A group of people were gathered in a corner of the hallway, murmuring. Their gazes were directed towards someone sitting blankly in a corner of the garden.

It was unclear what she was doing, but the small-framed woman was sitting with her legs pulled up, not in the beautiful flower bed meticulously tended by the gardener, but in an area overgrown with trees and unfamiliar grasses.

Her light wheat-colored hair, longer than usual, hung down her back. The maid had done her best to braid it prettily, but without the effort to maintain it, it was already in a disheveled state.

As everyone watched, she soon flopped down under a tree.

“Mmm.”

“Hmm.”

There are types of people in this world who live diligently no matter where they are.

Jade was like that. Just as Axel thought Jade could never stay still, the people of Broen Castle thought she could never stay idle when they looked at her.

It wasn’t intentional. Though she would deny it herself—I like lying down too!—she was fundamentally a person overflowing with vitality. One who felt joy in quickly dispatching tasks that needed to be done.

That’s why young Jade had survived well.

If she had tired easily, she wouldn’t have made it this far. She would have already handed over her power to Mabel and Felix Broen, becoming a puppet successor.

The people Jade had brought in loved this aspect of her. Never giving up and steadily seeking solutions. Becoming absorbed and focused on any task. Loving the territory and wanting to protect all those who had put down roots in that land.

She possessed all the characteristics a family head should have.

No talent except for fire attribute magic? That didn’t matter. A perfect magician didn’t necessarily make a perfect family head.

When Jade stood tall as the family head, Broen territory would develop even further. Everyone was so certain of this that they enjoyed working at Broen Castle. Enough to eagerly grasp the hand Jade extended and work for her for years.

But lately, their Jade hadn’t been in a very good state.

Jade Broen still excellently handled various tasks and engaged in more active exchanges by inviting people. All traces of her absence were being erased.

But far from rejoicing at such things, she sighed too often and frequently stood blankly. Sometimes she would clutch her head, groaning and letting out painful moans. When that happened, the servants would startle and avoid passing by her.

The reason was unclear. She had such reactions to so many different things that people couldn’t tell what exactly was the problem.

While looking at the beautiful night sky full of stars. When walking down the corridor and suddenly coming across a space crowded with trees. When unexpectedly encountering the newly brought black horse in the garden.

Or when a servant was changing the firewood in the fireplace. When someone was carrying a glass bottle with sloshing water. When the hired knight was adjusting his sword.

At such times, Jade would stand blankly with wide eyes, then suddenly jump in place. As if seeing such sights for the first time!

“Could she be tired from work piling up while she was away?”

“Or maybe she’s disappointed after seeing the true colors of her closest family members too clearly.”

“Well, that’s happened every time.”

“But this time it was about claiming a funeral! Lady Jade tried to maintain etiquette until the end.”

Jade’s people whispered like that whenever they gathered.

However, even after one month, two months since emerging from the forest, she was still submerged in thought. Even when she tried to put on a lively smile, it was obvious.

Her violet eyes, which always sparkled like jewels, were full of worries, and with every blink, indescribable emotions seemed to cling to them.

It was truly the first time Jade had shown such an appearance. She looked confused, as if she had lost her way.

They liked their employer, whom they had been with since a very young age. So they wanted to help her regain her bright, unblemished smile.

“What happened in the forest?”

Mori Avers, who obsessively managed the account books, scratched his head. Jade looked so serious that even he, who liked to bury his head in documents with glasses perched on his nose, put down his pen.

“The forest story is taboo. You know that.”

“I know. She looks like she wants to scream whenever the forest is mentioned.”

“But the answer is clearly in there.”

Bernard said, his wrinkled mouth twitching.

“If we just avoid it because Lady Jade seems upset, we’ll never find the answer in our lifetime.”

“Do we really need to find out the answer?”

Someone asked a wise question.

“Lady Jade must have times when she’s caught up in various worries too. It’s surely a personal matter. If employees like us try to find out everything, she might be displeased.”

Mori clicked his tongue.

“You, how long have you been at this castle?”

“About eight months.”

