After exchanging brief eye contact greetings, I followed the maid into the room I was guided to.

The room was ordinary. I hung my coat carefully in the warm room and sat down on a chair.

‘So that’s the windbreak forest Hadel explained before coming to the lord’s castle.’

From the high vantage point, I could see more clearly the windbreak forest that was said to have been created to block the cold blizzards.

‘It seems the festival continues until late at night.’

Lights were turning on one by one in the streets. It looked just like stars in the night sky.

Before long, the book I had been waiting for arrived. As soon as I received it, I checked who the author was. As expected, this book was also written by Yulnisia.

‘Yulnisia left proper records.’

My friend Yul. She was a child who didn’t belong on the battlefield.

‘I’m glad she seems to have spent the rest of her life happily researching magical tools after the war ended.’

Seeing the familiar name made me feel at ease. After briefly reminiscing about Yulnisia, I slowly turned the pages of the book.

I read the section about Hinari bullets, but there was nothing I didn’t already know. Closing the book again, I sighed.

‘Even though Yulnisia wrote down the method like this, to think Hinari bullets would become obsolete.’

It’s not that the manufacturing method has disappeared. It’s not that there are no people who know the method. But literally, there was no one with fire attribute mana to make them.

‘Why has the fire attribute become so rare? Is it related to monsters suddenly taking on ice attributes?’

Pondering didn’t yield any answers. If only there was a book detailing what happened over the past 100 years.

‘There must still be hostile non-human races living beyond those mountains. We need to prevent the extinction of attributes, if only for the future.’

The reason I was at the forefront of the war between humans and non-humans was not only because I was royalty, but above all because of the intense offensive power of the fire attribute.

In the end, the disappearance of the fire attribute is no different from taking away one of humanity’s weapons.

‘For now, it seems only Hadel has it?’

There might be other fire attribute users hiding elsewhere, but there might not be.

Then the surest method would be for Hadel to have many children, but…

‘Ugh! Stop that thought! No other thoughts!’

This brain of mine always drifts to strange places if I let my guard down for a moment.

I shook my head vigorously. Then, already exhausted by my own thoughts, I flopped down on the bed.

Baby. A baby.

‘As things stand now, I don’t even know if it’s possible to have a baby. My condition isn’t normal, after all.’

Whether we can do the things that lead to babies is a secondary issue; given my current physical state isn’t normal, there’s no guarantee it would happen.

‘Ugh, this line of thought is too depressing.’

No, it definitely started with naughty thoughts, so why did it turn so gloomy?

I rolled over and lay face down on the bed. And I kept my head buried until I heard it was time to come out for dinner.

“I heard an interesting rumor.”

At the dinner table, Evelyn brought up an unexpected topic.

“I heard that Lady Marian is a cursed princess? They say she became human with a prince’s kiss?”

“Eek!”

It was a sound I always heard in the grand duke’s castle, but hearing it from someone I was meeting for the first time made me extremely embarrassed.

Fanning my flushed face with a hand fan, I asked.

“Has, has that rumor spread even here?”

“The subordinates who came with the Grand Duke were talking about it.”

“Argh!”

Those blabbermouths!

I sent them ahead, and they told the lord all sorts of things. Hadel whispered to me, trying to comfort me.

“I guess you turning into a ferret on horseback on the way here left quite an impression.”

“Why is my body so troublesome?”

It would be nice if I could know in advance when and how I might change.

As I was pouting, Evelyn smiled gently and said.

“If it’s alright with you, may I take a look? Despite appearances, I’m a magician who researches mana circuits.”

“I don’t mind…”

Taking a look meant feeling my pulse to examine how the mana flows inside my body. I was about to politely decline but changed my mind.

‘Come to think of it, it’s hard to meet magicians in Hadel’s territory. This might actually be a good opportunity.’

I was curious anyway if there really was nothing wrong with my health.

When I extended my hand, Evelyn slowly took my wrist so as not to startle me. After closing her eyes for a moment, she suddenly asked.

“Is your true form human or ferret?”

“Ugh.”

The very first question was extremely difficult to answer.

Honestly, I’m not sure either. I gave an ambiguous answer.

“Probably a ferret.”

“Probably?”

“It’s hard for me to be certain…”

“Hmm.”

Evelyn pondered for a moment, then turned to Hadel this time.

“If it’s not too forward, may I examine Your Grace’s mana as well?”

