When Emma complimented him, Evan, blushing, avoided eye contact.

“I’ve grown too!”

It wasn’t Louis but Evan, who wanted to be praised.

When Louis bragged by hopping around, Emma picked up the child.

“Of course. Our Louis-nim is growing up fast too!”

“I can use magic, you know?”

“Yeah, you’re not the only one learning.”

Emma’s praise ended the second round that had started.

“Both of you are so amazing.”

Satisfied with the double thumbs up, the twins’ faces brightened.

It was a gratifying sight even for me, who had been watching.

‘I used to feel Evan was awkward.’

Had he experienced a change in his mindset from outside? Anyway, it was a time to consider it a good thing.

“Louis, Evan!”

In the distance, another person with blonde hair, similar to the twins, appeared.

“Where have you two gone again?”
Mikael, who is still a novice babysitter, was wandering around looking for the children.

“Mikael-nim?”

“Oh, sister-in-law? I found them!”

Having spotted the children, Mikael approached us.

“If you’re going somewhere, you should say so. We were waiting.”

“Hehe.”

From the conversation, it seemed Mikael had been waiting for the twins’ classes to end.

The three gathered blond heads.

Emma, who had been quietly observing, whispered to my ear.

“Um, that person is…”

“Our brother! Mikael hyung!”

Louis, who overheard, pushed Mikael’s back.

“You shouldn’t do this. It’s awkward.”

“I greet people I like!”

In an unexpected turn of events, they exchanged polite greetings.

“Um, hello? Uh…”

“I am Mikael.”

Mikael answered Emma’s question with just his name.

Emma, who was staring blankly at Mikael, shook me, surprised, holding onto my shoulder.

“Is he really the Seventh Prince?”

“…Probably?”

“The noble collector…”

Emma made the same remark as Jianna.

“No, not really.”

Though he denied it, the suspicious gaze lingered.

As if trying to support me, Mikael gently responded to Emma.

“He is a family member of the Duke, so please treat him comfortably.”

“…Yes, Your Highness.”

“If it’s okay, please call me by my name. Everyone does that here.”

It was a fairytale prince-like gentle smile.

As Emma, who was staring at that dazzling face, pulled me, she gradually distanced herself from Mikael.

“What’s wrong? Why are you like this?”

“…It’s embarrassing! Besides being a prince, he’s too handsome…”

“How have you been with Louis and Evan?”

“Those two are still young!”

Emma’s eyes were full of embarrassment.

‘I heard he was collecting nobles before.’

If she had been ostracized among the maids, there was a high chance the owner would have left her alone.

It seemed that trauma remained, leading to such a reaction.

“Emma, why? Does something hurt?”

Louis ran over and asked.

Although Evan was far away, he kept glancing at Emma.

It seemed that Emma looked a bit strange in the children’s eyes.

I lowered my body and looked into Louis’s eyes.

“It seems Emma just came and might be tired.”

“Then she has to rest!”

“I’ll take you to your room. Shall we meet later in the evening?”

“Yeah! Emma, rest well!”

Louis waved his hand energetically.

“See you later, Your Highness.”

Emma and I left the garden and started walking alone.

It seemed that Emma, who was more relaxed than before, stretched herself.

I spoke while watching her.

“Earlier, it seemed like you greeted Evan quite well.”

“Oh, was it too much?”

“Huh? Not at all. It looked nice.”

“Then I’m relieved.”

Emma breathed a sigh of relief as if brushing away her anxiety.

“To be honest, when I lived in the cold palace, Evan heard from the sponsorship… I think Evan might have heard it back then.”

“What?”

“I talked to Eileen about Evan. I mentioned back then that Evan seemed to be in a difficult situation.”

Ah, back then.
It took quite a while to recall a fairly old memory.

“It was when Evan was still around.”

Emma’s casually dropped remark seemed to have lingered in the child’s heart for a long time.

But the speaker didn’t harbor any ill intentions.

“I want to apologize. Would you accept it?”

“Well, then maybe getting along well with Mikael-nim would be a good idea?”

“Why all of a sudden, the Seventh Prince?”

Emma widened her eyes in surprise.

Recalling the earlier scene, I continued the conversation.

“He wants to stay comfortably here. Doesn’t Babito also collaborate with Mikael-nim in the kitchen?”

“What? The head chef? Seriously, I’m going crazy!”

She exclaimed in disbelief.

Actually, such a reaction was expected.

“As much as you feel uncomfortable, he might find you difficult to approach. So, try to get along as comfortably as possible.”

Not revealing my identity, Mikael must have been hurt by Emma’s reaction.

“Ah…”

As if realizing something from my words, Emma lowered her eyes.

“Did I misunderstand something?”

“You’re perfectly normal. Everyone felt that way at first. But, would you like to see over there?”

“Where? What?”

I pointed to where Mikael and the twins were walking towards the gazebo.

Mikael, who was doing well, suddenly fell down on the empty grass alone.

“Ouch…”

“Hyung, you fell again!”

“…No, there’s nothing here. How can you fall?”

“Still, it seems he’s reducing the number of times he kneels.”

Smiling, Mikael brushed off the dirt on his knees.

Watching that, Emma muttered without realizing.

“…Ah, so that’s why.”

Blunt yet kind, sometimes firm.

That was the real Mikael who had thrown off the shackles of nobility.

“Okay. I’ll try to get along comfortably.”

“You made a good decision. You should also try to be friends with Evan.”

I patted Emma’s shoulder and looked up.

There was a separate building for the shrine maiden in the gazebo.

‘Did I really see it wrong?’

Elysia’s words and the fact that my fingertips disappeared continued to bother me.

I tried to get information from the servants in charge of the gazebo, but I couldn’t even enter the shrine maiden’s room, so I couldn’t get any useful information.

‘The shrine maiden’s welcoming party will be held here in the next week.’

It was scheduled to be held at the Imperial Palace, and in about a fortnight, Elysias would leave this place.

I didn’t think anything would happen until then, but after hearing Dranuar’s explanation, I couldn’t help but pay attention.

“Hey, Eileen-nim. There’s a door in a place like that too.”

“Hmm?”

I turned my gaze to where Emma was pointing.

It was the back gate leading to the kitchen from the main building, a passage used by the servants.

I already knew about the door.

What caught my eye was the maid wandering around in front of it.

‘A maid? She looks very young though.’

Although she was wearing the maid’s uniform of the Duchy, what she wore made her look pure.