“Then why don’t you name it?”

“Is, is that okay?”

“There’s no reason why not.”

Although Joshua spoke lightly, Rosette was serious.

‘I want to give it a cool name.’

A cool name to rival Pipi’s!

Even the wolf seemed to be secretly expecting something as it stared at her intently.

After pondering for a while looking at the wolf, Rosette confidently exclaimed.

“Silver! I want to name it Silver.”

“…What?”

Rosette blinked her eyes as if wondering what was wrong, receiving confused looks from one person and two familiars.

Joshua asked in a voice that seemed to say ‘surely not’.

“Why Silver? Don’t tell me it’s Silver because its fur is silver-colored?”

“That’s right. How did you know?”

“You’re even simpler-minded than I thought.”

“…Do you not like it? Should I think of another name?”

“Well, it’s not bad. What do you think?”

When Joshua asked the wolf, it growled as if pleased.

“It seems to like it. Let’s go with that.”

“Yay!”

Rosette hugged the wolf, now named Silver, around its neck.

“Silver, please take good care of me from now on.”

The next day, Duke Adrian visited Sapphire Palace alone, without even bringing Daniel.

Having already received word from the Duke and advance notice from Rosette, Joshua welcomed him without surprise.

“Welcome, Master. Please have a seat.”

Joshua guided him to a table already set with refreshments.

Joshua was about to pick up the teapot himself, but the Duke said he couldn’t allow that and poured the tea himself.

“The reason I came today is…”

“I know. It’s because of the little princess, isn’t it?”

“Yes. To be honest, I was a bit angry at His Highness the Prince.”

This was a conversation Joshua had already anticipated.

‘But he says only a bit.’

Honestly speaking, he had expected the Duke to be much angrier. After all, he cared for Rosette so very much.

“Why on earth did you do such a thing? If you found something strange, you should have told me instead.”

“To you, Master?”

Joshua asked as if he had heard something unexpected. That seemed to anger Duke Adrian even more, as he spoke in a slightly lowered voice.

“Yes, Your Highness. If you had told me, I would have investigated thoroughly. Then we could have found out who did such a thing.”

“But time was of the essence. Lord Largo was involved. However, it wasn’t easy to arrest him with only circumstantial evidence.”

“Your Highness. I’ve had the feeling for some time that you’ve become much more mature.”

It couldn’t be helped. The person inside Joshua’s body was a 24-year-old young man. One who had struggled to survive and even lost loved ones.

As Joshua smiled bitterly, the Duke continued speaking.

“It’s good that you’re growing up, but Your Highness, you’re still only twelve years old.”

“But, Master.”

“Couldn’t you trust adults a little more in situations like this?”

This time, the Duke smiled a bit sourly.

“Or was I an untrustworthy adult to Your Highness?”

“Not at all!”

Joshua shouted, a bit upset.

“Master, you are the most excellent and wonderful person. Thanks to you, I’ve been able to become who I am now. Master, you are my teacher, but sometimes like a friend, and other times like a father. I just…”

Joshua closed his mouth. In fact, he felt a bit blindsided by the Duke’s words just now.

‘Why did I think I had to solve everything by myself?’

While investigating this incident, he never thought of asking for help from Duke Adrian or anyone else.

He just thought he had to solve everything on his own.

In this imperial palace where he didn’t know who to trust or who to be wary of, he thought the only one he could surely trust was himself.

That was a different story from following Duke Adrian like a father. He didn’t want to drag him into this matter.

But as they conversed now, he realized once again.

‘I haven’t fully become an adult yet.’

Twenty-four years old. He thought he had become an adult and knew everything. But he was still an immature child in front of Duke Adrian.

More precisely, in front of Duke Adrian, he could forget all his worries and concerns and just be a child.

How fortunate it was to have someone who could support him like this – he only realized after losing Duke Adrian in the past.

After having that thought, Joshua could understand a little bit why Rosette turned back time.

From the moment he saw Rosette, he suspected she had some ulterior motive.

She said she wanted to correct all her mistakes, but he didn’t fully believe it.

Joshua was still keeping a close eye on Rosette. His words about sending her away if she did anything even slightly strange were real.

However, thanks to her, he was able to come back in time.

Rosette saved Duke Adrian and Daniel, and also saved Ophelia.

She gave Joshua another chance.

That much was certain.

‘Come to think of it, I haven’t said thank you.’

Of course, he thanked her for saving Ophelia. But he hadn’t expressed gratitude for something a bit more fundamental.

