Meanwhile, at the same time in Grand Duke Osilote’s residence.

Eve, who had been spinning around her bedroom, pouted her lips and looked out the window.

“When can I go out, elder brother! I want to play with elder sister Kasha too!”

Beneath the fountain creating a rainbow with its spray, the figures of two people facing each other could be seen.

“Elder sister Kasha…”

Eve, her nose and cheeks pressed against the window, made a crying sound.

Kasha, whom she met after a long time, seemed slightly tanner than before and looked a bit tired, perhaps due to the aftermath of the expedition.

Eve, who had been waiting for her all this time, ran to open the door wide and hugged her tightly as soon as Kasha climbed the stairs of the ducal residence.

‘Elder sister, elder sister!’

‘Eve. Have you been well? Nothing troubling happened?’

‘Yes, yes! Elder sister, I didn’t step a foot outside the mansion without an escort! I ate well and studied hard too!’

Kasha patted Eve, who was eagerly talking while nodding her head up and down, as if she was proud.

‘I see. Our Eve is really good. It must have been suffocating, you did really well.’

‘Elder sister…’

‘This is a gift I bought for Eve.’

What Kasha handed over was an animal doll carved from wood and delicately painted. Eve’s eyes sparkled at its fascinating appearance.

‘What is this? A cow? A horse? But why does it have a hump on its back?’

‘It’s an animal called a camel that only lives in the desert. Looks interesting, right?’

‘Yes! I want to go to the desert too!’

‘Let’s go together for sure later, Eve.’

Kasha’s embrace as she said that was so warm. Enough to make all the loneliness she had felt fly away.

Elder brother Leon had been so busy since returning that he hadn’t even had a meal with her yet. And now, as soon as he found out elder sister Kasha had come to visit, he took her out with him again, which was really too much.

‘Elder brother was with elder sister throughout the expedition!’

Eve was so disappointed that she pouted her lips.

“And now he’s monopolizing elder sister again, it’s too much, elder brother!”

As she shouted that and tapped on the window, Leon, with his sensitive hearing, looked up in this direction. At his reaction, Kasha also looked up this way, shading her eyes with her hand.

Excited that Kasha had noticed her, Eve waved her hand enthusiastically to greet her, and Kasha faintly smiled and waved back.

But unlike earlier, Kasha’s face wasn’t bright. And it was the same for Leon. Eve’s expression also darkened.

“But elder brother has been in that state ever since returning from the expedition.”

Eve muttered seriously, crossing her arms.

The first thing Leon said as soon as he returned was, “Where is Anthony?”

‘Elder brother Anthony said he was going to the temple to recuperate? Did elder brother Leon not hear?’

At Eve’s answer, Leon silently clutched his head.

‘Elder brother, what’s wrong? Did something happen to elder brother Anthony?’

Leon just silently hugged Eve, who asked like that.

Even though he had returned from the expedition with such a great victory, elder brother Leon looked strangely sad.

Worried about that, Eve hugged him more tightly with her short arms, not knowing what was going on.

‘Elder brother. It’s okay. Don’t worry too much.’

‘…Yes, Eve. It will be fine. Everything will be all right.’

Elder brother, who was trying hard to reply like that, didn’t look all right at all. So Eve was even more glad that Kasha had come. Because when Leon was with Kasha, he looked the happiest and most natural that Eve had ever seen.

“Could it be that something happened again? It hasn’t been long since he returned, but he doesn’t have to go somewhere again, right?”

Eve sighed deeply and slid down from the window.

Under the colors of the serene autumn garden beyond the window, the two people stood facing each other.

Those two, who must be dying to be with each other, why were they looking at each other so seriously again?

Eve’s sighs only deepened.

“…Eve looks healthy, fortunately.”

“Yes. That’s a relief.”

Leon’s face, which gave a short reply with a faint smile, was haggardly thin. Kasha turned her gaze slightly, her heart aching at the sight, and continued.

“Still, you shouldn’t neglect her protection. You know it’s still… dangerous, right?”

“Of course. Even after we left for the expedition… I heard two young children went missing in the capital.”

Leon’s face was shadowed darkly as he said that. Kasha also replied with a heavy heart.

“Yes. Children are disappearing on a monthly basis.”

It was early August when a maid’s child was abducted by Anthony at the resort in Elor Bay. Since then, one more child went missing in early September and early October each. There was barely a little over a week left until early November.

“We have to draw out the crown prince before more children are sacrificed. We must.”

“The most certain way would be… destroying the magic stone, right?”

At Leon’s words, Kasha nodded cautiously.

“Yes. In the current situation, even if we reveal all these facts, no one will believe us. Because the crown prince has the power of the first magic stone, Honor.”

