Terran had to wait two more hours in the morning, on top of last night, to meet Vivian.

Although anger surged to the top of his head, he was able to endure it somewhat by talking about various things with Emperor Karl.

He said that these days he had become a teacher of young noble children, teaching them academics. Then, as if he had forgotten a major matter, he said:

“Oh right! Vivian is with child!”

“Pardon? Congratulations, Your Majesty.”

“Do you know who was the first to tell me about Vivian’s pregnancy?”

“Could it be Chainer?”

“Huh? How did you know that?”

‘How would I know? Because they live together.’

Terran was smiling, but he was so impatient that his mouth twitched. Afterwards, Karl asked if Chainer had some strange ability.

Terran cut off the flow of conversation, saying she only got a few right out of ten. If he said that, the conversation would drag on.

Finally, Vivian, having finished her preparations, appeared with her maids.

“Greetings to the Empress. I heard you are with child. Congratulations.”

Terran was annoyed at Vivian for dawdling, but he maintained his courtesy.

“Thank you. By the way, Duke, how are you feeling? You seemed out of your mind then. Not even recognizing your fiancée. Tsk tsk.”

‘Are you enjoying having something to tease me about for life, Vivian?’

There was no need to go out of her way to watch the scene where he had caused a commotion like a mad dog, not even recognizing his own woman.

“Thanks to my calling the best doctor to treat her, Lady Bizac has become quite healthy.”

“I am at a loss for words due to the Empress’s grace. But now I will take Grace and protect her myself.”

“I hope so too. But… something came up, didn’t it?”

“What do you mean?”

Vivian approached Terran with a smile and whispered quietly in his ear. She lowered her voice as much as possible so that Karl’s ears would absolutely not hear.

“Your fiancée ran away this morning.”

“What?”

“She left a letter saying she couldn’t stand it anymore because she missed you so much. You dumb dog who couldn’t even recognize the woman you love!”

Unlike the shocked Terran, Vivian turned away from him with an elegant smile. Soon after, Emperor Karl gave a long speech to Terran.

“Duke Courtois is an important talent of the Rubeck Empire, so from now on, do not refuse my proposals. It’s not just a matter of the Duke’s well-being, so don’t be stubborn for no reason.”

“Your Majesty…”

Terran quietly called out to the emperor, but he either didn’t hear or continued with what he had to say.

“If something happens to the Duke, how much will the morale of our imperial soldiers fall?”

“Your Majesty!”

“Ah! You startled me!”

Karl cried out as if having a seizure, apparently greatly surprised.

“I apologize. I will take my leave for today at this point. It seems I have an urgent matter to attend to. I will visit again soon.”

“I… see.”

Terran hurriedly finished his greetings and left the main palace.

‘Damn! We crossed paths. That damned Vivian, she should have told me earlier.’

Deciding to get revenge later, the urgent matter now was to find Grace and Chainer. If they left the palace in the morning, they should have arrived at the Duke’s residence by now.

Terran grew impatient again. It was more painful not being able to see them right away while they were so close.

Terran walked quickly towards the main gate.

This was because no one except the imperial couple was allowed to ride horses within the palace. The same went for carriages. However, he encountered a group of young men in front of him.

“You know, Grace Bizac? She’s really pretty up close.”

“Hey! Don’t even dream about it. Do you know who her fiancé is?”

“They’re just engaged, not married.”

“Then that means there’s still a chance. For all of us.”

“But isn’t that slow-witted lady of gypsy origin?”

“That’s right. But her face is quite pretty.”

Terran stopped abruptly in his tracks. He turned to look at the men passing by, chattering among themselves, and shouted.

“Stop right there.”

At his voice, the men stopped walking and turned around. Some of them seemed to recognize Terran, as their faces changed color.

“When, where, and how did you meet her?”

“Pardon? What do you mean?”

“My fiancée.”

Louis quickly recognized the Duke and understood his words.

“Well, that is…”

As Louis Valliere began to answer, Terran immediately grabbed him by the collar.

“Shall I make you understand with words? Or with my fist?”

Terran’s temple throbbed as he gripped the collar.

* * *

Allen handed Sara a promissory note.

“This money will allow you to live comfortably wherever you go.”

Sara accepted it without refusing. She was just a discarded card that had lost its usefulness to Allen.

That didn’t mean her love for him had changed. If only her feelings had cooled and she could tremble with a sense of betrayal.

“I’ll stay for a few days. I need to pack my things.”

“Do that.”

A filthy love for a vile man. If she couldn’t end it, they might as well go to hell together.

“Is that woman your new mistress?”

“That’s right. A noble, no less.”

Allen spoke proudly, as if to remind Sara of her position.

