The preparations for Prince Chedge’s birthday celebration were steadily progressing.

Of course, with many watchful eyes in the imperial palace, various new rumors began to circulate.

The content included,

From the very ordinary ‘The aging emperor has had a change of heart to give equal power to his three sons’……

To ‘The emperor has gone senile from the lion attack and is about to do something absurd’,

And even the quite plausible story of ‘Isn’t all this actually a behind-the-scenes struggle between Crown Prince Hister and Prince Sinclair?’

However, no one knew which of those speculations was correct.

The emperor did not move at all until Chedge’s birthday approached, nor did he give any hint. He was simply lying in his sickbed, focusing on recovery without meeting anyone.

It seemed that Hister also failed to properly grasp the situation. Sinclair’s knight planted in the imperial palace said so. That Hister had constantly requested an audience, but the emperor had not granted it even once.

What was the emperor’s intention? Elaina kept racking her brain to figure out his thoughts, but unfortunately, there was nothing she could discern.

And so, Chedge’s birthday dawned.

Amidst everyone’s subtle tension.

“Is this good enough, Lady Elaina?”

Anna, who had somehow approached Elaina’s side, asked as if seeking confirmation while holding out something in her arms.

“I put quite a bit of effort into the packaging, but please tell me freely if you think it’s lacking.”

What Anna held out was a rather cutely decorated glass bottle. Adorned appropriately for young Chedge’s age.

“This should be sufficient, Anna.”

Elaina said with a smile as she took the bottle in her hand.

“If it were wine or some other alcoholic drink, we could have decorated it a bit more, but what’s inside is a non-alcoholic medicinal drink, isn’t it?”

This was the birthday gift Elaina had specially prepared for Chedge.

But it wasn’t just a simple medicinal drink. While it was indeed non-alcoholic, there was something even more special about it.

“Prince Chedge will surely love it.”

Anna said with a grin.

“As far as I know… there hasn’t been anyone who paid such thoughtful attention to detail like this.”

“…Is that so?”

Elaina’s touch was gentle as she caressed the beautifully decorated bottle.

Inside were several medicinal ingredients that were highly effective for the skin condition that was likely still troubling Chedge.

They weren’t easy to obtain either, so Elaina had pestered the physician who had treated Sinclair before several times.

[You won’t see immediate effects, but if taken consistently, the results should be quite good. I’ve cured countless skin conditions with these ingredients.]

It was more expensive than expected, but Elaina intended to keep gifting this medicinal drink to Chedge, starting with this present.

If the effects were good with consistent consumption as the physician said, perhaps it would also help heal some of the emotional wounds Chedge had suffered.

“But it’s fascinating how clear the color is. I’ve never seen a medicinal drink like this before. Usually, medicinal drinks have a darker color due to the ingredients, don’t they?”

Anna was right. The contents of the bottle were as clear as water.

In fact, it had been quite a struggle to extract such a clear color while using various medicinal ingredients.

But it couldn’t be helped.

It was necessary to prepare for any unforeseen circumstances.

……For example, to be able to immediately detect if anything else was mixed in.

Such as poison.

“Anyway, Prince Chedge will surely like it! So don’t worry, Lady Elaina.”

“Thank you for saying that, Anna.”

“Of course he’ll like it.”

Sinclair, who had suddenly approached behind Elaina, said with a smirk.

“As Anna said, there hasn’t been anyone who paid such thoughtful attention to detail until now.”

Startled by Sinclair’s sudden appearance, Anna took a big step back.

“By the way, how long do you plan to be so afraid of me? Anna.”

“Wh-What?”

“You always seem to tremble whenever you see me. That maid Judith who’s always with you is the same.”

At least he remembered all their names. Elaina thought it was quite fortunate in the midst of all this.

“No, that’s not… I was just a bit nervous… There was no other meaning at all……”

“Ha.”

Sinclair let out a short sigh, then muttered to himself as he walked past.

“It’s rare for me to even bother remembering names like this, yet I still get treated with such discrimination.”

“……”

“I haven’t even done anything particularly mean lately.”

“He’s just teasing you.”

This time, Elaina spoke to Anna, as if to say not to worry.

“When we return after the banquet, greet him warmly with Judith. He’ll surely like that.”

“R-Really?”

Does that Prince Sinclair really have such a human side? Anna’s expression showed she couldn’t believe it at all, but Elaina nodded as if it were obvious.

“Of course, he’s actually a warmer and kinder person than you’d think. He just has trouble expressing it.”

