“Come to think of it, we chatted without proper introductions, didn’t we? It’s my first time sharing such personal details with strangers.”

I smiled elegantly, wrinkling my nose.

“At this rate, I might be giving you a back scrub at our second meeting. Right?”

The knight looked aghast, perhaps realizing the influence of my name or recalling his earlier outburst about a husband.

The knight faltered, his face drained of color. He moved his lips silently, pretending to rub his forehead while shooting a pleading look at his fellow knight.

But his colleague, busy assessing the situation without even a groan, ignored him.

Left alone on the battlefield, the knight’s eyes darted around in shock.

“I, uh, that is, I didn’t mean what you’re thinking. How could I dare to speak carelessly about Duke Mifidian-”

Snap-.

At that moment, I closed my fan and smiled sweetly.

Ding. You’re out.

“May I ask your affiliation and name? I’d like to faithfully report what I heard from you to Duke Mifidian.”

“A-Are you saying you’re going to tattle? That’s not befitting behavior for a noble lady-”

“I’ll manage my own dignity.”

Ugh, the knight swallowed a groan, stumbling as his words failed him.

His pale complexion and nervously trembling eyes. Just as I felt a sense of triumph swelling in my chest-

“Damn it!”

Regrettably, the knight fled without looking back. Abandoning his fellow knight.

Huh, a bitter laugh escaped me. It was a moment that reminded me that merely aging doesn’t make one an adult. To flee so immaturely in this situation.

At that moment, my eyes met those of the dumbfounded colleague.

Seemingly judging that avoidance would only worsen the situation, the fellow knight bowed deeply to me with a miserable expression.

“I deeply apologize, Countess. The price for speaking nonsense without recognizing you and offending you-”

“I bear no ill will towards you, sir. One can choose friends, but not workplace colleagues.”

At my consideration, the fellow knight scratched his head sheepishly as he raised his head.

“You may go now.”

At the dismissal order, he too seemed to have been on pins and needles, hastily leaving the scene.

I folded my arms and sighed deeply, watching them become dots at the end of the corridor.

“Why did I do that?”

Getting worked up and lashing out at childish slander born of an inferiority complex. And over gossip too absurd to take seriously.

But.

‘Don’t cry alone.’

If it made me feel that overwhelmingly full sensation, isn’t this much acceptable?

Something changed after our conversation on the beach. A sense of psychological distance closing, perhaps.

When our gazes crossed with Lilien between us, his eyes seemed gentler, as if a layer of coldness had been peeled away.

Even bad feelings are a kind of attachment, and I could feel his once biting words and actions softening like a gentle breeze.

As time passed, it seemed my story of crying while reading my father’s note had pierced through the thinned and weakened surface at some point.

The next day, Lilien seemed concerned that I was feeling unwell. Then he asked if I had met Edmond, whom he had sent.

‘I read a letter my father left behind yesterday.’

So I tentatively asked first. Like when I had divulged about the will when Devon made an unauthorized visit.

The response was unexpected, and an unforeseen achievement.

‘Didn’t I say we’re in the same boat?’

The sense of belonging from breaking through someone’s defenses and entering their boundary was as warm and ticklish as a spring breeze.

‘It’s a bit embarrassing too.’

I smiled shyly, scratching my cheek with my fingertip and rolling my eyes at the air.

‘Then am I now in the position of your friend, or something like that?’

Suddenly reminded of the situation, I snapped out of my reminiscence and immediately became sharp.

“How long has it been now?”

Why isn’t this knight coming? Standing crookedly and tapping the marble floor with my forefoot, I set out on my own.

About 1 minute after walking down the corridor like that.

A door I was passing by opened slightly.

I instinctively turned my head, and my heart sank at the golden glint in the doorway.

Moreover, the black hair flickering in the dim light of the corridor was…

“A moon bear?”

A thick beard below the chin and messy broom-like hair covering half the face. A body as round and massive as a ball.

The shaggy black hair covering down to the nose parted like a crack, revealing eyes as varied as opals.

The man quickly covered one eye, shimmering like mother-of-pearl, with his hand.

“Did you just call me a bear?”

Surprisingly, his voice was stern and powerful. It even felt strangely arrogant.

I bowed my head, stepping back slightly and smiling gently.

“I apologize. I didn’t mean to-”

“So I didn’t mishear. Your attitude is disrespectful.”

“Pardon?”

“In the past, you weren’t the type to make such impertinent remarks without hesitation.”

