree. If you wear something like this, all the sleazy bastards will start appraising your legs and making comments.”

 

He narrowed his eyes as if just thinking about it gave him a headache at the back of his skull.

 

“What I mean is, gifts like this feel burdensome to me.”

 

“I’m giving them under the pretext that, as my aide, you should at least maintain the dignity befitting someone in the service of a prince.”

 

Theodore pointed at the mirror with his finger and gently pushed Renata forward as if telling her to take a proper look, while thinking to himself:

 

‘At this level, she shouldn’t be looked down on at the hunting festival.’

 

The riding habit that softly hugged and emphasized the lines of her body, the chestnut hair that had been carefully combed and let down unlike usual, and those eyes that sparkled like sunlight reflecting off leaves.

 

To put it simply—yes, she was beautiful and elegant.

 

She looked every bit the daughter of a count’s house.

 

‘I really don’t want to show her looking like this to other guys…’

 

No—wait, wasn’t this just absurd possessiveness? Besides, their relationship wasn’t even one that gave him the right to feel that way.

 

His role was simply to look after her, help her regain the glory of the past, and send her on her way when the time came.

 

‘Then why does my mood feel so… rotten?’

 

While he was lost in thought, Renata quietly turned her head and gazed at her reflection in the mirror.

 

When was the last time she had worn clothes like this?

 

‘…It really is pretty.’

 

A hazy memory from childhood surfaced—she used to have piles of similar things filling her wardrobe.

 

Back then, she had been immature enough to throw tantrums and sob loudly, begging her mother to buy her the expensive dolls her friends played with. 

 

Unlike now…

 

“If you like it that much, then wear it only when you’re with me. Don’t wear it in front of other guys until three years from now.”

 

Theodore, who had been watching Renata unable to tear her eyes away from the mirror, spoke in a tone that carried a hint of apology for not being able to permit it.

 

She was about to reply that she hadn’t been looking at it in that sense, but curiosity suddenly got the better of her, and she opened her mouth.

 

“How did you arrive at that specific number of years?”

 

In the mirror stood the two of them, she, dressed exactly like any other noble young lady, and he, smiling innocently as if he were thoroughly enjoying the situation.

 

He seemed to find this sort of thing genuinely amusing.

 

“It means there are three years left until the day the Heinsbrun count family is restored to its former standing. By then, no matter how you dress or act, you’ll be the head of such a formidable house that no one would dare speak carelessly to you.”

 

“…Pardon?”

 

It was a future she had never even dared to imagine.

 

At some point, she had stopped picturing herself as anything other than a commoner.

 

She had thought she would spend her whole life like this—hiding her true identity for reasons she didn’t even understand, scraping by with a perpetually empty purse, always on edge.

 

“If it’s you, you might even surpass Master Konrad and become a renowned alchemist, so it could happen even sooner.”

 

She had planned to quit this aide position without a shred of regret the moment she met the Tower Master, and things went smoothly.

 

Yes—in the future Renata had envisioned, this prince had never been part of it.

 

Yet unlike her, he spoke so casually of the time they would spend together, even confidently declaring that the “you” of that day would undoubtedly be magnificent.

 

‘This makes it feel like I’m the one betraying His Highness…’

 

The stinging pain that had been persistently pricking the tip of her nose now climbed up the bridge of it, spreading a sharp, buzzing ache across her entire head.

 

Ah, this really won’t do.

 

She couldn’t let herself be a little moved and then make a choice that would upend her entire life.

 

“So, what do you want to do?”

 

For a moment, Renata flinched, thinking he had somehow read her innermost thoughts and was asking how she planned to change her future course. She quickly glanced sideways to gauge his expression.

 

But Theodore merely tilted his head toward the rack where the riding habits she had tried on earlier were displayed, giving her a look that seemed to ask which one she liked best.

 

“…I’ll go with the one I’m wearing now.”

 

“I liked the first one you tried on.”

 

“Then that one…”

 

“And the third one too.”

 

Renata, who had been mumbling with her head lowered, unconsciously lifted her gaze to look straight at Theodore.

 

She had been about to shoot him a warning glare that meant if he kept acting like this, she wouldn’t play along with his jokes anymore.

 

But just then, the man—who usually pretended to be overwhelmed by her momentum—suddenly wore a strangely complicated expression.

