Eugene left the mansion with heavy steps. Behind him, as he departed, Baron Owen bowed so low that his head almost touched the ground.

It was an act that looked quite servile, but at this moment Eugene’s mind was filled with nothing but Helena.

‘Such a foolish woman… After something like that happened, why didn’t you say a word to me? Why did you hide it?’

Was his existence worth only that much to her? Was it so shallow that she couldn’t even share a family matter?

Eugene gritted his teeth. He roughly gripped the horse’s reins and prepared to gallop away. Since he couldn’t return empty-handed, he planned to at least stop by Preteria.

However, the horse didn’t move for a long time. The hand holding the reins fell limply.

A fact so obvious that he hadn’t realized it suddenly gripped Eugene.

‘She didn’t deliberately hide it.’

Helena had always approached him first. The one who didn’t listen was himself.

A fragment of the past flashed through Eugene’s mind, which had become as rigid as a stone statue.

.

.

.

Tap tap. Tap tap tap.

The heavy rain beat irregularly against the window panes.

Amidst that, Eugene sighed briefly at the sound of a small knock. There was only one reason she would visit on such a weather.

Sure enough, Helena appeared in a nightdress, surrounded by an atmosphere even more subdued than usual. Her red hair, falling down to her waist, swayed with each step she took.

It seemed she had tossed and turned for hours before finally coming.

“Um… Eugene.”

After moving her lips several times, she finally spoke.

Eugene cut her off without even taking his eyes off the documents he was reviewing.

“I’m sorry, darling. But I’m a bit busy right now. If it’s not important, I’d prefer if we could talk later.”

“It’s important to me. Basil—”

“We already settled that matter last time, Helen.”

It was a quiet but low voice. Helena finally closed her mouth without finishing her sentence.

Eugene rubbed his rough face. Why was this woman so endlessly foolish even after being reasoned with like this?

He didn’t have time to argue over a problem with no end in sight. There was nothing more foolish than wasting time and effort on meaningless arguments.

And Eugene had no desire whatsoever to become a fool. Unlike a certain foolish woman.

“Helena. I understand you, but I really don’t have the luxury right now. Due to the continuing storm, there are quite a few ships that haven’t been able to set sail. The losses are severe. Even if I work through several nights, it won’t be enough to resolve the situation.”

A thick stack of documents landed on the edge of the desk with a thud. Immediately after, a new stack of documents monopolized Eugene’s attention.

It seemed no words would make Eugene’s gaze reach her.

“If you really understood me, I wouldn’t feel so alone in this world.”

Even the sincerity revealed after suppressing it over and over.

Her voice, small even normally, was particularly subdued. It couldn’t even draw the attention of Eugene’s furrowed brow.

In the end, Helena retreated.

“…I apologize for intruding.”

She left those resigned words and turned around. Her thin negligee fluttered even at that small movement. Like a piece of emotion that Helena had dropped without being able to fully contain it.

But Eugene never picked up that piece.

Because he was always the one who received.

Not the one who picked up the foolish lingering feelings his wife had dropped, but the one who dropped lingering feelings like breadcrumbs for others to follow.

Eugene busily moved between the ink bottle and paper without even glancing at Helena as she left.

When he accidentally spilled the ink bottle, soaking the paper with black liquid. He couldn’t hold back and burst out in anger.

“Damn it, nothing’s going right!”

Not knowing that he had left an even darker stain on someone’s heart.

‘So this is where Helena grew up.’

The dry sound of hooves echoed through the parched streets.

Ever since entering Preteria, Eugene’s brow had remained furrowed. All sorts of poverty and destitution seemed to be rolled up and strewn about the streets.

While Eugene avoided that squalor, he felt an indescribable feeling thinking it was one of the reasons Helena had no choice but to love him.

He closed and opened his eyes with a deep breath to shake off that feeling. A faint voice consistently confessed.

⌜Because of you, I breathe.⌟

It was an affection that was clean, without even a trace of impurity. Helena’s eyes when speaking of love while looking at him were always like that.

Even when everyone tried to drag her down by bringing up her family and background, Eugene could tell.

Helena’s sincerity was literally sincere. She seemed like a woman who only knew how to love foolishly.

So the atmosphere of a town like this should have no meaning.

Eugene put even more strength into his rigidly straightened back.

‘Is it the next street?’

As he entered a somewhat orderly road, some decent-looking shops began to appear. He spotted a small flower shop near the cemetery and dismounted from his horse.

Although he was dressed simply, it was clearly not the attire of an ordinary passerby, so the shop owner hurriedly rushed out.

“W-Welcome. Are you perhaps looking for some flowers…?”

“I have someone to commemorate. What kind of flowers are usually preferred?”

“There’s not really anything specific, most people choose flowers that the deceased liked in life…”

As the owner continued speaking, Eugene’s jaw became increasingly rigid. Of course, how could the great duke know the preferences of a mere sickly boy.

Nevertheless, the reason he volunteered to visit Basil’s grave was solely because of Helena.

In case he might meet you there. In case you might smile even a little at seeing the flowers prepared for your brother.

With that single thought, Eugene set foot in a village he had never even glanced at before.

Meanwhile, reading Eugene’s ominous expression, the owner quickly changed his words, holding out a bouquet he happened to be making.

“…but if you’re not sure, how about these flowers? They’re called marigolds, and a customer bought some just a few days ago.”

