A smile naturally spread across Sesenia’s face.

“If others saw, they’d think Rohan was worried about Teddy, not me.”

“Pardon?”

“I mean the way he’s looking.”

Belatedly, the two who were looking at each other shook their heads without anyone going first. Their gestures, moving only their necks like dolls and even waving their hands, were quite impressive.

“No. I like women.”

“I like the mistress. I absolutely dislike Sir Rohan.”

“…I don’t like you either.”

“Haha…”

“…You know, that makes you look even more suspicious, Teddy.”

Rohan looked at Teddy with quite a disappointed expression, but Teddy just smiled. A very small smile. An expression I thought I’d never see. It was a smile that the Teddy I briefly met in the past seemed incapable of making.

“Well, shall we go now, Teddy?”

“Ah, yes!”

As if waiting for Sesenia’s words, Teddy moved. Rohan, who was watching them with a bewildered look, shook his head and followed behind them until they left the company.

As soon as they got into the carriage, Lizbeth spoke the destination as if familiar, and so the carriage slowly picked up speed towards the magic tower.

Lizbeth, as always, tilted her high-tied hair left and right, staring intently at Sesenia.

“You seem curious about why we’re going to the magic tower today, Lizbeth.”

“Ah! How did you know?”

“I just felt that you were curious. The reason we’re going is because I have a few things to ask about Teddy.”

“I see.”

As always, Lizbeth’s questions stopped there. As if trying not to cross a line, Lizbeth only resolved one-dimensional curiosities. Where we’re going today. If there’s a reason for the purpose.

There were no questions about why we’re going there, or why she’s curious.

Perhaps because she was a maid from when Sesenia lived as Sesenia Bestel, not as an empress, Sesenia often felt the heavy pressure of being an empress disappear when she was with her.

It even made her think that it wouldn’t be bad to live happily like this for a while, putting aside revenge. This time was just pleasant and happy. As if Lizbeth was placed within this time limit with the intention of becoming the only breathing space for Sesenia, who had already died once, Lizbeth was quite a significant presence for Sesenia.

“Miss.”

It was then.

“Yes?”

“When I’m with you… my elder brother seems like his old self.”

“What do you mean?”

“There was some trouble. So I was separated from my elder brother for a while. When I returned after some time… the elder brother I saw after several years seemed like a different person. He was desperate to hide his emotions. But… when he’s with you, when he’s at Iaar Company, he’s like the mischievous elder brother from the old days.”

Sesenia tightly held Lizbeth’s hand sitting next to her.

“I’ll make it that way in the future too. It might be difficult because he’s in charge of the company’s affairs, but still… I’ll make it so that Rohan can live as Rohan, and Lizbeth can live as Lizbeth. So, please help me.”

“Yes…!”

After saying that, she felt a bit sorry for Teddy.

No matter what, Teddy wouldn’t be able to live as himself. Because right now would probably be the most peaceful and calm period in Teddy’s life. Now Teddy had to live as royalty, which was close to a punishment. So Sesenia stared at him quietly out of guilt.

“Mistress.”

“Yes.”

“Will I be able to live as myself?”

“Teddy…”

What should I say? Should I tell you the truth about your bloodline? But it was too much to blurt out such words right now. After all, the priority was to take him and confirm that he was indeed of royal blood.

So Sesenia couldn’t say anything.

That’s when Teddy smiled brightly.

“It’s okay, I’m fine.”

“Huh?”

“Even if there’s no peace in my life, it’s okay because I have this moment. I… I’ve lived locked up all my life. Freedom came to me. And I’ve also gained… people who care about me. I thought God hated me terribly… but now I think He might have pretended to hate me to give me this joy.”

Teddy fiddled with his neck.

Although she had tried to remove it several times, the restraint on his neck remained because Teddy refused. The presence of the restraint was proof that he was a slave. She had tried to remove it using this as an excuse, but Teddy was adamant.

It was heartbreaking, as if removing that restraint would erase his reason for existence.

Understanding his desire to belong somewhere, Sesenia still hadn’t been able to remove the restraint on his neck.

