“Lise! I see Yurik Fenton outside the window! Is he waiting for you… Uh!”

Felicia quickly covered Silke’s mouth and gave me an awkward smile.

“Silke, be quiet. If Swell hears, there’ll be chaos.”

“Uhuh!”

“Lise, go quickly. Don’t forget to greet mother. She should be awake.”

I glanced at Swell’s room at the end of the hallway and nodded.

I tiptoed down the stairs, careful not to wake Swell until the end. As I cautiously opened the door, I saw my mother, wearing glasses, sitting at her desk.

“Mother.”

“Are you going?”

Her eyes met mine.

“Yes, I’ll be back.”

“I left some money on the table at the entrance. Take it.”

“I’m fine.”

“How will you manage going to the capital without money? Don’t embarrass yourself in front of the Fenton heir. Buy something you want to eat.”

I had no choice but to take the money under such circumstances.

“Thank you, Mother.”

“Sort things out with Roger.”

Willens, the capital. A holy city that contained the history of the entire empire.

Hosha village, where the Marsen family lived, was a prosperous and beautiful city, but it couldn’t compare to Willens. The most striking feature was the imperial palace in the north of the capital, where the emperor resided.

“The palace looks close, but you actually have to cross the barrier and ride a carriage for about ten minutes.”

Yurik said as we both looked up at the palace in awe.

“Have you ever been inside?”

“I followed my father.”

Yurik replied nonchalantly.

As I enviously looked at him, I wondered if I could ever enter the palace even once in my lifetime. There were areas where civilians were allowed, and Rodney’s school allowed a day tour in the palace if you submitted an application on specific dates.

“Lise, there’s a coffee house with delicious desserts.”

Yurik pointed towards the downtown area.

“A coffee house?”

“Yeah. Your mother gave you quite some money, how about we recharge our energy?”

“Sorry, Yurik, I think we should go to the Duke of Boren’s residence.”

The clock tower was almost pointing to noon. If my assumption was correct, the concert would start two hours later at the Duke of Boren’s residence.

“There’s plenty of time, Lise.”

“I might miss Roger if I slack off.”

But this was merely my estimated time for the concert, not the exact time, so my words came out sharply.

“……Alright.”

“Ah, let’s go if you want! Now that I think about it, it’ll be good to take some packaged dessert for Roger.”
The darkening expression on Yurik’s face prompted me to quickly change the subject. Without a word, Yurik followed me into the coffee house.

As Yurik had mentioned, the place was filled with appetizing desserts. Yurik wrapped up a cake topped with strawberries, and I bought bread with chocolate mousse and a whipped cream pudding. But due to time constraints, we had to pacify our disappointment with takeout.

Yurik readily offered to pay, but I declined. I couldn’t accept gifts from Yurik, as my mother had advised.

“I didn’t know you liked strawberry cake, Yurik.”

Our carriage headed toward the mansion of the Grand Duke of Boren. I glanced at Yurik, who had become increasingly taciturn.

“You ate it last time.”

“Ah. I did eat well, didn’t I? It must’ve looked tasty.”

Yurik did not reply.

“…….”

“…….”

The atmosphere made it difficult to strike up a casual conversation. What went wrong?

“….Lise.”

“Uhhuh. What?”

“You bought two.”

Yurik looked at my box of takeout.

“Ah, this. One is for me, and the other is not for Roger… but also for me.”

I felt it was better to keep my mouth shut. Especially, I had to avoid mentioning Roger. I realized too late that Yurik didn’t like it whenever Roger’s name came up.

“…….”

“…….”

The air was stifling.

We didn’t speak until we reached the Grand Duke of Boren’s mansion. I only felt relieved once we alighted from the carriage.

As I looked up, I was taken aback by the sheer size of the mansion. The mansion, with its large garden, was a pale blue color, as if out of a fairytale.

“Lise. Hold my hand.”

Yurik, who had alighted from the carriage, offered his hand. As soon as I put my hand in his, he gripped it tightly.

A lot of people were gathered in front of the mansion. As we tried to pass through the main gate amidst the crowd, a mercenary blocked our way.

His intimidating build and gruff skin made me involuntarily scared, unlike Yurik, who looked unfazed.

“I am Yurik Fenton, the eldest son of the Fenton family. I contacted in advance instead of having an invitation.”

“I’m aware, young master Yurik. His Highness is waiting for you.”

Waiting?

I watched Yurik’s back as we followed the mercenary through the sprawling garden.

“His Highness has been quite disappointed that you haven’t visited for a while, young master.”

“His Highness?”

“Yes. Sir Otto has been looking for you constantly.”

Yurik and the mercenary seemed to know each other well, exchanging words.

“I hope Sir Otto isn’t here as well.”

“He arrived early in the morning. He must be resting in the guest room.”

“….Ah. As expected.”

Yurik sighed deeply.

‘He’s been here multiple times.’

Yurik looked different.

If it weren’t for him, I would’ve had a hard time even entering the mansion. Listening to their conversation from behind, I scurried to Yurik’s side to express my gratitude.

Just then, a familiar face crossed my vision.

“….!”

My heart sank.

For a moment, my world shook, then stabilized. The person had disappeared, but I hadn’t seen wrong.

Where did she go?

I scanned around for the vanished person but couldn’t find her. Still, I had definitely seen her.

It was definitely Mrs. Bacchus.