“What did you find out?”

Cheston asked the one who had secretly revealed himself. The person wearing a black mask knelt down and bowed his head to Cheston in a sign of submission.

“Aaron, I have returned after completing my mission.”

“Skip the greetings and get to the point.”

“It’s said to be a rare herb that’s difficult to obtain. Its name is ‘Veronia’, and while it’s known to have poison-neutralizing properties, it’s hard to cultivate and rarely sought after, so few people know of its existence.”

Cheston stared intently at the herb called Veronia.

“Aaron. What do you think? About using this herb for Mother?”

“If I may dare to share my thoughts… I think it’s premature. Wouldn’t it be better to find out more about Lady Whitney Orlean first?”

Cheston understood why Aaron would say that. He fiddled with the herb, recalling those green eyes.

“It feels strangely familiar.”

It was a lady he was seeing for the first time. Though he sensed she was hiding something, it was the first time he had been so curious about someone.

“Your Highness.”

“I know. I know what you’re worried about. That she might be the Queen’s person, so we should be careful.”

Cheston ran his hand through his hair, recalling the numerous times he had nearly died. The first time the Queen threatened his life was when he was just five years old.

At merely five years old. To a child who knew nothing, the Queen handed over a cup of tea laced with poison, smiling brightly. She called for him every day, consistently making him drink the tea.

Not knowing that it might end his life, the young Cheston, at that tender age, never refused the Queen’s call, thinking she didn’t hate him. To avoid the King’s suspicion, the Queen spent a month carefully administering a lethal dose of poison.

Fortunately, due to the aura in Cheston’s body, he survived, and because of the Queen’s scheme, Cheston awakened his power. From that day on, the Queen sent assassins every day to kill the small child.

Servants, maids, and even the knights guarding him. She targeted Cheston’s life indiscriminately.

The only one remaining by his side was Aaron, whom he had found and taken in by chance. He was a slave with no title or status, but Cheston couldn’t turn a blind eye to him. His mother tried to stop him, but Cheston couldn’t ignore Aaron, who was covered in wounds.

Of course, even after bringing him in, he made sure Aaron’s existence remained hidden. The King favored Cheston and granted his request.

Thanks to this, Aaron became Cheston’s shadow and a guard knight. Although they went through quite a lot of hardship together, the relationship between the two grew stronger.

At ten years old, perhaps due to his survival instinct, Cheston became a Sword Master using the aura within his body. It was an achievement accomplished at the youngest age in the kingdom. As a result, the Queen was desperate to kill him.

Even if he tried to understand it as a mother’s heart trying to protect her son Karl, it was still unfair. His own mother was always summoned by the Queen, returning with wounds all over her body or having suffered humiliation. The King loved his mother but did not intervene.

The more this happened, the more vicious the Queen became, and the King knew that if he touched her, the exchanges with other countries connected to her would be jeopardized. Realizing this fact, Cheston trained even more fiercely to protect himself and his mother.

When he participated in a hunting competition at twelve, Cheston felt as if he had become the prey. He would never forget the Queen’s words, smiling at him after he survived countless arrows aimed at him.

“The more you do this, the more your mother will suffer. Don’t stand out more than my son in others’ eyes. If you threaten my son’s position, I will threaten what you cherish most. The responsibility of receiving the King’s love is this heavy.”

Cheston tried to hide his abilities and live quietly in the separate palace. However, due to the King’s favor, even that wasn’t easy. The King continued to give him opportunities, and he was also aware of what the Queen was doing.

At eighteen, Cheston was framed for the assassination of the Queen’s close cousin. Not only that, at twenty, when he was about to proceed with the engagement to Roxana Pavellom, the daughter of a marquis family empowered by the King, she nearly died due to an assassin sent by the Queen.

The King regretfully withdrew the engagement, and the Queen smiled at Cheston with a face that seemed to know nothing. After that, no woman tried to approach Cheston.

He realized that as long as the Queen was watching, no one would be able to get close to him.

