Adelheit, Desiree, Bathildis, Nürnbergian. A trembling hand traced over the signed part of the page.

The dark red ink had long since dried, so even if she tried, it wouldn’t smudge or blur.

It looked just like a bloodstain.

Was it a coincidence? That her name was ‘Adelheit’ and the name written in the book was ‘Adelheit’.

‘How much I practiced to call that name with a human voice.’

Valentin’s voice gently echoed in her ear. Adel startled and closed the book.

Even with her eyes tightly shut, the noble name of the woman seemed to crawl persistently through her mind.

Nürnbergian attached to the end of the woman’s name. An Aryan born of a woman from the Nürnberg family.

Nürnberg was one of the ancient royal families, so the previous owner of this book was inevitably a princess.

‘I wanted to call your name properly when we met.’

Once again, Valentin’s voice was heard like an auditory hallucination. She sprang up from her seat and looked around.

She checked if he had returned by any chance, but in the room there were only her and her shadow.

The shadow cast alone by the torch seemed to mock her.

“……”

A sharp thought aimed at her heart.

She thought it would be fine as long as the name he called was hers, even if his words and actions were sometimes meaningful.

As long as that name was hers, and what he saw was ultimately her. But now.

It felt as if she herself was wearing someone else’s shell. Not Valentin.

“…I said!”

Adel raised her head, startled by the sudden voice.

There was a commotion just outside the tent.

Someone seemed to be insisting on seeing her, and the soldiers were struggling to stop him.

“I’m just here to see my sister. Do I need your permission every time I want to meet my family?”

A sharp retort was heard again. Adel immediately recognized it as Charlotte’s voice.

“However, the Grand Duke…”

“Are you going to say I can’t see my sister unless the Grand Duke allows it? Let me tell you in case you’re making a mistake out of ignorance, I am her elder sister.”

“……”

“Or. Are you claiming that it’s okay to block the Crown Princess in deference to a mere Grand Duke’s wishes?”

Strictly speaking, Charlotte was not the Crown Princess. She was only the Crown Prince’s fiancée and a strong candidate.

But low-ranking soldiers often failed to understand this difference.

The positions of the high and mighty sometimes seemed all the same to them, and rumors that their marriage ceremony was approaching had spread throughout Denburg.

The sound of a soldier backing away slightly at Charlotte’s threat was heard.

“Ah, no… I’ll immediately inform the Grand Duchess that Your Highness has arrived.”

“There’s no need for that.”

Adel lifted the curtain herself and stepped outside the tent.

Outside, darkness had long since fallen, but torches lit here and there made it as bright as day.

The expressions of the soldiers split exactly in half at her appearance.

Half looked as if they were seeing a savior, while the other half frowned.

That half seemed to have received orders from ‘someone’ to prevent her from coming out of the tent.

“It’s been a while, Charlotte.”

As Adel greeted her with a calm face, one of Charlotte’s eyebrows twitched.

But soon, perhaps conscious of the surrounding gazes, she smoothly raised the corners of her mouth.

“How impertinent. Surely you don’t intend to not offer even a cup of tea to family you haven’t seen in a long time?”

“My maids haven’t arrived yet. If you have business, it would be good to speak briefly.”

“Come to think of it, I don’t see Grita.”

The smile on Charlotte’s lips deepened a little more. At the same time, Adel’s fingertips trembled.

The confrontation wasn’t long from the start. Adel had never once in history managed to break Charlotte’s stubbornness.

“I know some news you might be curious about, but it’s not something to discuss here.”

“…Come in.”

As Adel carefully stepped aside, Charlotte strode in as confidently as if it were her own tent.

Adel noticed her looking disapprovingly at the luxurious furniture installed inside the tent.

“Sit down.”

Adel said, slightly pushing aside the book and parchment she had spread out on the table.

Although she knew Charlotte could also read ancient Aryan, somehow she felt that the letters in this book would be unreadable to her.

The book seemed to have a magic spell cast on it to erase its presence.

As she expected, Charlotte glanced at the table but showed little interest in the old books.

“It’s passable.”

Charlotte coldly evaluated as she sat in the chair Adel offered. Adel was rather grateful for her consistency.

Facing her beautiful half-sister, she felt a strange sense of relief at being freed from complicated thoughts.

However Charlotte interpreted her expression, displeasure clouded her cold eyes.

In an instant, her face filled with venom as she muttered,

“It’s too good for the likes of you. I guessed as much, seeing you holed up in here regardless of the situation outside.”

