Surprisingly, the mastermind behind the woman’s scheme was just one young man. The man seemed to be involved in similar activities as the woman, as he had a beautiful appearance but seemed somewhat frivolous.

The woman and man lived together and confessed that when they squandered all the money given by their father and became penniless, they devised this scheme.

“The witch hunt and amnesia were all lies. Fraud charges will also apply,” the guard said.

The woman and man had targeted the renowned Marsen County family in the empire. A prison sentence was unavoidable. Realizing this, the woman invoked past ties and begged her father for forgiveness.

Father made an unpleasant expression as if seeing filth and went into the room. In contrast, Isabel remained until the end.

It was not out of sympathy for the woman.

“Please include the fraud charges and impose heavy punishments for the remaining crimes. Make it so that I never have to see this woman’s face again.”

“I will keep that in mind, Madam.”

“Go now. I no longer wish to see that woman’s face.”

The guard eagerly dragged the woman and man out the front gate, as if he had been waiting.

Outside the gate was a wooden cage to imprison the criminals. The frightened woman shouted towards her mother, but her lips were blocked by the guard.

“Be quiet!”

The guard did not hesitate to use violence against the prisoners. The sight was so terrible that I closed the curtains and moved to the sofa.

“What about the children?” Isabel asked the maid beside her.

“Young Master Swel and Miss Silke cried for a long time, as if relieved of tension, and fell asleep. Miss Felicia and Young Master Bernard are still at school. Just in case, I checked at the school, but fortunately, nothing seemed to have happened.”

“Let’s keep this a secret from the two of them. There’s no good in telling them.”

“Yes.”

“Alright. The children will be very hungry when they wake up, so hurry and prepare a meal.”

Isabel managed the mansion as usual. Only after assigning all the tasks to the maids did Isabel pay attention to me.

“What are you looking at?”

“I have something to say…”

I hesitated before speaking. Upon hearing that I had something to say, Isabel waited silently. I slightly parted my lips and then stopped.

It was true that I had been looking at her because I had something to say. I wanted to express my gratitude to her for protecting me.

However, I had never said such embarrassing words to Isabel before. I did cling to her and cry yesterday, but I wasn’t in my right mind then.

“If you have nothing to say, go to your room now. The maids need to clean the entrance.”

“I heard everything.”

“What did you hear?”

Isabel stopped her actions.

“The conversation you had with Father earlier. You said you took revenge on him, right?”

“Eavesdropping on other people’s conversations. You’ve developed another bad habit.”

“I didn’t listen because I wanted to. More importantly… you said you also took revenge on me. What did I do wrong?”

When I asked directly without changing the subject, Isabel hesitated for a moment to answer. As I thought, something must have happened between me and Isabel that I couldn’t remember. What actions or words of mine earned Isabel’s resentment?

“You haven’t been listening to me well lately.”

Isabel spoke vaguely.

“You’re not the type of person to take revenge for such a trivial reason, Mother.”

“How can you be so sure?”

“I am sure. I may not know anything about the woman who was taken away, but I know you very well, Mother.”

At my confident tone, Isabel frowned as if bothered. It may be a thing of the past for Isabel, but it was very important to me. That way, I wouldn’t foolishly repeat that action again later.

As I persistently stared at her, Isabel unfurrowed her brows.

“…You like the universe.”

“What?”

The universe all of a sudden?

Leaving me confused, Isabel walked into the room. Before closing the door, she muttered softly.

“I didn’t like that.”

“M-Mother?”

What’s all this about? Even though I wanted to ask for more details, Isabel went into the room and didn’t come out.

The universe? What universe?

‘It can’t be a riddle, right?’

My thoughts became even more complicated.

* * *

Isabel’s remark tormented me.

‘Universe, universe. Damn universe!’

There was only one way to clear my mind of complicated thoughts. Seeing the face of the person I wanted to see.

The place I headed to while looking around was none other than the flower garden between the Marsen and Penton families. Of course, I left without Isabel and the maids knowing. Just in case, I left a note in Bitty’s room, so they wouldn’t think I was kidnapped.

“…Lize?”

A familiar voice was heard from ahead.

On Monday, when the vacation ends, Yurik and I were supposed to meet here. We made a promise, but since we didn’t set a time, I didn’t expect him to be here. No, I slightly hoped for it.

But as soon as I entered the flower garden, Yurik, who had been sitting there, noticed me and smiled.

“Yurik…”

He didn’t have the usual fairy tale book in his hand. I thought he had just left the mansion like me, but from the back of his hand to the bridge of his nose was red.

Had he been here for a long time? I ran to him and snatched his hand. As expected, his hand was very cold.

“Yurik, are you crazy?”

“I’m perfectly fine.”

“You’ll get frostbite like this! Why on earth are you sitting here stupidly instead of going into the mansion?”

I got angry out of frustration. When I took off his glove, Yurik was startled and tried to stop me.

“It’s okay, you don’t have to take it off! Lize.”

“It’s not okay. Your hand is frozen.”

“Your hand will freeze too.”

Yurik frowned. His hand was the urgent matter, but he was worrying about my hand instead.

