Irene was worried that her lunch might upset her stomach, but fortunately it passed without incident.

“I’m still feeling a bit unwell.”

However, she said this to Jessie because she didn’t want to have dinner with Kalos. She thought it would really upset her stomach then.

“Oh dear. Should I bring you the digestive medicine the doctor prepared yesterday?”

“It’s not bad enough to need medicine. I think I’ll feel better if I rest a bit.”

“Then would you like to go for a walk? I’ve heard walking is better than staying still when your digestion is poor.”

“No. I’m a bit tired today, so I’ll just rest in my room.”

Though she did want to walk and breathe in the cool air, her worry about possibly running into Kalos was greater.

She also had a book she wanted to read.

“Then please call me anytime if you need anything.”

Left alone after Jessie left, Irene sat on the sofa and opened a magic book. Though she had read the beginning at the library, she had only skimmed the words, so she started reading carefully from the beginning again.

She spent most of her time reading, even having a simple dinner, but her progress was slow.

“Ugh, this is really difficult.”

Not only was the content of the book difficult, but there were so many unfamiliar words. While she could roughly guess and move on in the beginning even without knowing some words, as she went further it became impossible to even make guesses.

“I’ll have to go to the library tomorrow and look up a dictionary.”

Though she wondered if she should study this hard when she might not even be able to use magic, she wanted to finish reading since she had started.

Irene organized the unfamiliar words in a notebook so she could look them up in the dictionary right away.

Before she knew it, the night had deepened.

Tap, tap-.

As Irene stood up to go to bed, closing her notebook, she heard something tapping on the window and approached to pull back the curtains.

“It’s raining.”

It was pouring so heavily that the whole world seemed to be getting soaked.

Irene tended to dislike rainy days. When it rained, her father couldn’t go hunting and stayed home all day.

Instead, he would treat her and her mother like beasts, using violence and verbal abuse, so she had no reason to like the rain.

“It’s not bad.”

But now she didn’t mind the rain at all. Rather, the sound of the heavy rain falling sounded like music and improved her mood. It was also quite atmospheric in its own way.

So this is how beautiful a rainy day can be. It was an unfamiliar feeling she was experiencing for the first time in her life.

Wanting to feel it more vividly, Irene opened the window wide and stretched out her hand. The heavy raindrops fell on her delicately extended slender hands.

“It’s cold.”

But it was a pleasant coldness. Irene kept her hand stretched out the window for a long time, not realizing her sleeve was getting damp.

How long had passed like that?

“You’ll fall.”

“…!”

When an indifferent voice was heard from behind and a long arm reached out, Irene turned around in surprise.

“Y-Your Excellency.”

Why is he in my bedroom? As soon as her eyes met Kalos’, Irene lowered her head in confusion. Wanting to get away from him, she drew her body back as much as possible, but couldn’t escape far as the window was right behind her.

As Kalos closed the window, the echoing sound of rain in the room subsided.

Irene, who had been sitting halfway on the windowsill not knowing what to do, raised her head in surprise when a cool hand touched her cheek.

“Your cheek is cold.”

I thought something might be wrong since her face looked paler than usual, and I was right. Kalos frowned and removed his hand from her cheek.

“How long have you been like this?”

“…”

Not knowing the exact time and too afraid of him, Irene couldn’t say anything and lowered her head again.

“Your clothes are wet too.”

She had clasped her hands tightly due to extreme tension, and because of that her wet sleeves were exposed.

Judging by her cold face and thoroughly wet sleeves, it seemed she had been by the open window for quite a long time.

Indeed, she had been standing by the window since before he went out on patrol.

Kalos discovered Irene when he left the castle to patrol.

On cloudy and rainy days like today, the boundary between the human world and the underworld would sometimes blur, creating connecting passages called “Abyssos”.

Usually, Abyssos were smaller than a palm and could be ignored, but occasionally they would grow large enough for a person to pass through, so Kalos had come out to patrol and check if there were any such passages.

Only the lord of the underworld could eliminate Abyssos.

As Kalos left the castle like that and looked around for Abyssos, he discovered Irene standing in front of the window.

At that time the window was closed, so he just glanced at her and moved on, but when he came back after circling the castle once, the window was wide open.

Irene was standing in front of the open window in a precarious position as if she might fall at any moment.

Worried that she might actually fall and get hurt, Kalos had come to find her in one step.

He didn’t expect there to be other problems too. Kalos looked down at Irene with a sigh.

What if you catch a cold and become seriously ill, why did you do this?

Your body is so weak you can’t even digest the amount of bird feed you ate.

Kalos was about to scold Irene sharply, but seeing the fear in her golden eyes, he closed his mouth.

Jerdin’s words from lunchtime flashed through his mind.

If you want to open Irene’s heart, treat her more kindly than you do to yourself or your subordinates, he had said.

How much more kindly should I treat her here? Kalos exhaled a short breath and ran his hand through his hair.

