She had seen a portrait of the Emperor before coming to the empire.
The handsome man in the painting had certainly looked striking, but it was nothing compared to the real thing.
More than that, while she had been worrying about how on earth she would ever meet him, she had crossed paths with the Emperor on the very day of her arrival.
It felt as if Lady Luck were smiling straight down on her.
Now, all that remained was to push the Emperor toward marriage and prevent the end of the world.
As Dalia smiled to herself, lost in her soaring imagination, the Emperor's cold voice dragged her back to reality.
“You must have quite a bit of nerve to ignore me so openly right to my face.”
‘Ignore him?’
Dalia's eyes widened in surprise.
‘Wait, what did he ask me just now? Ah!’
“Ah, I am from the Kingdom of Wyvern, and I am called… um… a Diplomat of fresh air, Lia.”
A cold sweat instantly drenched Dalia’s back.
‘Why on earth did Cole’s words have to come to mind at this exact moment?’
Dalia shifted her eyes nervously, trying to read the Emperor's expression, but his face remained completely inscrutable.
After a brief pause, his crimson lips parted.
“A diplomat of fresh air?”
“No! Not fresh air, I mean an official Diplomat.”
Dalia hastily concocted an impromptu excuse.
“Aren't all diplomats official? Isn't that so, Captain of the Guard?”
When the Emperor turned his head slightly to the side, Dalia followed his gaze.
Behind the Emperor stood a handsome knight with dark blue hair and a stern, impassive face.
‘A Commander of the Imperial Guard at that age?’
At a single glance, he seemed extraordinary.
He had to be the man who had pointed a sword at her neck moments earlier.
“Yes, that is correct.”
“You heard him.”
“Quite right, indeed.”
Dalia lowered her gaze, offering a strained, artificial smile in agreement with their exchange.
“Aren’t we all saying the same thing right now?”
“Yes, everyone is correct.”
Dalia nodded vigorously.
The Emperor stared at her for a moment with furrowed brows before changing the subject.
“Very well, Miss Lia. It seems you have no family name. Are you a commoner?”
“No. I am Lia Herdlan.”
The Emperor paused, then continued with an intrigued tone.
“The countal family of Herdlan in Wyvern… Isn't that the Foreign Minister's household?”
Dalia’s eyes widened, and she nodded unconsciously.
Even if it was a small neighboring kingdom, was it possible he knew every noble house in it?
She had heard the young Emperor was brilliant, but she had never expected it to this extent.
“Yet the daughter of that house has a different name.”
“Ah, I belong to a distant branch of the family.”
“I see. Miss Lia Herdlan, how did you find your way into this garden?”
It was clear this was the core question.
The Emperor's dark eyes fixed sharply on hers.
With his aura shifting so abruptly, Dalia shrank back like a rabbit caught in a hunter’s trap and answered truthfully.
“I followed a bird.”
“A bird?”
One of the Emperor's eyebrows arched in discontent.
Dalia looked at him steadily.
If she wanted to get close to him and hasten his marriage, would it be wise to lie and leave a poor impression?
“Very well. And where is this bird now?”
“Ah… that is…”
Dalia scanned the sky around them.
At that very moment, Lemon was perched on a leafy branch, watching the events unfold below.
Fortunately, he had not gone far.
Yet when Dalia lowered her gaze back to the Emperor, she hesitated…
Should she tell him where it was, or not?
If she told him it was right above his head, would he even believe her?
Even Annie, who was practically like a sister, had not believed her at first.
Wouldn't he take her for a madwoman if she spoke of an invisible bird?
Just moments ago, she had resolved to be entirely honest with him.
Swallowing a quiet sigh, Dalia whispered hesitantly.
“I do not know.”
Gray silently regarded the woman looking so dejected before him.
Her emotions shifted with astonishing speed.
When she dipped her head, he noticed a green leaf still caught in her pink hair, like a blossom in a field of flowers.
‘Does she intend to walk around with that leaf stuck there?’
Watching her strange behavior, absurd thoughts flitted through his mind, only to vanish without a trace.
“Miss.”
