Lily ran frantically, running and running. Her legs trembled and her breath came up to her chin, but she couldn’t stop.

She wanted to get as far away from Baron Benjamin’s mansion as possible. Though she kept running, wanting to escape from that bastard Fredick, ironically, her head was full of Fredick.

More precisely, it was filled with the curses he had spoken. She thought it would be forgotten a little if her body was tired, but it wasn’t. Rather, the memories came back more vividly and tormented her.

‘To think that Fredick was the one who sent the carriage away at the bookstore.’

That itself was surprising, but what was even more frightening was the feeling that his threat to send her mother to the Whissen Kingdom if she didn’t listen to him wasn’t just a simple threat.

Her bright brown hair, let loose, flew wildly in the wind. Every breath she took stung as if someone was scratching her throat.

“Aagh!”

Lily, who had been running aimlessly without setting a destination, finally fell as her legs gave out.

Her palms, elbows, and knees scraped against the rough ground stung. Lily grimaced as she dusted off the dirt on her palms and elbows and examined her wounds. Fortunately, the wounds weren’t deep. She wanted to check her knees too, but she couldn’t lift her skirt on the street, so she just stood up.

Her knees hurt and her legs were trembling so much that it was difficult to walk right away, so Lily leaned against the wall to stand.

Though her body was tired, she felt a little relieved having escaped far from that hellish place. If she had stayed there, she would have collapsed unable to bear the mental stress.

Lily muttered, looking at the dark night sky.

“…I want to go far away like this.”

But that was impossible. Not only would the empire’s laws not allow it, but the biggest reason Lily couldn’t leave Fredick’s side was her mother.

She was the only one who could take care of her mother, whose body and mind were not whole. She could never do such a despicable thing as abandoning her only precious family.

“Still, I won’t go back today.”

It was her last remaining self-respect. If even this was trampled on, Lily was determined that she would fall into a deep swamp of despair from which she could never escape.

However, she faced a big problem at the same time.

“Where… should I go?”

She had nowhere to go right away. All the people she had been close to turned their backs after her father died. There were some people she greeted and associated with after marrying Fredick, but she wasn’t close enough to suddenly visit them late at night and ask for a place to stay.

The fact that there was no place to stay other than the foundation Fredick had made made her feel even more depressed, but Lily tried to comfort herself.

“I can stay at an inn.”

She didn’t have much money left after renting the public carriage, but it was enough to rent a shabby inn room.

“Okay, let’s do that.”

Having decided on a destination, Lily walked vigorously as if she had never been depressed.

The Duchess of Maximilian held a small welcome party for her proud second son who had returned as a hero.

The scale of the party was large and splendid, making the word ‘small’ seem out of place. Not only the nobles who were usually close to the Maximilian ducal family, but also nobles who wanted to be seen favorably by them all attended in succession.

“To deal with the infamous Salaman tribe. I knew that the young lord’s swordsmanship was excellent, but I didn’t know it was to this extent. It’s truly amazing.”

“That’s right. I can’t express how proud I am that someone like the young lord is in the empire.”

The nobles praised Herald’s achievements until their mouths ran dry. While the Duke and Duchess of Maximilian smiled contentedly, Herald, the actual protagonist, wasn’t happy at all. Rather, he found it annoying and bothersome. The necktie choking his neck and the buttons were suffocating.

“When will this end?”

Hearing Herald’s complaint, Hamilton Maximilian laughed and put his hand on his shoulder.

“What can we do? Boasting about their children is the joy of parents’ lives. You’ve done as you pleased for the past 4 years, so do as our parents want for a while. That’s the duty of a child, isn’t it?”

“I know.”

He knew well, that’s why he obediently attended the party. If he didn’t know, or if he had intended to pretend not to know, he would have run far away long ago without attending.

Still, this insufferable welcome party should end before his patience runs out.

Herald, who was drinking champagne with an irritated frown as if everything in the world was bothersome, spotted Dillon lingering at the entrance of the party and his eyes sparkled.

When Herald found out that Lily was being followed, he ordered Dillon to find out who was behind it. He wanted to do it himself, but since he had to attend the welcome party, he had no choice but to entrust it to him.

The fact that Dillon had come here might mean he had found out something, so Herald immediately approached him. Dillon also spotted Herald and bowed his head in greeting.

“Why are you out already? Don’t tell me you’re trying to escape?”

The subsequent question was so ridiculous that Herald chuckled and folded his arms.

