It was none other than a portrait of Ayla that he had drawn himself.
It was much smaller than the large picture frame he gave to Ayla’s parents, and since he drew it for practice purposes, it was just an uncolored sketch.
It was an extremely precious item to him.
He considered the handkerchief he had spread out for Ayla on the roof the previous day to be a treasure that ranked first or second among his most valuable possessions.
Winfred smiled pleasantly as he remembered the cleanly washed and ironed handkerchief he always carried in his pocket.
This was because every time he looked at that handkerchief, the dream-like moment he had with Ayla came to mind.
The stars that decorated the night sky seemed to pour down on him. Soft moonlight.
The sweet air of an early autumn moonlit night, the cool night breeze.
And Ayla’s silver hair that sparkled as if it had been sprinkled with jewel powder, and even that girl’s smile that seemed somewhat lonely. All of those senses seemed to come back to life.
Winfred put the precious painting back where it was, locked the drawer, and rummaged through his pockets.
It was to take out a handkerchief.
But.
“uh?”
The handkerchief was not where it should have been.
He turned his pocket over and looked around to see if he had put it in the other pocket.
Winfred’s precious handkerchief was nowhere to be found.
For a moment, it felt like his spine was frozen cold.
He searched the entire office to see if it had fallen nearby, but unfortunately, He couldn’t find the handkerchief.
Where the hell did it spill?
Winfred nervously bit his fingernails and thought about his whereabouts.
The handkerchief was clearly in his hand until this morning.
He clearly remembers changing his clothes and putting a clean handkerchief in his pocket.
After that… ….
As Winfred was slowly remembering, the memory of the chaos that occurred during lunchtime today came to mind.
Today’s luncheon was held with the Marquis of Caenis, who serves as the Imperial Finance Minister.
The Marquis of Caenis was one of the people that Winfred, who was not very picky about people, rarely disliked.
It was because his attitude was arrogant and strangely arrogant, so he felt offended every time they met.
Of course, since Winfred is the crown prince of a country, he did not commit outright rudeness.
He could say that it doesn’t subtly cross the line and subtly makes people feel bad.
It was the same today.
‘… … ‘I’m not a child anymore.’
Winfred pouted.
The Marquis of Caenis was offended by treating Winfred like a child.
It was so close that only Winfred would be sensitive if he showed off his feelings for no reason.
He had a hard time hiding my upset throughout the meal.
The climax came after the meal was over. While trying to leave the restaurant, he collided head-on with the Marquis and fell.
Winfred, the Crown Prince, was naturally the Marquis’s superior, so he tried to leave first, but he did not yield, so the situation arose.
Naturally, Winfred, who is smaller than an adult man, had no choice but to hit his butt.
The precious body that would become the next emperor fell, so of course there was an uproar.
‘Your Majesty, your Majesty!’ The servants who called and rushed to help him up and the maids who brushed the dust off his clothes.
Even the Marquis, who had caused this accident, was embarrassed and bowed his head, creating an uproar.
It seemed like he had no intention of knocking down the crown prince.
‘The Marquis is being arrogant. It’s not something that happened in a day or two, so let’s move on.’
Could it be that the handkerchief fell off in the midst of all that hectic activity? It was quite a possibility.
‘I need to try a restaurant.’
Winfred thought so and tapped the desk nervously.
He wanted to go right away, but he couldn’t because he still had work to do.
No matter how precious the handkerchief was, it was impossible to abandon the crown prince’s duties and go look for it.
So Winfred efficiently solved the tasks that needed to be done. This was by demonstrating several times more concentration.
His aides were so surprised that he looked different from usual.
“Your Majesty, you are falling! “Be careful!”
And after finishing the work, Winfred started running towards the restaurant.
“Won, are you really that hungry?”
The hasty appearance caused this slight misunderstanding, but what was important now was the whereabouts of the handkerchief.
Winfred arrived at the restaurant and quickly began scanning the floor of the restaurant. Not only the spot where he fell but also the area around it.
But the handkerchief was not visible.
“Your Majesty, why are you doing this?”
The chamberlain looked at Winfred, who was about to clean the dining room floor and asked curiously.
He thought he was hungry because he was running so quickly, but seeing as he didn’t even look at the table, he guessed he wasn’t either.
It was unclear why the crown prince was cleaning the tiles with the hem of his expensive clothes.
“Handkerchief. There is no handkerchief.”
