“Next, Earl Scala will enter.”

Eriel’s head, which had been captivated by Damian, turned hastily.

Earl Scala, who walked in front of the emperor, was wearing leather gloves as always.

The moment Eriel, who was staring at his hands with courtesy, narrowed her eyes, Earl Scala’s gaze clashed with Eriel’s for a brief moment.

He smiled, deliberately clenching his leather gloves tightly. After the momentary encounter ended, the earl casually turned his gaze and bowed his head to the emperor.

“I greet His Majesty the Emperor of the Empire.”

The earl’s voice scraped Eriel’s ears like the sound of metal.

Eriel, who unknowingly frowned, clenched her hands neatly placed on her knees.

That’s when it happened.

Damian’s hand dug into Eriel’s fingers on her knees.

When she lowered her gaze to her hand and felt the sensation, she turned her head to the side, and Damian was sitting there, staring straight ahead.

Eriel tightly grasped his fingers and let out a faint, long breath at Damian’s touch, which was meant to reassure her.

“Yes, Earl Scala…”

Eriel let the emperor’s voice calling Earl Scala pass through her ears.

There was no way the emperor’s choice would bypass Damian, an old friend and war hero.

It was a difficult choice even for the emperor to execute. Rejecting Damian now would mean completely losing the people’s support.

However, Eriel stared blankly at the emperor’s golden eyes, which burst into laughter towards Earl Scala, with an anxious heart.

She regretted the sluggish background investigation of Earl Scala due to the series of incidents. What was hidden in his background would not be just some power.

While lost in thought and assessing Earl Scala, Eriel’s eyes inadvertently moved to Eden, who was sitting below the emperor’s platform.

…His Highness the Crown Prince’s face.

It seemed that Eden’s face had deteriorated a lot in the short time she hadn’t seen him.

Under the boy’s white eyes, a dark shadow was deeply cast. Eden seemed to be muttering something small while looking at Earl Scala.

Eriel unconsciously paid attention to the child’s lips.

However, the lips were moving too small, and as if sensing Eriel’s attentive gaze, Eden’s eyes soon pierced into Eriel.

Seeing Eriel, Eden was greatly startled and shuddered as if he had been caught stealing.

Eriel gave Eden a small smile, but he quickly lowered his gaze.

The boy’s blond hair moved haphazardly.

What on earth happened to His Highness…?

*

Charles looked at the young lady playing with her friends while tightly hugging a teddy bear.

One would expect her to neglect the doll at least once, but the young lady never let the doll leave her body.

Between Benjamin and Elisha, the young lady burst into laughter.

Charles, who was looking at the young lady with a pleased face, soon turned his gaze to the rustling movement.

A girl who had been sitting alone at a slightly distant table walked towards the young lady.

As soon as Charles saw the girl walking, he gasped.

It wasn’t that he had any ill feelings towards the child, but the girl carefully walking with her brown hair hanging down was none other than Helen of the Shannon family.

“Uh… um.”

Helen fidgeted her fingers while looking at Lucy with her shoulders hunched.

Benjamin, who was sitting around Lucy, shrugged and handed chocolate to Elisha.

Elisha seemed to exchange glances with Lucy for a moment, then opened her mouth towards the chocolate Benjamin gave her and took her eyes off Helen.

“Excuse me, Lady Lucy.”

Helen called Lucy’s name very softly.

Lucy saw Helen, picked up the teddy bear, and stood up from her seat. Taking a step closer to Helen, Lucy lowered her eyes.

“Lady Helen. Unfortunately, it seems we cannot be friends. You must already know by seeing the conversation between Earl Shannon and my father that day, without having to bring up the long story.”

“But…”

Helen, who slightly lifted her face at Lucy’s resolute attitude, had tears in her large eyes.

“I’m sorry, Lady Helen.”

But Lucy turned her body away.

When Helen’s sobbing voice was heard, Lucy’s face contorted.

At the same time, Benjamin, who was sitting in his seat, shook his head, and Elisha looked at Helen with pity.

“Let’s go and sit a little further inside.”

Lucy suggested to Benjamin and Elisha to change their seats. Fortunately, the children immediately accepted Lucy’s suggestion and stood up.

