Regina asked with a flushed face, not taking her eyes off the box.

Instead of explaining again, the small man took out a golden envelope from his bosom. The purple wax seal bore the wolf symbol of the imperial family. The count and his wife’s eyes immediately widened to the size of lanterns.

Regina snatched the envelope and opened it.

The brief letter clearly began like this:

“Oh my goodness! Darling, did I ever tell you? That His Highness the First Prince kept looking towards our Regina at that party!”

Priscilla let out a scream of joy as soon as the small man delivered the letter and disappeared.

Regina read and re-read the letter, her heart swelling. It was an invitation for Regina Peliesse to attend an upcoming play for his inner circle.

Regina’s eyes began to sparkle, as she had always been unable to secure the most premium designs when getting dresses made, being overshadowed by the young ladies of the great noble families.

Even her father, who usually lavished support on Regina, had tightly closed his wallet since the raven left home.

What a timely gift this was! A handwritten letter from none other than First Prince Boloniko!

What could this mean?

“This is no time for me to be like this. Our Regina might become the prince’s partner!”

Priscilla, looking more excited than Regina, ran up to her study, which she entered maybe once or twice a month at most.

She was about to write a letter to her maiden family, the Pelts.

Although ties had been nearly severed due to Count Peliesse’s failed business ventures, that was the only place money could come from now.

With just one letter from First Prince Boloniko, Priscilla had already imagined Regina becoming the prince’s consort and eventually the empress.

Count Peliesse stared at Regina, who had begun flipping through an expensive jewelry catalog, with a complicated expression.

It was unclear at the moment whether the capricious First Prince Boloniko’s favor would be beneficial or detrimental.

But…

“So when on earth will my heart medicine be made!”

“I bought a whole five years’ worth! Do you know what I had to sell to pay for that amount, Count!”

“Now, now, everyone. The reason I’ve been so busy lately is that His Highness the First Prince…”

Right now, the only name powerful enough to deal with the influx of great nobles was Boloniko Yufris. That tremendous name and nothing else.

Thus, to get through the moment, Count Peliesse willingly added a bit of bluster to the facts to overcome the crisis.

‘It’ll be fine.’

For example.

“Ho ho, prince consort is nonsense. Just think of it as them meeting with mutual interest−. That should suffice. It’s a good age, isn’t it?”

Just enough to stimulate the curiosity of the capital’s great nobles with a very fresh and secret scandal.

The black mansion.

Butler Gustav was about to leave the bedroom, as Clard had summoned him but remained silent for a long time.

Lately, Clard had often looked Gustav up and down as if about to say something, then turned away.

Looking in the mirror, he looked the same as usual, and his clothes were always the same, so it couldn’t be because of his aged appearance.

All he could guess was that his sensitive master was being capricious as usual.

But today, as if he was going to say something, Clard called Gustav to stop once more as he was about to leave with the empty dishes.

“Butler.”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

“Why is breakfast like this today?”

Was he someone who used to complain about meals? The master was always in pain and had no appetite, so it didn’t matter what was prepared.

Recently, however, things had changed as the lady personally showed her skills by making or helping with meals almost every day.

As it happened, someone else had made the food today, and the butler had brought it up.

The butler thought for a moment and looked at Clard, who was gazing out the window with a “Hoo−” expression.

Clard Yufris standing by the window every day with the curtains open and sunlight pouring in.

It’s something to live and see.

“Does it not suit your taste? It seems the lady’s skills have been just right for Your Highness’s palate lately. Judging by how keenly you notice.”

That didn’t seem to be the answer he wanted, as Clard’s straight brow furrowed slightly.

“Did I share the bed yesterday too?”

“Pardon? Yes.”

A question asked every day. The same answer every day.

“How old is Yuan Peliesse?”

And after a long hesitation, the question that came out was baffling.

As if he thought it was a ridiculous question himself, Clard asked again, still looking out the window.

“Exactly. How old is she?”

“I believe she is four years younger than Your Highness.”

A deep sigh erupted.

Between the large hands that were ruffling his hair as he dropped his head, sighs of relief resembling laughter continued to burst forth.

She was indeed past the age of majority.

Just her appearance was so youthful. But even so, nothing changed.

The problem was that he unfailingly shared the bed even when his physical condition shouldn’t allow it, and she didn’t refuse but rather said she did it because she liked it.

And the biggest problem was that he had no memory of those beastly nights.

