Her cheeks flushed with all her efforts to keep her lips from curving into a laughter, and that did not escape Kasser’s gaze. He thought to himself that it was unimaginable for his wife to get prettier by day as she was only a human, instead of a lark who could easily transform their appearance.

He reached out his hand to lightly grab on her chin. And over her slightly lifted face, he inclined his face toward her as to lay his lips on hers. They met eyes with each other after an impulsive touch on their lips.

But when he spotted the shyness in her lovely, widened eyes, they seemed to have completely overpowered his senses of self-control. He kissed her again but only this time he was giving her a kiss full in the mouth and seized his opportunity when her lips parted away.

When their lips were deeply pressed against each other, Kassers’s hand gave a strong support around the back of her head and neck as her whole body was being pushed down by his weight.

Eugene had managed to take a glimpse of his tilted bridge of the nose over her face when she peeped through down her lowered eyes. Her heart was fluttering madly in her chest by the intense kiss from her husband, who she had never gotten the chance to see in the last few days. She felt like she was being consumed by him as a whole when his warmth entered to meet with hers, moving around smoothly into the depth of her mouth.

“Aah..”

A faint nasal moan had escaped her lips. The fingers she rested on the table twinged every now and then from the sensations she felt from their tangled tongues.

She had tried her hardest not to wrap her arms around his neck despite all the haziness in her mind as she still hasn’t lost her final sober judgement without forgetting where she was right now. But she was filled with an apprehensive sense of foreboding that even her slightest response to his movements would make him lose sight of their surroundings altogether.

By the time she felt like they were beginning to cross the line, Kasser had pulled his lips away from her as he backed himself from her a little. Then he softly whispered as he gently licked across her wet lips.

“I’ll come to see you tonight.”

“…Yes, my king”

The gentle support around her neck was now gone. She blankly stared at her cold cup of tea as she felt like she couldn’t get around to see his back walking away from her. When she was calming her flushed cheeks by rubbing them with the back of her hands, there came a voice which startled her greatly.

“Count Oscar, what brings you all the way? Is this something I need to check on with the Chancellor?”

“Your Majesty, I have requested an audience with Her Majesty only to discuss the matters of the journey ahead. It’s nothing of the pressing matter for Your Majesty to be concerned about.”

“How are preparations thus far?”

“I am trying my hardest to be meticulous with the preparations so as to not be a burden throughout the journey.”

Eugene had let out an internal shriek at the sight of the two of them, exchanging words only a few steps away from where she seated. When has she arrived? She must have seen all of it. She had completely forgotten that she was waiting for the count’s arrival.

Eugene tried to keep up a straight face as Charlotte came close and lowered her head before her. Pricks were felt behind her head, totally embarrassed.

“Thank you for giving your consent to such a sudden request of mine, Your Majesty.”

“Have a seat.”

Eugene offered Charlotte a seat while clearing her throat quite unnecessarily.

“I apologize for… all the inappropriateness that might have caused you all the wait.”

“I did not mind the wait in the least, Your Majesty. It was rather a pleasure of mine for my king and queen to live in such harmony.”

Eugene gave orders to her servant to bring in some refreshments for them in her effort to change the subject of their conversation. But Charlotte has already seen through the queen’s restlessness of mind as she had caught a hint of hastiness when she had stolen a look while the queen was giving her commands.

The pretentious display of affections between married couples was quite common in high society. But Charlotte was convinced that it wasn’t a pretense what she saw on the terrace just now. As usual, Charlotte wouldn’t have looked away from such a show as she thinks a show needs its audiences and those people on the stage wanted more witnesses to their openly shameful act.

But Charlotte had better turn away when she caught them kissing as she eventually realized that they were not on the act at all. Charlotte, who only gives a scoff to the kind of secret love affairs commonly made in the gardens during the night of the balls, felt an unusual thump in her heart by a mere sight of kissing.

‘I assumed it was only gossip when I heard about them.’

Charlotte was pretty much well informed of the rumors circulating about the capital as she was frequently visited by the ladies who hoped to curry favor with her. And of them, there were the voluble ones who were always in good spirits, enough to make the rumor up out of whole cloth.

It’s most likely been more than a month since she had first learned of the rumor in passing, about the changes in the marital relationship between the king and the Queen, which she obviously considered only as a groundless rumor.

But as similar rumors came into her hearing progressively, she had loosely surmised that the rumor might be true indeed. However, it had failed to arouse her interest so as to make her want to ascertain the truth of the rumor herself.

