“Do you have exceptional magical imagination despite being an ordinary person without magical power?”

“…Yes. Somehow it turned out that way.”

“Can you tell me how you first came up with the idea for moving stairs?”

“Well, that…”

As Killian’s questioning continued, the tension gnawing at her heart gradually faded.

‘Killian was just interested in magical tools. It was mere curiosity… Come to think of it, they said Killian was the decision-maker who ordered this construction.’

Veronia felt relieved, thinking she had perfectly concealed her identity. Now she finally felt like she had completely shed the shell of the ‘Imperial Princess’.

“I originally liked to daydream. When I was exhausted and faced with many stairs to climb, it felt overwhelming. So I imagined. I thought how nice it would be if there were stairs that moved on their own.”

I missed the escalators that were so common in my previous world. So I came up with this magical tool, she couldn’t say that, so she answered with a bit of truth and much exaggeration.

As Killian’s questions continued, the two arrived at the carriage storage.

“Please get in first.”

“Yes, Lord Chancellor. Then I’ll be on my way.”

Veronia bowed her head in greeting and immediately boarded the carriage. Finally, the door closed and the carriage began to move.

‘I survived! I wasn’t discovered!’

Whew, she let out a big sigh. She was so happy she could almost cry.

Veronia stroked her still-pounding chest. Her fingertips were trembling.

She could feel her shrunken heart returning to its original shape, and her cold hands and feet warming up as blood flowed again.

‘Of course, that’s right. He didn’t recognize me!’

Veronia took a deep breath. Tears were already streaming endlessly from her eyes.

“Hic… hic…”

Her sobbing grew stronger. As her startled heart calmed all at once, it seemed some part of her tear ducts had malfunctioned.

And so Veronia cried until she arrived home.

Veronia wasn’t sure in what state of mind she had come home. At some point, she came to her senses and found herself at home.

Seeing her red, swollen eyes, Louisa and Hugo were worried.

“It’s because I was a bit tired from overtime work. It was installing stairs in the annex palace, I guess I was quite nervous.”

Veronia smiled brightly as if it was nothing. But even that smile seemed weak, making her look pitiful.

“Do you want to eat something? Would soup be good, it’s easy to eat?”

“Just soup then. Nothing else.”

“Alright, just soup. Go upstairs and wash up, I’ll make it and bring it to you.”

“Don’t worry about Jediel. He’s already asleep, probably because he played so hard today.”

“Yes. Thank you.”

Even in her exhausted body and mind, she could clearly know one thing.

The fact that it was thanks to the warmth of this real home that she had been able to survive until now.

Veronia, who went up to the second floor, headed straight to the bathroom. And for the first time in a long while, she took off the magical piercing.

Her hair changed from silver to gold, her eyes from green to red.

The burn marks and tattoos also quickly disappeared.

Her original face, which she hadn’t seen in a long time, was reflected in the mirror.

“Veronia.”

Not Nia, but Veronia, she called her real name.

“You were very nervous, weren’t you? You were worried, weren’t you? It’s all okay now. You really did well. You succeeded, Veronia.”

In the end, Killian didn’t recognize her. Even if they were to meet again in the future, the situation wouldn’t change.

As long as she wore this piercing made of magic stone, that is.

‘I didn’t expect to meet Killian again like this…’

Although it was just a brief encounter, Killian seemed unchanged. His beautiful face, soft voice, and fresh scent were all the same as before.

Thinking of Killian, her heart began to race.

‘You’re crazy, you’re crazy.’

Considering her situation, she should have been afraid and thinking of ways to hide. But somehow, she felt a little excited.

A self-deprecating smile flitted across Veronia’s lips. She felt so pathetic and foolish.

She put the piercing back in her ear.

The beautiful face of Veronia disappeared, replaced by Nia’s face with deep scars.

‘I shouldn’t meet Killian again, but even if I do, he’s completely irrelevant now. We’re just strangers.’

She spoke firmly, looking at her reflection in the mirror.

“So don’t forget and remember, Nia.”

Meanwhile, Killian stared blankly for a long time at the departing carriage carrying Veronia.

Ignoring the carriage waiting for him beside, he stood in the same spot until the running carriage completely disappeared from view.

“Haa…”

A sigh mixed with painful lamentation burst out. He rubbed his face vigorously with both hands.

‘Your Highness… So you were alive after all! I knew it. I knew you were alive!’

He clenched his molars tightly to hold back the tears that were about to burst out.

Killian recognized Veronia as soon as he saw her. It was thanks to the piercing made of magic stone.

