‘Bring her to me, my Mel, whom I fed and clothed.’
The only thing I chose in my life of my own accord.
Winston was obsessed with her, who no longer existed. Habitually, he closed his eyes and conjured up Mel’s image.
Dark brown hair, her gaze, her smile, her eyes.
But why?
“I greet the third glory of Vernium.”
Winston paused and opened his eyes.
Why was Kaien’s fiancée coming to his mind?
“Philome Bonita.”
He murmured the name slowly.
It was then that the carriage came to a stop. They had arrived at the palace.
As the carriage door opened, Winston got out, nodding to the coachman.
“Your Highness, the Third Prince, you have arrived.”
The head attendant bowed to Winston.
“You’re still awake?”
“How could I sleep when Your Highness has not yet arrived?”
Winston smiled gently.
“Now that I’m back safely, you should return and rest. It’s late.”
“You dismissed all the maids. I will stay and attend to you myself.”
Only then did Winston remember that he had sent all the maids home before leaving the palace.
“Well then, I’m sorry, but I’ll have to ask you to do that.”
Winston chatted with the head attendant as they headed to his room.
“Has my mother not come to visit?”
“No, there hasn’t been any separate communication from the Imperial consort’s palace.”
This was the question Winston asked the head attendant most frequently. And the answer had never changed. He brushed off the familiar response without any disappointment.
“What news is there from the Imperial consort’s Palace?”
Having been aware for a long time that the Imperial consort’s condition was not good, he had planted a trustworthy person there.
“There hasn’t been anything special, but there is some news.”
At those words, Winston stopped in his tracks.
“What is it?”
“It seems that the Imperial consort has recently… regained some vitality.”
Winston quickly retraced his memories and thought of anything related to Kaien.
However, with winter approaching, all the nobles were relatively quiet, and the same went for the Wintbell Duke family. In fact, the Wintbell family had always been a quiet house with little incident.
The previous duke and duchess were living a quiet life in the north, and Kaien had no illegitimate siblings to threaten his position.
Since Kaien became duke, the Wintbell family had been the most lively this year. This autumn, Kaien had suddenly announced his engagement.
Since the Emperor had already approved the marriage, it was practically the same as being married. The wedding planned for next spring was decided to be a quiet affair, making this year’s engagement ceremony the most lavish of the events.
In short, it had been a year filled with good fortune for the Duke of Wintbell.
The only blemish was that he was 27 years old, past the typical marrying age, but even that had disappeared.
So it was strange. The Empress only felt good or ate well when something bad happened to either the Wintbell family or the Crown Prince. Since they asko been hearing good things about the Crown Prince, there was something suspicious about it.
“Head attendant.”
“Yes.”
“Please check if my mother has contacted anyone recently. Also, focus on the Wintbell family.”
“Understood.”
Thinking of Kaien brought his fiancée to mind.
Winston hesitated before adding, “And Kaien’s fiancée…”
“Your Highness!”
A high-pitched voice suddenly interrupted.
Turning his head, Winston saw someone quickly approaching from in front of his room. It was Nadia, her striking blonde hair was standing out even in the dim hallway.
“Where have you been? I’ve been waiting for you.”
Draped in a shawl over her negligee, Nadia stood in front of Winston, her eyes drooping slightly.
Winston hurriedly took off his jacket and draped it over Nadia’s shoulders, signaling to the head attendant. The attendant immediately bowed and turned away.
“Lady Nadia.”
Nadia, shyly smiling while holding tightly onto the jacket he had given her, looked up.
“Yes?”
“What made you wait for me until this hour?”
“Oh, um… A-choo!”
“…Let’s go inside and talk.”
Winston entered the room with Nadia and headed to the adjoining parlor.
As they stepped into the heated room, Nadia blushed and tilted her teacup.
“Lady Nadia.”
“Yes. Did you have a good trip? I was surprised you left without telling me.”
At first, Nadia found Winston intimidating.
He was a prince, after all.
It was surprising enough to run into a prince, but he had brought her all the way to the palace. Yet, since he wasn’t making her serve him in bed, Nadia felt confused.
But she soon realized.
‘So you fell for me at first sight.’
He was a kind person who didn’t treat me carelessly and was waiting for me.
Nadia realized this late and wanted to get closer to Winston.
However, no matter how much she was his personal maid, meeting Winston was a difficult task. Moreover, Nadia was currently in the position of a maid, so she had to work.
Winston, having her as his personal maid, couldn’t approach her directly. Therefore, it was up to Nadia to take the initiative, but opportunities rarely arose.
But today, she finally seized that chance.
Having gotten off work early due to Winston’s outing, Nadia draped a shawl over her negligee and waited for him. Although they could only meet after midnight, she didn’t feel tired at all.
Today was the day she would finally accept Winston’s feelings.
“Ah… were you upset that you didn’t say anything?”
“Yes. I thought at least you would tell me.”
Winston smiled but didn’t quite understand Nadia’s words.
However, he only smiled, fearing that showing his confusion might hurt her feelings.
“You’re not tired, are you?”
“Oh, no. I’m fine.”
“Don’t you have anything to say?”
“…What?”
“It’s just the two of us. You can speak freely.”
“What should I… say?”
Nadia felt frustrated that, despite her courage, Winston wasn’t coming closer.
‘Should I move closer?’
But what if Winston sees me as a light woman?
Nadia was deep in thought.
And Winston was also troubled.
‘Does he not remember the conversation we had before?’
However, this was the first time they were having a proper conversation since Nadia was brought here. In fact, Winston had almost forgotten about Nadia’s existence.
Given how striking Nadia’s appearance was, he would have remembered if they had talked. But since he had no recollection at all, it was clear they had never had a conversation.
“Lady Nadia, I think you may be misunderstanding something… but if you have something to say, please go ahead.”
Winston pondered as well.
Surprisingly, Nadia had behaved quite well in the palace and hadn’t shown any hatred towards the Wintbell dukedom again.
Moreover, he had made a hasty decision at that time and hadn’t thought it through.
Nadia was just a count’s daughter, and although she was beautiful, she didn’t have any particular power that the Imperial Consort would covet.
“You can go back now.”
“Y-Yes…?”
“Thinking about it, I don’t think I treated you well enough. I’ll make sure no one talks about it, so don’t worry about rumors and go back to the Count of Alice’s household.”
“What… do you mean?”
Nadia thought she was an important part of Winston’s plan.
She was beautiful, after all. She was even prepared to use her looks to seduce the crown prince or Kaien.
“I hate them! But you’re telling me to leave?”
“Lady Nadia, please calm down…”
“You shouldn’t do this, Third Prince. You should have ordered me to seduce them, and then you should realize your feelings for me! That’s fate!”
Nadia, huffing and puffing, noticed Winston’s flustered expression and quickly lowered her voice.
“I promise you. I will make you the emperor. I’ll sacrifice myself for it.”
“Lady Nadia, such words shouldn’t be spoken lightly…”
They were so engrossed in their conversation, both sweating, that they didn’t realize what was happening.
The door hadn’t closed properly, and someone was on the other side of it.
The spy held their breath, listening to their conversation before turning away. They made their way to the garden and made a cuckoo sound. Before long, someone appeared at the designated spot.
It was the head maid of the Imperial Consort’s palace.
The spy relayed the details of Nadia and Winston’s conversation to her before disappearing.
“Nadia Alice…”
The head maid murmured softly.
And that name flowed into the ears of the Imperial Consort.
“She hates Wintbell?”
“Yes, according to the reports, that seems to be the case.”
“Very good. Perfect.”
The empress smiled with satisfaction.