“I’ve been here for over five years.”

Mori said firmly, his eyes wide.

“But this is the first time I’ve seen her like this. Lady Jade doesn’t usually show when she’s struggling. So this must be a very serious problem! If we don’t help, who will!”

Bernard nodded his head vigorously with a solemn face.

“We should do what we can. Lady Jade is the type to let wounds fester. She’ll just suffer alone even if it gets worse.”

“But you know.”

Emil, who was passionate about managing farmland, scratched his head. The brown-haired young man had disproportionately long limbs, and unlike his fair face, his hands were covered in many cuts. He tended to show them off proudly as badges of his hard work.

“Haven’t you all seen her like this before? It seems familiar to me.”

“You’ve seen it before? Do you know if it’s some kind of poison!”

Someone jumped up excitedly. Emil looked at him pitifully and said.

“Think about it. You’ve all experienced it. Ah, except for Marien.”

“Experienced what? Burying herself among the windbreak trees instead of the pretty garden and sighing deeply?”

“Or constantly looking at books recording stars every night?”

“It’s not just constellations. She’s also eagerly researching literature on homesickness.”

“Really? Did she miss this place that much…?”

They accurately described Jade’s short break times with blank faces. Emil shook his head vigorously with a frustrated expression.

“No! I’m talking about unrequited love, unrequited love!”

Everyone flinched and looked out the open window again. Jade was still staring blankly at the gaps between the leaves, then suddenly stood up and started banging her forehead against the tree trunk. She was clearly out of her mind to anyone watching.

Then in Bernard’s mind, a scene from the past replayed of plucking flower petals one by one to divine if his fiancée would return, and in Mori’s mind, his own haggard face appeared, throwing aside documents and drinking excessively.

A few others seemed to be having similar thoughts as everyone suddenly fell silent.

“……”

“……”

“…Really?”

“I don’t know. Well, it just feels that way. Right? You know, that stage of denying it could be possible in the early stages of unrequited love.”

Everyone nodded blankly. Yeah, that’s right. It does feel that way.

With Emil’s words, looking again, it seemed they could understand Jade’s behavior.

Originally, emotions tend to make people act very strangely, so they couldn’t be interpreted through ordinary people’s eyes. One had to overlay a sweet color like dill flowers on the cornea to see properly.

“Isn’t it a good thing? Lady Jade is at that age too.”

The still young Marien whispered brightly.

The girl with her hair in two braids actually had a brutal past working in the information guild, but her sparkling eyes looked extremely innocent. The girl seemed pleased that her employer had fallen into sweet emotions.

But the adults Jade had gathered looked serious while not even working.

“Where on earth?”

“Did something happen on the way here?”

Mori asked Bernard, but Bernard shook his head.

He hadn’t witnessed anything of the sort. In fact, there were few people Jade had contact with throughout the journey.

The knight who gave her a ride? He did have quite a romantic face—as the third son of a humble family, he must have fallen into delusions of a happy future after carrying Jade—but he was chased away by Jade in an instant and had to trudge off to ride another horse.

Rigel Hias? No way. Even now, all the letters Rigel sent were being ignored.

“No matter how much I search my memory, nothing at all.”

“Then…”

The same word arose in everyone’s minds simultaneously.

Forest.

In any case, if it was really true, they had to be careful with their words. Because there were those in this castle who would try to use even the whirlpool of emotions she was experiencing as a weakness.

“You all know well, but.”

Keep your mouths shut.

As Bernard gestured, everyone nodded and quickly dispersed. Regardless of age, they were all wise people who cared for Jade equally, so they would no longer gather like this to observe Jade.

Left alone in the hallway in an instant, Bernard scratched his head.

He looked down at the documents in his hand and started walking to the office. His employer, though she seemed absent-minded, kept her schedule very precisely, so she would soon return from the garden. He decided to speak carefully then.

By the time Bernard stopped by the kitchen to bring snacks, Jade was already seated in the office.

But she was flipping through documents with bloodshot eyes. After spending time in the garden with a confused face, she tried to overcompensate by handling work excessively upon returning.