“……”

“Well then, we’ll be going now, Anna. See you later.”

As she watched the couple’s retreating backs, Anna thought to herself.

……Our Princess Consort seems to have some surprisingly naive aspects!

She still doesn’t realize that the ‘warmer and kinder than you’d think’ part only applies to her.

Anna was very surprised by this unexpected innocence from her superior, but there was no way for Elaina to know this fact.

[This is the timeline separator]

The venue for Prince Chedge’s birthday banquet was none other than a hall located in the imperial palace.

Perhaps due to the small number of attendees, the size of the hall was modest.

But one could tell at a glance. The fact that the emperor had, unexpectedly, put quite a bit of effort into this occasion.

Especially considering the treatment Elaina and Sinclair had received before in that cramped and narrow reception room.

Of course, his intentions were still unclear, but Elaina thought it was rather fortunate. If the emperor, like Hister, had planned to openly mock Chedge by doing this, that would have been too sad.

Anyway, Elaina had intended to personally deliver the prepared gift to Chedge, but Chedge’s knight carefully approached and spoke.

He said, ‘We sincerely apologize, but due to recent events in the imperial family, we plan to gather all gifts for inspection before returning them to the prince.’

It wasn’t an incomprehensible point. Moreover, the knight added that this would apply to all gifts except the emperor’s.

So Elaina handed the medicinal drink to the knight and entered the hall with Sinclair.

“E-Elder brother Sinclair.”

The first to welcome them was Chedge, sitting alone in his seat.

“Thank you so much… for gracing us with your presence.”

“……”

“Of course, to the Princess Consort as well……”

“Happy birthday to you, Your Highness.”

As if to say not to be too nervous, Elaina greeted him warmly with a pleasant smile, and Sinclair, who had been silently watching Chedge, slowly parted his lips.

“Congratulations, Chedge.”

……As if he hadn’t expected to hear such words from Sinclair, Chedge looked up at his elder brother, startled like someone caught doing something wrong.

“I’ll give you my gift directly when you come to the prince’s palace. I was thinking of giving you one of my prized horses, but it was a bit awkward to bring it here directly.”

“……”

“I prepared a separate gift as well, but it’s truly a shame I couldn’t give it to you in person. It’s a medicinal drink made with good ingredients. I hope it suits Your Highness’s taste.”

Chedge didn’t answer for a moment. As if being chased by something, he looked around nervously, seemed about to say something but then closed his mouth, fidgeting with his chin area in complete disarray.

……He hadn’t been this bad the last time they saw him.

Could it be nerves?

“Chedge.”

And Chedge’s strange behavior magically stopped the moment Hister appeared.

“Congratulations on your fifteenth birthday.”

Hister, who had somehow naturally positioned himself next to Chedge, said as he put his arm around Chedge’s shoulders.

“I’ve already handed my gift to the knight as well, so make sure to check it. You know what that means, right?”

“…Yes. Thank… you… Elder brother Hister……”

But Elaina clearly saw.

Beneath the long, drooping sleeve…..

Chedge digging his nails into the back of his own hand with all his might.

As if forcibly holding something back…..

“How unexpected. I thought our elder brother Sinclair never attended such small-scale events.”

How could he say such things right to Chedge’s face? In that brief moment, Elaina felt disgust towards the person named Hister Butler.

“Oh really?”

Sinclair said with a smirk.

“Thanks to my dear younger brother, I even attended the founding ceremony ritual. There’s no particular reason to miss such an important event.”

“……Ha.”

“In a way, it’s all thanks to you. Without your help, I wouldn’t have been able to attend any of the imperial family’s ceremonial occasions.”

……So, why pick a fight you can’t win in the first place? Did Hister still not know? That there was no one in Edenbell who could match Sinclair’s tongue, which seemed to have risen from hell itself, in both hand-to-hand combat and verbal sparring.

“His Majesty the Emperor is entering.”

As if to say that’s enough, the emperor’s knight who had suddenly appeared at the door looked at them and spoke.

“All members of the imperial family, please show your respects.”

Chedge bowed his head sharply with a subtly frightened expression, and Hister seemed to make a slightly displeased face for a moment but quickly changed his expression and paid his respects.

Elaina and Sinclair also showed their respects to the emperor.

“……Well.”

The emperor, now standing before everyone, parted his dry lips as he looked down at his children.

“Sit down.”

Still with that ambiguous expression that made it impossible to discern his thoughts.

……And no one gathered here knew. That soon, all their carefully crafted plans would go awry, and something completely unexpected would unfold.