Not long after, Philine delivered some news.

“The inspection team has had an incident!”

The block I accidentally touched came tumbling down. The Duke, who was listening to the report, started stacking the blocks again.

“Tell me more.”

The Duke nodded slightly as if telling her to continue. Philine continued her report.

“There was a magical power amplification phenomenon during teleportation. The bodies are being handled by the royal side, and the teleportation has been immediately closed.”

The Duke sighed deeply. With the National Foundation Day just a fortnight away and teleportation suddenly closed, the Duke had to leave immediately.

“I need to prepare right away.”

Upon the Duke’s words, Philine quickly left the room. The Duke, who carefully placed me on the floor, spoke.

“It seems challenging for you to go to the capital together this time. We have to go without using teleportation.”

“I have to go to the capital directly?”

“Yes, it will be a tough schedule for you.”

Since there was only a fortnight left, everyone would be traveling by horse. I was aware that with an itinerary like that, having a young child like me around would only be a burden.

‘If I can’t go this time, when will I be able to go to the capital?’

A sigh burst out. Whether it was because he saw my expression full of disappointment, the Duke gently brushed my hair and said,

“Instead, there will be a birthday celebration for Octail Crown Prince next month; take her with you then.”

“Yeah!”

In that case, it was even better.

Rather than simply going to the capital, attending the imperial banquet officially would increase the chances of meeting the Crown Prince.

When I returned to my room, I explained the current situation to the silver snake. Fortunately, the silver snake seemed to understand the inevitable situation.

“Really? That’s a shame! Too bad!”

‘Why does he look completely unbothered…’

Ignoring the suspicious attitude of the silver snake, I lay down on the bed.

‘So, the price didn’t appear.’

Since the original story didn’t change, there was no price for me to pay.

I thought I could prevent the incident by simply changing the date of returning to the capital or stopping Deivan. However, that wasn’t the case.

In the midst of that, a question suddenly arose. It was the same in the original story, and looking at the current situation, it seemed like an accidental incident…

‘Was it really an accidental incident?’

The Duke’s preparations for the trip to the capital were completed in no time. The next morning, we were all at the front gate to see off the Duke.

“Dad, do you have to go quickly?”

“Yes, I’ll be back soon.”

After hugging the Duke tightly, I looked around.

‘As expected, they’re riding horses.’

For traveling, horses were much faster than carriages. Since I wasn’t going along, the choice was made to move quickly on horseback.

‘But where is Deivan?’

Mikael and Clemens were there, but Deivan seemed to be nowhere in sight.

“Where is Deivan?”

“He must not have woken up.”
Clemens shrugged his shoulders and answered. Mikael didn’t even glance in my direction until Clemens asked. It was only then that he said, “I haven’t seen him since last night.”

Eventually, the Duke and his entourage had to leave without seeing Deivan. We stood at the front gate until the Duke’s figure was no longer visible in the distance.

As we were about to turn around, Deivan was seen belatedly running from the back gate.

“Diane!”

Deivan urgently called me. Clemens and Mikael, who noticed him, scolded him when he arrived.

“Father just left. Where did you go?”

“Where were you rushing off to?”

Whether he ran from a distance or not, Deivan bent over and caught his breath. I was curious about where he had been since dawn.

Deivan, gasping for breath, spoke to me abruptly.

“Kid, it wasn’t me! I didn’t do anything! I’ll explain everything!”

“What are you talking about? You said you didn’t do anything?”

“What nonsense is this again?”

Clemens and Mikael furrowed their brows. I quickly realized why Deivan was so anxious.

I promptly grabbed Deivan’s hand, as if to catch it.

“Deivan, did you forget that you promised to play with me today?”

“Huh?”

“Diane, me first…”

When Clemens called me, I quickly responded, “Later, brother!”
Mikael, with an uninterested gaze, glanced at me and went straight up to the room. I quickly took Deivan to my room, thinking he might blabber nonsense to Clemens.

“Deivan, what if you try telling everything to my brother!”

As soon as we entered the room, I found myself nudging him without realizing it. I had no idea where I mustered the courage from. Perhaps it was due to my impatient heart. Deivan, too, seemed unaware of his mistake as he couldn’t say a word.

I sighed deeply and slumped onto the bed. Under Deivan’s eyes, a heavy shadow seemed to loom.

Come to think of it, according to Mikael, he hadn’t been seen since last night.

“But where have you been since dawn?”

“Oh, just around the teleport area for a while…”

“Why there?”