“I’m sorry. I think I was too hasty. If I had known it would hurt this much, I would have been more careful…”

What on earth. Even with her feverish mind, she knew he was blaming himself, but she didn’t have the strength to ask why.

But Valentin continued as if he had accurately sensed what question she held.

“It seems breaking the seal on the magic recklessly affected your body. I should have waited until you were ready, but I was too impatient. It’s all my fault.”

“Ma, gic…?”

“I wish I could be in pain instead.”

Valentin gently stroked her forehead with the back of his hand, as if looking at something very pitiful. It wasn’t an illusion.

Every time he infused a bit of magic, the pain seemed to subside for a moment.

Tears flowed endlessly from her eyes, flushed with fever.

“How…, hot, cold…”

He looked down at her with complicated eyes.

“Relying too much on magic isn’t good. Recovering naturally is better for humans.”

“It, hurts, like I’m going to… die…”

“…If it goes wrong, you might be in pain for even longer.”

“Ple, ase…”

As she looked up at him pleadingly with her face hot and flushed, he sighed and grasped her chin, sitting on the edge of the bed.

She felt his calloused thumb brush over her swollen lips.

He suddenly leaned down.

Surprised by the shadow covering her view, she opened her eyes wide, and Valentin found her lips askew, as if to soothe her.

“Mmph.”

Magic flowed abundantly through her parted lips. She hurriedly swallowed the ice-cold magic.

Feeling a burning thirst, she pressed her lips a little closer.

Her hand clutching his collar tightened instinctively. A little more, please just a little more…

He didn’t hesitate and poured out as much magic as she wanted.

Adelheit lost consciousness feeling the force rushing like a torrent.

When she opened her eyes again, it was early morning.

The fever had completely subsided, and the pain that had been searing her flesh had disappeared without a trace.

Dawn had broken, but it seemed the sun hadn’t fully risen yet. The air was blue and cool.

She awkwardly looked around the quiet bedroom. For the past few days, Valentin had been by her bedside whenever she opened her eyes.

It was surprising how his absence now felt strange, as if it had become so natural.

“Oh my. Your Highness! Are you feeling better?”

Margaret, who had entered silently, approached with a fuss when she saw her awake.

She had dark circles under her eyes, as if she had been very worried. Adelheit smiled faintly at the wildflowers filling both her hands.

Unlike the nobles who sent pretty flowers with colorful ribbons, these were quite fresh and fragrant.

“I’m fine now. Did you pick those flowers yourself?”

“Ah, the Grand Duke gave them to me. On my way here, His Majesty was looking for him. He had me bring them.”

“His Majesty? At such an early hour?”

“The hunting festival starts today. He called him to the stables to give him a horse for the hunt.”

Margaret said as she removed the wilting flowers from the vase.

Unlike a few days ago when she was excited that the Emperor seemed to favor our Grand Duke, her tone wasn’t entirely pleased. Adelheit tilted her head.

“Isn’t it good that His Majesty is giving him a horse?”

“It’s good. Of course, it’s good, but… There’s been a strange rumor going around lately.”

“A rumor?”

“It’s a rumor that used to circulate only among the long-loyal vassals of Ansgar. Somehow it got out and is being maliciously spread…”

“What kind of rumor is it? Can you tell me?”

Margaret nodded with a very reluctant attitude.

It seemed she judged there was no reason to hide it, since Adelheit was now also a member of Ansgar and had to deal with other nobles in the imperial palace.

Margaret pulled the chair next to the bed close and sat down.

“Well, where should I start? You probably know that the previous Ansgar Grand Duke, that is, Master Edmont, gave up the crown prince position and inherited the Ansgar Grand Duke title.”

“Ah. I’ve heard about it. It was a famous incident, wasn’t it?”

The previous empress was the only direct descendant of the extinct Ansgar line.

Therefore, when she had children, it was decided that the first would rule the empire and the second would govern Ansgar.

But Edmont, who should have become emperor, suddenly gave up the crown prince position to his younger brother and demanded the title of Ansgar Grand Duke.

It happened over thirty years ago, but such shocking events tend to be talked about for a long time.

“We servants were just glad that the position of Ansgar’s master was finally stable. The previous empress was also relieved that the reliable Edmont would take charge of Ansgar. If only a woman could have been the head of the family… If that were possible, she would never have accepted the position of empress, even in death.”

Margaret paused for a moment, as if recalling the past.

When Margaret was five or six years old, the previous empress would have been a young lady close to twenty, so it was understandable that she spoke in such an admiring tone.

