Like a fool, I stretched out my arms and waved them at him, who didn’t know me. I even added a greeting he couldn’t hear.

“Farewell, Ricardo.”

Ricardo, who had been staring blankly for a moment, slowly turned his head away from me.

The carriage sped unimpeded down the wide road. The sight of the massive carriage chasing the setting sun faded into a dot. Somehow, sadness welled up in my throat.

Still, farewell, Ricardo Gardarelli Rochester.

It’s alright if you don’t remember me; just be happy always.

Because the love for him surged more strongly than the sadness, I was able to continue praying for his well-being as I saw him off.

The child of the copper mine that I had risked my life to protect finally flew away to the vast, distant world where he belonged.

He’s going. Leaving me behind like that.

That incredibly strong child, abandoned by prophecy, who fled from the fate of prophecy, yet was ultimately swept up in the whirlpool of that fate.

Without even looking back once.

* * *

Seven years later, on the outskirts of Lesotia’s capital.

As I approached the chicken coop, its distinctive smell assaulted my nose. I carefully entered the coop, making sure no chickens escaped.

“I just can’t get used to this smell.”

Flutter, flutter. Hens and roosters alike flew around the coop noisily, thinking I had come to steal their eggs.

“You laid eggs right on schedule today. Well done.”

Collecting eggs from the chicken coop in the backyard was always a pleasant task. It was especially satisfying on days like this when I could retrieve large, perfectly shaped eggs.

Seven years ago, after Ricardo left for the Duke’s estate, the Pennel family eventually fell from grace. It was by the order of the Emperor of Dermeyer.

The Emperor of Dermeyer affirmed, as in my memory, that Count Pennel had kidnapped and imprisoned Ricardo, the heir to the Rochester family.

As a result, Count Pennel and his eldest son, Justin, were hanged, but the remaining family members barely escaped with their lives and were moved to this two-story house where we now live.

Later, when it became known to the principality that we had survived, the prince didn’t go out of his way to find and kill us. Though our titles were stripped, we were allowed to maintain our noble status.

While we had indeed committed a crime tantamount to treason, it was because Dermeyer was not our home country.

At first, we had to manage the household without a single servant. But two years ago, three manservants and two maids were sent from Mother’s family. Even with people to help with the work, I didn’t neglect the household chores.

One of the maids had to be entirely devoted to Countess Pennel, and the other was overwhelmed just with cleaning. The old house required a lot of maintenance, and keeping it warm required a lot of firewood. So the servants were just as busy.

Time flowed on without stopping. And so the world forgot about the Pennels.

I thought that was quite fortunate.

Like the egg gently cradled in my hand, my world today was warm and peaceful.

“I’ll make Jonathan’s favorite egg dish today.”

When I came towards the front door with the eggs, I heard an unfamiliar noise.

Tilting my head curiously, I looked in the direction of the sound and saw a large procession of carriages approaching in the distance.

A carriage pulled by four black horses raced down the narrow road without hesitation. Two double-horse carriages and horses carrying knights followed in an orderly line.

At first, I doubted my eyes and ears. After all, there was no reason for such a luxurious carriage to come all the way to this house, located on the outskirts of the capital, past the forest and quite a ways beyond.

But it wasn’t just the carriage that was approaching. There were at least thirty men on warhorses following behind the carriage. The black carriage, black horses, and the men in dark clothes swarming towards us. Somehow, an ominous feeling enveloped my entire body.

However, in a part of my heart so deep that even I didn’t know well, some kind of longing might have stirred. Seeing the threatening lion crest on the carriage that had stopped, kicking up a cloud of dust, caused a great ripple in my heart.

The man who stepped out of the carriage after the footman opened the door paused for a moment, with the sunlight as his backdrop.

The black-haired man looked around, moving as leisurely and relaxed as the lion emblazoned on the crest.

Just as he seemed to pause his movement, he suddenly sprang into action. Like a predator that had found its target.

“Ah…”

Step by step, the man walking towards me with the sun at his back showed no sign of recognition in his eyes. Yet he approached me without hesitation.

“You’re the same.”

It was after everything had ended. After everything was over, you smile like that.

So leisurely and distantly.

“It is you.”

Taking one step closer to meet my eyes, I felt it completely.

His childhood had changed, so his future had changed. The moments of his harsh life that must have been painful had changed, and his entire being had become a completely different person.

But then, for a moment, the pupils of his eyes that met mine suddenly took on a yellow tint. It was a subtle change that couldn’t be noticed unless standing close face to face.