When Winfred spoke with a sullen expression, the Chamberlain was able to understand the reason for his strange behavior.
“Oh that… … “It’s the handkerchief that Your Majesty cherishes.”
The chamberlain nodded with an expression that seemed to clear his doubts, and Winfred was slightly shocked by those words.
He thought he was hiding it well from others. He was surprised to learn that the chamberlain knew that he had a handkerchief that he especially loved.
“Huh, how did you know?”
And the Chamberlain was slightly taken aback by that question.
‘… … Was it something you wanted to hide?’
It was so obvious that he didn’t even know they wanted to keep it a secret.
Winfred has a transparent personality that shows his emotions right on his face, but he seems to be the only one who doesn’t know about it.
“Is there something I don’t know about His Highness the Crown Prince? I am the one who assists His Highness the closest.”
After quickly assessing the situation, the Chamberlain answered with a sly smile while hiding his true feelings.
It was to protect the crown prince’s innocence?
“Oh, I see.”
Winfred nodded as if he accepted that excuse, and then his lips and the corners of his eyes drooped again.
“handkerchief… … . Where did it go? Didn’t it spill it here?”
The restaurant was his last hope. If it wasn’t here, he couldn’t figure out where it could have ended up.
“… … Let’s eat dinner first, Your Highness. “I will look for it in the meantime.”
The Chamberlain sat Winfred down on a chair at the dining table, saying he would inquire as someone might have picked it up.
“Please. You must find it. “It’s really precious to me.”
Winfred still asked in a weak voice.
Seeing that pitiful appearance, the Chamberlain decided to find the handkerchief no matter what.
However, despite that decision, no one came forward who said they picked up the handkerchief at the restaurant during the day.
“Can’t you find it?”
“… … “I’m sorry, Your Majesty.”
The chamberlain bowed his head and apologized as if he had been shamed.
Winfred looked dejected as if the world was ending.
Will he never be able to find it like this?
It wasn’t anywhere else, it was lost inside the Crown Prince’s womb, but he can’t find it.
He was so upset. He felt like he wanted to throw away everything, including his reputation as a crown prince, cover himself with a blanket, and cry.
“I’ll look for more.”
“… … huh.”
Seeing Winfred’s sullen appearance, the Chamberlain, who had done nothing wrong, felt a sense of guilt and had to step down.
Two days passed like that.
Winfred was still depressed. It was only natural that the handkerchief containing his precious memories with Ayla was gone.
The emperor and empress were very worried as they were constantly having gloomy expression and their faces were very thin due to not eating or drinking.
And even now, Winfred was poking a bite-sized piece of steak with a fork with a perplexed expression on his face.
He knows his parents are worried so he should eat on his own, but his appetite has never returned.
“Majesty. “If it doesn’t suit your taste, should I ask you to try something else?”
The chamberlain next to him asked with a worried face.
“Umm… … . No, it’s okay. I’m eating. “I’ll eat it all. Just give me one more glass of juice.”
Actually, He didn’t want to eat any other food or anything, but Winfred shook his head and said.
Also, if he leaves food behind, his mother will worry about him, and his health will suffer.
You’re already not feeling well, so he didn’t want to add to his worries.
When Winfred asked for more juice, the Chamberlain called a maid holding a bottle full of orange juice and had her fill his glass.
And then.
The maid must have slipped her hand and spilled some juice on the table.
“Oh, sorry… … !”
She hurriedly took out a handkerchief from her bosom and tried to wipe the table.
And then.
“Ahh! This handkerchief!”
Winfred screamed and grabbed the handkerchief.
“My handkerchief… … !”
In an instant, his face was colored with joy. He thought he would never find him again, but he came back like this.
It must have been embarrassing to make the mistake of spilling juice in front of the crown prince, but the maid, who had even had her handkerchief taken away, was only blinking in surprise.
“… … “When I looked for it, it didn’t come out.”
The chamberlain muttered with a vain expression.
For the past two days, my neck was sore from asking all the employees of the Crown Prince’s Palace if they had picked up a handkerchief.
He couldn’t figure out where on earth this maid came from.
He stared at the maid’s face.
Plain brown hair and brown eyes. Her face was quite pretty, but perhaps because she had a timid personality, she didn’t go out much and was the type that didn’t attract attention.
She was a maid who had recently moved to the Crown Prince’s Palace, and she remembered that she had been on vacation for the past two days.
“Was her name Binka? She was on vacation until yesterday.”…
