The Crown Prince, whom Ian had been observing until now, had not aroused any suspicion.
However, Yekhaterina, perhaps because her behavior was so different from Rose’s, always gave off a peculiar feeling every time they met.
At that moment, although Ian and Edelmar thought the two would remain inside the tent for a while to have lunch, they suddenly came out.
“It seems this won’t do. Since we’ve come all this way, let’s eat outside instead.”
Ian and Edelmar both furrowed their brows.
They had gone into the tent, only to change their minds and decide to eat outside?
Why the sudden change?
“Your Highness! This would expose you to potential danger.”
“No. I trust all of you. Set up the picnic mat.”
Yekhaterina wrapped her arm around the Crown Prince’s and smiled.
“Thank you, Your Highness.”
The Crown Prince waved his hand as if it was no big deal.
The servants accompanying the Crown Prince began rummaging through the luggage compartment.
However, when they couldn’t find what they were looking for, they appeared flustered and hurried over to the head attendant.
After whispering something to him, the head attendant nodded and approached the Crown Prince.
“Your Highness, I apologize. Since we thought you’d be resting inside the tent today, we didn’t bring a separate picnic mat.”
“Ah, I see.”
The Crown Prince nodded with a disappointed expression.
“In that case, we have no choice but—”
“No need. I anticipated this and brought one myself. Go to my luggage compartment and retrieve the picnic mat. There’s also a canopy that can block the sunlight; bring that as well. Your Highness, please rest inside the tent for a moment. I’ll handle everything and call for you when it’s ready.”
“Very well.”
As the Crown Prince returned to the tent, Yekhaterina sharply barked,
“What are you standing around for?! Move quickly!”
At her words, the servants began to move with remarkable coordination.
Just as Yekhaterina had said, her luggage compartment contained a floral-patterned picnic mat.
The servant carrying the rolled-up mat dashed to the shaded area, but Yekhaterina called him back.
“Not there. Set it up over here.”
The spot Yekhaterina pointed to was slightly off to the side of the mine entrance.
“But, my lady, that area is sloped—”
“Don’t talk back. Set it up immediately!”
The hesitant servant eventually spread the mat in the location Yekhaterina had specified.
Under the blazing sunlight, the servants set up supports on either side of the mat and draped a thin, white fabric over them.
This created a shaded area over the mat.
Yekhaterina, satisfied, smiled and walked briskly back to the tent.
When she returned, she was carrying the cushions Ian had prepared.
“Hmm, hmm, hmm!”
Humming to herself, she arranged the cushions neatly on the mat and returned to the tent.
This time, she came out with the Crown Prince.
“How does it look? Isn’t it nice?”
“It’s wonderful. It feels like being outdoors but not outdoors at the same time.”
“Thank you for the compliment.”
Yekhaterina, smiling brightly, guided the Crown Prince to a spot where the cushions were arranged.
“Bring the food over.”
The servants laid out the meals they had brought from the castle.
Instead of a formal meal, they served picnic-style food such as sandwiches and finger foods.
Yekhaterina furrowed her brow slightly.
“This food seems too simple.”
However, the Crown Prince smiled, clearly pleased, and replied,
“Picnics are meant for simple meals like this. When I used to go on picnics with my father and mother, we’d pack simple foods like this as well.”
Yekhaterina’s eyes widened in surprise.
“You went on picnics with His Majesty, the Emperor?”
“Of course. My father is a very kind man.”
The Crown Prince began sharing stories about the Emperor’s kindness and how much he loved his family. Yekhaterina listened attentively, nodding and smiling.
However, between smiles, her eyes occasionally darted toward a specific spot nearby.
While the Crown Prince was drinking, she commented,
“There are so many flowers here. Some of them seem different from what we see in the palace.”
“Really?”
Yekhaterina nodded and stood up.
“Let me show you.”
Yekhaterina began plucking flowers from the surroundings one by one.
Showing them to the Crown Prince, she said,
“Look at this! Isn’t it adorable?”
“My mother used to say that wildflowers are the prettiest of all flowers.”
Yekhaterina nodded in agreement.
“I think she’s right. Let me see if there are more flowers around!”
Handing the plucked flowers to the Crown Prince, Yekhaterina began wandering around again.
Eventually, she stopped in front of a large rock.
Glancing around to make sure no one was watching, she carefully removed one of her earrings and slipped it into a crack in the rock.
Then, letting out a startled “Ah!”, she pretended to fall in front of the rock.
Both Ian and Edelmar, watching from a distance, had their eyes gleam with interest.
“It’s starting.”
“Yes.”
As predicted, things were beginning to unfold.
Hearing Yekhaterina’s scream, the knights rushed over, followed by the Crown Prince.
“Yekhaterina, are you alright?”
Yekhaterina held out her hands.
Her palms, scraped during the staged fall, were dotted with blood.
“It hurts.”
“Oh dear. We need to return to the castle. Prepare to move!”
The knights supported Yekhaterina as she stood up. However, as she touched her ear, she let out another startled cry.
“My earring!”
“What about your earring?”
Biting her lip, Yekhaterina nodded.
“It must have fallen here.”
“Search for it at once!”
The knights immediately began searching the ground.
Watching this, Edelmar clicked his tongue.
