One year ago, at the Grand Duke’s residence of Evergail.

From early morning, all the servants in the mansion were bustling about. Today was Helena’s birthday.

The Grand Duchess’s birthday was always celebrated grandly, and this was enforced even if the birthday person herself did not wish it.

“Eugene. Can’t we just let this birthday pass quietly? I’m not in the mood for throwing a party.”

“What are you saying, Helen? You know it’s not just a simple party. How can we miss such an important opportunity just because you’re not feeling well?”

“I hate my birthday. I simply can’t clink glasses and laugh.”

Helena pleaded with a downcast expression. Seeing her, Eugene wrapped his arm around her slim waist and pulled her close. Then, cupping her pale white cheek, he asked:

“Are you feeling unwell?”

“It’s not that… I really…”

As Helena trailed off, Eugene sighed, detaching her again.

“Enough, Helena. This is no time for such carefree talk. Last year, I yielded because you stayed in Hyer for a week. We can’t do that again this year.”

“Eugene, please…!”

Despite Helena’s protests, Eugene went ahead with hosting a grand party.

Due to the characteristics of the Grand Duchy located in the north, a gathering to foster at least minimal friendships was necessary for smooth interactions with the noble forces of the capital.

In truth, the name of Evergail alone was sufficient, but it was also a way to publicly show Helena’s position in Evergail and how well she was treated.

It was a party that had to be held anyway, and no one would dislike a splendid banquet held in their honor.

Helena might say such things now, but once she was among people, eating and enjoying herself, her mood would surely improve.

However, Helena sat in a corner with a consistently gloomy expression. Even that didn’t last long, as she disappeared shortly after the party began.

Eugene had no choice but to leave the party venue to look for her.

The vast garden was filled with early winter air and eerily quiet. It was an atmosphere completely detached from the brilliant chandelier lights of the mansion.

‘What on earth is she doing in a place like this?’

It was hard to understand why she would wander in the empty outdoors when she should be flaunting her authority and wealth.

After searching here and there for quite some time, he was finally able to find Helena.

She was standing motionless in front of the fountain that had begun to freeze. She was so still that if he hadn’t looked closely, he might have mistaken her for a statue and passed by.

‘How skillful.’

She must have heard his footsteps, but she didn’t turn around. Eugene approached, took off the jacket he was wearing, and draped it over her slender shoulders.

“The night wind is cold, Helen. We’d better go inside.”

Eugene hugged her from behind as if to trap her in his arms and lowered his head. As he tried to kiss her white cheek, Helena slightly turned her head to avoid it.

“I’ll come in soon. The moon is beautiful, so I was just looking at it for a moment.”

Even as she said this, she didn’t look at Eugene. She continued to stare intently at the full moon hanging in the middle of the night sky without a single cloud.

Eugene had no choice but to release her from his embrace and step back.

“I understand you want to enjoy the mood, but the moon will rise tomorrow too, so let’s go in now. Everyone is looking for you. How can the protagonist of the party disappear?”

Eugene coaxed her quite affectionately. However, Helena didn’t budge.

She only slowly turned around, taking off the jacket. The chilly moonlight seeped onto her face.

“…Eugene.”

Her red lips moved slowly. Eugene, who had inadvertently taken back the jacket, unconsciously gulped.

Helena looked as if she was crying. Despite not shedding tears and having a frozen expression like a statue, she seemed that way.

Helena, who had taken her gaze away from the moon, quietly met Eugene’s eyes.

“What do you think would happen if I died?”

Unlike the abrupt question, her blue eyes, like a calm lake, remained serene.

As if she didn’t particularly expect an answer, Eugene frowned slightly and gently scolded her.

“Why are you suddenly saying such things? On such a good day. Did looking at the moon make you want to indulge in melancholy? Let’s put aside such immature sentiments and go inside quickly. You’ll catch a cold.”

“…”

Helena was silent for a moment. It was impossible to tell what she was thinking.

She just smiled faintly, as if she might disappear at any moment, and said,

“Even if I die, don’t look for me.”

.

.

.

She had said that with an expression that was hard to tell if she was smiling or crying.

‘…That’s right. …That’s how it was.’

Eugene’s face turned pale as he recalled Helena’s birthday. It didn’t make sense. He couldn’t understand it at all.

Neither her, who had held onto that alone while smiling by his side, nor himself, who only now realized this fact.

Basil’s death anniversary was her birthday.

The morning at Evergail’s East Mansion was busy. The bustling footsteps of servants going back and forth in the second-floor corridor reached all the way to Natasha’s room.

Head butler Gordon stepped onto the stairs, hoping his premonition would be wrong.

‘It’s only been a few days since I gave her a warning… Surely we haven’t gone back to square one.’

