TQV 13

Chapter 13

Writing it down and saying it out loud were two very different things.

‘Did she really not pick up on it?’

Lucius studied Emily’s expression. Her innocent, wide-eyed gaze made it clear—she truly had no idea what his real purpose in coming here was.

If he were going to confess, he wanted to do it properly—not blurt it out by accident. Lucius decided to wait for another chance.

“It’s nothing important. I’ll just send another letter later.”

‘So it wasn’t anything important?’

Emily looked puzzled. Why bother writing another letter when he could just say it now? But she wasn’t in a position to question royalty.

“Then… could I at least see the letter I supposedly sent you?”

Once again, Lucius shook his head.

“I didn’t bring it. There wasn’t much to it anyway—it was just an invitation to the estate.”

The more she thought about it, the stranger it seemed.

Did the letter even reach his estate in the first place? If it did, who intercepted it and sent a fake reply? And most of all—what was the motive behind it? None of it was easy to figure out.

“I’m sorry for the trouble. I’ll make sure to find the culprit.”

“Alright. I’ll look into it on my end too. Let me know if you find anything.”

From Lucius’s point of view, he was oddly grateful to the mystery culprit for giving him another reason to contact Emily—but that didn’t make the situation any less unsettling.

“By the way, I noticed earlier—you were picking flowers to decorate a vase yourself.”

The flowers Emily had gathered sat neatly at the end of the table.

“Oh, I just get bored being alone at home. I only recently started learning flower arrangement.”

Tending the garden took more energy than she’d expected, so she had long since handed the responsibility over to the gardener. Doing modest flower arrangements suited her much better.

“Is that so? Your husband must be very busy.”

“Yes, he has a lot of work.”

Lucius’s expression hardened at the mention of Killian.

When he’d looked into Emily, it was impossible not to learn about Killian as well.

A noble from a mafia background. The idea that such a vulgar man had essentially bought his marriage to Emily was unbearable to Lucius. It felt like he had arrived too late and lost the princess to the villain.

“If you’re bored, feel free to visit the palace.”

But accepting a crown prince’s invitation to the palace—without being the empress—was enough to get someone branded as his mistress. Emily nodded vaguely and quickly changed the subject.

Unfortunately, that happened to be the very day Killian returned home earlier than usual.

Albin took Killian’s long frock coat and hat, his expression grave.

“Your Grace, I have something to tell you.”

“What is it?”

“His Highness the Crown Prince is currently here.”

Killian’s expression instantly turned cold.

“What’s he doing here?”

“He said he was invited by the lady of the house…”

Killian couldn’t wait to hear more.

“Where is he? Tell me immediately.”

Killian barked the order.

“Uh—yes! In the greenhouse at the garden…”

Before Albin could finish, Killian had already stormed off toward the greenhouse like a sudden thunderstorm.

“I was going to say the lady didn’t know anything about the invitation… but he’s gone.”

Uneasy that something bad might happen, Albin scratched his head and quickly followed after him.

Lucius and Emily were deep in conversation—more so than expected.

Thanks to Lucius and his endless supply of topics, their discussion had gone long. Emily, who had never been outside the Vencent Empire, found Lucius’s travel stories fascinating.

“Listening to you makes me want to visit Robert for sure.”

Robert was the birthplace of all trends and considered a cultural powerhouse. Anyone with even a hint of interest in the arts would dream of visiting it.

Lucius smiled softly at her response.

“If you go to Robert, I could be your guide.”

“What?”

Emily gave an awkward laugh and was about to politely decline—when another voice cut in.

“That won’t be necessary, Your Highness.”

Killian entered the greenhouse with a cold expression.

Emily jumped to her feet in surprise at his unexpected arrival. Albin followed behind, panting from the effort.

Killian rarely showed emotion. Ever since his parents died, he had never truly been angry or smiled for anyone.

But his eyes, as they landed on the crown prince, were filled with unmistakable fury.

‘Anger? Why?’

Seeing them together might warrant jealousy or annoyance—but this was darker and deeper. To Albin, it seemed excessive.

“Forgive me, Your Highness. But I must ask you to return to the palace now.”

