While Fernando went to wash up, Etienne leaned her weak body against the rock.

‘I must be really crazy.’

At that time, feeling too lonely, she entertained unreasonable thoughts. After all, he was the object of her unrequited love. She just wished he would show his face to her.

She had no thoughts of wanting to live or clinging to him in desperation. She simply wanted to see him once more because the prison was too cold that day.

The unfulfilled wish lingered in her heart.

“Hmm…”

Even though she had ridiculed herself for being pathetic in a different situation earlier…

“I came to talk, but should I just leave?”

At the sudden voice, Etienne raised her head. The son-in-law’s face was no longer visible as it had gotten dark, but due to the man’s bright hair, she could easily tell who he was even without seeing his face.

As he bent his legs and matched eye level, his face was clearly visible when he sat down.

“Just leaving?”

“I came to comfort you since you seemed upset, but if I’m bothering you, I’ll just go.”

Leharht sat down next to Etienne, leaning against the rock with his legs folded. Sitting directly on the ground without anything spread beneath him.

Feeling someone’s gaze from somewhere, she looked in that direction, and indeed, Alex was looking at the crown prince with an uncomfortable expression.

“But now that I’m closer, you seem to be laughing alone?”

“Did I laugh?”

Etienne, feeling embarrassed, slapped her cheek. Did she laugh when her mouth didn’t seem to turn upwards?

“Yeah, it was a bit scary.”
In response to Leharht’s shaking shoulders and words, Etienne lowered the hand that had been touching her face and smiled.

“Is that so? I did laugh.”

“Even now, you’re still strangely smiling. Should I show you a mirror? It looks really strange. Am I in my right mind now?”

Even with Leharht’s consecutive questions, Etienne couldn’t erase her smile.

“Originally, I would have denied it, saying it was a different situation.”

Now she wasn’t twenty years old, and it wasn’t the time when Claire collapsed. But her mind kept recalling that day.

Comparing the situation of a wild boar charging and me being trapped in prison seemed similar for some reason. But did there really need to be a denial that the two were different?

“But now, I think there’s no need to distinguish, so it’s okay. In the end, what I wanted was the same.”

Whether it was then or now, she wanted to hear warm words. Thinking that she had received it from Fernando, the bitterness from that time melted away like snow.

“So, I guess you’re feeling good.”

“I’m not exactly sure what you mean, but it seems like a pretty complicated story. Can I just roughly understand it in my own way?”

“According to the crown prince’s way of thinking?”

“Yes.”

Leharht got a little closer to Etienne. Due to the reduced distance, their knees touched, causing Etienne’s head to tilt slightly downward.

Perhaps because of his long legs, his knees were elevated. But how did they touch? While pondering this meaningless thought, Leharht spoke.
“Now that you’ve achieved what you wanted, you can harbor other wishes.”

“…Huh?”

“Isn’t that right?”

“Oh, no…”

Come to think of it, his words were correct. She felt happy just hearing Fernando’s warm words, so she hadn’t thought about the next wish.

“That’s right. But it’s okay to have another wish.”

“Why? Nothing else comes to mind right away?”

“No. There’s still something I haven’t fulfilled yet.”

The lives of her family members and the future of the Claire Marquis were still remaining. She had to do her best to ensure that no one suffered a tragic fate.

“Is that so? Too bad.”

At that moment, Leharht’s voice mixed with regret was heard. Etienne tilted her head with a puzzled expression. Thanks to this, his profile looked even better.

“Yeah, I need to do better if I want to keep this man alive, too.”

While having such thoughts, Leharht spoke.

“I was actually going to make a wish entwined with you.”

Etienne burst into laughter at Leharht’s shameless words. At the sudden sound of laughter, Leharht’s eyebrows rounded. Looking like a chicken with raised eyebrows, he stared at Etienne.

“What’s with that laugh? I was feeling quite uncomfortable just now.”

“Oh, I’m sorry if you felt bad. I just thought the crown prince becomes more interesting the more I get to know him.”

Etienne hastily explained. Hearing this, Leharht squinted his eyes as if asking if she was serious, then nodded shortly after.
“I also felt uncomfortable. I just expressed that the laughter sounded so clear that it surprised me, so don’t think it’s weird.”

“How does that happen? It seems like you forced it, didn’t you?”

“No. I can’t express it more accurately, but it’s true.”

“Should I believe that?”

“Yeah. Trust me.”

“…I’ll reluctantly believe you.”

While having a light conversation with Leharht, Etienne gradually regained her usual demeanor.

“Crown Prince.”

After waiting for some conversation, Alex approached.

“What’s the matter?”

“We’re out of firewood.”

“Oh, right.”