“Your Highness, it is said that His Majesty the Emperor’s lost granddaughter has appeared.”

Arcadia’s urgent report echoed through the hallway of the Zedo mansion.

The Grand Duke stood silently for a moment, as if forgetting the people next to him.

He was perplexed.

The Emperor’s own granddaughter.

Sighing softly and turning his head, the Grand Duke looked at me. Our gazes met in the air.

‘What is it?’

But the gaze was quickly withdrawn.

Was I mistaken again?

“Young master, no, Your Highness the Grand Duke! It’s been so long since I’ve seen you. Please change your clothes quickly. Would you like to take a bath in warm water?”

An elderly steward with graying hair approached with tears in his eyes.

“Hans, it’s been a long time indeed. I’ve come back after such a long time.”

“No, no, Your Highness. How difficult and busy you must have been. When Lord Nugent told me you were coming, this Hans flew around the mansion for the first time in a long while.”

“Haha, I’m truly glad to hear you’re healthy. I’m happy.”

The Grand Duke held the old steward’s hand tightly.

“I will change clothes as instructed and take a bath, then have dinner a little late. It seems I will need to have a long discussion with Lord Nugent.”

“Of course, of course.”

The steward nodded vigorously with a face that looked like he might cry at any moment with emotion.

I wonder if he is a steward who has worked at this mansion since the Grand Duke was young.

His upright posture bent over as soon as he saw the Grand Duke, revealing his long years and age. For some reason, the sight was heartwarming and poignant.

After a moment, the Grand Duke carefully turned the old steward’s gaze towards me.

“And this young lady here.”

The Grand Duke pointed to me.

“She is the one I rescued from the South, a new knight of the North and my attendant.”

“Ah!”

The steward’s eyes sparkled.

“I heard briefly from Lord Nugent. That she wields a sword tremendously well and has high loyalty…”

“Ahem. Hans questioned me so much…”

Nugent interrupted the steward and glanced at the Grand Duke. The Grand Duke slightly frowned and said to the steward,

“Hans, could you provide a good room for this young lady as well? Please put her on a different floor from the sweaty men. So she can rest comfortably.”

“Of course, Your Highness. I have already prepared a small but very clean room.”

“Thank you. And clean places to rest and bath water for the rest of our knights and soldiers.”

“Everything is prepared. This Hans’ skills have not rusted.”

“Yes, yes.”

The Grand Duke showed a warm smile.

[This is the timeline separator]

Is this how a girl who has her own room for the first time feels?

When I opened the door, a cozy room was revealed, capturing the scenery of the Zedo garden of the northern mansion like a painting.

A bed as white as snow was placed on a pinkish white jade frame. Luxurious and elegant furniture made of white birch breathed a graceful breath into the space.

The pale jade-colored walls that look like wood at a glance. A tea set that looks like someone diligently prepared. A gray-colored fireplace. A white and fluffy rug of adequate thickness.

It was an overly cozy and beautiful room.

For the first time in my life, I soaked my body in a warm bathtub made of pink jade. It felt like the fragrant scent of water rising from the clean, hot water was caressing my whole body.

I crouched under the steaming warm bathtub and immersed my body and head in the water.

The only thing I could hear in the still water was the beating of my heart holding its breath.

My mind became at ease.

‘The Emperor’s own granddaughter has appeared.’

It’s probably, no, definitely a lie.

Because I am the only granddaughter of the Emperor in this world.

Was it a plot by the Grand Duke of the South, or a scheme by other kingdoms that want to take even the crumbs of this empire?

Unable to organize my thoughts that were tangled in several directions, I got out of the bathtub.

“I brought new clothes. I will wash the clothes you took off and bring them to you.”

A female employee’s voice was heard outside the bathroom. Then the sound of closing the door and leaving right away.

A clean new set of clothes was placed on the table in front of the bed.

It was a soft and slightly transparent blouse with a small flower embroidered in silver thread. A neat, light blue top with sleeves that seemed to flutter with every step.

‘This is the first time I’m wearing something like this…’

But the cotton clothes I had been wearing since the South were already too dirty and went straight to the laundry room.