“Yurik, just listen to me. Or else I’ll hate you.”

When I glared at him, Yurik backed down. He put on one glove and gave the other one to me. If we didn’t share one each, he seemed ready to take off the glove he had put effort into wearing.

“Your hand is frozen stiff, yet you refuse the glove. You’re really stupid.”

Having no choice, I put my hand in the left glove.

“Then, can I stay close to you instead of wearing the glove?”

“Stay close?”

“Yeah? Lize.”

When Yurik acted cute, I sat right next to him. Then, I grabbed his bare hand and put it in my coat pocket. Yurik widened his eyes as if he didn’t expect me to hold his hand, and then he smiled again.

“Were you waiting for me all this time?”

“…I didn’t wait long.”

So he really waited. It’s not even surprising anymore.

“Why did you do that?”

“We promised to meet, but we didn’t set a time. I came out early so we wouldn’t miss each other since I didn’t know when you would come out.”

“You’re such a child.”

“We are children, Lize.”

I found Yurik, who insisted he was a child without backing down, slightly annoying.

“I finally came out because I wanted to see you. But you keep teasing me.”

When I slightly pouted my lips, Yurik buried his face in my shoulder and rubbed against it. His hair tickled my cheek.

“Why are you laughing?”

When I looked down at Yurik, he slightly turned his head and stared at me. His blue eyes sparkled like jewels.

“Because you look happy.”

“Me?”

“Yes, Lize Marsen.”

Yurik didn’t take his eyes off me. Feeling embarrassed by his gaze, I turned my head forward and felt heat slowly rising to my face.

“I am in a good mood. Same as usual.”

“Yeah.”

“You look even happier.”

“Yeah, I’m happy.”

Did he get scolded harshly by his grandfather again? Yurik wouldn’t leave my side today, more than usual.

Sweat began to form on the hand I was holding in my pocket. Worried that Yurik might find it unpleasant, I tried to untangle our fingers, but he clung more tightly to my knuckles.

It felt strange but not bad. Rather, my heart fluttered, making my body feel light.

“It’s snowing.”

Yurik looked at the sky as if snow had touched his cheek. As he said, it began to snow lightly.

“Is it the first snow?”

“It’s the first snow.”

At Yurik’s answer, I looked at the small snowflakes falling on my hand.

“Amazing. The first snow.”

“The first snow in the winter garden.”

Yurik muttered softly.

“Winter garden?”

“Flowers only bloom in this garden during winter.”

I see.

“Beautiful…”

I always remembered the day of the first snowfall. Most of the time, the circumstances weren’t good when the first snow fell.

‘It’s different this time…’

* * *

It was also snowing then. It was a day when elementary school classes ended early due to parent-teacher conferences.

I was left alone in the school after the children had left. It was because the teacher called me to the faculty room before other parents came for the conference.

My parents had never visited the school. I couldn’t write anything on the survey asking about parents’ occupations, which made the teacher suspicious of me. That’s how I was questioned, almost like an interrogation.

After roughly dodging the questions, I came out to the hallway. Snow was falling outside the window.

“…Bohani?”

Looking ahead, the after-school Go teacher who hadn’t left the school yet was standing there. I was so surprised that my legs froze on the spot.

It was awkward to face the teacher. Not long ago, my father had said strange things to the teacher over the phone.

“H-hello.”

“Shall we talk for a moment?”

I couldn’t refuse the teacher’s words.

He called me to an empty classroom and gave me warm cocoa and two packs of cookies. Sipping the cocoa little by little while being mindful, I was afraid of what the teacher would say.

I wanted to finish this cocoa quickly and leave.

“Bohani.”

“…I’m sorry.”

I spoke with difficulty. Instead of answering, the teacher silently looked at me.

“G-go doesn’t seem to suit me well. It’s difficult, and honestly, I’m not very interested. And I want something other than becoming a professional player.”

“…You mean a doctor?”

At the sharp question, I unknowingly hung my head.

“Do you want to become a doctor?”

“…I want to have a lot of money. I want to be rich.”

“Really?”

“Yes. Because I like money.”

The answer came out without hesitation. I wasn’t sure about being a doctor, but it was true that I wanted to be rich. I always wished I had a lot of money. I wanted to become rich, do everything I wanted, and live without worries.

“Anything else?”

The teacher asked again.

“…What?”

“Is there really nothing else you truly want besides money?”

“I-I don’t want to become a professional Go player.”

“Bohani, I’m not forcing you to become a professional player right now. You don’t have to play Go. I’m just curious if there’s something else you want besides money. Is money really the thing you want the most?”

I suspected the teacher was seeing through my heart. I slowly raised my head to look at the teacher, and my suspicion turned into certainty. The teacher’s eyes already knew what I wanted.

I wanted money, but there was one thing I wanted more than money.

Just one thing.

“There is one…”

“Won’t you tell me?”

“…I just want my mom and dad to always smile.”

I quickly added, in case the teacher couldn’t understand.

“Then I think I could smile every day too.”

A happy family.

That’s what I wanted the most.