Charlotte had a tendency to keep herself aloof from those who don’t fall under her category of interest. And despite bringing losses in its train, she still rather chose not to associate with those who she doesn’t see fit for her company.

If only Charlotte had tried to ingratiate herself with the Queen, she surely could have maintained a close relationship with the Queen as her closest associate without doubt. The Queen had shown her interest in Charlotte’s background as her mother’s side of the family had a good reputation in the Holy City.

However, Charlotte took no interest in neither flaunting nor abusing someone else’s authority. And if she had her tastes in power, then she wouldn’t have married Verus in the first place. As a Chancellor, Verus was now known as a man of power but at the time when they were just about to get married, he was neither an heir nor he was to be inherited with a large sum of family fortune.

From Charlotte’s perspective, the Queen was someone who she wanted to keep back from leaving all personal interests aside. So, after keeping the Queen at her arms length, it was not long before she was given a cold shoulder.

And as a result, she had not been receiving her occasional invitations to the gatherings since last year. However, Charlotte cared not a fig for all the gossip that was spoken behind her back.

But the curiosity of hers, which was first aroused from the Lark tree incident, had indeed turned to a great interest after her meet up with the Queen in the gathering, which she was invited to not very long ago.

So far, there never once was a time when her bad impression on someone had alternated with a good impression. However, she was truly astonished by the fact she did not find her encounter with the Queen to be offensive in the slightest, when she had met with her a few days ago. It was almost as if she was a different woman.

Although Charlotte wouldn’t have hesitated to refuse the Queen’s invitation in the past, she had rather gladly accepted her invitation this time at the thought that this could be a great occasion for her to keep a close eye on the Queen.

Charlotte had also ascertained the rumor about the king and the Queen to be true indeed from the very sight which she had witnessed with her own eyes a little while ago, as soon as she was brought to the terrace by a servant.

She was right in time to spot the moment when their intimate conversation, face only an inch apart, fell to a kiss. The affection she saw in their exchanging gaze was truthfully sincere without any doubt.

‘I can’t believe he was ignorant of such a significant matter.’

Charlotte clicked her tongue in annoyance of Verus’s tactlessness.

With Eugene trying to overcome her embarrassment and Charlotte lost in her thoughts, they stood in silence for a while until refreshments were brought in by the servant and Eugene offered Charlotte tea.

“Help yourself to some tea.”

“Thank you, Your Majesty.”

“I believe you have a boy of six if I am not mistaken. Is he coming along as well?”

“No, Your Majesty. As he is still too young for such a long trip.”

“Isn’t this his first time being apart from his mother for so long? It must be upsetting for him to see you off.”

Charlotte smiled at the thought of her young son who had wished for her safety throughout the long trip with such maturity, in contrast to his father who had been whiny all along if she really intended to be away for such a long time, leaving him alone in the capital.

“I hope I am not troubling you with my sudden notion. By putting you on such a tight schedule before a long trip ahead.”

“Not at all, Your Majesty. An arrangement for one wouldn’t be very time consuming and in fact, as I have lessened my worries on safety throughout the journey, I don’t think I will ever find another trip that would make me feel so eased at heart on departure. I feel none other than excitement to visit my parents for the first time in a long while.”

“I am very glad to hear that. That reminds me, what is the purpose of your visit today?”

“Pardon me, Your Majesty. I have wished to see you to give my concerns on the travel routes we’ll be taking to the Holy City. From what I have noticed, I regret that the newest paths which could bring us more convenience on our journey have failed to be reflected in full.”

“Is that true? I shall bring it into light then.”

“If I may, I have put together my findings for Your Majesty to have a quick look through.”

Eugene flipped through the pages of the thin notebook which she was handed over from Charlotte. The pages contained partially traced references of a map with simple descriptions written in such fine handwriting, making them easily understandable even to Eugene who was unfamiliar with geography. Like husband, like wife, Eugene thought, as she was simply stunned by her work.

Eugene asked questions to further grasp on the idea and gladly accepted the note from Charlotte.

“This would be of great help to us.”

“I only hope my nosiness is not causing you any unnecessary troubles, Your Majesty.”

“Not in the least. Your findings will surely be helpful on our trip ahead.”

Eugene then swiftly grabbed onto her chance to change the course of conversation. “And I believe you have been a great help to me in the past as well.”