“…You’re being abrupt. Please state your business clearly.”

“I hear you use only one old woman brought from some backwater as your maid. Did you expect such a person to be your ears and eyes in the imperial palace? You didn’t seem so naive when you were young.”

“……”

In fact, she had brought Margaret because she didn’t need eyes and ears.

Charlotte gritted her teeth, seemingly disgusted by Adel’s impassive reactions to whatever she said.

“Can’t you even understand criticism now? I’m reproaching you for your ability being still, consistently, without a single improvement, terrible. Just like your husband who covets the imperial throne without knowing his place.”

Adel finally raised her eyes at that. Charlotte wore a triumphant expression at her reaction.

“What, are you saying…”

The imperial throne? Did Valentin finally get caught up in the Emperor’s schemes? Or really…

Seeing Adel’s expression freeze in shock, Charlotte finally smiled broadly.

As if such a face was the clothing that suited her best, with satisfaction.

“Judging by your expression, you had no idea?”

It would be a lie to say she hadn’t suspected such a development at all.

But now was the time to claim ignorance even if she had known.

“I really didn’t…”

“I didn’t expect you to. But really, where did you leave Grita?”

Adel clenched her fist at the mention of Grita. She shouldn’t show signs of being easily swayed by Charlotte’s words.

There were always traps lurking in her way of speaking.

“Why suddenly ask about Grita’s whereabouts…”

“I was just curious why you weren’t with Grita. Nothing more.”

Adel lowered her gaze without showing the tension on her face.

She might be able to control her expression somehow, but she wasn’t confident in completely hiding the trembling in her eyes.

“Grita left Ansgar. It’s been a while.”

“Is that so?”

Charlotte’s expression openly showed loss of interest at Adel’s calm response.

She looked down at her well-groomed nails and blurted out.

“Well, I’ll be honest. Wouldn’t you say you saw a beggar who looked like that woman in Prague?”

For a moment, her breath caught. Charlotte continued to chatter as if she hadn’t noticed anything.

“She must have been loyal to you, even going against mother, so I found it strange that you suddenly pushed her away. It’s not like I didn’t know you kept her close all this time.”

“……”

“Yes, that’s really all.”

The moment she saw a hint of anxiety on her expressionless half-sister’s face, Charlotte realized she had cast her fishing line accurately.

While Adel was looking elsewhere, a bright smile bloomed and faded on Charlotte’s small face.

Just like a brilliant poisonous flower that blooms and withers in an instant.

Valentin did not return until very late at night.

Adel tossed and turned alone on the large bed.

The words Charlotte had spat out were tangled complexly in her mind, making it impossible to fall asleep.

Grita is in Prague looking like a beggar…

Yes, it’s a central city where all sorts of people gather, so that much could be explained, but.

If she left of her own accord, she should have at least lived comfortably. What did she do with all that money?

No, why did she leave Ansgar Castle in the first place?

What on earth happened that made her abandon her, all of this? Her head boiled with all sorts of thoughts.

“You’re not asleep?”

As she sat up at the sound of someone carefully lifting the tent curtain and entering, Valentin asked with surprised eyes.

Adel stared at him blankly before answering candidly.

“I couldn’t sleep.”

“Ah. So you’ve been waiting for me all this time?”

He smiled pleasantly and came closer, sitting on the edge of the bed.

His clothes and breath carried the sharp smell of alcohol.

It was because the banquet hosted by the Emperor had continued until dawn.

Adel realized that his face looked a bit tired. She also noticed an inexplicable anxiety in his eyes.

Valentin leaned forward and buried his head in her pale nape. He tightly embraced her slender waist with both arms and let out a long sigh.

“If I had known you’d be awake, I would have cleared everything away and come back earlier.”

“Don’t you have to go out again?”

“I do. I just came in to change clothes.”

Why do humans love alcohol so much?

He sighed as he slid his hand along her spine.

“You’re not drunk, are you?”

He let out a short laugh.

“If I were in a state where alcohol affected me, I wouldn’t be tired. The drunken antics of humans are endless.”

As Adel squirmed ticklishly at the laughter that burst from her nape, he released her from his embrace.

Soon, a servant returned carrying a basin of water.

Valentin rose, removed his shirt, and wiped down his upper body with a wet cloth, relying on the dim light.

As he moved, his perfectly sculpted back muscles tightened and rippled.