“Ah…”

Amy felt cold sweat breaking out on her back. Look at this brazen prince, treating his father the emperor as if he were already dead.

“Hm? Is it not allowed?”

The second prince grabbed Amy’s hand and shook it pleadingly. Amy bit her lip in bewilderment, then nodded. Just as the second prince, Noah, opened his mouth wide in excitement, Amy spoke sternly.

“But only when we’re alone. As you know, if anyone finds out, I’ll be in big trouble. Disrespect towards the royal family is punishable by immediate execution.”

“Okay! I understand~.”

Noah nodded quickly, his black hair fluttering like wings. Then he looked up at Amy with sparkling eyes, as if asking her to call him right away. Amy chuckled, unable to resist. Was he really this happy just to be called by name?

“Well then, ahem.”

Amy cleared her throat with her fist to her mouth. Then she said solemnly:

“Lord Noah.”

“…”

But Noah’s face, which she expected to be joyful, became gloomy instead. Huh? What’s wrong? As Amy tilted her head in confusion, Noah pouted and grumbled.

“Weren’t you just going to call me Noah?”

“Why don’t you just pray for my death while you’re at it?”

Amy exclaimed. Noah shrugged once, then nodded in understanding.

“Then from now on, you must always call me Lord Noah, okay?”

“Only when we’re alone. Why are you subtly trying to expand the scope?”

“Hehe, you caught me.”

Noah cutely stuck out his tongue. Amy narrowed her eyes as she looked at him. She had thought he was just a delicate person, but after spending a few months together, she found he could sometimes be shamelessly cute with that adorable face.

‘Should I be a bit stricter with him in the north…?’

Amy pondered for a moment, then shrugged. She decided to accept that he was probably like this because he had no one else to act spoiled with.

‘He hasn’t caused any major problems, so I’ll just be careful from now on.’

In truth, her heart had also softened towards Noah’s appearance, which was incomparable to the Crown Prince’s. She had thought he was just a gloomy little kid, always pale-faced and expressionless with his black curly hair hanging down to his eyes, but the shock of seeing his bare face straight on when they came to the Second Prince’s palace was still vivid.

‘They say the Empress was famous for her beauty when she was a princess of the southern country…’

She had thought he only inherited the black hair color, but he had completely taken after his mother’s beauty. The funny thing was that since they had hardly seen his face since the Empress died 10 years ago, his father the Emperor and his brother the Crown Prince barely knew what Noah looked like.

‘Is the love between men and women really so fleeting?’

Amy’s sympathetic gaze lingered on Noah before dissipating into the air. Noah’s mother had fallen in love at first sight with the Emperor who visited the southern country, giving up all the rights she enjoyed as a princess to become merely a concubine empress when she married into the empire.

But the Emperor’s love for her did not even last 5 years before flying away like dandelion seeds.

‘That’s why I couldn’t trust the Crown Prince more.’

Like father, like son. Her thoughts had already been confirmed by her death in her previous life. Amy raised her bitter gaze to look at Noah again.

“What is it, Amy?”

Noah smiled, his golden eyes twinkling. Trust and affection for Amy dripped from that gaze.

“…It’s nothing.”

Amy clicked her tongue and turned her head. Right, the Second Prince also inherited the Emperor’s blood, so he might become a notorious playboy in the future. And he was so handsome on top of that. Amy, having tasted bitterness in her previous life, now only liked looking at such people, but getting involved was absolutely out of the question.

‘Still, he also inherited the blood of the devoted Empress, so I hope he’s only half like that.’

As she was thinking this, she paused.

‘Come to think of it, I heard something about Lord Noah before I regressed…’

Amy stared blankly at Noah, then shook her head, thinking it was ridiculous to have such thoughts about a child. Then she smiled and joined Noah in his exploration of the market.

***

“You’re a little late.”

The man standing in front of them said, bowing politely. Amy nodded casually and looked the man up and down.

“Seeing you’re fine, I guess you managed to escape without any mishaps?”

“Well, yes…”

The man pulled his words, pushing up his glasses with his hand. He was Joseph, who until recently had been exploited as a nominal aide at the Esmaine Duke’s residence.

He said gruffly:

“Anyway, you’re 8 minutes and 40 seconds late.”

“Yes, I’m truly sorry, but we had our circumstances. I told him several times that I had to leave quickly, that the person waiting wasn’t just any picky person, but there was someone who insisted on eating skewers right away.”

Amy mercilessly offered up Noah as a sacrifice. Joseph stared blankly at the boy who was pushed forward in front of him. Noah, with sauce on the corners of his mouth, cleared his throat when he saw Joseph.