He called out to her, as though brushing those thoughts aside.
She slowly raised her head, revealing delicate, harmonious features.
Large eyes that blended sky blue with soft violet.
A small, straight nose, and full pink lips.
Even with dirt smudged across her face from tumbling to the ground, her beauty was easily on par with any young lady attending the Foundation Day celebrations.
As he scrutinized her features, his gaze naturally drifted back to her eyes.
They were clear almost to transparency, reminiscent of the dawn sky.
It was a color he had never seen before in his life.
“Yes?”
She answered, casting cautious glances to gauge his reaction.
It was undeniably the demeanor of someone caught in a lie.
Though he harbored a distaste for women of any sort, he could not deny she was beautiful.
Yet that was all.
He had no intention of wasting any more precious time on this woman.
“It was a decent attempt.”
“Huh? What attempt?”
She tilted her head innocently, as if she had no idea what he meant.
“I acknowledge your efforts to catch my attention by any means. You are the first woman to intrude into my private garden where I prefer to be alone. Even so, I have decided to overlook it this once, so let this be your limit.”
“Pardon?”
The pink-haired young lady tilted her head the other way, still utterly bewildered.
“I am saying I have no intention of marrying you, no matter how hard you try to approach me like this.”
“Whaaat?! What on earth are you talking about?!”
Her eyes blinked rapidly in genuine shock.
For the first time, sincerity appeared on the face of this woman whose every word had sounded bizarre and suspicious until now.
“Are you implying that I came here to seduce Your Majesty?”
“You understand perfectly.”
With one hand, she clutched at her pink hair—or rather, her field of pink flowers—while her other hand was still caught on the Emperor's coat.
“Good grief! How on earth could you misunderstand to such an extent…”
“Did you not fall for me the moment you laid eyes on me?”
“Me? When did I ever?”
Her questioning eyes were brimming with outrage and disbelief.
‘She truly didn't?’
Gray raised an eyebrow and asked.
“Did you not just express your admiration a moment ago?”
“That was only because I have never in my life seen anyone as handsome as Your Majesty.”
“I see.”
Gray nodded as though he had expected nothing less.
So she had fallen for him after all.
Yet the young lady before him waved her hands in frantic denial.
“You seem to be thinking, ‘Just as I thought, she fell for me,’ but that isn't true at all. I do not care for Your Majesty in the slightest—not even an ounce! I can swear to that.”
‘Not even an ounce?’
It was a statement he had never heard directed at him before, stirring an odd feeling within him.
Gray leaned back in his chair and studied her intently.
Seeing her look so deeply wronged, he felt an urge to use his Truth Detection Ability on the spot.
Yet it was an ability that could only be used once a day; he could not squander it on something like this.
“Let us leave it at that, then.”
“It isn't a matter of ‘leaving it at that,’ it really is the truth!”
The pink-flowered lady clenched her fists firmly, defending her innocence.
“However, you had best be careful with your answer to this question, Miss.”
When his voice dropped low, confusion flickered across her face.
“Yes?”
“When you entered this garden, was there anything obstructing your path?”
“No, there was nothing at all.”
Gray looked straight into her eyes and activated his Truth Detection Ability.
“Is that true?”
“Yes.”
‘Truth.’
It was a truth he had never anticipated.
Faced with such an unexpected result, Gray remained silent for a long moment.
He had used the Truth Detection Ability that could only be invoked once a day… and the result was the truth.
His dark eyes sank into profound obscurity.
“Miss, do you see that lilac bush over there?”
“Yes.”
“Could you walk over to it and then come back here?”
“Is that an order?”
The pink-flowered lady asked with an unmistakable look of exasperation, yet she watched his reaction cautiously.
“Yes, it is an order.”
“All right…”
Her shoulders slumped heavily as she gently let his coat settle to the ground.
She then walked with slow, lethargic steps until she reached the lilac bush, gave it a light pat with her hand, and turned back toward him with a look that asked if that was enough.
Gray nodded at her, his gaze transfixed on a glowing line across the ground.
That luminous thread…
was visible to no one but him.