Five years ago, after failing to chase the suspicious silver-haired woman at the Imperial Princess’s memorial service, he immediately ordered this piercing to be custom-made.

It was because of the assumption that if Veronia was alive, she would have certainly used magic to change her appearance.

Wearing the piercing allowed him to see the original form of a magically altered appearance.

So when he faced Veronia, he could see her real face. The magically altered appearance was only seen as a faint afterimage.

‘I mustn’t act like I know her.’

The moment he saw Veronia, he instantly knew. The moment he recognized her, she would immediately run away again.

‘She’s someone who faked her death to escape. Someone who abandoned her existing life and chose a completely different one.’

Surely there must have been a reason for going to such lengths. A reason that should be prioritized above all else.

He was happy to meet Veronia alive again. But he was sad that he couldn’t approach her.

He was happy to see the face he had missed all this time again. But it hurt his heart to see her hiding her real face with magic.

He desperately wished for her to be alive somewhere. There was even a faint certainty that she seemed to be alive.

Even though others, and even himself, said he might be crazy.

He had to restrain his hands that wanted to hold hers, his body that wanted to embrace her, his mouth that wanted to call her real name.

He had to restrain everything.

“Ugh… hic… huuk!”

Finally, upon boarding the carriage, he burst into tears. Thump thump, his heart was beating wildly.

He had finally found her.

He had finally met her, the one he had been searching for so desperately.

‘I must not lose her again!’

Killian gritted his teeth and vowed. But he didn’t know how to keep her completely by his side.

‘It’s not like I can put shackles on her and keep her confined…’

The tears had already stopped. Now was not the time to be shedding tears.

Rather, he needed to coldly rack his brains to find a way.

A way not to lose Veronia. A way to keep her by his side for life.

‘I should call him.’

Killian’s eyes, which had been wet with tears, suddenly flashed sharply.

In Killian’s office within the Duke’s residence. Killian was sitting alone at his desk with an anxious face.

He was waiting for a guild member from the Information Guild.

He intended to request an investigation into a woman named ‘Nia’ who belonged to the Magic Tower Research Institute. Where she lived, who she lived with, and so on.

But was that really the right idea…? For a moment, Killian thought that plan might not be such a good one.

Five years ago, Veronia had left the Imperial Palace without anyone knowing, and meticulously faked her death. Moreover, she seemed to be adapting well to her new life.

Judging by her respectable job as a member of the Magic Tower Research Institute.

‘She couldn’t have planned all this alone. There must have been someone helping her. For example… like an Information Guild?’

Not knowing which Information Guild it might be, it was dangerous to request an investigation into her from the man who was about to appear.

‘If it becomes known that I’m aware of her identity, she’ll certainly try to run away again.’

That had to be prevented at all costs. It was necessary to approach carefully, with the determination that if he lost her this time, he might never find her again.

‘So no one should know that I’m aware of her true identity. Not even myself…!’

To do that, he first needed to reduce the mistake of using honorifics in front of Veronia.

But the habit of addressing the Imperial Princess was deeply ingrained in his body, making it difficult. Even when consciously trying to speak casually, it felt awkward and his mouth wouldn’t cooperate.

‘Still, to avoid suspicion, I have no choice but to try to get used to speaking casually.’

Just as Killian was firmly setting his resolve, a masked man was already standing in front of the desk.

“You called for me.”

“Yes. I thought it wouldn’t do, so…”

“Please speak.”

“I was thinking we should expand the search range a bit. Send investigation teams to the countries bordering ours as well.”

The masked man’s eyes wavered for a moment but soon regained their composure.

“Yes, I understand.”

“That’s all. You may go now.”

“Yes, then.”

The masked man bowed deeply and immediately disappeared into the shadows.

Left alone, Killian immediately headed to the terrace. He had so much he wanted to say to his elder brother.

“Brother, I was right. I was right…! Her Highness was alive. I met her today…”

Killian murmured softly, looking up at the night sky dotted with stars. The excitement was evident in his voice.

“I think this is all thanks to you, brother. It’s because you believed in me and helped me. It’s because you were always by my side!”

Intense longing dispersed into the air through his voice. Killian prayed earnestly.

“Brother! Help me not to lose her again. Help me not to make mistakes and do well, please.”

The stars seemed to twinkle particularly brightly tonight.

As he was about to leave the terrace, he suddenly remembered something important he had forgotten.

‘Come to think of it… Didn’t she say she had a child? Didn’t she say she had to go back quickly because of that…? Did I hear that correctly?’