‘Why was I so foolish? To believe in a man who rolled around with me even after making a marriage promise with the young lady.’

“Sara, I’m saying this out of concern, but it’s better not to do anything rash wherever you go.”

“Rash? You mean like how you conspired with the Touajo Police Chief and the cargo ship captain to frame Richard Hamilton? Is that all? You’re also the one who instigated the killing of young lady Lea, aren’t you?”

“Shut up! Don’t you dare speak of that out loud. No one in the world would believe your words anyway.”

Allen hated Sara’s bad habit of bringing up his misdeeds at the drop of a hat. It was enough to make even what little affection he had left disappear.

“Why do you think everyone in the world will believe your words? Anyway, I won’t reveal your sinister schemes.”

“What?”

“I mean, don’t do anything rash like trying to kill you or me.”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean I’m not a fool. I won’t just sit back and take it without any countermeasures.”

Sara made her last struggle. She had one habit ingrained from her time at the poorhouse. Whenever food or clothing came into her hands, she would hoard anything and everything.

For instance, the letters that Allen exchanged with Touajo and the cargo ship captain. He might think they don’t exist, but she had picked up and collected them all.

That wasn’t all. To gain Allen’s favor one last time, she had visited Lea Hamilton’s villa.

It was the villa they used to go to together every summer when they were young, but now it had become an abandoned house.

‘If you knew what I found there, you’d be shocked.’

Lea and she used to enjoy playing with clay at the villa.

It was an extension of playing house, but they would secretly steal cookie cutters from the kitchen and press them into clay, pretending to bake cookies.

The shapes were diverse – stars, hearts, houses, butterflies, even people.

Despite the long time that had passed, the hardened clay still remained. And among them was a very strange shape.

[Dad, give me your necklace. I want to press it into the clay here. I’m going to make a key-shaped cookie.]

Lea had pestered Richard for the necklace around his neck, and he had given it to her with a hearty laugh.

‘The clay impression of Richard Hamilton’s necklace was still there. It’s truly a miracle.’

She brought it back to the capital and made a necklace. Now all she had to do was find where the memoir might be in this house.

‘I’m going to use that memoir to destroy you.’

Sara nursed her anger towards Allen.

* * *

Lea and Chainer safely returned to the Duke’s residence thanks to Louis lending them a carriage.

When she and Chainer returned, she was so surprised to see James, who was always calm, on the verge of tears.

Pauline, Mary, and Sonya also burst into tears, having worried a lot in the meantime. But Terran was not at the Duke’s residence.

[The Duke went to the imperial palace last night. Didn’t you meet him?]

James was rather disappointed. It seems when one is impatient, paths can cross like this.

After everything had settled down, Lea went out alone for a walk in the fir forest. The weather was still chilly, so she had to wear a thick shawl.

[Young lady, shall I go with you?]

Pauline offered to accompany her, but today she wanted to be alone for some reason, so she declined.

[Comfort the crying Chainer. We didn’t think Luke would have gone down to the estate.]

Lea looked curiously at the ground that had become wet from the melted snow.

Has winter already passed? It seems like just yesterday when she cried in the rain in the Duke’s garden for the first time… Time has changed so many things.

Now even this fir forest is no longer unfamiliar.

Lea looked curiously at the new sprouts breaking through the frozen ground. Just then, his voice came carried on the cold air.

“Grace!”

It was Terran’s voice. Has his memory returned? Lea instinctively turned her body to look for him.

And finally, she saw Terran standing far away.

“Terran.”

Lea ran towards him. Then Terran also ran towards her.

She didn’t care that her shawl flew away in the wind, her hair got messy, or that her shoes were sinking and getting ruined in the mud.

Tears welled up so much that she could barely see ahead as she ran towards him, but her feet knew better than her where Terran was. Even though her heart was pounding as if it would burst, she didn’t feel tired at all.

Just being able to see Terran again and hearing him call her name made everything alright.

The two ran towards each other without stopping. Soon, Lea jumped into Terran’s arms.

She thought she would have so much to say when she met him, but only tears came out.

“I’m sorry. That I…!”

Terran lamented with his face buried in her hair.

“Don’t forgive this madman who couldn’t recognize you when you came to save me.”

“No, I’m just grateful that you’ve come back to me.”

At Lea’s words, Terran showered her face with kisses. How could he have done such a thing to such a precious and important being without being crazy?

Terran was desperate to feel her scent, her touch, even her voice, as if trying to be forgiven for his sin. Now, instead of saying sorry, he was about to tell her what he really wanted to say.

“I love you. I love you so much that I can’t bear even a single day without you.”

“I love you too, Terran.”

Hot tears endlessly seeped through between their overlapping lips.