Terran stood in the imperial reception room all night, waiting for dawn to break.

He had come late at night and asked to see the Empress, but to no avail. Unable to leave, he waited aimlessly.

Just being under the same roof as her in the imperial palace was reassuring.

Suddenly, he wondered how Grace must have felt here alone.

‘Did you feel like this too?’

It felt as if time was deliberately moving slowly to tease him.

He even hoped that perhaps Grace would suddenly appear first.

How must her heart have ached, desperately longing for someone who didn’t come no matter how long she waited? It must have hurt terribly. Beyond what he could even imagine.

Terran’s chest felt tight, making it difficult to breathe.

‘Do you know how hard it was for me to leave you and go to Basel?’

It was the first time in his life he had felt such sorrow. Even though Grace wasn’t his mother, it was as difficult as a child anxiously separated from their mother.

The further he got from her, the more acutely he realized that Grace was his sanctuary.

He was also overjoyed. Because there was someone who would happily welcome him when he returned from work.

Before, even after countless brushes with death, returning to the duke’s residence only left him feeling empty. Lying down on an empty bed was the only way he knew to comfort himself.

‘I am nothing without you.’

He acknowledged that his unstable self was completed by her. He also confirmed that he didn’t simply like Grace, but deeply loved her.

‘That’s why I can’t forgive myself. How could I forget you?’

Throughout the battle, he repeated like a mantra that he had to return to Grace.

And yet, when she was right in front of him, he hadn’t recognized her at all.

“Ugh…!”

Terran gripped the windowsill with both hands and hung his head. Soon, Rapha’s voice echoed like an auditory hallucination.

[Truly, Your Grace was like a wild dog. You would lunge at anyone who came close, swinging your sword as if to kill. Yet the young lady didn’t even blink, and embraced you. She seemed to have no fear from the start. I suppose that even if you couldn’t remember, you were still the man she loved, Your Grace.]

In fact, before completely losing himself to the smoke, he had desperately prayed not to God, but to Grace. To save him…

He had never begged anyone for his life before, but with her, he felt no shame.

Forgetting Grace was tantamount to dying, so he blindly begged to be saved. But he hadn’t expected his prayer to reach her, for her to actually appear before him.

“Ugh…!”

A tear fell on the back of his hand.

‘I miss you.’

He hadn’t cried even when his father passed away.

Though young, he had no time to grieve, burdened with the responsibility of carrying on the Courtois duchy. Now that same person was trembling with fear and crying.

Even though he was with her, he was always anxious that she might drift away from him.

‘I am nothing without you, I tell you.’

When had his feelings grown so deep? He had lost his entire heart to her, to the point where even he could hardly control it.

‘Wait just a little longer! We’ll meet soon.’

Terran whispered to Grace’s reflection in the glass window.

It was Grace’s sad face. Terran pressed his trembling hand against the glass.

But the illusion vanished without a trace. Instead, he saw the eastern sky gradually brightening.

As soon as dawn broke, Terran went out to the corridor and urged the servants. Bring the Empress or the Emperor, quickly.

* * *

The next morning, after being examined by a doctor, Vivian wept in her husband’s arms.

“I’m pregnant, darling!”

“That’s wonderful, Vivian.”

The couple savored the sudden happiness while holding each other tightly.

Vivian told her husband that Grace and Chainer had brought her good fortune.

“In life, there are indeed precious connections that help us. Just as you are such a being for me.”

“You are infinitely precious to me too.”

The couple shared a gentle kiss. Vivian and Emperor Karl were an exception in the imperial history where political marriages were common.

They had liked each other since childhood and continued to love each other as they grew up.

For this reason, those around them were even more saddened. When a child didn’t come easily to the happily married couple, people whispered.

That God was deliberately testing the perfect couple.

“We should share this joyous news with those two as well.”

“Yes, do that.”

Vivian left Karl’s embrace and headed towards Grace.

The more she thought about it, the more amazing Chainer seemed. How did she know? Was it because her heart was so pure that she could see?

Whatever the case, the two ladies were always helpful and brought her joy, surely a precious connection.

‘Should I give them a reward?’

Thanks to the riding outfit she wore at the equestrian competition becoming popular even in other countries like Rubek, even people living in the countryside knew the Empress’s face.

In simple terms, Vivian had become the most famous empress on the continent. Moreover, she became very popular among the imperial citizens, and invitations to attend banquets held at various imperial courts arrived several times a day.

“Lady Bizac?”

