Dwayne had an inscrutable smile on his face. Then he murmured with a meaningful voice, “Perhaps your choice wasn’t entirely bad.”

Yustia blinked her eyes silently. It wasn’t easy to understand what he meant by those words. However, she couldn’t expect an explanation from Dwayne.

He showed his back without a trace of regret, as if he had no more business. It was a sight too familiar to Yustia.

Although she was curious about what Dwayne said, she didn’t bother to detain him. Rather than holding him and asking, it was better to remain a little curious.

With that thought, she took the remaining tea in hand to drink. Exactly at that moment, Dwayne’s muttering voice, escaping the reception room, pierced Yustia’s eardrums without mercy.

“I’m fortunate not to resemble my mother.”

Yustia’s face moved uncontrollably at Dwayne’s words. However, by then, he had already concealed himself, and the reception room door remained closed as before.

“Fortunate not to resemble me?”

Yustia pondered Dwayne’s words. There was only one person who could be referred to as her mother—Lurian Petrov. Could it be that Lurian was relieved not to resemble her? Yustia felt momentarily puzzled. However, no one remained who could alleviate her confusion.

Ibelia sat in front of the table, staring intently at something. Passing by her, Phailin asked curiously, “Your Highness, why have you been staring so closely at the cherry blossom branches for the past few days?”

“That… there’s something I need to remember.”

“Something you need to remember?”

Phailin asked with confusion. Only then did Ibelia, who had just taken her eyes off the cherry blossom branches, nod her head.

Lately, Ibelia had been staring at the cherry blossom branches whenever she had a chance. It was because of Felix’s words.

[Considering the moments when you’re pondering after hearing your father’s answers, it might be good to think about those cherry blossom branches.] [Since you may frequently encounter that cherry blossom tree in places where you were with Caliph during your time in the territory.]

Based on Felix’s words, it became clear that whenever Caliph, who was in the territory at the time, was with her, they often went to places with cherry blossom trees.

Believing those words and hanging on eagerly, she managed to recall a few scenes. They weren’t particularly vivid. Yet, the hopeful aspect was that as she spent more time with Caliph, faint memories were gradually surfacing.

That wasn’t the only change. With each accumulating faint memory, she could vaguely comprehend the emotions she felt at that time.

For instance, when she called him ‘Cal,’ her heart tickled with warmth. Even though it was just that, each time Ibelia was on that seat, full of wounds at the time, she felt a new sprout of tenderness.
After that, she could suddenly recall the long-forgotten question. The moment she first saw Lurian Petrov, why her heart raced uncontrollably.

Even though she found it strange, she couldn’t help but be captivated without reservation. Despite knowing that her marriage to him would be a loveless beginning, she couldn’t willingly stay away from him. But now, she seemed to have the answer.

It wasn’t that she fell for him at first sight; rather, she found Caliph’s face, unconsciously lingering in her mind, in Lurian. To her, Lurian’s face was almost identical to Caliph’s, making it impossible not to be captivated.

If not, the situation couldn’t be explained. Even though love supposedly had no reasons, she never exchanged a single word with Lurian and never even brushed against him trivially. Nevertheless, she felt love for him, and despite countless wounds after the marriage, she couldn’t let him go.

She was always herself in front of Lurian. Perhaps that’s why she mistakenly thought she loved him even more. Looking back, it was an unreasonable attraction, but…

However, when she superimposed Caliph onto all those situations, all the unexplained attraction suddenly made sense.

So Ibelia couldn’t neglect the act of recalling memories. If the man who remained in her unconscious mind was so precious to her, she had to remember every detail even if it meant tearing her hair out.

Ibelia stared at the cherry blossom branches again and then made an effort to recall something.

At that moment, she felt Phailin’s movement passing by with a wagging head. Suddenly, Ibelia clapped her hands at the thought that came to her.

“Ah! Phailin, you were here, right?”

“Me…?”

At Ibelia’s sudden attitude, Phailin stopped in her tracks, looking puzzled. Nevertheless, Ibelia couldn’t hide her excited heart.

Phailin had been the child who listened to her stories since her childhood. Although they met after the period when Phailin was in care at the estate, considering the considerable time spent in the marquessate, there might be some words heard while going back and forth.

Ibelia stood up from her seat and approached Phailin. Then, she tightly grabbed her hands, sparkling her eyes.

“Phailin.”

“Yes, Your Highness.”