She grabbed my hand tightly and looked up at me with tear-filled eyes, saying emotionally:

“Thank you so much. For truly saving me when I was about to be buried alive… It’s terrifying to think I could have opened my eyes in a coffin.”

“Opening your eyes in a coffin? That wouldn’t have happened. And it’s thanks to your father’s devoted care that you were able to recover like this. Otherwise, something terrible could have happened before I even had a chance to treat you.”

At my words, the gravedigger who had been crying for a while spoke up instead.

“No, doctor, you truly are our family’s lifesaving benefactor. My wife died early, and this child is my only remaining blood… If this child had also left this world, I would have taken my own life as well.”

“Dad, how can you say such things? You still have to live on.”

“What use would my life be without you?”

“Dad…”

The father and daughter reaffirmed their love for each other, and overcome with emotion, they embraced once again and began to shed tears.

Seeing that sight made me feel touched and a bit choked up, and my eyes started to get wet as well.

“We should get going now.”

Ian said it was time to leave. It was fortunate. If we had stayed any longer, I might have been swept up in their mood and burst into tears while hugging them.

Ian and I walked out, seeing them off.

Gravekeeper flowers were still forming colonies throughout the cemetery. The flowers that glowed fluorescently at night were now shimmering with white petals, basking in the sunlight.

“The gravekeeper flowers are pretty at this time of day too.”

“Indeed. Though they look different now that we know what those flowers do. Here!”

He held out his hand to me.

“What is it?”

“What do you mean? We have to walk holding hands. You said you’re still not used to that body. Don’t trip and then whine about ruining your dress.”

“When did I ever whine about ruining my dress?”

“Why, you did it before at the banquet hall. You made me give you a lap pillow and then complained that your favorite dress got grass stains, telling me to pay for it.”

“Ah… You remember that? I thought you were completely unconscious.”

“I don’t remember it clearly, but even as I was losing consciousness, the thought ‘I’ll have to buy her a dress’ got firmly stuck in my mind.”

I laughed at his words. Whether it was me harping on about a dress while holding an unconscious person, or Ian thinking about buying a dress while on the verge of death – it seemed we were both equally unusual.

Well, I suppose he’s already far from ordinary, being the crown prince.

“Then hurry up and pay for the dress.”

“Alright. I’ll give you over 100 dresses.”

“That’s fine. I was just joking.”

It was true that my dress had gotten covered in grass stains that day and I had to throw it away, earning a scolding from Ileana. But I had no intention of extracting 100 dresses from Ian.

“I’m not joking though.”

“Even if you gave me 100, I’d have nowhere to put them.”

Of course, the McCain Count’s mansion was by no means small, but I used space as an excuse to decline his offer.

“Then is one dress okay?”

“I suppose one dress would be fine to accept as a gift.”

At my answer, he smiled as if he had some grand scheme in mind.

King Antosion of the Kingdom of Pletineros was having a meal with his son Failtorin and daughter Greyna. Despite being the king of a country, he wished to have meals together with his family.

“I heard that for the first time, a female count has been born in the Kalovanian Empire. She received the title of count along with the Hydrangea castle from His Majesty the Emperor. Isn’t that amazing?”

At his daughter’s words, the king tightly closed his mouth.

His daughter Greyna was certainly smarter and more well-behaved than his son Failtorin. If she had been a son, he would have considered passing the throne to Greyna instead of Failtorin, even if she was younger than him.

However, like many other kings, Antosion was burdened by the idea of passing the country to a daughter instead of a son.

Passing the throne to a daughter when there was a firstborn son was an even bigger matter. Nevertheless, Greyna was ambitious. She insisted that she was more suitable for the position than her foolish brother.

Knowing why she brought up the story of the female count in the Kalovanian Empire, he found it difficult to speak. He didn’t want to upset her by saying something unnecessary.

While Antosion remained silent, Failtorin spoke with a scornful laugh.

“A female count? Giving a position to a woman? The Kalovanian Empire must be in decline.”