That gesture was similar to her father’s before he would hit her mother, so Irene closed her eyes tightly in terror.

“…”

Not knowing why Irene was acting like this, Kalos looked down at her with bewildered eyes before turning around.

“It’s late, go to sleep now.”

He had a lot he wanted to say, but feeling that anything he said now would only frighten Irene, he just gave a closing greeting and left the bedroom.

Bang, the faint sound of the door closing echoed through the dark bedroom, harmonizing with the muffled sound of rain.

Even after Kalos left, Irene stood still in that spot for a long time before suddenly feeling chills and hugging her arms.

“…It’s cold.”

Was it because she had been in the cold air for so long, or because she had met Kalos?

Thinking it was certainly the latter, Irene burrowed into the blankets seeking warmth.

*

“Cough.”

In the middle of breakfast, when Irene coughed, Jessie asked in surprise.

“Are you alright, miss?”

“I’m fine.”

In fact, she wasn’t fine. Perhaps because she had been exposed to the cold rain and air for so long last night to the point her sleeves got wet, her body felt chilly and her throat was slightly sore.

“I’m just a little cold, don’t worry.”

Since this was all her own fault, and it wasn’t bad enough to say she was sick, Irene spoke casually.

“Well, it did get quite cold because of the rain at dawn.”

Jessie nodded in agreement.

“Then will you rest in your room today instead of going out? It would be terrible if you caught a cold from going out.”

Irene pondered for a moment, then asked tentatively.

“Would it be alright to go to the library?”

“Oh my, of course it’s alright. Certainly.”

She had worried what to do if they said no, but fortunately that wasn’t the case.

“The library is warm but the hallways are cold, so you should wear a thick coat.”

What Jessie brought was a cloak with white fox fur. It seemed a bit early to wear it now, but since Jessie wanted her to, Irene willingly put on the cloak.

Then she left the bedroom carrying the notebook she had prepared yesterday and the book.

The hallway, filled with morning air soaked by the rain, was cool, but thanks to the cloak she wasn’t cold at all.

I’m glad I wore it. Though it’s a bit cumbersome, it’s better than catching a cold, Irene thought, but soon changed her mind.

“What’s this? I thought a winter rabbit was walking by, but it’s a person.”

Jerdin, whom she happened to meet on the way to the library, looked at her with very curious eyes.

Unlike Kalos, Jerdin wasn’t scary or intimidating, but he was awkward to deal with. He was also burdensome.

“Good morning, Irene.”

See? He’s acting burdensome again. Not knowing how to react when someone with no familiarity called her name pretending to be close, Irene just rolled her eyes.

“At times like this, you should smile and return the greeting.”

Though smiling was difficult, she could at least return the greeting.

“Good morning, Your Highness the Crown Prince.”

Recalling the contents of an etiquette book she had seen before, Irene awkwardly curtsied while holding the skirt of her dress. The sight was so cute, like a baby bird just starting to flap its wings.

“How cute.”

Jerdin honestly expressed his feelings, but sadly, Irene blushed thinking he was mocking her clumsy appearance.

He really was an awkward person to deal with.

“But where are you going so early in the morning? For a walk?”

Irene didn’t want to answer, but she couldn’t ignore the Crown Prince’s question, so she reluctantly opened her mouth.

“I was… on my way to the library.”

“The library?”

Jerdin looked at the book and notebook Irene was holding to her chest like treasures. Fortunately, the book’s title was hidden by the notebook.

“That’s a basic magic book, isn’t it?”

Surprised that Jerdin recognized it right away when she thought it wasn’t visible, Irene hugged the book even tighter.

Jerdin tilted his head in confusion.

“Why are you so surprised? Is it something you’re not supposed to be caught looking at magic books?”

That’s right. Why am I trying to hide that I’m looking at magic books?

The question she had been having since yesterday came up again. She was even more confused as she still couldn’t find the reason.

“My goodness. What’s so strange about a magician looking at magic books that you’re surprised?”

Huh? What did he just say…

“Am I a magician?”

“Huh? You didn’t know?”

When Irene nodded, Jerdin looked at Jessie standing behind him in bewilderment.

Jessie had been holding her head since Jerdin brought up magic.

Seeing her clearly troubled expression, Jerdin finally realized something was wrong and his face turned slightly ashen.

He groaned and scratched his head, then said to Jessie.

“Oh dear, you should have told me earlier. I assumed she was a magician too since all the women who’ve come so far were magicians.”

“You should have given me a chance to speak, Your Highness.”

When Jessie replied with a reproachful tone, Jerdin made an embarrassed expression.

What on earth are they talking about? Completely left out of the conversation, Irene looked back and forth between Jessie and Jerdin in confusion.

“Ah.”

Jerdin, who had been scratching his head in embarrassment, suddenly seemed to have a good idea and looked at Irene with sparkling eyes.

“If you want to learn magic, shall I teach you?”