Charles also felt sorry for Helen, who lost a friend in an instant while watching the scene.

At the same time, he felt grateful to the young lady who was dealing with it firmly like now. Although children’s friendships could not be prevented by adults’ affairs, it would certainly not be good if the news of the young lady being close to Lady Helen reached the duke’s ears.

“But Lucy.”

Helen’s voice, mixed with sobs, rang out.

“You and I are supposed to be sisters. There’s nothing wrong with being close.”

“What do you mean by that? …Why would Helen and I become sisters? We don’t share a single drop of blood.”

As Lucy’s voice turned as cold as ice, Helen opened her round eyes even wider and shed tears. The child wiped her tears with the back of her hand and moved her lips.

“But…”

“Lady Helen.”

A woman presumed to be Helen’s nanny approached. The nanny hid Helen behind her skirt and bowed to Lucy.

“I apologize. It seems Lady Helen made a mistake because her mental illness has not yet fully healed.”

“Mistake?”

Lucy’s eyes looked at Helen’s nanny with sharp questions.

“How can the word ‘sister’ be a mistake?”

“It seems Lady Helen has relied heavily on the young lady’s extended hand and dreamed a small dream.”

“…No!”

However, Helen, who was sobbing behind the nanny, shouted no. As the voice echoed through the playroom, Helen came out from behind the nanny.

It was when Charles also thought he couldn’t just watch and stood up from his seat.

“They said you would become Lucy Shannon. Shannon means… you and I will become sisters.”

“Lady Helen.”

The nanny hurriedly tried to cover Helen’s mouth.

But the story had already been heard by the children and their nannies. Charles stood up from his seat and stared at Helen, frozen.

Lucy Shannon?

“Lucy Shannon. My surname… even in death, I will die under the surname of Genova.”

Lucy spoke a word and walked to Charles with the teddy bear.

“Sir Charles.”

“Yes, young lady.”

Lucy’s eyes wavered. The young lady, who was hugging the teddy bear, was looking up at Charles with a very anxious face, so he quickly bent his knee to Lucy.

“Sir Charles, has the hunting festival already begun?”

“It has begun. You can go to the duchess for a moment, would you like to go and come back?”

“Yes… I want to go and come back.”

Lucy nodded.

*

After the long greeting procession ended, the emperor and nobles, including Eriel and Damian, stood in front of the starting line.

Eriel glanced at Eden, who was getting on a horse despite being only a year older than Lucy, because he was the crown prince.

Eden, with an even paler face than before, got on the horse and nodded a few times while listening to the empress’s words.

“The weight of the crown is never light.”

At Damian’s voice, Eriel’s gaze rose. Damian seemed to be talking about Eriel looking at Eden just now.

“That’s right. The palace is a place where age never serves as an excuse.”

Eriel nodded in agreement. And she tied her handkerchief to his wrist.

“Are you worried about the child, Eriel?”

“Because he got along well with Lucy. He even gave you a cane as a gift… His complexion doesn’t look good, so my eyes are drawn to him.”

“Don’t worry.”

Damian gave a light kiss on Eriel’s cheek.

“Yes, I’m more worried about you. There aren’t only beasts in the hunting grounds…”

Eriel’s slowly fading voice trembled.

“Beasts…”

Damian laughed at Eriel’s words.

“I should consider them beasts.”

Although Damian appeared relaxed, Eriel knew that there were not just small prey animals for hunting in the forest.

If there were only such things, Damian would not have said those words to her, and his attitude toward this hunting festival would have been different from the beginning. Damian’s appearance when he went to the battlefield overlapped with his current appearance.

“Promise to come back early this time.”

Unlike when he set sail a long time ago, Damian smiled softly while looking at the handkerchief Eriel had tied.

“I’ll make sure the wait isn’t long.”

Puu-woo-.

The trumpet sounded along with Damian’s last words.

Eriel stepped away from him and gripped his sleeve tightly before letting go.

Eriel moved away from the starting line, and soon the horses ran off, raising dust. Eriel closed her eyes tightly while looking at Damian, who was at the forefront.