‘Ah, this was it.’

The price that the heir of Rochester, who had completed his awakening, had to pay in exercising his ability was that he had to reveal his own emotions in exchange for reading others’ emotions.

‘Yellow means… he finds this situation amusing?’

But before I could properly grasp his emotion, the wick of his pitch-black eyes quickly absorbed an ashen color.

“Do you… remember me?”

Ricardo furrowed his brow at the words I blurted out without realizing.

“Was that a soliloquy?”

Even with a slight smile, his unique presence and sharp atmosphere overflowed.

If I hadn’t remembered his childhood, my legs would have given out and I would have collapsed.

“Or… did your thoughts just pierce through your mouth?”

If I had to answer, the latter was correct. As a member of a fallen noble family, I couldn’t ask questions to the heir of a ducal family without permission.

‘But what is this familiarity?’

Ah… it’s twisted.

In that moment, realization struck the back of my head. He hadn’t changed at all. Ricardo hadn’t changed, he had merely learned to hide his true self beneath an extremely sophisticated exterior.

But for what reason? Wasn’t he no longer in pain?

What hadn’t changed at all was the same for me as well. As our eyes met, thump-thump, my heart that was mine yet not mine began to race endlessly, not knowing how high the sky was.

Having instantly realized my own situation, I bowed my head low.

Under my downcast eyes, the shiny toe of his shoe twitched slightly. At the same time, my chin was caught in a warm hand.

“Don’t avoid my eyes.”

“…”

“It annoys me.”

“You’re… annoyed.”

Meeting his eyes directly, I managed to force a smile with the most humble expression possible. Relying on the slight kindness nestled in his eyes.

“There are only two emotions in the eyes of people who look at me.”

I had heard Ricardo say this before when he was young. So I already knew the answer. But could it possibly be the same answer as back then?

“Fear, or desire.”

Ah, his life hadn’t changed at all. He must not have felt even a lukewarm warmth. My brow furrowed involuntarily at the indescribable emotion welling up.

“But what about you?”

Why? What kind of eyes am I making?

“Do you… pity me?”

“Ah…”

“Well, it doesn’t matter. I’m going to meet your mother, so just wait for now. I’d appreciate it if you could prepare a cup of tea as well.”

When no answer came from me, Ricardo gently urged, “Hmm?”

I nodded, and he turned away without hesitation. I gazed blankly at him as he walked towards the group of people, his footsteps echoing. The sunlight breaking against his shoulders made it difficult to keep my eyes open properly.

* * *

I can’t say that my life was completely comfortable after Ricardo left. But after he returned to the empire, the strange events surrounding me no longer occurred.

The faint voice like a groan, and the visions that dizzily filled my sight—whether they were of the past or the distant future, I couldn’t tell—no longer tormented me.

Yesterday, Ricardo suddenly appeared and declared that he would take me to the empire. As promised, he came to our house at dawn the very next day.

I resisted, saying I would go willingly if he would just tell me the reason for taking me, but he dismissed my opinion, saying I would find out when we reached the duke’s residence.

Because Ricardo impatiently barged in at dawn, I hadn’t even finished breakfast properly with my family before boarding the carriage with him.

It was cold enough for teeth to chatter until the hot sun beat down at midday. Somehow, even my heart seemed to tremble.

I could feel Ricardo staring at me intently, but I stubbornly ignored him. After a short while of traveling, dawn began to break.

We hadn’t spoken for quite a while after boarding the carriage. No matter how accustomed I was to having my life turned upside down overnight, I couldn’t feel good about this situation.

Ricardo was the first to break the silence.

“They seemed quite affectionate.”

“Pardon?”

“Even though you’re not even of the same blood.”

He’s probably talking about me and my family, based on what he learned from documents. To him, I must be recorded as the illegitimate child of the fallen Pennel family.

“We became family after living together for a long time. It’s the same with our chickens.”

“Family, huh…”

Thinking of Sabrina and Jonathan, who had been tightly holding my hands until just moments ago, made my chest tighten painfully. As I had told him, the name ‘family’ didn’t suit us from the beginning.

It had been a long time. Clinging to each other through the storms.

I could almost see Jonathan’s face, likely streaming with tears by now. Ever since I held out my hand to him in front of the Countess’s room, Jonathan had followed me like a baby duck. That was still true even now that he was 15 years old.

As I let out a long sigh thinking of Jonathan, Ricardo’s sharp voice filled the carriage.

“Until now, the fact that I had no memories didn’t bother me at all, but…”

“…”