‘I have no choice.’

The light blue blouse resembled the color of my eyes.

When I picked up the blouse, I saw a light jade-colored skirt that came with it underneath.

‘Ah. Did my pants also go to the laundry room?’

I have never worn a skirt before. What should I do?

But I can’t go around naked just because I feel awkward wearing it. Should I consider it fortunate that a dress didn’t come?

In the end, I wore that blouse and skirt. And putting on my unfinished new mask, I sat on the bed, feeling awkward.

Then, someone knocked.

The steward, Hans, was standing in front of the hallway. His eyes widened when he saw me.

“Ah, young lady. It suits you very well. I ordered this and that, not knowing the design of casual clothes that are popular in Zedo these days, but I’m glad.”

“This is the first time I’m wearing such nice clothes. Thank you very much.”

“Not at all.”

“But what brings you here?”

“The Grand Duke is looking for you. He told me to bring tea.”

[This is the timeline separator]

Holding the tea set Hans had prepared, I went up to find the Grand Duke’s study, which was said to be one floor above my room.

This gray castle, the Zedo mansion of the Belfast family.

From the stairs, the inside of the castle could be seen at a glance, from the entrance on the first floor to the high ceiling. Like the exterior, the interior also embraced a solemn elegance.

The interior, which mainly used silver marble, was luxurious yet plain. The colors that could have looked simple were combined with sapphire and green diamond decorations placed in the right places, revealing a sophisticated nobility.

If the southern Grand Duke’s mansion, decorated with gold, diamonds, and rubies, was splendor itself, this place seemed to be the history and dignity itself.

In fact, the history of the Delpast Empire is the same as the history of the Belfast family.

Delpast, the founder of the empire, built the empire together with Belfast, but later betrayed Belfast. However, instead of choosing rebellion, Belfast protected the north as a shield to defend the empire.

It was different from the Lahert family, the native nobles of the South, which was subordinated to the empire in the process of expanding its territory.

With such thoughts, I stood in front of the Grand Duke’s study. And as I was about to knock…

− The door swung open.

“Why are you so late…”

It was Arcadia who opened the door before I even knocked.

Upon seeing me, his eyes widened as much as Hans’.

“Vice Captain?”

He stared at me blankly for a moment, then opened his mouth.

“You… What’s with your clothes?”

“I apologize. They said I had to wash my shirt and pants, and I had no other clothes.”

He spoke with a slightly reddened face, somehow unable to look directly at me.

“Well, if that’s the case, come in.”

I must look quite unsuitable.

Hiding my embarrassment, I went inside.

I saw the Grand Duke buried in a black velvet sofa on a night-colored rug. He also widened his eyes upon seeing me.

‘Why did his ears suddenly turn red? Is he angry because I’m too late?’

“I apologize. I’m very late.”

“…No, sit down. I had something to discuss with Arcadia first.”

Unlike usual, the Grand Duke’s voice was slightly hoarse.

I placed the tea, which had a slightly sweet and refreshing scent, in front of the Grand Duke and Lord Nugent.

The Grand Duke spoke.

“It’s eronde leaves.”

“It’s the tea Your Highness liked when you were young.”

Arcadia replied.

“Indeed, Hans still thinks this is my preference.”

The Grand Duke showed a faint smile. Then he offered to me.

“Have a seat.”

“No, this is not a barracks, and I came here as an attendant. I heard you called for me.”

“I see.”

The Grand Duke sipped the tea slowly without looking at me.

“Esther. You heard what Lord Nugent said this afternoon, didn’t you?”

“Yes. I heard that His Majesty the Emperor’s… own granddaughter has appeared.”

Again, those blue eyes seemed to be exploring my reaction.

“As I thought. You took that to heart.”

After a brief silence, the Grand Duke opened his mouth.

“I talked with Lord Nugent. Although he doesn’t fully trust you, he said he would use you. Lord Nugent agreed as well.”

“Yes. Thank you.”

I bowed to Arcadia to express my gratitude. He looked at me with a slightly flushed face but with very serious eyes.

