The countess’s face, which had been fanning herself as if burning inside, suddenly brightened.

“That’s right. I believed you weren’t a child who would run around and cause trouble.”

“Sniff.”

“Why didn’t you say something sooner? I must tell the count right away. Don’t you have to see His Majesty right away?”

“Sniff, sniff, sniff.”

Watching the countess with a hopeful expression, as if she had grabbed a lifeline, Carina cried even more sorrowfully.

‘That line is a rotten one.’

After spending the night with Saviel, he changed his attitude as if nothing had happened.

For a while, Carina tried to meet Saviel, but as soon as she realized that he was avoiding her as if to mock her, she stopped going to the crystal palace altogether.

She only trusted herself.

She firmly believed that her fate would lead her to happiness.

She had been like that, and she would continue to be.

“It’s okay, Lady Carina. Your fate will find its place.”

“Ah. Haa. Thank you. Really, thank you. I needed to hear that.”

“You don’t have to thank me. It’s your fate that led you there.”

How relieved she had been to hear that from Rona, no, Elicia.

If she wasn’t the grandchild of a fortune teller, or even a cleric Elicia, then what?

Elicia was more clear about the future she ‘knew’ than anything else.

And Carina clearly felt the strong, unknown flow of destiny.

Ileon Clement.

There was something about that man.

It had become a new hope for Carina and gave her the strength to live.

‘First love is originally unfulfilled.’

Before she knew it, she had forgotten Saviel, whom she had wrapped up as her ‘first love,’ and waited for her connection with Ileon.

But contrary to her hopes, it was really hard to come across Ileon.

As soon as she sent Elicia home, who was so ill she might die, and returned to the ballroom, Ileon was already gone.

And after that, she sent a few letters to the Duke expressing her desire to see Ileon, but she never got a reply.

Plus, not long after, she heard the rumor that Ileon was visiting the Duke of Uter every day to see Elicia.

“I didn’t know then… I found out today. That he’s Duke Clement. The one who danced with you earlier.”

How fateful she felt when she learned at the ball that the man was the Duke, when she learned his name.

“It was as if time had stopped. As if the world had left only me and that man, a man whose name I didn’t know, who I had only met a few minutes ago. The feeling that fate was whispering to me that he was the one…”

It would have been better if it had been her dancing the first dance with him. Carina, who had missed the opportunity to fight with Saviel, looked at him dancing with Elicia all the time with a regretful heart. All the while, as she held Saviel’s hand and danced the first dance.

Moreover, hadn’t Elicia confirmed that her feeling was right?

But when she heard the rumor that Ileon was ardently wooing Elicia, Carina, who had been waiting for the flow of ‘fate,’ felt like a fool.
Heat spread throughout her body, then suddenly her spine grew cold. She was angry at Elysia, but when she thought of Illeon, tears came to her eyes, because he had not recognized her and seemed so pitiful. Then, when she thought of Saviel, she resented him. Ultimately, wasn’t all this anxiety and torment because the Crown Prince had bewitched her?

‘Saviel. I really won’t forgive you.’

Deep resentment towards Saviel settled in Carina’s heart.

But with Elysia’s help, having teatime and conversations with Illeon a few times, Carina gradually calmed down.

Elysia had no feelings for Illeon.

Moreover, for some unknown reason, the Duke’s family did not appreciate Illeon’s visit.

Marriage was a serious matter for both families. Even if one side was passionate, it couldn’t be accomplished unilaterally.

As she visited the Duke of Uter’s house, Carina became more reassured. Even if it took some time, she was sure that she could win Illeon’s heart.

She found out about her pregnancy around that time. Her healthy body had skipped a period, and she felt an uncomfortable sensation as if something was gathering and stabbing in her lower abdomen.

‘Surely not, surely it can’t be…’

Even though she was anxious, Carina could not secretly call a doctor. The Countess had not given her any separate funds to use. Thus, some time passed, and she was confronted with this situation by a worried maid.

“To carry on the noble blood of the royal family. You should have told me sooner. I was in the dark. Hohoho.”

The Countess’s face was relieved, but Carina’s was not.

If she had known she was pregnant when she still had feelings for Saviel, she would not have been so miserable. But he was a cold and cruel man. A capricious man who could whisper love one day and discard it the next.

Although Carina was naive, having grown up in a rural estate, she knew that such a man was a bad man. He was an unreliable man to lean on for a lifetime of happiness.

“Stop crying. It’s not good for the baby.”

Even the Countess’s gentle voice trying to comfort her seemed to drag Carina deeper into the mire.

(This is a time separator.)

Elysia finally came to her senses.

After blinking a few times, she saw the room where she was lying down. The low ceiling and neat but modest furniture. It was an unfamiliar place.

‘Illeon brought me here.’

She couldn’t sense where this place was, neither the Duke’s mansion nor the Grand Duke’s.

Thud.

At that moment, the door opened, and Illeon came in.

“……Illeon.”

Her throat was sore and hurt. To her, Illeon held out a cup of warm milk.

“Thank you.”

As the warm heat passed through her throat, it seemed to melt the cold that had gathered inside her body. At the same time, her head hurt, and the single sip of milk she had just taken seemed like it would make her vomit.

“Illeon.”

“Yes?”

“How did you… know where to find me?”

That was the thought that had occurred to her when she saw him beat Saviel into submission, before she fainted, and even now as her senses returned.

“Sigh.”

Illeon’s expression was heavy and complex. Elysia felt an unknown anxiety.

“That… It’s best to talk to the Duchess.”

“Mother?”

Before Illeon could answer, the door opened, and Mariella rushed into the room, tears streaming down her face.

“El, Elysia.”

Elysia could not understand. Illeon, with a stoic face, watched the mother and daughter before stepping aside.

“What happened?”

“Sniff.”

Mariella’s tears flowed freely.

The handkerchief in her hand was too wet to be of any help in wiping her tears.

“I, I have something to say.”

“What’s going on?”
Rather than going back to the Duke’s residence, when Elishia said she would not return and would stay by Illeone’s side, it felt discordant to see Mariella and Illeone, who seemed to be in opposition together.

“Elishia.”

Tears flowed from Mariella’s eyes as she looked at her.

“It’s me… It’s me, Wonyoonji.”