After finishing a simple meal and changing her clothes, Alicia was walking down a long corridor to meet the Emperor.

The Emperor did not refuse the meeting requested by his daughter for the first time since the hunting competition.

Rather, he sent word that she could come anytime she wanted, regardless of the time.

“Is it really okay to visit now?”

Alicia, who moved quickly due to the Emperor’s words and her own urgent heart, walked down the corridor leading to the Emperor’s office and had belated regrets.

Even though the Emperor had allowed it, wasn’t she coming too quickly?

By this time, it would be when the Emperor was in the midst of handling state affairs.

Wouldn’t her visit be a disturbance? As she worried about this, Alicia’s steps gradually slowed.

“His Majesty said to come anytime. He meant he would welcome you gladly at any time.”

Amy, walking behind Alicia, slowed her pace to match Alicia’s slower steps and replied.

It was a journey with just the two of them, leaving Mina and Marisa behind in the Princess’s Palace.

Alicia, who had gradually slowed down and then stopped, lost in thought, nodded at Amy’s words and started moving her feet quickly again.

She was still worried about disturbing her father during his busy hours, but her desire to leave the capital as soon as possible pushed her forward.

‘What if he doesn’t allow it?’

It was unlikely, but what if the Emperor didn’t permit it?

She would have to stay locked up in her room in the Princess’s Palace, spending time as if dead until Killian left for the west in summer.

She didn’t want to be entangled with Killian in any way anymore.

When facing him, she felt like tearing out her still rapidly beating heart.

How would she appear in his eyes? Just thinking about it made her want to scatter and disappear like dust on the spot.

It felt like she had become an idiot who, in trying to erase Killian’s face that filled her mind, ended up erasing everything else except his face.

Why couldn’t she give up this feeling that had hurt her so much?

Why did she still beautifully reminisce about their first meeting when it had been so painful?

The heart she had vowed to bury and ignore was jumping up on its own, making a mess of Alicia’s chest and mind.

“No.”

It can’t be.

She had no confidence in not loving him, but she also had no confidence in facing that tragedy again.

Coward, fool, foolish runaway.

It didn’t matter what she was called.

“I won’t love Killian.”

If she couldn’t do that, she would become a better jester than anyone else and pretend not to love him anymore.

“Though I’m already a jester without pretending.”

Alicia’s monologue continued, but Amy, walking behind her, just kept walking silently as if she hadn’t heard anything.

And they reached the end of the path.

It was a massive door with intricate patterns carved in relief.

Standing in front of the door leading to the Emperor’s office, Alicia wondered why it wasn’t the head chamberlain greeting her.

She didn’t think the Emperor, knowing she was coming, would have someone other than the head chamberlain greet Alicia.

If such a thing happened, it would be because the Emperor wasn’t inside.

Alicia’s judgment was correct.

“I apologize, Your Highness. His Majesty suddenly had an urgent matter and left his seat.”

“When did he say he’d return?”

“He said he would return quickly if you wait inside for a moment.”

“Is that so?”

What could be so urgent that the Emperor would leave his office early in the morning?

After pondering for a moment, Alicia shook off such thoughts and nodded slightly to order the door to be opened.

Receiving her signal, the servant who had bowed his head opened the massive door.

“I’ll wait outside. Please call if you need anything.”

“Okay.”

The only guest allowed in the empty space was Alicia alone.

Amy, who remained outside with the servant guarding the door, bowed her head.

Nodding to her, Alicia walked inside and briefly took in the huge window facing the Emperor’s desk.

The office, which the Emperor, who disliked being enclosed on all sides, had extensively renovated upon ascending to the throne, was full of his tastes.

Alicia, who had been enjoying the silence for a moment sitting on the sofa prepared for occasional visitors, soon got up and started pacing around the office.

Was it because she had something to say to the Emperor?

It was difficult to sit still and wait for him due to her nervousness.

“So this book was here at that time.”

Alicia, who found a familiar book on one side of the bookshelf in the office, pulled it out and ran her fingertips over the cover.

It was a book that had decorated the bedside table in Alicia’s bedroom before she traveled back in time.

It’s funny to call a book a decoration, but since she couldn’t turn more than a page or two before falling asleep, it had become like a decoration after being left in the bedroom for a long time.

“What did I do with it later?”

Did she keep it in the bedroom? Or did she move it back to the library?

She couldn’t remember the end clearly.

“What’s the point of remembering?”

Alicia let out a small chuckle, amused at herself for digging through past memories, and put the book back in its original place.