“I haven’t run away yet. And if you didn’t want me to come out, you could have come in. Why are you fidgeting like a puppy that needs to use the bathroom?”

“When did I fidget… Well, it did feel similar…”

Dillon scratched his head and continued.

“And how could I, a commoner, enter that place?”

“Why not?”

“Pardon?”

“Is there a law that says commoners can’t enter the party hall? This is the first I’ve heard of it.”

As Herald tilted his head genuinely confused, Dillon quietly laughed.

Right, this is what the captain was like.

It was also the biggest reason why Dillon and the other border guard members came to follow Herald.

“More importantly, I’ve found out what you ordered.”

“Wait a moment.”

Since there were too many ears listening here, Herald took Dillon out to the terrace.

“Now tell me. Who ordered the tailing of Baroness Benjamin?”

Herald had thought from the moment he discovered that someone was following Lily that the second prince would be behind it.

Of course, he didn’t think the second prince would directly assign someone to follow Lily. He must have asked the nobles who trust and follow him. Who could that noble be?

“The culprit who assigned someone to follow Baroness Benjamin is none other than her husband, Baron Fredick Benjamin.”

Herald, who had been recalling the list of nobles on the second prince’s side in his mind, raised his eyebrows at the unexpected name.

“Who did you say the culprit was?”

“Baron Fredick Benjamin, the husband of the baroness.”

He had naturally thought the culprit would be among the nobles on the second prince’s side, but to think it was the husband. Herald, feeling deflated, sighed softly and looked down at the garden shrouded in darkness.

Dillon, watching his reaction, asked:

“Shall I find out why Fredick Benjamin ordered someone to follow his wife?”

“No need.”

What Herald wanted to know was not the domestic affairs of the Benjamin baronial family, but why the second prince was digging into that door. He didn’t need to know what kind of problem existed between the Baron and Baroness Benjamin. He didn’t want to know either.

His mood was already low from attending an unwanted party, and now even what he was sure of had gone wrong, so his irritation surged.

“More importantly, let’s return to the party hall now, Captain. The protagonist shouldn’t be absent for too long.”

Dillon urged him, not knowing he was fanning the flames. At this, Herald tilted the corner of his lips crookedly and grabbed the end of the terrace railing.

“Dillon.”

“Yes?”

“Explain well to my parents.”

“What…!”

Dillon was startled when Herald threw himself over the railing and looked down.

Herald, who had safely landed on the ground using the bushes as a buffer, waved his hand at the half-dazed Dillon before disappearing leisurely into the darkness.

The place Lily headed to was a shabby shopping street far from Royal Street where noble mansions were gathered. Even at this late hour, the street was bustling with people, most of whom were commoners.

Lily entered the smallest and shabbiest inn among several inns. She was worried about not having enough money, but fortunately, she was able to get a room.

Although it was a shabby room with nothing but a bed, which even creaked and had a moldy smell from the yellowed blanket, it was more cozy and comfortable to Lily now than the bedroom in the Benjamin mansion.

“I’m hungry.”

As her mind relaxed, the hunger she had forgotten came rushing in. It was natural to be hungry since she hadn’t eaten dinner, let alone breakfast and lunch.

The money left after renting the inn room was only 1 shilling. The only food she could order with this money was vegetable stew. It was an unimpressive stew with only onions and potatoes, but it was quite edible when eaten while hungry.

As Lily was filling her starving stomach, she looked up when someone put down a mug of beer.

“I don’t know what you’re depressed about, but eat this and cheer up.”

The innkeeper, who met Lily’s eyes, said with a smile. A warm hospitality emanated from the smile.

“When you’re depressed, drinking alcohol makes you feel better.”

Lily is 22 years old this year. Although it had been two years since her coming-of-age ceremony, she had only drunk alcohol once until now.

Even then, she drank wine to celebrate her coming-of-age ceremony, but spat it out in disgust at the astringent sensation that filled her mouth.

Seeing my reaction, my parents laughed loudly and patted my head, saying their daughter was still young.

The faint memory that suddenly came to mind made her mouth bitter. It hurt even more knowing that she would never see that scene again.

Lily painfully buried the bitter memory and looked at the beer mug with foam rising. She too had heard the story that drinking alcohol when depressed makes you feel better. She didn’t know if it was true, but where there’s smoke there’s fire, so it must be somewhat true.

Thinking like that made her curious. The desire to forget the conversations she had with Fredick made it even more tempting.

Should I try drinking it?

Lily, who had been staring intently at the beer mug while contemplating, slowly reached out her hand.