It was a moment when Larisa and Shiod were standing under the wall of the house where they used to live with her mom, chatting about old times.

“Hey, you came again?”

“Oh, Aunt Linda!”

Larisa exclaimed and ran toward her. Without giving Shiod a chance to intervene, Larisa, who had tightly embraced Linda’s apron, poked her face out and greeted her.

“We met last week, and here we are again!”

“You really…”

Persistent. Although Larisa didn’t intend it, Linda thought that Larisa had come to see her. After a moment of contemplation, Linda sighed and said,

“Do you want to come to our house for a moment?”

“Yes!”

Shiod silently followed as if he were just a simple attendant. Perhaps it was because the two of them were dressed more simply than before? Unlike the last time, Linda, instead of letting Larisa sit at the dining table, offered her a seat and served tea.

“I already told you yesterday… I don’t know much. But I’ll tell you everything I know since it seems like you’ll come again.”

Gulp.

Shiod stifled a laugh at the sound of Larisa swallowing saliva.

“At first, your mom seemed to plan on giving birth to you and hiding for the first few months. She said there was a place to return to. Someone who would come looking for her…”

‘Could that person be my dad?’

As Larisa looked at Linda with hopeful eyes, Aunt Linda spoke with a sympathetic expression.

“But as time passed, no one came. Not even the child’s father, let alone the family. Marina seemed to gradually give up. But, yes, that necklace.”

“What? This one?”
“Right. They said they couldn’t sell that.”

‘Surely, it must be someone precious.’

Larisa was curious about the identity of the portrait inside the necklace.

“When I said I would sell it, they warned me that if I did, people trying to kill Marina would come first.”

‘People trying to kill Mom?’

Larisa was surprised, her eyes widening.

“Please tell me more details.”

Shiod pulled the chair, sat forward, and said. As his face approached, silver eyes flashed beneath the hood. Unlike before, Linda felt that the presence of this man was gradually becoming enormous.

Linda, with a somewhat vague face, continued her story.

“Marina said she ran away because of people trying to kill her. That was, of course, because of the child. But Marina said she didn’t want the child of that person. Her life because of a child…”

“Enough.”

Shiod embraced Larisa, who turned pale. Linda, revealing the whole story without hiding anything to hear a sincere narrative, didn’t consider the side effects of the magic. Holding Larisa tightly, Shiod whispered to her ear.

“Larisa, you haven’t heard anything.”

“But…”

“Rest for a moment.”

After erasing Larisa’s memory and putting her to sleep with magic, Shiod sighed, still looking at Linda with a hazy face.

“Go on.”
Linda’s story was a familiar one. The tale of a woman whose life was ruined by a high-ranking man, forced to flee, leaving everything behind, when she felt the threat to her life from the man’s wife due to having an unwanted child.

However, Linda never revealed who the high-ranking man was. But Shiod had a good guess. Shiod gently laid the sleeping Larisa on her bed and quietly opened the locket to confirm the portrait.

“Empress…”

It was undoubtedly the face of the Empress. The maids of the Empress were often chosen from those who resembled the Empress. So, it was somewhat natural for a maid to have a portrait of the Empress from her younger days.

The fact that the family crest was not engraved on the locket indicated that this item was merely a tool for familiarizing oneself with the Empress’s face before entering the palace.

So, it couldn’t be sold. Selling the portrait of the Empress would likely bring the Empress’s wrath before the Emperor’s protection.

If Marina was indeed an attendant and a prospective maid of the Empress, it was only natural that she would be abandoned by her family. All the family members would have lined up for the Empress. In that case, the only family Larisa could find would be the Emperor.

“What do you think?”

Gwenevere, having heard all the stories through Shiod, responded without hesitation.

“It’s not possible.”

“What do you mean?”

“We can’t let Larisa be taken to the palace. Pretend you don’t know.”
Larisa, brought with a magician’s oath by Marina, cannot be taken by just anyone. Even if it were the Emperor.

“But what if Larisa’s biological father is the Emperor?”

Gwenevere, momentarily taken aback, soon nonchalantly replied.

“We’re not sure about that yet, right?”

“Then should I investigate?”

“…….”

“I can do it without getting caught. I’ve done this kind of thing for about a millennium. How about it?”

“The cost?”

“One date with me?”

“Alright.”

However, even if Larisa were indeed the Emperor’s daughter, Gwenevere had no intention of yielding. Allowing Larisa to be taken to the palace would inevitably involve her in unnecessary political struggles, which was not the happy life Marina desired.