When would the Emperor return?

Alicia, who had been pacing around the office with her hands behind her back, now moved towards the Emperor’s desk.

As the servant guarding the door had said, the documents he had been looking at were scattered on the desk, as if he had left in a hurry.

“Someone is coming from the Kingdom of Tirione?”

In the past at this time, Alicia was indifferent to politics and current affairs.

Believing that her brother, the strong heir to the throne, would naturally become Emperor, she even tried not to show interest on purpose.

In Eregron, there were no restrictions on women inheriting family lines, so if she showed interest in that direction, she might be suspected of aiming for the position of Crown Princess.

Moreover, it was an effort to cut off the sprouts of those who might try to use her to fulfill their own greed.

Both the Emperor and the Crown Prince knew of Alicia’s intentions and tried not to discuss anything related to politics with her.

Even knowing she was coming, leaving these documents out like this was probably because he believed she would pretend not to know about them this time as well.

“What is he thinking, saying he’ll attend brother’s birthday celebration?”

But Alicia, who had traveled back in time, was someone who had experienced a life where ignorance became a sin.

Of course, she wouldn’t show it outwardly, but she had no desire to remain in a state of complete ignorance like before.

“And below that… is it a report on magical beasts?”

While carefully examining the desk, being careful not to touch the documents just in case, Alicia was able to discover a report with the word ‘mutant’ in the title.

Already knowing from Reilly that this mutant was a ‘newly appeared magical beast’, Alicia thought there might be something she wanted to know in that report.

‘It would be good if I could look at the contents…’

The problem was that the report was sandwiched between several documents.

It meant there was no way to look at it without leaving traces of having touched it.

“If I pretend to have touched it by mistake… No, that won’t work.”

The Alicia the Emperor knew wouldn’t have approached the desk in the first place.

Of course, it meant she wouldn’t accidentally knock over the stack of documents either.

Alicia, who was trying to somehow see inside, was barely able to confirm the name of the author written below the title.

“Reilly Anderson?”

Not Ryland Anderson?

Alicia unconsciously tilted her head as she confirmed Reilly’s name instead of the Marquis’s.

She knew he was going in and out of the Imperial Palace on errands for the Marquis, delivering various news, but she didn’t know he was participating this actively.

‘What exactly is that man doing?’

Realizing that no matter how hard she tried, she wouldn’t be able to see the contents of the report, Alicia stepped back and returned to where she had been initially.

Sitting on the soft sofa, thinking about the report, the mutants, and Reilly, Alicia heard hurried footsteps and realized the Emperor had returned.

“Did you wait long?”

“No, I just arrived as well.”

Alicia rose from her seat and curtsied slightly.

The Emperor, in a good mood at seeing his daughter’s face after a long time, strode forward to approach her.

“I’m sorry, something urgent came up suddenly.”

“It’s alright.”

The Emperor lightly grasped his daughter’s hand, led her to her seat, and sat down next to her, looking into her eyes.

He had heard she had locked herself in her room for days, not even eating properly, and in the time he hadn’t seen her, her pretty face had become half of what it was.

“No matter how hard it is, you must always eat properly.”

“You were very worried, weren’t you? I’m sorry.”

“I’m fine as long as you’re okay.”

“Thank you.”

Alicia smiled slightly and expressed her gratitude at the Emperor’s gentle attitude, briefly considering asking about the report she had seen, but soon abandoned the idea.

The Emperor, who would not tolerate Alicia being in danger, would not cooperate with anything that increased that possibility.

It might seem like attaching too much meaning to simply reading a report, but considering Alicia’s nature, it wasn’t excessive.

From a young age, Alicia had always resolved her curiosities physically.

As punishment for having such a tomboy daughter, the Emperor had to watch her forehead get split open one day and her knees get scraped and bleeding another.

Although she didn’t engage in such things after falling in love with Killian at first sight, the Emperor knew that innate personalities don’t change easily.

The Emperor, knowing this, would never show Alicia a report related to magical beasts.

“So, why did you want to see me today? Is there something you need?”

“No, I just felt like I hadn’t seen you for too long, Father.”

“You just wanted to see your father’s face?”

“Yes, should I not have taken up your time for something like this?”

“Hahaha, how could that be!”

Alicia’s face shone brightly as she smiled along with the Emperor, hiding her true purpose for visiting.

The Emperor’s smile also shone as brightly as Alicia’s, completely forgetting the fact that whenever she smiled like this, her forehead would get split or her knees would get scraped.