After leaving the palace, Kabe and the other two returned to the inn under the escort of royal guards.
Originally, the people from the palace had wanted to bring them to stay in one of the noble residences owned by the royal family, but Kabe politely declined.
Once back at the inn, none of the three had any intention of going back out again.
After all, they had just experienced what it was like to be surrounded and watched by crowds. Shopping could wait until another day, when they had made proper preparations first.
"Welcome back, Lady Irene, Lord Kabe."
Seeing the three of them return, Heine immediately stood and greeted them.
Juliet, on the other hand, was much more lively. She ran straight to Brandish, wrapped herself around one of her arms, and asked curiously,
"Huh? Weren't you supposed to be out shopping? Where's everything you bought?"
Looking thoroughly exhausted, Brandish dragged Juliet over to the bed, then fell face-first into the soft mattress.
"Ahh... the whole street was packed with crazed fans. Forget shopping, it was hard enough just to walk.
If the palace people hadn't shown up when they did, we probably would never have made it back alive."
Pulled down onto the bed with her, Juliet propped her cheek on one hand and tilted her head curiously at Brandish.
"What happened? And what does that have to do with the royal family?"
"That is... a long story."
While Brandish and Juliet began sharing everything that had happened that day, Kabe and Irene removed their outer coats under Heine's help.
Irene lowered her head, sniffed the lingering scent of perfume and spices that had clung to her from the banquet, then frowned slightly and instructed Heine,
"I am going to wash up. Heine, come help scrub my back."
With that, she turned and walked straight into the bath as if there were no man in the room at all.
It was Heine who cast Kabe a strange look.
Kabe immediately glared back at her fiercely.
"What are you looking at? You think I would peep or something?!"
Heine still wore that same calm, neutral expression as she asked in a polite tone,
"Not at all. I only wanted to ask whether, once Lady Irene has finished, you would also like to wash up, my lord.
If so, I can scrub your back as well."
"...Yes. Call me later."
Once Heine was gone, Kabe lazily threw himself onto the large bed.
"Mmh... Juliet, come massage my shoulders."
"At once!"
Juliet responded instinctively to Kabe's command. She climbed forward, straddled his lower back, and began earnestly kneading his shoulders and back.
At first Kabe frowned slightly, ready to scold her for being so bold, but once he felt how practiced her hands were, his brow slowly relaxed, and he let it go.
Juliet's hands kept working, but her mouth was no less busy.
"So then, Lord Kabe, are you really going to become Fiore's prince consort?
What do you actually think about marrying the princess? Is it because of her beauty, or are you planning to use her to take control of the kingdom?"
Kabe did not answer immediately.
Instead, he tossed the question toward the person who had apparently been the one to tell Juliet all this in the first place.
"Brandish, what about you? If it were you, what would you do?"
"Me? No idea. I have never even thought about that kind of thing.
But if you marry a princess, at least you will never be short on money. Just let me be your second meal ticket."
If possible, lazy by nature as Brandish was, what she wanted most was to lie flat and never have to do anything herself.
All she wanted was to live as a parasite at home, with food brought to her mouth, clothes handed to her directly, and the occasional chance to go out and spend lavishly whenever she felt like it.
"Mm. That matches what I was thinking. As expected, we really do have a lot in common."
Kabe said that with his eyes closed, nodding lightly in complete agreement.
Hearing that, Juliet shoved her face close to Kabe's in disbelief, unable to understand at all.
"No way, Lord Kabe. This is such a rare chance to seize control of an entire country.
You should pull yourself together and find a way to take the throne and become king yourself!"
"Eh... that sounds like way too much trouble. I have no interest in playing political games with a bunch of nobles. Wouldn't it be much better to just live quietly and comfortably off my wife's money?"
Kabe rejected the idea outright, and Brandish immediately chimed in with strong agreement.
"Exactly, exactly. Even if you marry the princess, you are still an outsider. If you really tried to become king, the resistance would probably be ridiculous.
If that ended up plunging the whole kingdom into rebellion, what a pain that would be. Things are fine just the way they are."
"Mm-hmm. Brandish, you really do get it. Once I become prince consort and start scamming money out of my wife, how about I use some of it to keep you?"
"Keep me, huh... as long as you can cover my spending, I do not mind."
"Then it is settled. No backing out later."
The two of them lay there on the bed with their eyes closed and, in the most casual tone imaginable, finalized an emotionally filthy little arrangement built entirely on money.
It was enough to shatter Juliet's entire worldview.
Even the movements of her hands slowed down without her noticing.
Wiping the sweat from her forehead, she gave a dry laugh and tried to persuade them.
"Um... I do not know much about relationships and all, but Brandish, this does not seem very good..."
"What is so bad about it? Ever since I got tricked into leaving the Empire, I have been living off other people's support anyway. Since Lord Kabe is willing to take me in, naturally I am willing too."
"...But it is not really living off others, is it? Haven't we all been living together just fine?"
"It is different. You and Juliet are Lady Irene's attendants, so naturally you go wherever Lady Irene goes.
But I am just a pitiful orphan, with nowhere to stay and no place of my own. The only thing I still have that is worth anything is this body, so of course I have to use it in exchange for a chance to keep living in this country."