“The knights are slacking in discipline. They were sent to protect the Crown Prince, yet this is how they behave?”
“It’s His Highness’s command, isn’t it?”
Despite Ian’s comment, Edelmar continued clicking his tongue in disapproval.
After searching the ground for some time, one of the knights shouted,
“I found it!”
All eyes turned to the knight.
“It seems to have rolled into a crack in the rock.”
Yekhaterina limped over to inspect the rock the knight had mentioned.
“Yes, this is it.”
“Can you retrieve it?”
The knight attempted to reach into the crack.
However, the gap was too narrow—not even his fingers could fit through, let alone his hand.
“Let me try.”
Yekhaterina pushed her small hand into the crack.
Despite her tiny hands, she couldn’t reach far enough to retrieve the earring.
“What should I do?”
Tears streamed down Yekhaterina’s face.
Looking concerned, the Crown Prince took her hands in his and said,
“I’ll find you another earring, so don’t cry.”
“Thank you, Your Highness. But this was my mother’s keepsake.”
At the mention of a keepsake, murmurs spread among the knights.
Seeing a five-year-old girl crying over her lost mother’s keepsake brought tears to the eyes of some knights.
One knight, who had a younger sister, approached the Crown Prince.
“Your Highness, upon inspecting the rock, I believe it could be moved if the knights push it together. With your permission, we’ll attempt to move it.”
“Hmm.”
The Crown Prince nodded.
“Do it.”
With the Crown Prince’s permission, the knight selected the strongest among them.
They positioned themselves around the rock and began to push in unison, shouting rhythmically.
“One, two, three!”
With great effort, the rock began to shift slightly.
“It’s moving! Keep pushing!”
At someone’s shout, the knights mustered all their strength to move the rock further.
Watching through tear-filled eyes, Yekhaterina’s heart pounded.
“Move aside! It’s about to roll!”
At the knight’s warning, the others quickly stepped back.
Finally, the rock rolled down a few times and came to a stop.
“It’s done!”
The knights cheered in triumph.
The knight who had been thinking of his younger sister picked up the earring and handed it to Yekhaterina.
“Here you go, my lady.”
“T-Thank you.”
Yekhaterina’s face was pale as she accepted the earring.
Looking at her, the Crown Prince and the knights smiled warmly.
***
After receiving treatment for her scraped palms, Yekhaterina returned to her room. She paced back and forth, biting her nails nervously.
“What’s going on? Why is the mine gone?”
Blood dripped from Yekhaterina’s bitten fingers, but she didn’t seem to feel the pain as she kept gnawing at them with her teeth.
“What do I say? The mine entrance was supposed to appear when the rock was moved. Why isn’t it there? What went wrong? What do I do? What do I do now?!”
Yekhaterina clutched her head, pulling at her hair in frustration.
Her vision darkened.
Previously, when she had ‘accidentally’ lost her earring and made the knights move the rock, they had uncovered a diamond mine.
Following that exact sequence, she had deliberately hidden her earring and staged a fall.
She had lied, claiming the earring was her late mother’s keepsake, and had convinced the knights to move the rock.
But this time, there was no mine behind the rock.
Only grass and trees lay beyond it.
She stretched out her hand in disbelief and touched the surroundings, but everything felt real.
Yekhaterina couldn’t understand where things had gone wrong.
As she wallowed in despair, she lifted her head.
“No, there’s still a chance.”
Only one thing had gone differently this time.
Ian Loenbaum.
Because he was alive, everything was out of place.
“Yes, it’s because that bastard is still alive that my diamond mine has disappeared.”
Yekhaterina looked at the ring on her finger.
“This is it. I have no choice now.”
Grinding her teeth, Yekhaterina straightened her appearance.
As always, she put on a gentle smile and made her way to the Crown Prince’s room.
Not long after Yekhaterina left, the Crown Prince sent an invitation to the Duke for a banquet in the annex.
***
“Are you going?”
Edelmar asked as Ian turned the invitation over in his hands.
“Of course.”
“It seems dangerous to me.”
Ian smiled brightly.
“That’s all the more reason to go.”
Edelmar frowned, clearly displeased, but Ian simply looked at the invitation with a smile.
“Uncle!”
Rose suddenly appeared out of nowhere and jumped into Ian’s arms.
“Rose.”
Rose giggled.
“It was fun!”
Ian stroked Rose’s head as she laughed.
“Why are you back alone? Where’s Lord Bernaba?”
“Bernaba said he’s bringing Fenrex.”
As soon as Rose finished speaking, Bernaba and Fenrex appeared on the sofa.
“Here you go, kid.”
Bernaba tossed the small wolf cub he had been holding by the scruff of its neck toward Rose.
“Whimper.”
Fenrex, who had been trembling ever since Bernaba grabbed him, yelped in fear as he landed on the floor.
“Fenrex! Bernaba, you can’t throw friends like that!”
At Rose’s stern scolding, Bernaba chuckled.
“Kid, I don’t make friends with animals.”
Rose let out a sigh and slid off Ian’s lap, approaching Fenrex.
“Fenrex, are you okay?”
Whatever Bernaba had done, Fenrex had his ears and tail tucked tightly against his belly in fear.