Vivian raised her voice as she entered Grace and Chainer’s room. She wanted to share this joyous news with them as soon as possible.

“Grace, Chainer?”

Vivian called their names repeatedly as she entered the room, but no one answered.

“Did they go for a walk?”

It was too early for a walk though.

Vivian looked around the room alone. If they had just stepped out briefly, she could wait. But then she noticed a single sheet of paper neatly placed on the table.

Vivian casually unfolded the paper.

“Ha! Love is indeed frightening.”

Vivian laughed dryly as she neatly folded the letter. How urgent must her heart have been to think of fleeing the palace?

‘Terran, what’s so great about that stoic fellow?’

He was just frustrating, being so oblivious and stubborn.

‘It’s fortunate that Grace loves Terran so much.’

Among her friends, he was the most pitiable after Aiden, but knowing his sister loved Terran put her mind at ease.

Just then, a maid entered and delivered news to Vivian.

“Your Majesty, Duke Courtois arrived late last night and suddenly requested an audience.”

“Duke Courtois?”

“Since Your Majesty had retired to your chambers, we couldn’t inform you.”

“You did well.”

‘What, has his memory returned? They just missed each other.’

No, this was a chance to really make Terran suffer. He had repeatedly refused her help, so she needed to irritate him a bit to soothe her own hurt feelings.

“Hmm, tell him I’m not ready yet, so he’ll have to wait another hour… no, two hours. I need to bathe, and it takes time to do my hair and dress, you know?”

“Understood.”

* * *

Lea and Chainer left their room as soon as dawn broke.

They had committed a great disrespect to Vivian, but their hearts were too urgent now to help it.

Moreover, with Chainer insisting on going to Luke, it became impossible to stay in the palace any longer. But a small problem arose.

“Chainer, why does it feel like we’re going in circles?”

“Mm, didn’t we come this way before?”

They had momentarily forgotten. The imperial palace wasn’t a place you could just walk out of once you left your room.

They had managed to leave, but the gardens, corridors, and palace structure were so complex that they couldn’t tell where anything was.

Even when they asked passing palace staff for directions, they kept encountering the same buildings.

‘This is maddening, it’s not like it’s our first time here…’

Well, back then they had been guided around. Or they had come with Terran.

At this rate, they seemed destined to wander the palace all day. The sun was already high in the sky.

“Chainer, let’s try going towards the garden.”

The main gate should be right past the garden. Lea took Chainer’s hand and headed for the garden.

‘I’m not usually this bad with directions.’

Today, it was as if they were bewitched, completely out of sorts. Or maybe they were just flustered at getting lost.

“Sister! This is…?”

“For heaven’s sake, this is the maze garden.”

Of all places to end up. The path seemed to lead out only to dead-end again, and the two kept going back and forth like mice trapped in a box.

Lea decided to pause for a moment and collect herself.

Her normal thinking must have been paralyzed by the obsession to quickly return to the duke’s residence. If so, she thought it best to suppress her emotions for a moment and try to regain her reason as much as possible.

When had it started? Whenever she thought of Terran, her reason was paralyzed and emotions took over. Perhaps it was since she had come to love him so much.

It wasn’t her first love, but it felt different from before.

Back then, her heart didn’t ache and burn so painfully and desperately. With Allen, everything had gone smoothly without any hardships, and she had simply felt happy.

But love with Terran seemed to tear at her soul – it was painful, but brought an equal measure of fulfilling joy and relief.

“Chainer, just a moment.”

Lea shook off her reverie for a moment.

She surveyed the maze again and calculated. Getting out of here would allow her to meet Terran even a second faster.

“Let’s go.”

Lea took Chainer’s hand and walked through the maze.

Perhaps thanks to her sharpened focus, they soon emerged from the maze and saw the yard and avenue leading to the palace’s main gate.

“We did it, sister!”

Chainer’s face lit up as the path came into view.

Chainer grabbed Lea’s hand and ran towards the gate. But they ended up running straight into a group of men.

Young men in impeccable suits. She had seen them before but couldn’t immediately recall when. Just then, one of the men approached Lea and Chainer, acting as if he knew them.

“Aren’t you the Baroness Bizac? You both know us, don’t you?”

“Pardon? Who are you?”

It seemed familiar yet not quite clear.

“I am Louis Valliere.”

‘The son of Duchess Valliere?’

To think he was the son of the duchess who had so harshly criticized Chainer for being of gypsy origin.

“We also have something to apologize to you ladies for… If you have time, shall we talk for a moment?”

Louis Valliere and his friends looked full of expectation.