Killian’s tone was surprisingly rude, even for an era where imperial authority had weakened.

Royalty was still royalty. Emily and Albin both became nervous at Killian’s harsh demeanor.

Lucius also couldn’t hide his displeasure and rose from his seat.

“I don’t recall being properly greeted by the Marquis yet.”

“I’ll do so formally when we meet in an official setting.”

Killian once again issued a stern demand for him to leave. To break the tension, Emily quickly stepped forward.

“Then, Your Highness, I’ll escort you to the entrance.”

But Killian wasn’t about to let that happen.

“Albin, you escort His Highness.”

“Yes, sir.”

Albin, sweating bullets, carefully approached Lucius.

“Your Highness, allow me to escort you.”

Though he wasn’t formally invited, Lucius had technically arrived as a guest. Being treated like an intruder irritated him—but he decided to step back for now.

“A shame it was so short, but I’ll be going.”

And just to get under Killian’s skin, Lucius kissed the back of Emily’s hand before turning to follow Albin out.

Once everyone had left, Killian fixed Emily with a cold stare.

“You should be more cautious with your behavior.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“Inviting a strange man into the house and chatting so casually.”

All she had done was entertain an unannounced guest—and now she was being blamed? Emily was stunned and furious.

“You’re saying I was flirting?”

“Especially with—”

Killian continued in a hard voice, not taking his eyes off hers.

“—someone known for his debauchery in the Robert Empire.”

Just then, Albin returned after seeing Lucius off and rushed over, trying to clarify the misunderstanding.

“Your Grace, the lady didn’t actually invite—”

“Albin. Since when did you think it was okay to interrupt me?”

Albin flinched and looked between the two of them.

Emily, too, was intimidated by Killian. Few people could exude such pressure, even when facing a crown prince.

‘I almost forgot, seeing his gentle side—but he’s a mafia boss.’

Still, retreating without saying anything stung her pride. Emily took a breath and calmly responded.

“I’m disappointed in you. You wouldn’t even hear my side of the story, or let Albin finish his explanation.”

Albin stared in shock. He’d never seen anyone call out Killian to his face before.

He’d thought the lady was soft and delicate—but maybe she wasn’t so weak after all.

“For the record, I never invited His Highness.”

Killian let out a heavy sigh.

“Then how did the crown prince end up here?”

“I don’t know. He said he received a forged invitation written in my name.”

Killian clenched his lips until he tasted blood.

Who would dare pull something like this?

“I’ll find out who’s behind it.”

But Emily wasn’t pleased.

“No. This is my problem—I’ll handle it.”

With that, she turned and walked away to her room.

She hadn’t planned to say all that—but her frustration with his misunderstanding had gotten the better of her. Her heart was pounding, realizing she’d just snapped at a mafia boss.

“Ugh! I’m not his subordinate, I’m his wife—so what!”

She yelled into the empty hallway, trying to act tough.

“Your Grace…”

With Emily gone, Albin cautiously addressed Killian.

Though Killian tried to keep a straight face, Albin—who had served him for years—could tell he was full of regret.

“Albin. Why didn’t you report the situation properly earlier?”

“Excuse me?”

Albin’s eyes widened at the sudden shift of blame.

“You should’ve told me clearly that she didn’t invite him.”

As if I didn’t try! Albin groaned internally. If only Killian weren’t his boss, he’d have smacked him upside the head.

Killian knew he was taking his frustration out on Albin unfairly.

But if he didn’t redirect his anger, he felt like he would explode. He bit down on his lip until he tasted blood.

This time, though, Albin had no intention of helping him.

When it came to relationships, third parties only made things worse.

“You should go and apologize to the lady right now.”

“…I’m tired. Just prepare my bath.”

Killian knew he needed to apologize.

But judging by her expression earlier, no words would fix it. Besides, apologies didn’t come easily to him.

He didn’t have the courage to face Emily while she was so furious.

Albin gave him a look of disappointment before turning and heading inside to prepare the bath.

“Ugh. The master really needs to get his temper under control. He’s like this every time the lady’s involved…”