“Lu, Miss Lucy.”

In the middle of the Duke’s garden, Eden stopped walking, swallowing hard.

Seeing Eden fidgeting with his fingers, Eriel pretended not to be interested and slightly turned her head behind him.

Thanks to that, Eden was able to bravely take out the golden letter from his pocket.

“Yes, Your Highness.”

Lucy stopped walking at Eden’s call and turned her head.

Eden unconsciously let out a short exclamation, “Ah.”

It was an irresistible exclamation at Lucy’s gaze looking at him.

Eden wondered if someone had sprinkled stardust in Lucy’s eyes.

How could they be so beautiful unless the stars shining in the night sky were embedded in Lucy’s eyes?

“Miss Lucy, that…”

They were so dazzling that he felt like he dared not reach out his hand.

Eden hesitated, holding the letter, worried that his feelings contained in the golden letter he had taken out of his pocket would be shabby.

“Your Highness…?”

Lucy called out to Eden, lowering her gaze to the letter.

“An invitation is enclosed. It’s my birthday soon… I’d like you to be my partner. But you’ve had many unpleasant things happen to you. Entering the Imperial Palace…”

Eden’s voice trembled slightly. As his hesitation spread, Eden frowned slightly.

Even he thought that if he spoke like this, he wouldn’t look cool, let alone become Lucy’s partner.

“But you’ll protect me, won’t you, Your Highness?”

“Pardon?”

Lucy’s voice came a little closer.

Green eyes set in a snow-white face turn towards Eden.

The blonde hair fluttered like butterfly wings with Lucy’s nod.

They say butterflies shed powder while flying to enchant humans, and Lucy’s nod felt just like that.

He couldn’t take his eyes off her. If she said come here, he would go here; if she said go there, he would go there.

Even if there was a cliff in front, Eden felt that in his current state, he would follow Lucy’s words and take a step.

As Lucy reached out for the letter with a bright smile, Eden’s heart could not withstand it.

He wondered if he dared to protect her.

But Eden’s answer to Lucy’s question was one.

“Yes. I will protect Miss Lucy with my life as the Crown Prince.”

With a bold voice, Eden placed the letter on Lucy’s hand stretched out to him.

Eden’s vow, no different from laying down his own heart.

‘Perhaps the beautiful garden is planted in the Imperial Palace because the palace is bleak,’ Eden had said on the day he introduced the palace garden to Lucy.

It was just something that popped out of his mouth without him realizing.

A momentary mistake due to carelessness. Just a brief conversation that would end with one regretful glance.

That’s what he thought. Until Lucy spoke.

‘If this place had been bleak for the flowers, they wouldn’t have bloomed so beautifully. Each fully bloomed flower has Your Highness’s heart in it and has bloomed beautifully.’

Lucy smiled and tilted her head to the side. Why did he think that the blonde hair falling down was like his own golden eyes?

‘Just as there must be shadow for there to be light, perhaps this place seems bleak because Your Highness is beautiful.’

It was a comfort different from other noble children.

That melted into Eden’s heart, and he couldn’t forget that moment day or night.

Just like now.

When he was with Lucy, Eden often felt like his time was moving slowly.

Eden smiled brightly at Lucy, who had received the letter.

‘…Oh my.’

Eriel, pretending not to listen from behind, rolled her eyes.

Eden’s sentences were quite deep to be heard as just passing love between children.

Eriel turned her head slightly to the side and looked at Eden’s face.

Golden eyes that come with royal blood. In the golden eyes that looked at Lucy as if to swallow her… green was trapped.

Eriel turned her head slightly towards the Duke’s mansion and tapped her chin with her finger.

Her husband, who was late to learn thievery, was waiting for Eden in the reception room, full of cold energy.

It was obvious how much he would glare at Eden while walking to enter the Imperial Palace.

However, Eriel smiled gently and approached the children with a light heart.

She thought that Eden would be able to protect Lucy only if he could endure Damian’s coldness.

Of course, Eriel also had no intention of easily handing over her daughter to Eden.

If he tried to take her daughter to the Imperial Palace by mentioning engagement, Eriel planned to roll up her sleeves and stop him even before Damian could step in.

“Your Highness. Isn’t it time for you to enter the palace now?”

“Ah… Time has passed so quickly. Yes. …Miss Lucy, I really enjoyed touring the garden today. I’ll see you again on the day I come to pick you up as my partner.”

Eden placed a light kiss on the back of Lucy’s hand.

Even in that brief moment of bowing, his small golden eyes didn’t take their gaze off Lucy for a moment, as if not wanting to miss a single moment of her appearance.