The young and beautiful woman who had taken her place as if she were the new mistress after Eugene left.

That woman, who had said she would devote herself with sincerity as much as she loved the Grand Duke, began to indulge in all sorts of luxuries as if she had been waiting for this moment.

It was no use even when the advisors took turns kindly explaining things to her. His words slipped off her ears frequently each time.

Gordon felt as if his hair was turning even whiter these days due to the strange tension with Natasha.

‘His Excellency’s eyes must have grown dim too.’

A sigh escaped from under his thick beard. Why did his ominous premonitions always turn out to be true? As soon as he reached the second floor, the scene he had anticipated unfolded before his eyes.

Servants carrying armfuls of precious treasures, all of high value, and the silhouette of a blonde standing in front of the treasure room, giving them instructions.

Gordon approached her with quick strides, not hiding his anger-tinged fatigue.

“Lady Natasha.”

It was just before her white hand was about to settle on a family heirloom. Natasha turned around at the call from behind.

“Ah, good morning, Head Butler.”

“What are you doing now?”

Natasha greeted him with the brightest smile, but what returned was a response as hard as a rock.

Natasha tilted her head slightly after looking around once with a gaze that seemed to say ‘isn’t it obvious?’

“As you can see… I’m moving things to decorate my room?”

“Is this why His Excellency entrusted you with the key to the East Mansion-”

“How can you assert that it’s not? Do you claim to know His Grace’s mind as well as your own just because you’ve served him for a long time? You’re being arrogant, Lord Alteil.”

The corners of Natasha’s mouth stretched long. Gordon began to frown openly.

Clearly, it was a sweet voice without a single flaw. But it felt uncomfortable, as if the layers of a baked pastry were being peeled off one by one.

Gordon pushed up his monocle and rebuked:

“This is Evergail Mansion, and everything in the mansion belongs to His Excellency and Grand Duchess Helena. You are only temporarily in charge of management, not ownership.”

“My, my, Lord.”

Natasha then lowered her eyebrows with a disappointed sigh.

“If you value that tongue of yours, please keep it in your mouth. Who do you think will remain in this mansion until the end, you or me? When the day comes that you have to call me Madam Evergail, it will be too late, Lord.”

“You are truly arrogant. As you said, I have served His Excellency for ten years. Don’t mistake that you can wield everything with a moment’s passion.”

“The time spent doesn’t necessarily mean loyalty.”

Gordon’s brow furrowed deeply.

“Lady Natasha! If you cross the line any further, I will no longer just stand by and watch!”

His voice, which had grown thicker, pushed Natasha away. A maid who was about to pass by at that moment was so startled that she trembled.

However, Natasha didn’t even blink. Rather, the smile on her lips only deepened as if it had been drawn.

She took something out of the box the maid was holding and then nodded for her to pass by.

As Gordon was about to open his mouth at this out-of-context behavior, Natasha unrolled a piece of parchment.

“Have you ever experienced the sea?”

It was a sky map intricately embroidered with gold thread on a navy blue background. Natasha’s green eyes carefully surveyed it.

“I took the ship a few times when I came to Instantia from my home country. On days when the compass was useless, the navigator would steer the ship by looking at the twinkling stars in the sky.”

“What are you trying to say?”

“I find it so fascinating. Scholars say that stars are stones that burst an unimaginably long time ago, yet we use them to find our way. It’s as if traces of the past become the path to the future. I can’t help but marvel at it.”

Natasha rolled up the parchment again and slipped it into a ring, then met Gordon’s deepened gaze.

“You’ve been here long enough to know Evergail’s past, so you should have realized it by now. Is deliberately denying it really conviction, or is it just stubbornness? It seems you need to abandon your pride first to read the future, Lord.”

“No matter how much you try to read the future by looking at the stars, in the end, it’s the captain and the crew who move the ship. Don’t be so sure that everyone in this mansion will move according to your will.”

“Thank you for the advice. Since you’re standing in my way like this, I already don’t have such confidence.”

An unyielding tension passed acutely between the two people.

In the suffocating air that seemed about to burst at any moment, Natasha pulled her wick once more.

“And Lord. It seems you’ve never experienced a fiery love in your life. If I may offer some advice in return…”

She drew close as if to brush off dust on Gordon’s shoulder and whispered:

“Sometimes that heat can devour everything. It becomes life itself. So watch and see, Gordon. Who will be by his side until the very end.”

The eyes that met as she turned her head were no longer those of an innocent girl.

Something resembling a swamp, much too deep, dark, and muddy to be called verdant greenery.

A dry swallow went down Gordon’s throat.

“I know how to take, but not how to be taken away.”