Litania looked around inside the tent once and then turned to walk outside. The Crown Prince was absent.

‘I don’t really need to wait for the Crown Prince here. If I end up getting into another argument with the Princess, it’ll just be tiresome. It’s better to just go back.’

Since the Prince had already seen her, he would relay the message to the Crown Prince. They weren’t close anyway, so that should be fine. As Litania was about to leave the tent, Prince Vapor stopped her.

“Where are you going?”

“I’m going back to the palace. The hunting festival is over, isn’t it?”

“In those clothes? It’s not like you’re advertising that you were attacked by a leopard.”

At the Prince’s words, Litania looked over her attire. Come to think of it, she remembered being scratched by twigs here and there while being chased by the leopard.

Since Orbis’s attitude had been so calm, she hadn’t realized it, but Litania’s riding outfit was in a half-ragged state.

“But I don’t have any clothes to change into.”

“If you touch my clothes, I won’t let you off easy.”

“…I’ll give you my clothes instead of sister’s.”

When Herna, who had been lying down, reacted sharply, Vapor handed over his coat and shirt that were hanging on the coat rack.

Litania received the clothes with a slightly surprised look. She hadn’t expected the Prince to lend her his clothes at all.

‘Is he afraid of getting scolded by the Emperor?’

Litania entered the changing room located in one corner of the tent. She could see the ceremonial uniforms of the Princess and the Crown Prince hanging beyond the thick cloth.

‘So this is where they changed into their hunting clothes.’

After finishing her brief observation, Litania took off her torn jacket and changed into the shirt. Maybe because Vapor was a man even though he was young, the clothes were a bit big.

‘How do I cover the front?’

Unlike women’s blouses, Vapor’s men’s shirt had no buttons or ribbons to fasten the front.

Litania thought about asking the Prince to lend her a cravat as well, but decided against it, thinking she’d only be criticized for being fussy when she was just borrowing clothes.

‘Well, the coat will cover it, I guess.’

Fortunately, the coat was long enough that she wouldn’t need to change her pants. As Litania was about to fasten the coat, there was a sound of fabric being parted, and Crown Prince Perus entered.

“Eek!”

“You’re alive?”

Litania, who was reflexively trying to cover herself and back away, had her hand grabbed by Perus. She panicked, afraid the coat might slip off, and firmly grasped the coat collar with her other hand.

“What are you doing?”

“What were you doing only to show up now!”

“I fell off a cliff and got lost before coming here. I wasn’t going to hunt anyway…”

“If you were safe, you should have said so!”

“That’s why I came to say… Let go of my hand. It hurts!”

Litania winced as her grabbed wrist started to ache, due to Perus not controlling his strength in his excitement.

“Are you hurt?”

Seeing Litania’s frowning expression and the scratch on her cheek, Perus pulled at the coat, causing Litania to scream. At the same time, the Crown Prince also flinched in surprise and froze.

Because she was wearing Vapor’s buttonless shirt, her body was visible even when the collar was closed. Fortunately, it seemed only her face was scratched, as there were no wounds on Litania’s body.

“…”

As Perus’s hand lost strength, Litania took the opportunity to cover herself with both hands and quickly fled to a corner. Perus remained frozen for a moment before belatedly realizing the situation and abruptly turned his back.

“Put on, clothes.”

As Perus, with reddened ears, left the changing room, Litania sat down, smoothing her fluttering chest.

She had been startled when he suddenly rushed in, grabbed her wrist, and even tried to remove her clothes, but fortunately, it seemed Perus had no other purpose than to check if she was safe.

‘Was he that scared of being scolded by his father? Why is he overreacting like this?’

Having forgotten that it was the Crown Prince who had been hunting the black leopard that had pounced on her, Litania fastened the coat with a puzzled feeling.

“Oh my, Lady Litania!”

As soon as Litania returned to the annex and saw Snow’s face, she felt the tension melting away.

Indeed, Snow was the only one who truly cared about her.

As Litania called Snow’s name and stretched out both arms, Snow ran over without even putting on shoes and led her inside.

“Goodness, what happened? Lady Litania, please come in and take a warm bath right away.”

“Snoooow.”

“Yes. Your Snow is right here, so please don’t worry.”

As small hands patted her back, Litania’s nose crinkled, feeling strangely emotional. She really needed to forget about marriage and think of a way to escape the palace with Snow somehow.

‘Maybe we could just run away together… Snow has good handcraft skills and a good eye, so should we start a dress business together? I want to do that!’