“If she showed outstanding achievements, it doesn’t matter if she’s a woman or a man. She did something that even other men couldn’t do. She risked her life to save Prince Daniel who was in danger in front of a rampaging horse. It’s a loyalty that even knights couldn’t show.”

“You believe that? A woman saving a prince? She probably just got hurt while meddling in front of the horse and they’re glorifying it.”

“Glorification is what father does cleaning up after you, brother. How can you bring a woman to your bedchamber almost every day? How many lovers do you have for people to say that the only women who haven’t slept with you are minors or me?”

“Who’s saying such terrible things?”

Instead of Failtorin, Antosion burst out angrily. While it was true that his son was promiscuous with women, it was going too far to say such things to the crown prince.

However, his daughter retorted nonchalantly.

“Everyone says so because brother lives such a flamboyant life. Isn’t it because the person who will lead this country after father doesn’t seem reliable?”

“What are you saying?”

“It’s true. Brother is the first royal in the history of the Pletineros Kingdom to be expelled from the academy. We make excuses that it’s to directly receive successor training within the palace, but in reality, the professors who gave up on brother’s stupidity and debauchery kicked him out because they simply couldn’t teach him anymore.”

At her words, Failtorin sputtered in agitation but couldn’t refute. There was nothing wrong with what she said.

The Kingdom of Pletineros was famous for its academy and called the ‘Land of Knowledge’. Though a small country, it took pride in not falling behind any other country when it came to education.

Even nobles from the Kalovanian Empire would come to study, so highly regarded was the Pletineros academy in other countries. For the successor of such a kingdom to be expelled from the academy was truly shameful.

‘If only Greyna had been the son and Failtorin the daughter… But it can’t be helped.’

The son who should inherit the next throne was stupid and only interested in women, while the daughter who couldn’t inherit was smart and full of ambition. Enough to covet her brother’s position. As a result, the two engaged in intense mind games whenever they met, and Antosion was becoming mentally exhausted.

Though he was king, Antosion wasn’t a particularly greedy person. He just wanted to maintain this position adequately.

He was a modest king with small wishes – that the country he inherited from the previous generation remain moderately peaceful, and that meal times with his children not be uncomfortable.

But his daughter was different. She was a child dissatisfied with why her country was a kingdom and not an empire. He was already worried that she was getting friendly with the military.

Rumors were starting to circulate among the nobles that Failtorin might be unsafe to follow as a ruler. Behind those nobles was his cunning daughter.

He was anxious and worried that she might do something to Failtorin out of desire for the throne. Meanwhile, his foolish son couldn’t even grasp how dangerous his sister was.

“Those old men at the academy are too conservative. And I’m not being promiscuous, I just can’t sleep so I’m getting help from those ladies. Spending time together in my chambers isn’t because we’re particularly lovers or anything, it’s because they have the goodwill to help me.”

“That’s ridiculous. You deliberately seduce them and lead them to your bed, and you call that goodwill? Just helping? Don’t make me laugh. You liar. You’re just playing with them.”

“Playing with them? I always treat them with sincerity.”

Failtorin expressed his innocence with a genuinely wronged expression.

However, even to Antosion, his son’s philandering was a serious situation. Though Greyna had exaggerated, even he himself was anxious about how many of his son’s illegitimate children there might be.

Sometimes he would have terrible nightmares where dozens of noble ladies would come at once, clutching their swollen bellies, all claiming to be carrying Failtorin’s illegitimate children.

“That’s why brother is the best liar. You even deceive yourself. I admire that.”

“Greyna, let’s take it easy. This is a meal time, isn’t it?”

Antosion stopped Greyna. She always complained that he only took his son’s side, but he couldn’t help but worry about his foolish son who lived consumed by his own emotions, unaware that his younger sister was aiming for his position.

Though he wasn’t in such a loving relationship with his wife, seeing his children fight made him miss his wife who had passed away from illness last year.

For a while, the three of them ate quietly. As the meal was coming to an end, his daughter asked.

“Father. You said you were organizing a delegation to the Kalovanian Empire, didn’t you?”