“The Count Shannon sent such a letter to his lady?”

Eriel nodded with a troubled face at the surprised voice of Her Majesty the Empress.

The letter was placed in front of Her Majesty the Empress, with the part about Count Scala appropriately torn off.

“I was very embarrassed to receive such a letter right before the tea party, but given the content, I thought I should inform you in advance, so I came here like this.”

Eriel watched the Empress’s expression and waited for her response.

“I see. As you said, the content is not ordinary, so I think I need to check it urgently. I’ll leave the letter to the investigator, and I should tell His Majesty that there is a risk of assassination of the Duke, so the hunting festival should be suspended for a while. ……Servant, send a letter to His Majesty and deliver my words immediately.”

The servant received the letter from the Empress and left his position.

“I think we should also suspend the tea party.”

The Empress, furrowing her brow, calmly concluded about the next schedule.

Surprised by that decision, Eriel’s lips moved slightly for a moment.

This sensible response from the Empress was not what Eriel had expected.

She had assumed that the Empress would naturally be of the same mind as His Majesty the Emperor.

The reason Eriel came here was simply because she needed someone to prove a solid alibi for her affair with Gerald.

She thought she would have to move and adjust the subsequent situation herself……

“By the way, is the Duchess alright? It must not be easy for you with so many arrows pointing at Duke Genova.”

But the Empress, looking worried in front of Eriel, was trying to properly resolve Eriel’s situation without any room for doubt.

She must not be unaware of His Majesty the Emperor’s desire to warn Damian using the hunting festival.

“I feel much relieved that Your Majesty the Empress has taken such measures. I rather feel ashamed for seemingly causing controversies lately.”

“Oh, don’t think like that, my lady.”

The Empress’s hand rested on Eriel’s shoulder. The Empress’s hand, moving gently, was defending her.

Eriel was certain from such a gesture from the Empress.

That the decision towards Genova didn’t quite match between the Emperor and the Empress.

It was then.

Boo-woo-woo-woo.

The first trumpet sounded much faster than expected.

It was unusual for the trumpet to sound so quickly after the start of the hunting festival.

Eriel and the Empress’s gazes met silently, and soon the outside became noisy.

“Your Majesty the Empress, His Highness the Crown Prince has returned first with his game.”

And the voice of the servant resonated that the protagonist of this unusual event was none other than Crown Prince Eden.

The Empress seemed to have been somewhat flustered for a moment, but in that short time, she smiled softly and rose from her seat.

“The Crown Prince came early. Let’s go out together, my lady.”

Eriel, who came out with the Empress, could understand why Eden’s face had looked unwell.

“Lady Helen.”

There was no vitality in Eden’s low voice. A smile that he must have learned countless times in the imperial palace was on Eden’s face.

To Eriel, who knew Eden’s real smile, it was just a dark and sad expression, but it was obvious that it wouldn’t appear so to others.

Several foxes were handed to Helen.

“Y-Your Highness……”

Helen seemed surprised but extended her hand, and her face flushed at Eden’s kiss on the back of her hand.

“I wanted to gift you today’s game.”

Eden slowly rose after bowing his waist and met Helen’s eyes. Helen gently curved her round eyes and nodded shyly.

“It is an honor to receive Your Highness the Crown Prince’s, h-hunting game like this.”

Along with Helen’s clear voice, the sound of people’s applause rang out.

Thinking he had done enough with Helen, Eden bid farewell to her with a gentle smile and turned around.

Along with the thunderous applause, what was reflected in the eyes of the nobles was a question, and Eden’s role was just to raise that question.

He didn’t want to play any more roles.

It was when Eden, who had decisively turned his body, was heading towards the tent. Coincidentally, his gaze met with the Duchess of Genova again.

“Eden.”

At the moment he flinched, his mother, whom he hadn’t been aware of, called Eden.

“You came back first. Well done. ……Ah, Crown Prince.”