Eugene’s gaze turned to the small, bright yellow petals neatly arranged. It was a flower he had seen in the mansion’s garden.

The flower bed Helena said she tended herself. The flowers that filled that flower bed.

Eugene answered immediately without much consideration.

“I’ll take those.”

A gold coin fell into the owner’s hand. The owner hurriedly took out the highest quality wrapping paper to make a bouquet.

After tying the large bouquet he received to the saddle, Eugene headed to his destination.

‘…This is it.’

The cemetery he finally arrived at was deserted. Besides an old man and a child pulling weeds around a grave not far away, there was no one else.

Eugene dismissed the knights and approached Basil’s gravestone to place the prepared flowers. But he was startled.

There was already something occupying the space in front of the gravestone. A bouquet of flowers identical to his own.

‘Helena!’

Eugene reflexively looked around hurriedly.

Although the flowers were slightly wilted, they weren’t very old. If she hadn’t left for another region, there was a high chance she could be anywhere.

As he was about to hurriedly search the surroundings. He could faintly hear the conversation of the child and old man passing behind him.

“Now brother can rest in peace, right?”

“It’s fortunate we were able to give Theo a proper burial thanks to that man, Paul.”

“He seemed like a good person. I wonder if Helen sister married someone like that too…”

“Hel… who?”

“You know, the sister who used to live across from us. Remember? I cried so much on the day she moved away.”

The old man hesitated for a while before slowly speaking.

“Hmm… Ah, yes, I remember. She had such pretty blue eyes. But why her?”

“She’s not a child anymore. I saw her when we went to Futua looking for a funeral director. I was worried because she always seemed mistreated, but she looks like she’s living better than before. She’s grown taller, and she’s as pretty as those porcelain dolls you only see in fancy shops.”

What…? Helen?

Eugene, half in doubt, grabbed the child.

“Wait.”

“Eek. S-Sorry. Did I do something wrong…?”

“What you just said. Were you talking about Helena Ever… no, Helena Owen?”

“Um… yes… Do you know Helen sister?”

The boy’s eyes widened in surprise, forgetting his fear.

Eugene stood there for a moment as if at a loss for words.

Do I know Helena?

He couldn’t understand why this felt like such a difficult question.

He just moistened his dry lips, and finally answered.

“She’s my wife.”

As dusk settled in the evening.

In a private room, a man with a very distressed expression took out a small rectangular device. It was a communication device mainly used by high-ranking imperial officials.

Although someone of such high status would normally be enjoying a happy dinner at this hour. The man couldn’t even sit still and rest, let alone have a peaceful evening, due to the crisis that had struck him on top of his already difficult situation.

His master was missing, and he had even lost what little money he had left.

Dion sighed heavily and sent a signal somewhere.

“Please pick up…”

Fortunately, even the communication device didn’t ignore his desperation. Soon, a screen of moderate size appeared above the device.

A woman with her silver hair neatly tied up, unlike usual, appeared inside. As soon as he saw her, Dion was about to pour out his complaints as if he had been waiting, but the woman was faster.

“Perfect timing! I had something to tell you anyway!”

“Your High-ahhh…! Ah… Um, what is it?”

Dion slowly closed his mouth, which he had opened wide, and asked glumly. Heidi continued, unconcerned.

“It’s nothing much, just that there was an assassination attempt by poison the other day.”

“I see. An assassination attempt… What?!”

The eyes of the loyal Dion, who had been trying to listen with one ear and let it go out the other, flew open.

Did he hear that right? An assassination attempt? Not the breakfast menu?

“You know, they cleverly put it in my brother’s favorite dessert? Such a petty method, I tell you.”

Heidi’s too nonchalant tone was enough to cause cognitive dissonance.

Dion stood frozen with his eyes wide open for a moment, then shouted hurriedly like a person thawed from a statue.

“Are you alright?! Are you hurt anywhere!”

“If I were hurt, would I be sitting here chatting with you while eating a banana?”

“Even so…!”

Dion took a breath as if he was about to start scolding. Of course, Heidi had no intention of letting her precious ears be abused by nagging.

She waved her hand while taking another bite of banana.

“Don’t worry, my brother and I have completely opposite tastes. I don’t even touch that stuff, so I secretly threw it away. But then the cat that ate it died. You know? The one with black front paws that often came to the garden. I just came back from burying it in the garden. Actually, I’m a bit sad.”

“So that’s why you’re peeling a banana. You always eat them when you’re feeling down.”

“You seem to pay a lot of attention to me.”

“I have to if I want to keep my job and eat.”

“Well, aren’t you clever.”

Fortunately, it seemed he had succeeded in diverting the annoying minister’s attention. Heidi smiled with satisfaction as she peeled the banana all the way down.

“Anyway, my brother is lucky too. How did he know to leave at just the right time? If he had stayed here, it could have been a disaster.”

“He somehow managed to avoid trouble.”

“That damn bastard must be waiting with his neck stretched out. Just thinking about the news that will reach his ears makes me chuckle even in my sleep. I keep owing that sister more and more.”

Heidi swallowed the fruit with an expression of utter delight and picked up a new banana. Then, as if suddenly remembering, she turned her eyes to Dion.

“Oh, by the way, why did you call?”

Dion’s face also suddenly crumbled into a distressed expression, as if he had just remembered.