Rose became increasingly isolated as time passed.

Count Asila slowly began to turn away from his daughter, who was gradually losing her power.

The kingdoms of Trumto and Tula were preoccupied with the growing voices of opposition within their kingdoms.

Peiron, devastated by the fact that his love was created by a curse, secluded himself.

Rose had no choice but to cling to Coni, with whom she still maintained contact.

While Rose’s surroundings were gradually turning into a prison, Erina was incredibly busy.

The time had come to depart for the Kingdom of Smale for the coronation of the Smale king.

“Baron Semul, I’ll entrust the count’s family to you.”

“Please travel safely, Countess.”

Erina left the count’s family in the care of her aide Terik and headed to the imperial palace to depart for the Kingdom of Smale.

Construction was in full swing to create a large plaza around the gate, as the northern gate of the empire was designated to open annually.

While the surrounding area was noisy due to ongoing construction, the gathering place for those departing for the Kingdom of Smale was surprisingly quiet.

Currently, the Kingdom of Trumto and the Kingdom of Tula, located near the Kingdom of Smale, were in a subtle confrontation with the empire.

Therefore, to prepare for any potential situations, key figures remained at the imperial palace.

The number of people going to the Kingdom of Smale was kept to a minimum, including only Marquis Papia, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Sandes, who was invited as a member of the imperial family, Erina, and the imperial knights.

“Countess Medelia.”

“Marquis Papia.”

Erina and Marquis Papia greeted each other warmly.

After Tanya went to apologize while crying profusely, Marquis Papia personally visited Erina to express his gratitude not as the head of the family, but as a father.

Since he came alone to thank her for graciously accepting his daughter’s rudeness, the two families began to interact actively.

While Erina was greeting Marquis Papia, Sandes arrived.

“Erina.”

Sandes, as if blind to the people around, ran to Erina in one breath upon seeing her.

Then, looking at the beautifully dressed Erina with a happy expression, he embraced her.

“Sandes!”

“I missed you.”

Surprised by the sudden physical contact while all eyes were on them, Erina’s face turned bright red as she struggled in his arms.

Sandes buried his face in Erina’s shoulder, disregarding the exclamations from onlookers.

Unable to push him away, Erina fidgeted and then urgently called out to him as the stares intensified.

“Sandes!”

“Yes, Erina.”

“Hurry.”

Sandes made no attempt to hide his disappointment at Erina’s firm call.

Smoothly lifting Erina’s hand, Sandes kissed the back of it lightly, smiling dizzily as if to enchant her.

“I’m reluctant.”

“We need to get moving.”

Although Erina firmly pushed him away, she couldn’t hide her increasingly reddening face.

Those around them, all aware of the relationship between the two, simply smiled it off.

After greeting Erina intensely, Sandes greeted the others who would be accompanying them.

“Marquis Papia, it’s been a while.”

“Marquis Kerenik, didn’t we see each other at the imperial palace just yesterday?”

Marquis Papia burst into laughter at the sight of Sandes giving perfunctory greetings to everyone except Erina.

As Sandes finished his greetings and checked his surroundings, the gate was soon activated.

Everyone immediately moved to the tower through the gate.

Having been notified in advance and prepared to move, people could quickly transfer to the Kingdom of Smale.

Fortunately, there were no major issues during the journey to the Kingdom of Smale.

As soon as the nobles of the Asilaum Empire arrived and entered the Kingdom of Smale, all eyes were on them.

Those welcoming the coronation delegation were mostly people who welcomed the empire.

From their expressions to their actions, everyone in the Kingdom of Smale seemed welcoming.

Then, someone from the Kingdom of Smale hurriedly came forward to greet them.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you. I am Euphirto Will Nephin of the Kingdom of Smale.”

The man who came forward to greet them cheerfully had deep blue hair like the deep sea and round gray eyes.

Euphirto Will Nephin was someone who bore the name of Smale until just before the former king was deposed.

Euphirto, who appeared to have just come of age, was the only sibling of the soon-to-be-crowned Smale king and the new master of the Nephin ducal family.

“Thank you for welcoming us, Duke Nephin. I am Sandes Dvil Kerenik.”

Sandes, who joined the delegation as a representative in his capacity as a member of the imperial family, stepped forward to receive Euphirto’s greeting.

Euphirto asked with a flushed face in response to Sandes’s greeting.

“If it’s not too presumptuous, is Countess Medelia…?”

Seeing Euphirto trailing off as he looked for her, Erina stepped forward and greeted him.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Duke Nephin. I am Erina Bril Medelia.”

