“I really wanted to see….”

At her soft murmur, Shuher’s hand, resting on her knee, twitched slightly. Soon, he opened his mouth, choosing not to be stubborn to the end.

“Stop.”

As soon as the word fell, the carriage slowly came to a halt, and Evenel looked at him in surprise.

“Your Majesty?”

“Only for one hour.”

“That’s plenty.”

Evenel stepped out of the carriage through the door opened by the coachman. Unexpectedly, Shuher also descended after her.

“Will Your Majesty be joining as well?”

“Did you think I would let you go alone? Who guarantees you won’t run away?”

“I hadn’t even thought of that. Besides, Lia is in the palace; where would I go alone?”

Just as she took a step forward, Shuher grasped Evenel’s shoulder.

“Why? Did you change your mind?”

Instead of answering, he reached over her head. Evenel flinched but looked up to feel something being placed over her.

Thanks to his hands placing the robe, her face was perfectly concealed.

“What is this?”

“I must have told you clearly; it’s better to keep your face hidden. It’ll be troublesome if you’re recognized.”

“Ah, I had forgotten.”

As Shuher had warned, causing a commotion by revealing her face among the people was inevitable.

‘I thought he’d just ignore it.’

She had only said she wanted to take a look around the streets, not thinking he’d actually comply, let alone pay attention to such small details.

“Then go.”

Evenel hurriedly followed after him as he moved away.

“Wow….”

Evenel couldn’t tear her eyes away from the bustling street. It felt entirely different from merely passing through quickly in a carriage.

“It’s really fascinating.”

Walking beside her, Shuher couldn’t understand her reaction. What was so fascinating?

“It’s not that different from Aodin.”

“No, it is. Completely different. Both the atmosphere and the scenery.”

Realizing belatedly how suspicious her enthusiasm looked, Evenel tried to restrain herself. However, her eyes were busily moving under the robe.

It was a magnificent sight, so magnificent it would have been regrettable to have just returned to the palace.

‘Lia would have loved it too if she had come along.’
It was unfortunate that Lia couldn’t come along. Next time, I swore to myself that we would go together.

“Is this really all there is to see?”

Evenel had begged so earnestly to come here, Shuher thought there must be a special reason. But walking seemed to be the only purpose, which confused him even more.

Moreover, he heard her exclaiming softly beneath her robe, although she tried hard to suppress her amazement.

Listening to that, he couldn’t help but chuckle. Acting like a naive young noble again, were we?

“It’s really nice. I’m glad I insisted on coming.”

Staying constantly in the palace had worn on him; stepping outside was certainly refreshing. He had also unexpectedly made a good acquaintance in Henea.

“If every day were this peaceful, there would be nothing more to wish for. You agree, Your Majesty?”

“It’s a vain hope.”

“But there’s nothing wrong with having hopes.”

“If not for Aodin, there wouldn’t have been a loss of peace in the first place.”

Shuher spoke in his usual sarcastic tone, then realized what he had said and sneakily glanced at Evenel. Her face, however, was hidden beneath her robe, leaving her expression a mystery.

When no response came from her, silence settled between them for a while. Eventually, as the time drew near, he finally spoke.

“Let’s go back.”

Still, there was no reply from Evenel.

“The time we agreed upon is…”

He couldn’t finish his sentence. Her presence was conspicuously absent.

Shuher urgently halted and scanned his surroundings, but Evenel was nowhere to be found.

“Ah, I apologize.”

Contrary to before, Evenel, who had been looking down as she walked, finally lifted her head when she bumped into someone. However, the one person who should have been there was missing.

“Your Majesty?”

She called out for Shuher and quickly looked around, but he was nowhere in sight.

“Did I lose him?”

She hadn’t even noticed she had fallen behind because she was distracted by his earlier comment.

“Ah, if I head to where the carriage is…”

The problem was she didn’t even know how to get there. This was Evenel’s first time here, so it was impossible for her to know the way.

“Did he intentionally leave me to fend for myself? To give me a hard time?”

Her lifted spirits had completely dampened since Shuher mentioned Aodin. Whether he brought it up intentionally or not, she didn’t know.
Should I go back to the palace alone? Or…”

As Evenel pondered what to do, someone suddenly emerged from the alleyway on her left, and they collided.

Evenel hurried over to the fallen person.

“Are you alright?”

The small-framed woman had her head deeply bowed. Her face was hidden by long orange hair, and she was shaking noticeably throughout her body.

Furthermore, her arms and legs were exposed through her tattered clothes, filled with wounds and bruises. It was clear that she was in a bad condition.

“Excuse me.”

Just as Evenel was about to lay her hand on the woman’s shoulder out of concern, a voice halted her action.

“We’ve finally found you.”

At those words, the woman’s shoulders noticeably flinched. Noticing her unusual reaction, Evenel turned her head towards the direction the voice had come from.

Three men of large stature stood there.

“Do you know how desperately we’ve been looking for you? Now, let’s go.”

‘Are they together?’

At that moment, the woman clenched onto the hem of Evenel’s robe. Noticing her trembling hand, Evenel swiftly stepped in front of her.

The woman, who had been sitting listlessly as if everything was over, slowly raised her head to look at Evenel who was firmly protecting her. Briefly visible between strands of her hair, her white eyes were filled with tears.