For the better part of the morning, Vierenna stayed glued to Deon, not leaving his side for even a moment. She chose his clothes—which were overly flashy—fixed his hair, and even instructed him on how he should address the coming Guest. Annoyed as he was, Deon did as she said and listened to all her instructions. He didn’t want to leave a bad impression on someone who would accompany and protect him—even if that was just an assumption.

“You look amazing,” Vierenna commented on Deon’s attire as she inspected him with a scrutinizing gaze.

“I’ll head back to my room to change. Wait for me downstairs, okay?” Without waiting for his response, she rushed out of his room.

‘She seems overly excited’ Deon thought to himself. Yet deep down, he only hoped everything would go smoothly. But what were the chances, especially with Vierenna involved?

Deon followed her instructions and went down to the first floor. He intended to wait in the dining room but was surprised to see it bustling with life. A large number of servants moved around the room, bringing in various dishes and then leaving to return with more. He was astonished for a moment but quickly left the room—it wasn’t his place.

‘All this for one person…’ Deon sighed wearily and headed toward the front gate of the palace.

The gate was wide open, unusually so, but at least it was empty. Deon stepped slightly to the side and stood there, letting the cold morning air brush against his skin. He stood there for a while, occasionally receiving curious glances from passing servants. But none of them spoke to him, which he preferred.

“My baby brother, what… You ruined your hair!”

Vierenna emerged from the front gate and came directly toward Deon as if she had known exactly where he was.

“You… Why are you standing here?”

She stood in front of him and started fixing his hair again.

“I didn’t ruin it, the wind did.”

“Oh, so it wasn’t your decision to stand here? Why then?”

“I don’t like crowded places.” Deon answered honestly, finding no reason to lie.

“You could’ve gone somewhere else, like… inside.”

“How did you find me, anyway?”

Vierenna tucked some strands of Deon’s hair behind his ears to hold them against the wind, but the strong gusts quickly tossed them around again.

“So you were avoiding me?” she said angrily, throwing her hands down in defeat.

“I wasn’t. I was just curious.”

She stepped to the side and leaned against the wall beside him.

“I asked some of the servants.”

“What do we do about my hair now?” Deon asked, though he didn’t care much. He already looked fine, and Vierenna herself had confirmed that.

“You already look good. There’s not much to do. Besides, we were going to wait outside anyway.”

Deon looked at her, ready to question what she meant, but she interrupted him.

“So, how do I look?” she asked as she stood in front of him again, doing a complete turn to show off her appearance.

She wore a fully black dress that ended just above her knees, leaving the best parts of her chest exposed. A beautiful blue necklace rested against her flawless white skin. Her white hair was tied into a ponytail at the back of her head, and high heels made her the same height as Deon.

Deon took his time examining her, though his expression didn’t change. He was already accustomed to her stunning beauty but still gave her an honest answer. She seemed to like those.

“You’re already beautiful. I like the dress. It’s the opposite of you, but it suits you well.”

Vierenna smiled, satisfied with the compliment, but a sly grin appeared on her face.

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‘Here we go again…’

“Don’t fantasize too much,” she commented.

By now, Deon sighed in exasperation at her remarks, but he still answered when she looked at him, expecting a reply.

“I’ll try.”

She smiled in satisfaction and stood beside him again, placing her hand on his shoulder as if to reassure him.

“I know you’ll fail. And when you do, try not to tell me, like you did the day before.”

Deon turned his head toward her sharply, his calm demeanor crumbling.

“That’s not what I meant…”

But she silenced him by placing her hand over his mouth.

“You don’t need to explain yourself. I understand. But that doesn’t mean I agree.”

Though her tone was serious, her expression dripped with mockery.

Deon simply let his shoulders slump in defeat and looked ahead toward the garden, his mind blank.

Vierenna noticed this and her amused smile widened. She loved what she was seeing. She was about to add more salt to the wound, but her personal maid suddenly appeared through the gate.

“Young lady, they’ve arrived.”

Deon glanced at the maid from the side. She was a fully grown woman with blonde hair tied in a bun and faint blue eyes. She wore the usual maid’s uniform, which suited her perfectly.

She caught Deon’s gaze and bowed to him respectfully before turning back to Vierenna, her movements professional and composed.

