Roxiana’s face turned bright red. Robert clicked his tongue and asked.

“Did the princess sneak out at night again?”

“Not at night, she went out boldly during the day. Even borrowing my horse.”

“Oh dear.”

“I told her not to, but she almost died trying to save the forest. My heart dropped.”

“I understand. Breaking the princess’s stubbornness is harder than cutting down a thousand-year-old tree with a dagger.”

“That’s right. I didn’t realize at first, but she’s quite stubborn.”

“Quite is an understatement. I’ve never seen such stubbornness in my life.”

As the two men shared deep feelings about Roxiana’s stubbornness, Roxiana’s face grew redder and redder.

She was glad Robert was alive. She was happy Robert accompanied her.

But there was one thing she had missed.

The fact that Robert knew her childhood very well.

“Robert, I have something to discuss with His Highness, so please step out for a moment.”

“No, Princess. I’d like to chat more with Earl Chenare. Earl Chenare, shall we take a stroll around the Grand Duke’s palace? I’d like to show you around.”

“Certainly.”

Roxiana was dumbfounded and couldn’t close her mouth.

She thought it was a joke, but the two men really left Roxiana behind and departed from the lily palace garden.

Feeling absurd, she glared at the arch they walked through amicably, then plopped down on the bench.

“How can they say I’m so stubborn.”

The quiet Lion placed his front paws on Roxiana’s thigh with an expression that said ‘Your stubbornness is the best in the world’.

“You too?”

Lion sighed and rested his chin on Roxiana’s thigh.

+++

Robert discussed Roxiana with Floyd. Throughout the conversation, Floyd used honorifics for Roxiana. That was curious.

Floyd used rude speech even to the Crown Prince of Gania and showed the same attitude to elderly nobles, but only to Roxiana was he “Princess”. It didn’t seem like he was doing it because he had something to gain from Roxiana.

Although Roxiana had power that not just anyone could possess, how could that power be of any help to this huge and strong man?

“I’m glad you’re alive, Sir.”

Floyd suddenly stopped walking and said.

Above them, a tree with lush leaves was drooping its branches. It was a tree unusually full of life for this season.

“When I first came here, the princess wanted to die. She said if she died, she wouldn’t be able to smell the scent of Adelia flowers, so she asked to be thrown into the sea with a stone tied to her.”

His heart sank.

He didn’t think Roxiana had been fine all along after losing her family and country. He thought she must have gone through terrible pain and sadness before finally getting up and being able to smile.

But he didn’t know she wanted not only death but for her body to be discarded as well. After all, what people in this world fear most is not being granted Adelia flowers after death.

“She got better little by little, but no matter how hard I tried, there were parts I couldn’t fill.”

Robert stared blankly at Floyd with his sun-like appearance.

Only after arriving in Torkan and entering the Lily Palace could he guess that the Grand Duke of Ratean had a big influence on Roxiana gaining the will to live.

“I feel bad that I couldn’t find the princess’s younger brother. If you hadn’t been here, the princess might have wanted to die again.”

That wouldn’t be the case, Robert thought.

Roxiana’s eyes were quietly burning as she faced her family members rescued from the well. Beyond the deep sorrow, there was a solid will silently boiling over.

Even if he hadn’t been there, Roxiana wouldn’t have taken her own life.

“But with you here, the princess won’t make any reckless challenges. I’m really glad.”

Seeing the faint smile spreading on Floyd’s lips, Robert had an epiphany as if he’d been hit on the back of the head.

Ah, I see. The Grand Duke’s heart is directed towards the princess.

Because Robert had loved before, because he had given his deep heart before, he knew there was a reason for a man to smile so tenderly.

“I’ll keep a close eye on the princess to make sure she doesn’t do anything reckless, Your Highness.”

Floyd grinned and patted Robert’s shoulder.

“I’m glad there’s someone who understands my feelings well. Please take good care of her.”

+++

Life at the Grand Duke’s palace was a series of surprises for Robert.

Not only did the Grand Duke and the knights’ commanders gather to eat together, but they had no hesitation in making toasts or taking food.

Roxiana, sitting closest to Floyd who was in the seat of honor, whispered softly to Robert.

“I know how you feel. I was surprised at first too.”

But it wasn’t just the knights’ commanders’ aggressive behavior in front of the monarch that surprised Robert. Roxiana, who was leading the conversation at that gathering, also surprised Robert.