Although there were still fifteen years left, it was the possessiveness of the Crown Prince who would become the next Emperor.

Eriel, who had intuited such an appearance of Eden, stiffened.

She thought that this side wouldn’t be as easy as Damian.

*

“Then, I’ll see you again next time.”

Eden bowed. Eriel nodded kindly to Eden’s greeting, but Damian’s eyebrow went up. It was as if asking about the meaning of seeing them again next time.

“Duke, would you like to go to the carriage together? I have something to tell you.”

Eden threw down the gauntlet to Damian first, which surprised Eriel, making her eyes go round.

“…Very well.”

Damian nodded slightly and raised one corner of his mouth.

Eriel grabbed Damian’s arm and whispered softly.

“Crown Prince, he’s only 8 years old.”

Then this time Damian leaned his head towards Eriel.

He put his face close to her neckline and whispered very softly to Eriel.

“His Majesty brought up the topic of engagement.”

Silence fell.

For a moment, Eriel’s gesture paused, then her head slowly rose.

Cold energy suddenly rose to Eriel’s face, which had been smiling prettily as if she found it cute until just now.

Facing that sight, Damian straightened up with a triumphant face.

“Do well, Damian.”

Eriel showed her agreement while fixing his necktie.

“Of course, naturally.”

Damian smiled at Eriel and turned to Eden.

“Ah…”

Eden gulped.

Although he had brought up the conversation first, it didn’t seem easy at all.

For some reason, after conversing with the Duchess, the Duke seemed even more confident than before.

Blue eyes are as calm as the sea before a storm.

He couldn’t dare imagine how much of a storm would rage behind it.

The blue eyes said that to obtain a princess, one must overcome that much disaster.

*

Before Damian entered the palace, Count Scala entered the Imperial Palace first.

Although they would officially announce that Damian had dealt with the culprit, they had to conduct one more investigation to force Bruno to make a forced choice.

Although they called it an investigation, it was actually an imperial order to tell him his crimes and quietly withdraw as an envoy to the Eastern Continent.

If he didn’t withdraw quietly, Bruno would be found as a cold corpse on some unknown night.

For the meaningless investigation, Count Scala was heading to the outer reception room.

It was because of the words of the imperial investigator saying they would conduct a secondary investigation of the club investors whose investigation had already been completed.

The sound of shoes echoed in the corridor, and the aide standing next to him took out a pen from his pocket.

“It seems Duke Genova hasn’t entered the palace yet. According to information from a servant in the Imperial Palace, he hasn’t had an unofficial audience with His Majesty the Emperor either. It seems he really hasn’t entered the palace.”

“Is that so?”

Count Scala frowned.

“Then what about Bruno? Is there any evidence they met?”

“No. After that day, he went home and then went back to the club.”

Count Scala chuckled and clenched and unclenched his fingers in his pitch-black gloves.

Unlike before, they were just pitch-black gloves with no jewel decorations at all.

The aide added an explanation about Bruno.

“According to those in the club, he just kept causing trouble and got kicked out again.”

“What about Kerphin? Did he meet him?”

Although he thought it unlikely, Count Scala asked once more just in case.

No matter how stupid a person was, you never knew what they might do in the face of death.

Surely he hadn’t met Kerphin? He was the only person whose range of action couldn’t be inferred.

“It doesn’t seem like he met him.”

“Then what about Kerphin’s whereabouts?”

“We’re tracking him, but as you know, it’s not easy. He likes puzzles so much that it’s not easy to chase after him. I’ll try to change the tracking team to smarter people.”

“No. Right now, changing the tracking team unnecessarily could leak information outside. That’s enough. We’re not going to destroy the club, and we’re not trying to do anything to Kerphin. If we haven’t touched his money, he’ll be fine too.”

“Yes, I understand.”

Just as he was about to open the door, Count Scala turned around.

“Is there any…?”

“Nothing has come down.”

At the aide’s answer, the count’s eyebrows went down.

Although disappointment was evident, he nodded to the aide for now.

“Alright. You may go.”

The door opened, and the count approached the investigator.

As the door of the reception room closed with a thud, the investigator jumped up from his seat and bowed to the count.

As Count Scala’s gaze went down to the investigator’s hands, the investigator took off the gloves he was wearing.

He slowly raised his hand in front of the count.

Three very faintly marked dots were visible.

They were so natural that if someone saw them, they would think they were just dots.

As soon as he saw the dots, Count Scala grinned and sat down.

“I’ve organized it in advance for the Elder to view comfortably.”

The investigator handed the documents to the count.