“Anyway, since Master Edmont was educated as the crown prince, he was skilled in every aspect. Of course, since the land of Bistreben itself was full of magical beasts and the soil was barren, no matter how well it was managed, it was never abundant. We thought that was why the master kept postponing his marriage.”

Margaret took a breath and continued.

“What noble young lady would come to this frozen land to marry someone of Master Edmont’s standards?”

“Then you’re saying it wasn’t such a simple problem?”

Margaret shook her head.

“One day, Master Edmont brought a newborn baby. He declared that he would never marry and that this child would be the heir to Ansgar. His own flesh and blood, he said. The swaddled child had black hair and golden eyes, bearing the imperial family’s symbol for all to see.”

“…That was Valentin.”

“Yes. That’s right.”

Margaret’s expression grew increasingly uncomfortable.

This loyal maid seemed to find it utterly dreadful to be revealing her family’s behind-the-scenes story with her own mouth.

Even if it was at the behest of the mistress she served. Her voice lowered a bit more.

“Master Edmont resembled the previous empress with red hair and golden eyes, but hair color can skip generations. But then a nasty rumor started circulating.”

Margaret’s face became quite strange, as if she absolutely couldn’t utter these words with her own mouth. She spoke slowly with her face scrunched up as much as possible.

“That Valentin… was the illegitimate child of the then Second Prince… that is, the current Emperor Joseph.”

“Ah.”

“They say a woman who was the Second Prince’s lover became pregnant and was abandoned. She was from a noble family, but was disowned because of it. There were rumors that it might be that woman’s child… It was a noisy time. After the master brought in Duke Oscar in the same way, such talk disappeared, though.”

Since Oscar had red hair and golden eyes. Adelheit tried to recall the face of the man that had already faded from her memory, but failed.

He only remained as an impression of looking quite shabby compared to his brother, even in their worst times.

And in the final moment…

She clenched her trembling fingertips tightly.

“Are you saying that rumor is circulating in the imperial palace?”

“Actually, there were always those who suspected. The current Crown Prince Mikhail takes entirely after Empress Ernst, while Grand Duke Valentin, as you can see…”

She recalled the scene she had witnessed herself a few days ago.

The Emperor and Valentin standing side by side would have looked like father and son to anyone’s eyes. Just as Crown Prince Mikhail standing beside them looked only like the Empress’s son…

“The maids say the issue of Valentin’s succession rights was recently discussed in the council. His Majesty said he wanted to leave the possibility open for both… Oh, Your Grace.”

Margaret startled and looked up. Valentin was leaning against the doorway of the bedroom.

He looked at Margaret with cold eyes, then jerked his chin towards the door.

Margaret, with an uneasy expression, hurriedly tidied up and left.

“You didn’t need to be so overbearing. I was the one who asked her to tell me…”

“Ask me directly. Now that you have all your memories, I would have answered anything.”

“…”

“Has your fever gone down?”

He strode across the room with his long legs and placed his hand on her forehead.

His hand, cool with the chill of the outside air, felt pleasantly cool.

Adelheit pulled his hand down and lightly rubbed it against her cheek out of habit. As soon as she did so, she froze, realizing what she had done.

It was a mistake. The habit from when she was sick in bed still…

He took a short breath, then finally laughed softly.

“Acting so lovely, how do you intend to take responsibility?”

“…I know you won’t do anything.”

“Well. It might be better not to trust too much.”

As he lifted her chin with his long fingers, heat rose to her lips now out of habit.

Her round, light green eyes trembled unsteadily. Valentin looked at her for a long time.

As if all her trembling was very beautiful and delightful.

Soon, he lowered his head and kissed her lips lightly. It was barely a brush, separating immediately, but the magic was definitely transmitted.

“Try to endure with just this today. It’s a busy day.”

He said with a slightly mischievous smile. He placed a thin package on her lap.

Adelheit immediately recognized the seal on the package as that of the capital’s most famous tailor.

How on earth? Not only was the cost of commissioning clothes an issue, but it was rumored that even a princess had to wait due to fully booked appointments.

“I commissioned it as soon as we arrived in the capital, and it arrived last evening. Open it.”

Adelheit carefully unwrapped the package. The soft touch of fabric was the first thing she felt.

The navy velvet dress was beautifully embroidered with delicate embroidery.

Underneath were gloves, handkerchiefs, a fan, and even a small hat with feather decorations. Not one item looked inexpensive.

“This is.”

“You were worried that you might not have enough clothes, weren’t you?”

He said in a nonchalant voice.

“Actually, I wanted to let you rest until today, but the Emperor insisted on finding you.”