“Go ahead.”

Hadel extended his hand without much wariness. After examining me and Hadel alternately for a while, Evelyn said with a look of wonder.

“Your hearts are the same.”

“What?”

“Is that possible?”

Both Hadel and I widened our eyes at the unexpected statement. Evelyn shrugged her shoulders.

“I don’t know either. You two are probably the first case like yourselves. But my feeling is that they’re completely the same.”

I tilted my head.

“Couldn’t it feel the same because we have the same attribute?”

“That almost never happens. As you know, the heart as a mana-generating organ has unique characteristics. Even the mana attributes are divided for convenience, but in reality, they all feel different.”

‘That’s true.’

As Evelyn said, not all flames are the same. Just as blue flames and red flames have different heat, even if the attributes seem the same, the mana emitted is slightly different for everyone.

‘But she says mine and Hadel’s are the same.’

What on earth could this situation mean?

No amount of pondering would yield an answer. As I was making a slightly uneasy expression, Evelyn removed her hands and said in a bright tone.

“There’s nothing wrong with your health. Rather than the situation of turning into a human itself, absorbing another’s mana is the issue, but from what I can see, it doesn’t seem to be a problem.”

“Um.”

For some reason, I felt this was my chance. I asked something I had been curious about for a while.

“Can I have children?”

“Marian?”

Hadel made a startled expression at my question. But I didn’t have time to worry about Hadel. It was a very important issue for me.

“I can only speak theoretically, let me premise that.”

Fortunately, Evelyn knew the answer.

“If you have a child, wouldn’t you be able to maintain a more stable human state? Your child would surely have the fire attribute.”

It meant it was possible.

Back in the room, Hadel ran his hand through his hair and sighed. Then he faced me with a very serious expression.

“Marian, you really surprised me earlier.”

“Because of my question?”

I thought Hadel would be curious too?

I thought Hadel would be happy to hear that I could have children. Because Hadel is a grand duke, and he would naturally need an heir to inherit his territory.

‘When Hadel confessed, one of the reasons I couldn’t nod right away was precisely the issue of succession.’

But when I actually brought it up, Hadel’s reaction was completely different from what I expected.

“I don’t need children.”

Hadel added with a serious face.

“No, rather, I’d prefer if there were no children born with the same fire attribute as me, suffering because of it.”

“Hadel.”

He sometimes revealed past pains that I couldn’t fathom during our conversations, and this was one of those times.

Whatever discrimination and heartache he had suffered, Hadel was now exposing his deep wounds raw. I patted him gently.

“It’s not your fault you have the fire attribute. It’s strange that you should suffer because of it.”

Usually, Hadel would quietly nod when I said that, but today he drew a clear line.

“It’s true that I find comfort in your words. But passing on the same pain to someone else is a separate issue. They say poverty isn’t a crime, but can we say it’s not a crime to pass poverty on to our children?”

“Hadel.”

To speak so vehemently like that. This was a time when I needed to back down. I smiled, meaning to reassure him.

“I didn’t ask because I want to have a child right away either. I just asked because we don’t know what will happen in the future. I’m sorry for startling you.”

“Mm…”

Only then did Hadel seem to relax, heavily resting his forehead on my shoulder. After quietly accepting my comforting pats for a moment, Hadel spoke in a small voice.

“I was being sensitive.”

“No, it’s okay to be sensitive. It is an important issue.”

Even after that, Hadel’s tension didn’t ease for quite a while, so I had to reassure him for a long time.

During that time, the sun set, and it became time to go to bed. I laid him down on the bed.

“Just rest well tonight without thinking about anything.”

“What about you?”

When I turned around, assuming I would naturally lie down with him, Hadel grabbed my wrist. I smiled gently.

“I’ll just take a short walk and come back.”

Although I comforted him, my own mind was just as complicated.

‘Hadel’s wounds are deeper than I thought.’

Coming outside, the air that brushed my cheeks was noticeably cooler than before. I took a deep breath and exhaled.

‘Well, if he’s been shunned since birth because of his fire attribute, he might react like that.’

More than anything else, the fact that I had hurt Hadel weighed heavily on my mind.

‘I guess I was too rash.’

What followed the gloom was embarrassment and frustration over the days I had spent worrying. I punched the air.

‘Ah! I should have just asked Hadel directly how he felt about children! I worried all by myself for nothing.’