Those who possess the power of Honor enjoy absolute fame and charisma. Unless it’s an exceptional case like Kasha and Leon, there’s no way to resist that power.

Even if one judges with reason that the orders given by the owner of Honor are not right, one cannot go against what he says.

“Finding out where that magic stone is would come first.”

Leon, who had been frowning with a serious face, suddenly paused and slowly opened his mouth.

“Kasha, by the way… what happens to the person who owned the magic stone and wielded its power when the magic stone is destroyed?”

“That’s…”

Kasha closed her mouth.

She knew why Leon was asking such a thing. He must be worried about Anthony, the owner of the magic stone Opus.

To prevent the devil’s power from stirring up the world any further, there was no choice but to eliminate the owner of the magic stone or destroy the magic stone itself.

The problem was that Leon’s younger brother Anthony had now become the owner of the magic stone.

Moreover, the crown prince had even made the crazy suggestion that if Leon didn’t want to send Kasha to the magic tower, he should bring Anthony’s head.

It was truly a dilemma for Leon. His haggard face directly reflected the mental anguish he had been through for days.

What words could she use to comfort him right now?

“Leon.”

Kasha reached out and stroked his cheek. Even though she couldn’t do anything for him at the moment, she hoped her feelings of wanting to do anything for him would be conveyed.

When her touch reached him, Leon’s cheek twitched. She paid no heed to that reaction and continued to caress his roughened skin and sharp jawline.

Finally, when her hand reached near his lips, Leon grabbed her hand as if he couldn’t stand it anymore, raising the eyes he had lowered.

In the midst of the colorful autumn foliage in the garden, Leon’s eyes wavered miserably.

“Kasha. Are you… really all right? In a way, it’s no different from all these things happening because of my family’s greed.”

His beautiful eyes were clearly filled with pain.

Even though he had sworn to follow her intention not to be caught up in the past in front of Count Lyuschino, for the responsible Leon, the current situation that was going from bad to worse must be difficult to endure.

Kasha understood his agony. She also had to endure the same guilt while listening to the cries of the victims in prison. She had agonized that all these disasters were happening because she had foolishly unsealed the magic stone.

Kasha just silently faced him and smiled slightly.

‘No, it’s not your fault.’

Her answer was contained in that smile. Leon’s eyes crinkled slightly as he read it.

“Kasha.”

He slowly pulled her face, which was raised toward him, closer.

As she followed his lead with her eyes closed without resistance, she suddenly stiffened her neck. When Leon looked at her questioningly, she tiptoed up to his ear and whispered.

“Eve is watching.”

Only then remembering his sister who had been hanging on the window, Leon’s expression turned embarrassed. But he didn’t seem to have any intention of stopping what he was doing.

The next moment, he abruptly lifted Kasha up. Then he strode across the courtyard with his long legs.

Kasha silently clung to his neck. His embrace, which she was held in after a long time, was still warm and solid, giving a sense of security.

‘I think I now understand why young children love to be held like this so much.’

When she was in his arms, she would feel recklessly optimistic. An unfounded belief that everything would be all right would arise.

Kasha, her face flushed for no reason at the warm scent flowing from his open shirt, turned her head and pretended to look at the surroundings.

The place Leon finally reached was where tall birch trees formed a forest.

The colors of the birch leaves dyed in orange, yellow, and brown naturally harmonized with Kasha’s cream-colored dress.

As soon as he made sure their bodies were completely hidden from the curious gazes of the mansion, Leon lowered his head urgently to find Kasha’s lips without even putting her down.

Kasha also fluttered anew as she looked at his approaching face under the beautiful colors of autumn, her arms wrapped around his neck.

At that moment, a large fallen leaf suddenly landed on the bridge of Kasha’s nose.

Kasha opened her eyes wide, and Leon, who was just about to bring his lips to hers, paused and laughed.

As he slowly put Kasha down on the ground, the leaf that had been covering more than half of Kasha’s vision slowly slipped and fell off.

Seeing that Leon’s face, which filled her sight again, had loosened up even a little, Kasha tiptoed and put her arms around his neck.

As she boldly approached his face, which was looking down at her in surprise, his lips parted as if he had been waiting.

Under the cool breeze, the fallen leaves stepped on by Leon’s feet rustled, and their breaths intertwined familiarly.

Kasha frowned involuntarily at the excitement that sharply tightened her stomach in response to his warmth that slid in.

For a very brief moment, all the worries and resentments that had filled their world were forgotten.

All around, there was only the sound of the wind and the noise of swaying fallen leaves, as if there were only the two of them in the world.