Chapter 203 : The Root Problem

The banquet briefly reached a small climax with the appearance of Princess Dorothy.

Because she entered through the side door, most guests simply assumed they had missed her earlier. Not many realized she had just arrived.

Several nobles eagerly approached to greet her—but there was one strange thing…

Dorothy never let go of Adelina's cheek. She clung to her like a shadow, never straying more than a few inches away.

To the guests, it seemed like Dorothy was proudly showing off her close relationship with Adelina. At the same time, she was sending a political signal to the more informed nobles: the Claude family held no resentment toward the royal family, despite the assassination attempt in the capital district.

That was indeed part of Dorothy’s thinking—but her real reason?

If she let her guard down for even a moment, Adelina might sneak off to find Felyn again!

Can you blame me?! I organized this banquet—there’s no way I’m letting those two have some quiet moment alone under my roof!

Adelina played along with the performance. She smiled and greeted each noble lady one by one, chatting about daily life like nothing was wrong.

Still, the way Dorothy clung to her cheek made Adelina suspicious.

Her Highness and Felyn…?

But didn’t they just meet for the first time? Or… no. Could it be?!

Adelina recalled that even someone like Zervanie had become Felyn’s client.

Could Dorothy be one too?!

Felyn, just how many people have you worked with?! Even the princess?! Why don’t you just win over the divine child while you’re at it!

Adelina shook her head to dispel the wild thought.

There’s no way every beautiful girl around Felyn is one of his clients…

She looked around for him, but didn’t see him anywhere.

Originally, she had planned to catch him alone and finish asking the question she hadn’t gotten to earlier. But under the current circumstances…

She glanced at Dorothy’s hand still pressed to her cheek.

Maybe this is fine too.

As long as Her Highness stayed glued to her, if Dorothy tried to sneak off and find Felyn, Adelina would know right away.

And Viloti? Still sitting in a quiet corner—not with Felyn.

For now, no girl was by Felyn’s side.

Felyn watched the banquet progress in its usual noble fashion and finally relaxed a little.

He had no appetite left, so he slipped through a glass door and stepped onto the balcony.

The night sky over Saiwa was stunning.

Purple magic shimmered in the air, and from afar, the entire capital looked like it was floating above the clouds.

He tried to find the direction of the neighborhood they’d walked through earlier. Tried to think like a poet. Reflect on life.

But… he didn’t know east from west. He couldn’t even find his own house.

Leaning on the balcony railing, Felyn let his arms dangle limply.

Was this really the right path for me?

He hadn’t expected Adelina to ask such a question.

She’d actually said the words:“Do you really like me?”

But hadn’t he followed every clause of the contract properly? Where had things gone wrong?

He couldn’t figure it out, but he knew—he must’ve made a mistake somewhere.

Viloti, Zervanie, and now Adelina…

If he couldn’t identify the root of the problem, all his clients could end up hurt.

Felyn couldn’t let that happen.

That future… he didn’t even want to imagine it.

He stared out at Saiwa’s glowing skyline, replaying every memory he had with Adelina.

He didn’t see any mistakes.

It’s just… too hard.

Felyn lifted a hand, letting the night breeze slip between his fingers.

“What’s too hard?”

A soft voice rang out behind him.

Felyn turned slightly and immediately spotted the curve of a perfect waistline—so graceful, it looked like a work of art.

Beautiful.

“Zervanie? What are you doing here?”

He didn’t look at her for long—just turned his eyes back toward the night sky.

“Just getting some air. I didn’t expect to find you here either.” Zervanie leaned against the railing too, deliberately keeping some distance between them.

Both Dorothy and Adelina were too busy patting themselves on the back, thinking they’d outmaneuvered the competition tonight.

Neither had noticed Zervanie.

She had watched them cling to each other all evening and seized the perfect chance to slip away and approach Felyn—completely undetected.

Now, she was alone with him.

Felyn glanced at her. She wore no expression and made no move to leave. He didn’t move away either.

“Your performance tonight was incredible,” he said.

If Zervanie had been a beastkin or a dragon girl, her ears and tail would be shooting straight up in the air by now.

But alas, she was just a human girl. She had to settle for pressing her knees together and blinking rapidly to contain her excitement.

He watched me perform tonight! And he thought it was great!

Yay!

“Thanks,” she murmured.

Her heart was racing so fast, she wanted to run off into the night and scream with joy.

But she couldn’t let any of that show. Not in front of him.

When Zervanie was around Felyn, her flawless acting skills weren’t used to charm him—they were used to suppress her love for him.

She had so many questions she wanted to ask:

Did you like how I looked on stage tonight? Did you like the song I sang? Do you like… me?

But right now, all she could manage was a quiet, “Thank you.”

“Aren’t you tired? You just finished performing, and now you’re here at the banquet.”

She wanted to scream,Of course I’m exhausted! If it weren’t for you, I’d be home and asleep by now!

“I’ve always had good stamina,” she said calmly. “I can last a long time.”

Felyn gave a quiet “Oh,” and said nothing more.

Seeing his troubled expression, Zervanie took a couple steps closer to him.

“Are you thinking about girls?” she asked innocently.

“More or less.”

“Tell me. Maybe I can give you some advice. And if it helps you win the girl, you can just pay me a little reward.”

“I’m broke,” Felyn said dryly. “The money you make in one night is more than I’ll make in my whole life.”

“It’s not that bad,” Zervanie said, taking two more careful steps closer when he didn’t back away.

“Actually… there’s something I want to ask you.”

“Oh?” She tried to hide the flutter in her chest. “Nothing weird, right?”

“Maybe a little weird,” he admitted.

Zervanie pursed her lips, coughed lightly, and feigned a hint of discomfort.

“Then you’ll have to pay up,” she said. “Or help me with something later. Then I’ll answer.”

“You’ve learned to negotiate, huh? Who taught you that?”

“You did,” Zervanie replied with a playful smile.

Felyn didn’t suspect a thing. He didn’t notice her little schemes.

“I wanted to ask about our previous contract… Is that okay? If you don’t want to talk about it, that’s fine.”

“The contract?” Zervanie blinked. She hadn’t expected that.

Was he… having second thoughts?

Had he sensed her regret?

He was still willing to ask, at least.Felyn, I’ll apologize properly. I’ll tell you just how selfish and heartless I was back then.

“Go ahead and ask.”

“In our time working together, do you think I ever did anything… out of bounds?”

“Out of bounds?” Zervanie repeated, confused.

She thought back carefully.

Felyn had always been respectful. Never overstepped.

“No. You didn’t.”

“Then… was there anything outside the contract that I did which might’ve misled you?”

“…No, nothing like that either.”

Felyn sighed.

So he hadn’t done anything extra.

But that was the problem.

Contracts like his felt emotionally fulfilling—and over time, clients naturally forgot they were even contracts.

It was unavoidable.

That was the risk of his entire profession: that his clients would fall in love with him.

“Why are you asking?”

“I just wanted some feedback. That’s all.”

Zervanie didn’t believe him.

She thought back to everything that had happened between them—and quickly pieced together the real reason for his question.

“You’re trying to figure out,” she said softly, “how to stop your clients from falling in love with you… right?”

(End of Chapter)