 

Her forest-green eyes, always so clear and bright, were shining as usual, yet he caught the subtle redness rimming them.

 

She, too, realized he was looking intently at her eyes, but it felt too awkward to hide it now.

 

If she clumsily looked away, that persistent gaze of his would surely see right through her—that she was moved by his words, and felt sorry toward him, enough for tears to well up in her eyes.

 

Paradoxically, trying to hide her true feelings, they ended up in a staring contest where neither averted their eyes, and Renata finally moved her lips.

 

“…If you’re going to be like that, then buy me everything I tried on today.”

 

“Wow, that’s an answer I didn’t see coming.”

 

“I’m setting an example so that Your Highness never dares to tease me like this again.”

 

Theodore burst out laughing as if he’d just heard a very amusing joke. 

 

“‘Just a few clothes?’”

 

“People don’t notice their clothes getting wet in drizzling rain. If I keep making demands like this often enough, the day will come when you’ll be shocked.”

 

“Fine. But if my fortune ever gets ruined because of it, remember—you’ll be the one responsible for me.”

 

If that day ever came, of course, she would take responsibility—she had been about to say exactly that, but she clamped her mouth shut and bit down hard on her back teeth.

 

‘I’m going to quit soon anyway, so what…’

 

If that happens, I really won’t be able to see His Highness anymore.

 

…Is this really the right thing to do?

 

Her head growing tangled with confusion, Renata let out a small, pained sound and lowered her gaze, blankly staring at her own toes.

 

If she kept looking at that annoyingly handsome face, she was bound to make a promise she would regret—so she simply blocked her line of sight.

 

“Wow, the day has come when I make you cry.”

 

“…I’m not crying.”

 

“Then look at me properly. Oh—and don’t forget to give me a heads-up when you lift your head. We don’t want a repeat of last time, do we?”

 

“Ith wathn’t like thath…”

 

“Wasn’t it? Funny, I don’t remember agreeing to that.”

 

Just then, Madame Louise, who had come in carrying an armful of various blouses and skirts, glanced at the scene and tactfully backed out again.

 

🦋

 

After the commotion at the atelier, life returned to its usual hectic routine, and before she knew it, the day of the hunting festival had arrived.

 

Renata had spent the entire early morning agonizing before finally choosing and putting on one of the many outfits Theodore had gifted her.

 

Yes—there were so many clothes that her dormitory wardrobe couldn’t possibly hold them all; she’d even had to buy several extra hangers out of her own pocket…!

 

Just thinking about it gave her a headache. She squeezed her eyes shut for a moment, recalling that day.

 

“Your Highness, no matter how much I said that, this is going too far!”

 

“Then you should have refused properly at the time. You told me to buy everything that ended up on your body, so I simply did exactly what you asked.”

 

“I’m not paying for any of it.”

 

“Wow, you’re really handing me front-page material for next week’s gossip sheets, aren’t you? Something like ‘Second Prince Falls Out with Renowned Atelier’—is that the headline we’re going for?”

 

“Cancel the order before it comes to that!”

 

The absurd conflict had begun the moment Madame Louise, deciding something would suit Renata perfectly, started bringing out exorbitantly priced dresses and jewelry.

 

At first, Madame had listened to Renata’s preferences and only recommended appropriately modest riding habits. 

 

But then, for some inexplicable reason, she seemed to go completely off the rails.

 

This one was apparently chosen by some marchioness; that one by the future crown princess herself, or so she claimed.

 

“If it’s really that burdensome, just pay me back.”

 

“With an aide’s salary, how many lifetimes would it take me to repay that?!”

 

As a result, Theodore had spouted that ridiculous line.

 

“So this is how you negotiate a salary raise? Fine. Your probationary period of three months is over anyway—it’s about time for an increase.”

 

Renata had been about to shout, ‘Even a single hair ribbon costs as much as a decent mansion!’ but at the words “salary negotiation,” she instantly straightened her posture, clasped both hands neatly on her lap, and sat primly.

 

She had to seize what she could.

 

Seeing her swift change in demeanor, Theodore let out a dumbfounded chuckle.

 

“Double your current pay.”

 

Her eyes widened at the raise far exceeding her expectations.

 

And at his next words, Renata was more than ready to sell her soul.

 

“And we’ll make the raises… every three months from now on?”

 

“I pledge my absolute loyalty, Your Highness!”