“Are you Joseph, who I hear has rendered meritorious service in this matter?”

“…Gasp!”

Joseph, finally recognizing Noah, swallowed hard. To think the Second Prince would come to the market in person! The timid man began to tremble like a flower branch in a typhoon. Regardless, Noah said awkwardly:

“I’m sorry about this. It’s my first time eating such things… Would you like some too?”

Amy pulled down both corners of her mouth. Oh my, he really seems sorry. After devouring the skewers he tasted for the first time like a dog gnawing on a bone, it seems his stomach is a bit full now.

Joseph, who had been flustered and unsure what to do, rubbed his hands on his pants and put them together respectfully. Noah stared intently at those hands, then slowly held out the skewer. Joseph received it with trembling hands.

“…”

Noah, gazing regretfully at the skewer leaving his hands, let out a small sigh and turned his head abruptly. At that moment, Joseph realized:

‘Ah, I should have declined.’

It was the moment Joseph’s future life began to go awry.

“Well then, now that we’ve met the person we came to meet. I’ll go take care of my business.”

Amy checked the time and said to Noah. Noah, as if he had never been upset, grabbed her sleeve with wide eyes.

“Where are you going? Are you going alone?”

“It’s a place children can’t go.”

Amy replied lightly, gesturing to Joseph. Joseph approached timidly with a pale face and stood politely next to Noah. Noah glanced at him suspiciously, then spoke to Amy again.

“I’ll be good. I can be quiet like I’m not even here. So…”

Noah was more persistent than expected, making Amy frown. In the end, she had to use the magic words.

“Lord Noah, what did you promise when I became your head maid?”

Noah lowered his head and bit his lip.

“…That I would listen well to Amy until I become an adult.”

“It won’t take long, so let’s meet again in front of Joseph’s inn.”

Noah stared at Amy for a moment, then stepped back obediently. Amy shot a look at Joseph, who was lost in thought wondering why she called the Second Prince Noah, telling him to take good care of the prince. Then, after checking the mercenaries guarding them once more, she turned and disappeared into the crowd.

“…”

Noah’s gaze, watching her retreating figure longingly, darkened.

***

“Ah, my ankle…”

Amy limped along, avoiding people. She must have overdone it trying not to show any pain in front of the Second Prince. Amy stopped in a secluded alley, unwrapped the bandage on her ankle, and wrapped it more tightly.

‘That’s better.’

After testing her foot on the ground a few times, she headed back to her destination. She walked without hesitation through the winding alleys like an ant’s nest, following old memories. Finally, she checked her appearance in front of a shabby building she had arrived at.

‘First, cover my face…’

Just as she took out the scarf she had prepared in advance, someone passing by bumped her shoulder.

“Ah!”

Amy stumbled, but the man just glanced at her and walked away. Amy muttered a few complaints watching his retreating back, then wrapped the scarf around her face.

‘Covered my hair and face… good.’

As she raised her head, she saw the picture drawn on the wooden sign above the door. Similar to a noble family’s coat of arms, it was a picture of a shield with a snake drawn on it, with a sword and spear crossed in an X shape.

Amy looked at it meaningfully before opening the door and going inside.

It must have been a pub doing very poor business, as there wasn’t a single customer. The man sitting at the counter under the shelf lined with bottles said dryly:

“Welcome.”

Amy approached the man and cleared her throat before saying in a rough voice:

“I’m here to see the Guild Master.”

“…The password?”

The man lowered his voice as he looked Amy up and down. Amy retorted with an incredulous expression:

“What password? Just go and call him.”

“…You’re not fooling anyone.”

The man clicked his tongue and obediently got up and disappeared somewhere. Amy chose an empty table and made herself comfortable. Though her movements were relaxed, she was actually very tense.

‘Stay calm, Amy. You can do this.’

As she was reassuring herself like this, the man reappeared and said:

“He says to come to the back room.”

“…”

Amy got up and followed the man to the back room. In the dimly lit interior with boards nailed over the windows, only a single candle sat lonely. As Amy sat down in the chair placed in the center of the room, the large man sitting across from her asked in a booming voice:

“What business do you have with the Guild Master?”

“I’m here to withdraw a deposit I left.”

The Guild Master narrowed his eyes at Amy’s words. The woman was clearly suspicious, trying to disguise her voice by making a scratching sound in her throat. But was there anyone who came here who wasn’t suspicious?

“Did you bring the token?”

“Here.”

Amy took out a wooden tag from her bosom and placed it on the table. The man took it and examined it carefully before nodding.