As expected, Adelia was quick-witted.

She immediately noticed Blake’s favor toward me.

“Was the reason you got hurt this time because Marquis Warren asked Herena to come?”

“Yeah, that’s right.”

Deliberately pretending not to know, I continued speaking to avoid Adelia probing further.

Anyway, that’s how I went to see Marquis Warren to get advice on studying abroad, but I smelled the same fragrance in the tea I drank there as the one from the horse’s carcass.

“So, the scent from the horse’s carcass and the scent from the tea Marquis drank were the same?”

“That’s right. Unable to resist my curiosity, I asked what kind of tea it was, and he said it was Astel.”

“So, that’s how you found out. Then, is the mastermind behind all this possibly Marquis Warren?”

“That… doesn’t seem to be the case.”

“It doesn’t seem to be? Astel is a rare flower, and he said it’s hard to obtain. If someone has such a flower, wouldn’t that person likely be the culprit?”

“Marquis Warren also mentioned that he received Astel as a gift from someone.”

“Who is that person?”

“…Her Majesty, the Empress.”

“The Empress?”

“Yeah. He said he received it as a gift from the Empress.”

“Could it be that the culprit is…”

In response to Adelia’s words, I did not deny as I did before.

“Kaern and I are currently thinking along those lines.”

“The Empress… Why…?”

Adelia stammered in disbelief at the unexpected situation.

“For now, it’s just a speculation.”
“No matter what, you and Kaern won’t rely on mere speculation.”

“So, we are continuing to focus on collecting evidence.”

“If it’s true, it could be a bigger problem…”

“Let’s discuss the next steps when Kaern and Viscount Creighton return.”

“Yeah, okay.”

I took a sip of the tea in front of me to catch my breath.

“But, Herena, did you really give up on the idea of breaking off the engagement?”

In response to Adelia’s words, I almost spat out the tea I had in my mouth. After considering how to respond, I eventually confessed the truth to Adelia.

“In fact, the reason I said I might get married was because I couldn’t tell you about these things.”

“I knew you’d say that. So, after the case is resolved, are you going back to studying abroad?”

“That… It’s not that simple.”

I couldn’t come up with an immediate answer. Just a while ago, I had decided that I would leave as soon as Kaern was safe, but now, that desire had faded a bit. No, if possible, my real wish was to stay by Kaern’s side.

‘I thought he didn’t like me…’

Because of a conversation I overheard when I was young, I had always believed that Kaern had no feelings for me. However, even someone as oblivious as me could tell from his actions that it wasn’t the case.
So, what I said was that, even if he doesn’t like me as much as I like him, he certainly has some feelings for me.

Above all, even if that wasn’t the case, I genuinely didn’t want to leave Kaern now.

He meant so much to me.

As we spent each day together, my feelings for him didn’t fade; on the contrary, they grew without limits. Therefore, I couldn’t imagine my life without him.

“Herena.”

Lost in my thoughts, Adelia gently took my hand.

“I told you, right? Whatever you do, no matter what it is, go in the direction you want. And I’ll always support you.”

“Adelia…”

“You like Kaern, don’t you?”

“What?”

Today, Adelia surprised me several times.

I had always thought that Adelia didn’t know about my feelings for Kaern.

But as if she already knew, Adelia smiled and added, “I said that I hope you’ll be happy with the person you love on the day of my wedding, right?”

Instead of answering, I nodded.

“I genuinely hope that happens. So, don’t suffer anymore, Herena. Just follow your heart.”

“…Can I do that?”

“Of course. I’m always on Herena’s side. As I said before, if Kaern ever makes you cry, I won’t stand by. However,”
After a moment of silence, Adelia stared at me upright.

“Kaern will never make Herena cry.”

Adelia spoke with strong conviction.

Finally gathering my thoughts, I nodded towards Adelia.

While chatting with Adelia, Kaern and Calix returned to the study.

“Calix, how was it? Did you really smell the flower?”

As soon as Calix sat down, Adelia threw a question at him.

“Both from the horse’s corpse and the wild boar’s corpse, I smelled the flower.”

“Really?”

“Yes, and the same fragrance came from the Duke as well.”

“Indeed, everything is connected to Asdel.”

“Lord Crayton, I have a question.”

As soon as their conversation ended, I spoke to Calix.

“How do you know about Asdel?”

“When I was young, I visited the Eastern Marquis.”

“The Eastern Marquis?”

I didn’t expect the Eastern Marquis to come up in Calix’s conversation, so Kaern and I looked at each other with surprised expressions.

“Yes. My grandfather was close friends with the Eastern Marquis, so we occasionally visited. Once, by chance, I entered the greenhouse garden there, and among the various flowers planted, there was that flower.”

Calix was telling a story similar to the old man we met in Gronis.