…Should I become a poacher at this point? Just go for it and say I mistook him for a bear?

The man seemed to be in pure amazement, but lack of malice doesn’t mean it’s acceptable.

“Is a man hiding behind a door to startle a woman not rude?”

“…”

The man lowered his eyes and pressed his lips tightly together. Unable to refute, he spoke in a sullen tone.

“…Forgive my rudeness.”

Isn’t this where you’re supposed to apologize?

For a moment my eyes almost crinkled, but I endured with a deep sigh.

“So why is Your Highness alone in a place like this, without your attendants?”

“…How did you recognize me?”

“How could I not?”

Because we’re childhood friends.

Crown Prince Jake.

The Emperor’s only son and sole heir to the throne.

Once called the future of the empire, he was a once-in-a-generation genius.

He had a brilliant youth, but sadly, God was fair. Unlike his excellent mind, his wooden puppet-like body lacked both magical and physical power.

Proud as he was, he tasted life’s first failure and frustration, avoiding official events and secluding himself to handle state affairs.

So despite being a strategist with deep knowledge and excellent negotiation skills, his qualifications as a ruler were questioned every year.

All the ministers must have felt the gloom of serving a future monarch without substance.

No matter how great one’s personal prestige, the criticism of the privileged class cannot be disregarded, so the Crown Prince only attended festive events like the recent banquet quietly.

That’s why I didn’t recognize him at first.

Moreover, Jake in his childhood had milky fair skin and wasn’t this bulky. Though that breathtakingly beautiful mother-of-pearl-like eyes and arrogant attitude remained the same.

Perhaps it’s because I saw the Emperor’s warm side. Although there weren’t many memories deep enough to remember, he felt familiar and comfortable.

I stepped back and bowed deeply in respect.

“I greet the noble little sun of the empire.”

Vaguely recalling the old friend from childhood who glared at me with snake eyes saying ‘That’s my daddy’s lap!’ when I sat on the Emperor’s knee at our first meeting.

When I raised my head, Jake had a dumbfounded expression.

“You really have changed from when you were young. You’re even composed despite your outrageous divorce.”

It was a well-meaning exclamation that crumpled my gentle mood. Well, Jake is of such noble birth that he needn’t consider others’ feelings when speaking, and he lacks social skills. But that doesn’t mean he can be rude.

Seeing no reason to continue the conversation, I straightened up and flashed a bright smile at the Crown Prince still standing in the doorway.

“Then this outrageously divorced person will take her leave, Your Highness.”

“Wait. I have something to ask you.”

Strangely intrigued by his unprecedentedly desperate voice, I turned back to the Crown Prince with a coy look. Then I suddenly sensed something suspicious.

“Don’t tell me you dismissed the knight guiding me and followed me because you had something to ask?”

His eyes, revealed through hair drooping like a rain-soaked dog, shook roughly.

Right, no wonder he wasn’t coming back.

What a troublesome way of doing things. I hid my disgruntled feelings and smiled faintly.

“I’m deeply moved that the noble Crown Prince has something to ask of me that warrants such measures. What might it be?”

“Your words have thorns.”

As I maintained only an overbearing smile, the Emperor sighed heavily enough to sink the ground. Muttering quietly that I was prickly.

“I saw it.”

So, what? As Jake kept building suspense, I was starting to get on edge.

The Crown Prince clutched his chest and dropped his chin diagonally. In his downcast eyes, a tender heterochromia rippled. His face quickly reddened as if shy.

“An angel…”

“…”

Ah, yes. May you have a passionate love.

I turned away with a clouded expression after a slight bow, my dress hem fluttering. I had no time to listen to a rude bear’s love story.

“Wait, Etricia Vuel-!”

At the plaintive cry, the sound of a door bursting open was heard.

As I leisurely turned back, opening my fan, the bear- no, Jake who had jumped out stretched out a trembling hand pitifully.

“For the sake of our childhood friendship, please hear my request. You’re the only one who can do this.”

He looked like a foolish bear trying to hide in grass, unaware of his own size.

Tsk, I’ll let it slide, being the magnanimous person I am. I glanced at him coyly with an aloof gaze and faced Jake.

“If it’s something I can help with. Is it related to that angel?”

“Yes, it happened at the banquet.”

A hallucination of fluffy clouds billowing above Jake’s head seemed to appear.

And when the reminiscence ended, I was wearing a dumbfounded expression.