Another question was tossed to Gustav, who was standing awkwardly.

“Where is she now?”

“Who do you mean?”

Clard hesitated for a moment.

He couldn’t bring himself to throw the word ‘raven’ that came out habitually to Gustav.

The word that flowed very slowly between his quivering lips was finally, instead of a name or raven.

“…The former crown princess.”

It was the title ‘former crown princess’. But Gustav’s face brightened as soon as he heard those words.

“She went to the forest to look for some herbs.”

“Herbs?”

Clard’s eyebrows drew close together.

“She left the mansion without my permission?”

Sorry for walking around without permission, I was wrong, when will she ever learn…

Gustav smiled mysteriously at the sudden change of expression.

“Are you worried?”

The healthy half of Clard’s face visibly flushed.

His languidly upturned eyes crumpled at once.

“Wor−ried?”

“Are you not?”

Though it wasn’t meant to carry such great meaning.

Butler Gustav tilted his head and tried to recall when Yuan had left.

“It was a distance close enough to walk, and she said she had received permission from Your Highness in advance.”

“From me?”

Ah.

‘I’m planning to go out with Henna just in front tomorrow.’

‘So.’

‘…That’s right.’

A brief memory of last night flashed very quickly over Clard’s head.

He thought ‘just in front’ meant at most the vast garden as large as this massive mansion.

‘Next time, I should ask more precisely.’

Clard’s face hardened as his thoughts reached that point.

‘…Why should I ask precisely? Shouldn’t the person asking for permission give accurate information? Make it so I don’t have to ask.’

Gustav, seeing Clard’s mood seem to worsen dramatically, suggested just in case.

“If you’re curious, would you like to go out? It’s right in front.”

“Who’s curious.”

Clard, who let out a snicker, shot a subtly sensitive gaze out the window.

The sun was high in the sky.

Gustav nodded as if to say, ‘That’s right.’

It was absolutely impossible for Clard to leave his bedroom and go outside the mansion during the day when the few servants were busy with all sorts of chores.

“I’ll tell Hille to come for the morning examination.”

Clard, who had been standing with his arms crossed leaning askew against the wall, began to pace around the spacious bedroom.

Gustav, not knowing what was going on, closed the bedroom door and left, pretending not to see his inexplicably anxious master.

Lunchtime had already passed.

Yuan smiled contentedly at the basket full of cleansing herbs.

This medicinal herb, also called green dandelion, was characterized by much larger and darker green flower clusters than ordinary dandelion flowers.

When the thick stem is split in half, white sap comes out, and when the stem and flower are ground together in a mortar to extract the juice, it can be used not only to disinfect wounds but also for cleaning.

Although it grows abundantly in mountains and fields, it’s similar in color to weeds, so you have to look carefully to find it.

“My lady!”

“Dr. Hille.”

“You should have gone with me for things like this!”

“You need to take care of His Highness, Dr. Hille. And this is not something I’ll share with you, I have a separate use for it.”

“What? I’m disappointed?”

The attending physician Hille was one of the people in this mansion who had the most favorable impression of Yuan, along with Henna.

Hille, who had been like a useless sack of barley, found his original duty of examining the former crown prince Clard Yufris easier since Yuan’s arrival.

Of course, it was also because Yuan was from the famous ‘Peliesse’ family, and whenever they discussed medicine or pharmacy, he felt like he had met an old friend and became excited to talk.

“What are you going to use it for?”

“This is just between us, Dr. Hille.”

Yuan whispered into Hille’s ear, lowering her voice extremely even though there was no one listening.

Yuan was thinking of making a special medicine by combining this cleansing herb with a few other herbs that have good purifying effects.

A medicine that could clean at least the small west annex by herself, if not the entire grand and pitch-black mansion.

“That’s really a genius idea. You could really erase anything with that! Let’s see, how about adding lye? We could ask the stable keeper to make brushes.”

“I’ve already asked Mr. Mazarin to make brushes a little bigger than toothbrushes.”

“As expected, you’re quick.”

Yuan couldn’t help but laugh out loud as she watched Hille push up his round glasses and run excitedly to the herb storage, his ponytail bouncing like a spring.

−Thud!

Just then, she heard something hitting from above the garden where she was standing.

Yuan froze in surprise, holding her basket, and looked up.

−Swish−!

Now, as if there was no intention to hide, the blackout curtains inside Clard’s bedroom window, which had been wide open, closed with a loud noise, covering the interior.