“Teddy.”

“Yes.”

“What kind of life did you live? Do you remember anything?”

“Ah…”

“If it’s difficult, you don’t have to speak.”

The memories Sesenia knew about him. Emers, the name his mother gave him. And that mother gave her son such a name before selling him.

A woman who sold her son to a slave trader despite knowing he was a precious royal child, a male child who could inherit the throne. And the patron who rescued such an abandoned prince.

The last thing she remembered was that this patron wasn’t from a particularly noble family.

‘Thinking about it now, it’s strange.’

Sesenia could find Teddy because she knew everything. A child abandoned by his mother to a slave trader, who grew up in the slave trader’s place from a very young age, who had been beaten rather than properly educated. A small prison where he could barely lie down was all he had.

When she was an empress, Sesenia had asked about him. At that time, Teddy spoke on behalf of the patron who had saved him. He said that the patron found him because the patron, who disliked slave traders, happened to see him by chance.

Sesenia found Teddy based on all this information, as he had mentioned it was one of the largest and oldest slave trading posts among the few remaining.

‘But… discovering him in a slave trader’s place and knowing he’s royalty? That’s even stranger.’

The problem was that he didn’t look like royalty at all. The blonde hair and golden eyes that only those with royal blood are said to possess. There were certainly people with similar colors.

Golden eyes like those of a predator, as if filled with the sparkling sand of the desert, were similar to yellow eyes.

The same went for noble golden hair. So unless both traits were present, one wouldn’t even be suspected of being royalty.

‘Tedel had black hair from the beginning. I wondered if it might change over time… but it’s still black.’

This was why she was going to the magic tower today. Changing a person’s hair color was something only possible at the magic tower. So it didn’t make sense to see Tedel captured in a slave trader’s place and know he was royalty.

“What are you curious about?”

“Hm?”

“You seem to be very cautious about me. I thought… it might be better if you just asked what you’re curious about…”

“Alright. Then… Teddy. How long has your hair been black?”

“Since I was very young. As far back as I can remember, it’s always been black. Is it not supposed to be black? Is there… some bad meaning to it?”

Sesenia quickly shook her head, worried he might become suspicious.

“No, it’s not like that. I was just curious. Then… do you have any other memories? About the mother who gave you your name… or anything else?”

“Would it help you if I tell you everything I know, everything I remember?”

“Yes. But if it’s difficult for you, you don’t have to say. If that’s the case, I can… find out separately. Even if it takes longer. So if it’s hard…”

“I want to say everything. But mistress… actually, I don’t have any memories. Even about my mother… it’s only what the person guarding the prison told me. It was something I heard around the time I started repeating what others said. That it was the only thing my mother left for me.”

“I see.”

Sesenia’s heart grew heavy. She wanted to go to him and pat his head. To tell him he grew up well. That he grew up so well in that place, in that terribly difficult place.

“So I’m actually afraid.”

“Of what? Of being abandoned?”

“That too, but… since that day, you’ve been coming to me as if you were certain. Like someone who knows me. As if I were the person you were looking for. So… I’m afraid that I might not be the person you’re looking for. That I might become a useless person… so please don’t abandon me.”

His eyes trembled endlessly, as if he might cry at any moment.

“Teddy.”

“Yes.”

“Why do you follow me?”

“The reason I follow you, mistress… I don’t know.”

Teddy suddenly became gloomy.

“You don’t know…”

“If there’s no reason, will you abandon me?”

“Are you afraid of being abandoned?”

“I’m not afraid of being abandoned. But… I’m afraid of you abandoning me, mistress.”

He was like a puppy. A puppy who had waited and waited in one place, knowing its owner would come, until its body became weak. Yet still wagging its tail at anyone who looked like its owner, falling in love with humans again…

“You’re quite like an animal.”

“I want to remain an animal. Because then… I think you’ll keep me by your side.”

“I won’t abandon you. I told you. It’s hypocrisy. It’s just pretending to be kind. So I’ll continue that pretense until you reject it. I promise on my name. That I won’t be the first to abandon you. So don’t think too much. Understand?”