In fact, I had no intention of bringing her here at all.
It would be quite awkward if rumors spread that an unmarried prince had brought an unknown young lady into the palace.
If it weren’t for what that young lady said, Winston would have simply passed by the weeping girl.
“Please take me with you! You want to be the crown prince, right? I’ll help you take revenge on the Wintbell dukedom too!”
If that young lady caught the Imperial Consort’s eye, it would be a serious problem. The Imperial Consort favors those who harbor hostility towards the Wintbell dukedom.
So, Winston took the risk and brought the young lady for Kaien’s sake.
“First, let her work as my personal maid.”
“Yes, I will arrange that.”
The butler, who had been at a loss about what to do since Winston had left without any explanation, finally felt relieved.
Winston then headed straight to his room. In the meantime, he unconsciously reflected on his conversation with Kaien.
“Are we truly beyond redemption?”
But he couldn’t understand it at all.
No matter how sad it was, it was impossible to bring back someone who was already dead. Winston could only feel a sense of regret that Kaien had turned away from him because of his brother’s death.
Once he arrived in his room, he sighed and took out something he had hidden deep in a drawer.
It was a picture of a girl and a boy sitting side by side, facing each other. It was old and worn, making their faces blurry, but the memories from that time were still vivid.
“Mel…”
Lately, I’ve been thinking about you a lot.
Winston kissed the picture.
Mel, how wonderful it would be if you were alive.
Silence settled over the Imperial Consort’s palace.
The Imperial Consort slowly closed her eyes and then opened them again while lying down.
It seemed that action needed to be taken.
Her son was still uselessly weak.
Struggling to sit up, she began to write a letter to someone. As she pressed her seal firmly onto the letter, a satisfied smile spread across her lips.
This letter would later cause a tremendous ripple.
☪︎ ִ ࣪𖤐 𐦍 ☾𖤓 ☪︎ ִ ࣪𖤐 𐦍 ☾𖤓
Today, Kaien felt happier than he had in a long time.
Seeing the smile lingering on his lips, Sebastian felt relieved. Kaien hadn’t been in a good mood since the conflict over taking Philome to the North.
“Gio, what’s the report on Nadia Alice?”
Although he had warned her, Kaien was convinced that Nadia would once again appear before Philome. Based on what he had seen so far, it seemed likely.
So, Kaien ordered Gio to keep a close watch on Nadia’s every move.
“It seems that by the time we sent someone to investigate, Nadia Alice had already disappeared.”
At that, Kaien narrowed his brows.
“Apparently, she entered the palace with the Third Prince. It seems it will take some time to gather information since it’s within the palace.”
“…That’s actually good.”
It was better that the two people he disliked were together.
If things went well, he might be able to deal with both of them at once.
If Winston and Nadia teamed up, it would be something they should welcome.
“For now, there’s no need for a detailed report on the two. Just let me know when there are signs of them approaching Philome.”
“Yes, and all preparations regarding the spirit business are complete.”
“Then let’s start right away tomorrow.”
“Understood.”
The report was slowly coming to an end.
Just then, a knocking sound came from the door, and Sebastian headed towards it.
“Miss, have you come to see the Duke?”
“Yes, is he very busy?”
“No, come in.”
As soon as Kaien heard Philome’s voice, he jumped up from his seat and headed toward the sofa.
Philome was holding a familiar scroll in her hand.
“Harnen sent this. It’s the completed spirit scroll.”
As she spoke, Philome handed the spirit scroll to Kaien with a slightly nervous expression.
Kaien’s gaze as he examined the scroll was sharp. Philome waited anxiously, feeling like she was having her goods inspected by Jack.
Kaien tore the spirit scroll.
With a crisp and sharp sound of tearing paper, a large puddle of water floated in the air. The puddle moved freely according to Kaien’s will.
“Wow.”
It was Gio who exclaimed in admiration.
Although he had seen Menen’s scrolls and other magical scrolls many times, the spirit scroll was in a league of its own.
A scroll is simply something that is torn to be used. Typically, in such cases, the scrolls did not activate very well.
If we take water as an example, if that were a magical scroll, the puddle would either not form properly or respond slowly, making its movements very sluggish.
However, the spirit scroll allowed Kaien to wield power as if he were a spirit master summoning a spirit, very naturally.
“What do you think?”
Kaien mumbled, unable to take his eyes off the puddle.
“It’s definitely much better than the previous Menen scrolls.”
“Right? I tried one in the room earlier, and it was really smooth!”
Philome, who had not had high expectations even for a scroll optimized for the power of spirits, was truly surprised.
The effect exceeded her imagination.
“If the scroll holds up, I think it would be okay to put in a stronger and more delicate power.”
Until now, the scrolls had not been able to withstand any greater power.
This was what Philome found disappointing. Harnen was quite an excellent spirit master, but due to the limitations of magic scrolls, he could only infuse weak and simple powers into them.
“If there’s anything uncomfortable, just let me know. I’ll take care of it.”
“Yes.”
Philome nodded with a smile.
As the conversation was coming to an end, they suddenly heard a tapping sound.
Tap, tap.
Philome and Kaien turned their heads toward the window. A large hawk was perched there, gently pecking at the window with its beak.
Seeing this, Kaien stood up, opened the window, and untied the message tied to the hawk’s leg.
Philome realized that this hawk was the one Kaien used for sending messages.
“Duke, is something happening at the villa?”
Kaien was too busy reading the note to respond to Gio’s question.
As he turned his body, he said, “Milady, I think I need to go somewhere urgently. I’m sorry, but I have to leave first. Gio, you stay here. I’ll go alone.”
Kaien decided to leave Gio behind, worried that something unpleasant might happen, just like when Countess Bonita had visited the mansion last time.
Philome tilted her head in confusion.
‘Is Anna or her mother sick?’
Having vaguely sensed that Kaien had a separate heir, Philome nodded.
“Please don’t worry about me and go.”
Kaien immediately dashed out of the office upon hearing those words.
Before long, Philome saw Kaien riding hurriedly out of the mansion through the window.
“The Duke will be back soon, Miss,” Sebastian said, and Philome smiled in response.
“Yeah, it’s okay.”
After answering like that, she suddenly paused.
What does “okay” mean?
She questioned herself but found no answer.
And what was this uncomfortable feeling? Was it because she didn’t know the answer, or was it for some other reason? Her mind became tangled.
Philome turned away with a heavy heart, as if a stone had settled in her chest. In the end, she couldn’t sleep properly that night.
☪︎ ִ ࣪𖤐 𐦍 ☾𖤓 ☪︎ ִ ࣪𖤐 𐦍 ☾𖤓
‘Yeah, it’s okay.’
That answer was entirely unrelated to Sebastian’s words.
Yet I unconsciously responded that way.
“Boss?”
Why? Why on earth?
“Boss?”
Could it be that I wasn’t okay but pretended to be?
Then what exactly was wrong?
…Was it that Kaien went to them?
“Boss!”
“Uh, huh?”
I jolted awake from my thoughts at Harnen’s call.
Harnen was looking down at me with a frown.
“Boss, what’s wrong? You’ve been out of it since you got here. Are you feeling sick?”
“No, I’m fine. I just have some things on my mind.”
“Sophia, what’s wrong with your lady?”
“I don’t know either. She’s been like this for a few days now.”
Sophia, who was drinking juice, shook her head.
I awkwardly smiled and rubbed the back of my neck.
“Really?”
“Of course! You wouldn’t notice unless I called you at least three times. You’ve been like this for three days now.”
“Three days?”
I asked in surprise.
And then I realized that it had indeed been three days since Kaien left, and my thoughts drifted back to him once again.