“Has Mother been summoned by the Queen again today?”

“…Yes. I told her not to drink the tea, but she said it was fine.”

Cheston clenched his fist. There was nothing he could do. There was no one in the palace who could help him or step forward to correct the wrongs.

Even his father, under the pretext of loving his mother, merely kept her confined in the palace without offering any help. This was because of the Queen’s backing from the Kingdom of Karulo.

‘This can’t go on. I need to make a change.’

Cheston seemed to make up his mind and said to Aaron.

“Bring me Libenia. I’ll try it first.”

“Your Highness. Do you really have to check it yourself?”

“I can’t give something to Mother that hasn’t been verified. It’s safer if I do it.”

“But…”

Aaron soon bowed his head deeply and nodded. Cheston sighed as he looked at the beautifully decorated garden in the separate palace.

Whitney finished her period of self-reflection and left the duchy for the first time in a while. Her steps were light as she headed to the city in a carriage.

Perhaps because of the recent incident, Cecilia had assigned her a fairly decent guard knight. It might have been because of the possibility of encountering royal knights.

Her itinerary consisted only of a bookstore and two salons. The reason for heading to the bookstore was out of a faint hope.

Whitney entered the same bookstore, but as expected, he was nowhere to be seen. Since she had anticipated this, Whitney chose a few books to read at the mansion and asked for them to be delivered. Then she directed the carriage to the salon, which was her main purpose for the day.

Ding-a-ling−

With a cheerful sound, Musu Leberom greeted her with a bright smile. Though somewhat surprised by her unannounced visit, he led her inside, mentioning that the design was roughly completed.

“I came suddenly today to pay the fee. Has an estimate been made?”

“Lady Orlean. I don’t want anything. It’s been so long since I’ve handled such fine fabric, I can’t tell you how much I enjoyed working on it. By the way, it’s good that you came.”

Musu Leberom’s gaze quickly scanned Whitney’s body.

“I think we need to take your measurements again.”

“Ah… I’m sorry. I’ve been eating a bit more lately… Will it require a lot of work?”

“You have no idea how good you look now. You’ve put on a little weight since then and look much more beautiful. Don’t worry, alterations are always possible.”

“Thank you for saying that. I feel much more at ease now.”

Whitney took out a check from her bosom. When she handed it to him, he adamantly refused to accept it. However, she didn’t feel comfortable receiving his kindness without compensation.

“Please take it. I can’t use it anywhere else anyway. It’s just paying for the service, so it’s a fair exchange.”

“If you insist so much, I’ll accept it. However, since the amount is large, I’ll also make you a simple dress that you can wear on regular occasions.”

Seeing Musu Leberom’s joyful expression, Whitney had no choice but to nod. With such a generous heart, he would surely succeed.

“I must make sure the debutante is a success.”

If things go according to Whitney’s plan, it might cause a stir big enough to make the newspapers. Leberom brought out the dress he had made and showed it to her.

Her heart fluttered at the sight of the beautiful dress, making her forget about her mother’s ruined dress.

“Is this really made from my mother’s dress?”

“It still needs some refining, but this is how it’s coming along. You’ll definitely be the star of the night. I’ll make sure of it.”

Whitney smiled brightly at his passion. Imagining herself attending the debutante in her mother’s heirloom dress made her nose tingle with emotion.

“I trust you. Please keep my dress a secret from others. If anyone else comes asking, I’d like you to show them something different.”

“You don’t need to worry. Someone from the duchy already came by earlier. At that time, I was mending the ruined fabric, so there was nothing to show.”

Musu Leberom winked, reassuring Whitney. He said he would never allow his creation to become a rag and promised to protect it by any means necessary until the debutante.

Whitney left the salon with a much lighter step.

“Huh?”

Before getting into the carriage, she felt a gaze and turned her head to look around. The persistent feeling of being watched bothered her, but as the observer seemed unwilling to reveal themselves, she eventually got into the carriage.

A gentle smile spread across her face.