Was that all they discussed, that they would use me? Or were there other conversations I don’t know about?

“According to the rumors, she is a woman with noble green hair and golden eyes.”

“!”

I froze for a moment at Arcadia’s words.

“Green hair?”

The color of my mother’s hair that the blue dagger had shown, green.

“Yes. And golden eyes. The same eye color as the current Emperor and the late Crown Prince.”

“!”

“Why are you so surprised?”

I was at a loss for words at the Grand Duke’s question. But I tried to answer.

“I know that green hair is… a very rare hair color. Uncommon in the empire.”

“It was a color that could be seen very rarely only in the fallen kingdom of Ventus.”

Nugent said.

The Kingdom of Ventus. My mother’s country. A fallen nation that was subordinated to Delpast long ago and disappeared.

“Grand Duke, if that woman has green hair…”

“Do you think she might be His Majesty’s own granddaughter?”

The Grand Duke asked in such a calm tone. His indifferent voice made me flustered instead.

“As far as I know, the late Crown Prince’s wife, the saint of the fallen nation. I heard her hair color was green.”

I deliberately emphasized the word ‘heard’.

“How do you know that?”

Arcadia asked, seemingly surprised.

“Even I didn’t know.”

“You’re right, Arcadia. Her hair color was green.”

The Grand Duke replied indifferently as if he had seen it before. While fixing his blue eyes on me.

The Grand Duke knows, the color of my mother’s hair.

In fact, it was information that was hardly known.

Because it had been taboo to even mention the saint who had run away with the Crown Prince.

I also knew nothing about my mother until I saw the past through my mother’s dagger.

“It was Lahert who discovered the remains of the late Crown Prince. Is that why you know about it too?”

“…Yes.”

A lie.

Neither Lahert nor Medeia had ever spoken of such a thing out loud.

I closed my eyes without realizing it. And after a while, I slowly opened my eyes.

“Was it Lahert who brought that woman to the Emperor?”

The Grand Duke answered.

“According to Lord Nugent’s investigation, it was a man named Viscount Shumael. He has no significant connection with the Lahert family, and rumor has it that the woman was found collapsed in front of the viscount’s house. He discovered her by chance, and she told him she was a princess. She seems to have plausible memories as well. Stories about her grandfather, the Emperor, told by her parents. Things only family members would know.”

I see.

What a plausible scenario.

A woman who knows stories about the imperial family that even I can’t remember.

The Emperor who did not tolerate the love between the saint of the fallen nation and the imperial heir. The Crown Prince and the saint who ran away to achieve their love, fleeing from that Emperor.

Such parents told their child stories about the Emperor, who is the grandfather?

Did my parents ever tell me such stories?

Sadly, I don’t remember anything.

All memories before the age of five are gone. When I woke up in Medeia’s room at the age of five, I had no recollection of my name or who I was.

But the strange thing is, I knew about the history of the empire and stories of the past that I had never learned.

It seems that while I forgot my memories, my knowledge remained.

“Why do you suspect Lahert?”

The Grand Duke asked.

“Because hardly anyone knows about the saint. But if it’s Lahert, I thought it might be possible. Although I’m not certain.”

“Yes, we can’t be sure of anything yet. That woman could really be a princess.”

The Grand Duke gazed at the darkness that began to settle outside the window.

Arcadia spoke.

“Your Highness, you need to enter the palace early tomorrow.”

“I suppose so.”

The Grand Duke replied indifferently, his gaze fixed on the window.

“It would be better if she appeared claiming to be a granddaughter, so we could immediately verify with Lucella. Then not so many people would have to make a fuss.”

“He must be afraid. Afraid that it might not be true, that he might be disappointed again.”

The Grand Duke answered quietly.

‘The fear of being disappointed… Is that the Emperor’s feeling?’

“You should prepare as well, Lord Nugent.”

“Yes.”

Suddenly, I felt the desire to know. That feeling.

At that moment, the Grand Duke turned to me.

“Esther, would you like to come with us to the palace?”

“!”

I looked at the Grand Duke in surprise.

“Can I go there too?”

“Of course. Because you are my subordinate.”

“!”