Being able to save Ophelia was all possible because Rosette turned back time. Besides that, he got another chance to set everything right.

Rosette turned back time for her own sake, but in any case, it benefited him too.

When he first learned that she had turned back time, he was overwhelmed with anger and just got mad.

So next time, he should properly thank her again.

Thinking that, Joshua opened his mouth.

“My thinking was short-sighted. Next time something happens, I’ll tell you first, Master. And.”

He smiled with all his heart.

“Thank you for always being by my side. I truly mean it.”

Thinking that he never wanted to lose you again.

Inside the carriage leaving the imperial palace. Duke Adrian was lost in thought.

‘No matter how I think about it, it’s strange.’

There were quite suspicious aspects to Rosette and Joshua’s attitudes.

First, Rosette Adrian.

His lovely youngest daughter had questionable aspects from the time she resolved the Joseph Osher incident. She asked Pipi to protect her family, but why did she do such a thing in the first place?

He was a bit puzzled then too, but thought it could happen since Rosette was such a worrisome child. Though it felt uneasy, there was no choice but to trust her.

But this time too, that child did something completely unexpected. Far from being frightened to meet Joshua the prince, she caught the poisoner together with him.

Is this something an eight-year-old child would do?

However, even stranger than that was Joshua Ernhart.

The Joshua that Duke Adrian knew was certainly mature and thoughtful beyond his years as a prince and future emperor.

But from some point, he changed completely. Probably after he cried like a child in front of the emperor and Duke Adrian, saying he had a nightmare.

He didn’t simply become more mature, but seemed to have become an adult altogether. Not just his attitude, but his eyes, voice, manner of speaking, everything. Especially the atmosphere he exuded was clearly different.

Though he never showed it, sometimes when meeting Joshua after that day, Duke Adrian felt like he was having an audience with the emperor rather than the prince.

Such a Joshua said he would visit the Adrian duchy with an implausible excuse to meet Rosette.

When the Duke refused to allow the meeting, he even snuck into the mansion secretly.

It was behavior unlike Joshua.

What reason did he have to meet Rosette to such an extent?

‘Could it be he wanted to ask for help this time?’

Ophelia Ernhart’s sudden invitation for Rosette to the empress’s palace was clearly Joshua’s doing too.

Joshua probably planned from the beginning to catch the poisoner with Rosette’s help.

But how? How did he know Rosette’s familiar would be of help?

What’s even more ridiculous is that Joshua, who planned so meticulously, came up with such a flimsy excuse.

‘Pipi seemed interested in plants so we were looking around the pharmacy and found something suspicious.’

It fit together too well to be dismissed as a series of coincidences.

Perhaps Joshua had already guessed everything and dragged Rosette in?

But how did Rosette know that kish leaves could become poisonous when eaten with honey? For a child who had just learned to read.

Duke Adrian’s mind was in turmoil.

In fact, even before that, Rosette had shown inexplicable behavior.

At the orphanage, she already knew she was allergic to shrimp even though she had never eaten it before, and her lesson progress was much faster than other children.

As if…

‘She already knew everything.’

Having thought that far, Duke Adrian chuckled.

‘That can’t be.’

But certainly, Rosette and Joshua seemed to be hiding something.

Duke Adrian decided not to pry into it and wait until the children trusted him enough to tell him first.

That was an adult’s duty.

‘But if something like this happens again, I should look into it.’

He concluded as such and got off the carriage.

“Father.”

As he entered the mansion, receiving greetings from the employees, Daniel came looking for him as if he had been waiting. He followed the Duke to his office, saying he had something to talk about just the two of them.

“What is it?”

“Why didn’t you scold Rose?”

“Scold?”

The Duke was a bit surprised. Daniel was lenient with his younger siblings, and especially doted on his youngest sister Rosette. To hear such words from his mouth.

The Duke stroked his chin with a somewhat intrigued expression.

“Daniel, do you think I should have scolded Rose?”

“…Yes.”

Daniel answered after hesitating a little.

“May I ask why you think so?”

“Rose, that child doesn’t know how to think about herself.”

“Hmm?”

Surprised by the unexpected answer, Duke Adrian gestured to Daniel. Daniel approached the desk further and continued.

“During the carriage accident and this time too, that child is taking action on her own. As if she has no one to trust but herself. I want Rose to…”

Daniel choked up a little.

“I want Rose to trust her family a little more, and care about herself a little more.”