“Oh! Countess Medelia! I’m truly, sincerely delighted to meet you!”

“Ah, yes.”

Erina was momentarily taken aback by the enthusiastic welcome from a man who appeared younger than her.

Euphirto looked so excited that he might have jumped up and down with both hands raised if not for the presence of the delegation and surrounding nobles.

Unable to contain his excitement, Euphirto grabbed Erina’s hand and shook it, causing a noble behind him to hurriedly try to restrain him.

“Duke Nephin!”

At that, Euphirto reluctantly stepped back.

After finishing his greetings with Marquis Papia as well, Euphirto guided them to their accommodations, saying with a regretful expression that he would see them at the coronation ceremony.

“Please rest comfortably, and I’ll see you tomorrow.”

Until they parted, Euphirto couldn’t take his eyes off Erina.

As Erina, who had broken into a sweat from the overwhelming welcome, looked flustered, Marquis Papia laughed at Sandes’s thoroughly disgruntled expression.

“It seems the Countess is popular wherever she goes.”

“Haha.”

Erina laughed awkwardly and brushed off Marquis Papia’s comment.

At those words, Sandes’s expressionless face seemed to sink a little.

People moved to their assigned rooms to rest.

Erina also moved with Heila, changed into comfortable clothes, and conversed in front of the dressing table.

“It’s surprisingly disconcerting.”

As Erina spoke with a perplexed expression while removing her necklace, Heila, who was already organizing the removed accessories, replied.

“The people of the Kingdom of Smale are excessively friendly, aren’t they?”

“Yes, that’s right. They were certainly part of the Small Kingdom Alliance, and yet…”

Erina handed the removed necklace to Heila.

“It was only the former king who insisted on the Small Kingdom Alliance.”

“Even so, there must have been those who sympathized, right?”

Heila neatly placed the necklace in the accessory box they had brought and began to smooth Erina’s disheveled hair.

“Even those who sympathized for a moment must have realized. The situation of those who turned their backs on the empire is not very good.”

“Hmm.”

Heila was right.

Enzo dealt harshly with the kingdoms involved in the secret exports, to the point where the nobles clicked their tongues, while simultaneously turning his back on them.

The fact that he didn’t turn his back on Smale was truly exceptional.

Knowing that this was a special treatment not given to other kingdoms, the people of the Kingdom of Smale developed an excessive affinity for the Asilaum Empire.

The difference between being able to use magic stones and not being able to use them was truly immense.

The use of magic-imbued artifacts depended on magic stones.

It was tremendous for humans to grasp magic, an area difficult for them to set foot in.

It could determine the development or decline of a kingdom.

“Still, Duke Nephin is a bit…”

Erina expressed her discomfort with his almost worshipful attitude while rubbing one cheek.

Heila, seeing Erina’s embarrassed appearance, grabbed her shoulders and grinned mischievously.

“He clearly seemed to like you, Erina!”

“But he looked so young.”

“Oh my, I heard he came of age last year.”

“Heila!”

Erina realized that Heila was continuing to speak to tease her and glared at her.

“Ahaha! But Erina, look.”

Heila, while smoothing down Erina’s hair, looked at her reflection in the mirror with gentle eyes and spoke.

“You’re still young too, Erina. You’re a flower that has just bloomed fully.”

Erina twisted the ends of her long hair at Heila’s words.

The reflection in the mirror was different from her former self before the regression, who met a miserable end in the dreams she kept seeing.

It wasn’t the appearance of someone dying unloved by anyone.

She was radiant, like a flower that had grown on love.

“Do you think he sees me that way too?”

Heila immediately understood who Erina meant by “he” and answered.

“Of course. That’s why he can never take his eyes off you.”

Erina couldn’t tell, but the people around them could clearly see it.

When Sandes was with Erina, even while being aware of his surroundings, his gaze never strayed far from her.

“Really?”

In response to Erina’s question, Heila leaned in and whispered quietly in her ear.

“You didn’t see how fierce he looked when Duke Nephin was greeting you.”

“What?”

Just as Erina turned her head in confusion at Heila’s whisper, someone knocked on the door.

“See? He couldn’t wait and came to see you already.”

Heila said this while tidying Erina’s clothes, then greeted and left.

“Then, I’ll see you tomorrow morning, Erina.”

As Heila opened the door, Sandes, who was standing in front of it, waved to Erina.

Erina turned from her dressing table chair to look at him.

“Sandes.”

His eyes, resembling both the clear sky and the deep sea, were fixed on her.

Erina couldn’t hide the surge of emotion she felt.

The fact that there was someone who looked only at her made her heart ache.