While Litania was patting Snow’s small head, Snow picked up Vapor’s coat and shirt as if handling something dirty, tossed them aside with her fingertips, and sat Litania in a steaming bathtub.

“Is the water temperature okay?”

“It’s paradise…”

“That means it’s fine, right? I’ll put those away and bring your nightgown, so please relax and enjoy your bath, Lady Litania.”

When Litania nodded, Snow kicked Vapor’s coat that had fallen to the floor, clearing it away, then scurried out and came back with a soft nightgown.

The room was cozy, the water was warm, and cute Snow was by her side. Litania felt Snow’s small hands washing her hair as she freely shared what had happened at the hunting grounds.

“So I encountered a black leopard, and I was so scared I couldn’t move my feet.”

“Oh my, how dare it frighten you, Lady Litania. The Crown Prince was bad. He deserves to die.”

“…Why are you suddenly cursing the Crown Prince?”

“You said the arrow in the black leopard’s eye belonged to the imperial family, right? Princess Herna always hunts foxes, and Prince Vapor is too timid to shoot arrows head-on, so it must have been the Crown Prince who shot it. He endangered you by letting the black leopard escape, so even cutting off his head and body wouldn’t be enough.”

“Snow, has your language gotten a bit harsh?”

“Oh dear, I’m sorry. It’s my master’s influence.”

“…Have I been speaking that harshly?”

Litania was a bit perplexed, but decided to let it go because of Snow’s cute smiling face.

After finishing her bath, Litania sat in an armchair by the fireplace, sipping the hot chocolate Snow had prepared for her, and continued her story.

When she recounted how Orbis had saved her after she fell off the cliff, but refused to take her to the tent because she had rejected his proposal, and how he had mocked her as she tried hard to find her way, Snow’s expression became strangely distorted.

“He really is a strange person. No, not a person. Anyway, I really don’t understand.”

“It’s alright if you don’t understand. Lady Litania, you don’t have to.”

Snow patted Litania consolingly with words that were somewhat comforting, somewhat not, and handed her a soft cushion. As Litania leaned back, burying herself in the soft cushion, Snow massaged her feet to relieve her fatigue.

“Mm… And then when I arrived at the tent and was changing clothes, the Crown Prince came in and…”

“Did that fellow see Lady Litania’s body?”

“No, he probably didn’t. The situation was so… No. Did he?”

Come to think of it, his ears did turn red. So did he see after all?

‘No, but he’s my elder brother anyway. Though he’s a stranger to my original self.’

As Litania furrowed her brow trying to recall the memory, Snow became indignant.

“We really should separate that fellow’s head and body!”

“Snow, that’s disrespectful…”

Litania thought Snow’s attitude was strangely different when talking about Orbis and the Crown Prince, but feeling drowsy from Snow’s skillful foot massage, she closed her eyes without saying anything more.

Snow carefully combed the hair of Litania, who had fallen asleep before she knew it, and gently picked her up.

Snow, much smaller than Litania, carried her to the bed without showing any sign of strain, laid her down, covered her with a soft blanket, and patted her stomach.

“I hope Lady Litania becomes happy soon, together with my master.”

Although both the ball and the hunting festival had ended in disaster, they say that if you wait, the storm will pass. Litania thought that now that two major events in her life had passed, peace would finally come.

But it wasn’t so.

“Move to a different palace?”

“Yes, it’s an order from His Majesty the Emperor.”

This time, he didn’t just send a directive, but personally sent the head chamberlain to inform her.

Litania looked at Snow with round eyes, but the boy clapped his hands with a bright smile.

“That’s wonderful, Lady Litania. You’ll be able to stay in a better place for a while!”

“I suppose so. For a while, right?”

Even though she was an adopted daughter, the Princess had nearly met with misfortune by being chased by a black leopard that the Crown Prince had let escape during the hunting festival. It must be a kind of consolation to bestow a new palace. Once the commotion dies down, she’ll return to her neglected life.

‘I can’t refuse anyway… Let’s just enjoy it.’

Moving to a new palace would also mean an increased budget, which would lessen Snow’s burden. Litania stroked Snow’s small head and asked the head chamberlain.

“Where is the new palace that I… that is, where I will be moving to?”

“It’s the Glass Palace right next to Princess Herna’s Rose Palace.”

Oh, for heaven’s sake.

Litania gritted her molars.

‘Is this not consolation but a strategy to infuriate me?’