Eden could feel his mother’s heart between calling his name and that title of Crown Prince. Eden swallowed dry saliva and looked at his mother.

His mother didn’t know any of it.

That father had wanted Eden to play this role, that Eden had agreed to perform that role.

“Always conforming to His Majesty’s decisions like this might lead you to lose your way.”

Surprised by his mother’s sudden words, Eden quietly looked at the Empress.

With her hands neatly folded and a resolute expression, the Empress was speaking to Eden as if telling him something important.

“Not being able to protect your own people will someday become a fatal weakness for you. ……Duchess. The young lady might have been hurt.”

Eriel, standing beside, met the Empress’s gaze with a seemingly surprised face along with Eden.

“No, Your Majesty the Empress. Lucy would not have been hurt by today’s events towards His Highness the Crown Prince. The grace she received from Your Highness is far greater, so you need not worry.”

Eriel, who bowed her head, said it wasn’t so.

Eden couldn’t say anything in front of the Duchess.

Eden, who had boldly said he wanted to visit the Genova ducal family and become Lucy’s partner, had now become a Crown Prince who could change his mind at any moment with just one order from his father.

Eden, who recognized his mother’s intention, bowed his head in front of the Duchess. There was no additional explanation.

It was an apology that everyone here knew without having to utter it.

“But…… where is Lady Lucy?”

Someone’s voice was heard nearby, and the gazes of the nobles, as well as the Empress and the Crown Prince, moved towards the crowd.

And at that moment, the one who was most shaken was Eriel.

*

“Lord Charles, thank you.”

Lucy, who poked her head out, greeted Charles.

The young lady in his arms had gradually regained stability after deciding to go see the Duke.

Thinking it might be alright to ask her the reason now, Charles slowly reduced his speed and asked Lucy the reason.

“May I ask why you said you had to go to the Duke?”

Lucy closed her eyes at Charles’s words. For a while, only the sound of grass brushing against Charles’s feet could be heard.

Lucy kept her mouth shut with a hardened face and fluttered her eyelashes.

“……Compared to a war where dozens of lives disappear every day, my words might seem too insignificant. Because anyone would be someone’s precious son, husband, and father.”

Charles felt that every conversation with the young lady was surprising, even while not stopping to move his feet.

If she had become the successor, she would have been a young lady who could lead the ducal family rightly. It’s lamentable that it’s impossible with the status of a young lady.

Emotional control might have been difficult as she’s still a child, but there must be a convincing reason for that judgment.

She inherited the caring nature of the considerate Duchess, and the rationality of the Duke who analyzes coldly.

“Even if I lose honor, status, money….. Even if all of that is taken away and extorted, I, one person’s life was more important to me. To Lord Charles who has experienced a war where dozens, hundreds of lives disappear, my words about one person’s life being important might seem… selfish.”

“No, young lady. Anyone, not just you, would answer that a father’s death feels greater than the deaths of dozens of strangers. There’s no comparison to war or anything. There are no numbers in life.”

“That’s right. There are no numbers in life. But… that’s why the size of sorrow felt by individuals is different. If father passes away, I would be very sad, but I wouldn’t feel like my world has stopped.”

“Wasn’t it about the Duke? Then… is the Duchess currently in danger?”

Charles’s footsteps stopped.

The word ‘mother’ heard along with the sobbing didn’t combine in his mind and moved complicatedly.

The Duke will face an assassination attempt in this forest.

Of course, he must have prepared measures for it, but the Duchess’s side knew nothing about it.

Charles’s face turned pale.

If something big happens to the Duchess while he’s away…..

“No, Lord Charles. Whoever is behind it, they won’t try to shoot mother first. Their ultimate goal is father, not mother. But if father dies, mother too……”

Lucy grabbed his collar and shook her head at Charles, who was about to turn around right away.

“I see.”

Charles, who was relieved fortunately, started moving again.

Unlike before, this time Charles, who had carefully listened to Lucy’s words, looked down at the child and asked.

“Has the Duke died before?”