“The spirits say that usually undead try to go to their hometown, but there are cases where they don’t. One of the reasons is because there’s someone calling them.”

“Someone calling them?”

“Yes, Cain. A black magician.”

“Ah. Come to think of it, you said there’s a high possibility that a black magician is attached to Lucas.”

Hexten narrowed his brows.

“But even so, would they have a reason to take the princess’s brother who became undead? Undead continuously make terrible noises, so it would be difficult to hide them.”

“By any chance, when a magician becomes undead, can they use magic?”

Adrian put his index finger on his chin and answered.

“Well, yes. Since undead have no intelligence, they can’t use it with purpose, but there are times when the power extends out by chance… Gasp! Don’t tell me, was the princess’s brother a magician?”

“Yes, he knew how to use magic.”

Floyd frowned.

“Did Lucas know about this too?”

“No. Only the family knew about it.”

“What about Elise Hailis?”

“I didn’t tell Elise either. But… since Elise could freely roam the palace, she might have seen or heard about it. Lanian sometimes used magic secretly.”

Floyd heaved a deep sigh.

“We don’t know well what kind of magic black magicians use. Perhaps they have a way to use undead with magical talent for their own purposes.”

“I asked Nelly to have someone follow Lucas Pelur. But if we can’t find him that way, I’m thinking of going to Gania myself.”

“For the time being, Gania will be paying attention to my movements. Still, let’s look into ways to approach.”

Roxiana nodded lightly. As her gaze turned to the roasted duck, Arsen, sitting across from her, slightly pushed the plate towards Roxiana.

Before Roxiana could pick up the long knife to cut the meat, Floyd stood up and quickly sliced the meat, placing it on Roxiana’s plate.

The fact that this series of actions was so natural was the third event that surprised Robert.

Our princess is being cared for here too.

Roxiana munched on the meat for a while before saying,

“Lucas will blame Elise for everything becoming his fault. But I’m not sure how deep Lucas’s feelings for Elise are. Whether it will end with just a moment of resentment, or if a deep rift will form…”

“At least for Elise Hailis, a deep rift will form.”

It was Kirshan who said that.

“She was so busy staring at our lord throughout the party. I guess her feelings for Lucas Pelur weren’t that deep after all.”

Arsen nodded.

“What that woman wants is probably just the position of Crown Princess, nothing else. Even if Lucas Pelur isn’t a fool, wouldn’t he at least sense it, even if he doesn’t notice outright?”

“I hope so…”

Roxiana thought of Lucas.

After being betrayed by him, his personality, which she hadn’t thought deeply about when they were engaged, came to her in a new light.

“Lucas Pelur is so full of pride and self-esteem that he can’t even imagine someone thinking of using him. If someone whispers affection to him, it becomes such a natural thing.”

“Because he deserves to be loved?”

“That’s right, Adrian. Joseph V will try to pin the responsibility for this incident on Elise, but I’m not sure how Lucas will react. Regarding the Gania side, it seems we’ll have to watch for a while until things are sorted out internally.”

“What if Lucas doesn’t reject Elise? If he insists on bringing in Elise as the Crown Princess candidate after all, things might get difficult…”

Roxiana smiled faintly.

“No. That’s exactly what I want.”

+++

Even after returning to King Teren City, the nausea didn’t subside.

‘What should I do?’

She couldn’t eat anything and vomited several times, she didn’t know how many. When she raised her head after vomiting, a deep blue forest overwhelmed her. A forest so densely packed with trees that light couldn’t penetrate, air couldn’t flow.

‘It will be my fault. They’ll surely make it my fault.’

−”You’ll have to reflect. I can’t help you with that part.”

Lucas’s words wouldn’t leave her mind. Nor would his cold gaze as he said those words.

‘How could he try to abandon me so easily.’

She resented Lucas.

‘He said he would protect me for life.’

But now wasn’t the time to just resent Lucas.

She had many things going on. As such, she had many debts. If she lost everything and was driven out in this situation, Elise would be plagued by creditors for life.

There was no way to earn money without Lucas’s protection. If it became known that Elise was responsible for the ‘Tragedy of the Franche Royal Family’ that was now causing a stir in the world, there would be nothing Elise could do without status or money. Wherever she went, people would throw stones and hurl insults.

The only way to escape from the enormous debt would be death.

‘As if I’ll die like this.’