Deon looked at Vierenna to hear her response. The whole situation was still a mystery to him. But he gathered from the maid’s words that the knight wasn’t coming alone, which made sense.

“Go ahead and escort them. Deon and I will greet them here. Everything is ready inside, I assume?”

“Everything is as you requested, young lady. The head servant is already at the front.”

Vierenna nodded with a professional expression.

“Very good. You may go now.”

The maid bowed deeply again.

“I won’t let the young lady down.”

She walked away with steady steps.

Deon’s eyes remained on Vierenna. He barely recognized her during the brief conversation between her and her maid. She seemed...

“Are you thinking I was professional?” Vierenna interrupted Deon’s thoughts as she turned her head toward him, her usual smile returning. “Or perhaps you were thinking my maid—”

“Actually, I was going to say effective, but professional works too,” Deon interrupted, knowing exactly where her words were headed. He didn’t need that right now.

“Hmm, fine. I suppose I’ll believe you. But time will tell.”

With that, she grabbed his hand and dragged him up the few steps in front of the palace gate.

“Waiting here in the center is better than hiding on the side, don’t you think, my dear baby brother?”

Vierenna stood in front of the palace gate with her back to it, while Deon stood beside her, his posture straight and his expression cold as he gazed forward.

“Remember what I told you. You must be on your best behavior. You’re not very liked by her family.”

Deon scoffed coldly. Vierenna had mentioned this before, and if not for her, he would never have agreed to such a thing. Even so, he couldn’t stop himself from complaining.

“This is nonsense. If they hate me, why bother coming at all?”

Vierenna turned toward him, her expression grim. “This isn’t about them, and they don’t hate you. If they dare disrespect you, I won’t let it slide. But they know their limits well and won’t act outside their authority. However, they can sabotage the entire agreement, and… well, I don’t want that.”

Deon looked into Vierenna’s sincere eyes, closed his own to clear his mind, and then reopened them. “I wasn’t trying to do unspeakable things to you. You just misunderstood, as always.”

Vierenna’s eyes widened briefly, but a sly smile quickly formed on her face. “Are you trying to use this moment to clear your name?”

She leaned closer to Deon’s face, scrutinizing his unchanged expression. “Just so you know, I had my suspicions before! Of course, my sweet, handsome baby brother Deon, despite his impure thoughts about me, wouldn’t act on them. He’d have the willpower to stay on the right path. I wanted to believe that, even though the obvious signs always said otherwise.”

She placed her cold hand on Deon’s cheek. Despite the pity in her expression, Deon could see the mockery there. She wasn’t even trying to hide it, as if she expected him to see through her.

“Well, that settles it. You have more than just thoughts…” She closed her eyes in exaggerated sorrow, as if mourning a loved one. “I’ll miss my Deon.”

Deon only sighed in defeat. His earlier attempt had been to clear his name of the injustice he suffered two days ago, but everything had turned against him... again. And it wasn’t as if he wasn’t used to it by now. His expression remained unchanged despite Vierenna’s verbal torment.

He looked at her fake sorrowful expression and addressed her. “I didn’t think there was a ‘right path.’”

She looked at him again, the sorrow vanishing as if it had never been there. “Of course there is. Sure, people like us don’t take it, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t there or isn’t valid. It’s just a matter of appropriate use.”

Deon stared at her seriously, unable to believe her words. But then again, he was in a world unlike his own.

“Do you plan to take it?” She asked mockingly, but he caught a hint of seriousness in her voice.

“Why not?” Deon answered seriously, mostly to see her reaction. Things couldn’t get worse than they already were.

She looked at him for a long moment, words stuck in her mouth. But Deon could tell the thought had crossed her mind.

‘How interesting…’

Now it was his turn to smile mockingly.

But Vierenna quickly wiped his smile away with a pinch to his side.

“They’re here.”

She raised her head to look at him angrily.

“And we will talk later, oh, we will talk very thoroughly.”

She looked ahead again, her professional expression once more masking her face.

“You need to relearn how to respect your elder sister.”

‘I never learn my lessons!’

Deon also looked ahead, trying to muster as much professionalism as he could.

He didn’t know if he succeeded or failed, but as long as Vierenna didn’t say anything, he was probably fine.

“I hope this ends quickly. I miss my room.”