Sunday service.

After sincerely offering her prayers, Hyacinth didn’t leave immediately but went to the confessional. She didn’t know who the priest on the other side was, but he would recognize her. It didn’t matter. The stories of confession—regardless of the protagonist and seriousness—had to be buried in silence.

That was the law.

“I like someone other than the person I’m going to marry. I know it’s foolish.”

Given that the priest knew her status well,

“If this foolish concern is also a gift from God, should I follow the foolishness or the wisdom?”

He must have been quite flustered.

“…Sister, God always forgives human foolishness.”

“…”

“But relying on His tolerance to commit greater foolishness should be avoided, shouldn’t it?”

…That’s the correct answer.

Hyacinth expressed her thanks and left the confessional.

As she descended the steps, Hyacinth stopped at the sight of a familiar face waiting below. Benjamin reached out to her as if urging her to come down quickly. Hyacinth hurriedly descended and threw herself into her cousin’s arms.

“Shall we go horseback riding this afternoon?”

“Oh, shall we? When?”

“If the lady permits, in an hour?”

“What? That’s almost right now.”

“Yes, right now.”

Hyacinth peeked up at the face of her brother holding her. The pleasant sound of his heartbeat tickled her ears. But she shouldn’t be fooled.

Unlike Caleb, who was always honest to the point of foolishness, Benjamin was serious. Sometimes too meticulous for his own good.

“Let’s go.”

“Are you okay?”

“Yes. I want to ride with my brother after a long time.”

“Thank you for granting me such an honor.”

If only Caleb could imitate even half of that tone.

Hyacinth thought grumpily.

The weather in Tyche today was perfect enough to understand why Benjamin suddenly made such a proposal. Picturesque cumulus clouds adorned every corner of the blue sky. Although the sun was somewhat hot, the heat would be offset by riding through the forest.

Hyacinth patted her white horse, Rolsie, feeding her a carrot. The beautiful animal, chewing the carrot, seemed visibly sulky to anyone who looked.

“Sorry.”

The horse’s hooves clattered noisily on the ground. It seemed angry that she hadn’t played with it for a while. Hyacinth chuckled softly and gently combed the horse’s mane.

“Yes, you’re pretty today too.”

Pretty, beautiful, so good…

After showering Rolsie with every compliment she could think of, the horse finally forgave her.

“Made up?”

Benjamin, who had just come out riding his black horse, Jem, asked.

“To correct you, Rolsie and I didn’t fight.”

“Really?”

“I was the one getting scolded.”

“That’s accurate.”

Hyacinth swiftly mounted her horse, sitting upright.

The cousins simultaneously pulled the reins and rode towards the forest entrance. A breeze blew. It was a gentle wind, soaked with the fresh scent of the forest.

A familiar path they had been riding since childhood.

Hyacinth suddenly, very suddenly, felt envious of Arthur. As a noble lady, she had to marry and leave eventually, but Arthur didn’t. Being able to stay in his beloved hometown for life was a blessing.

Hyacinth soon reflected on herself.

She had lived a life without lack, yet she envied something higher. She was foolishly choosing to do something foolish.

The green forest path ended, and a curtain of white flowers unfolded. Acacia. The path was filled with the sweet scent of spring, and suddenly, Benjamin stopped. His black horse neighed as if it wanted to run more, but his resolve was firm.

Hyacinth slowly stopped beside her cousin. She adjusted her hair, disheveled by the wind, and asked.

“What’s the matter…”

“Hyacinth Hener.”

Though his tone was as gentle as usual, hearing her name was unusual. Hyacinth slowly took her hand off her hair and focused entirely on Benjamin.

“Mother doesn’t approve of Michael von Regenstein. Arthur thinks he’s better than the Duke, Father doesn’t want to oppose Mother, and the youngest, well, she just doesn’t have any thoughts.”

“…”

“What I’m about to tell you will be a useful card for you. How you use this information is up to you.”

“What is it that you’re so solemn about?”

“Michael von Regenstein currently has a pregnant mistress. Her name is Hildegard, and before her family’s downfall, she was a noble lady from the prestigious family of Kochen.”

I know who she is.

Hyacinth gave a bitter smile. She wondered why Michael didn’t make an issue of her affection, and it turned out he wasn’t innocent either.

“She is Michael’s former fiancée.”

“…The woman is pregnant?”

“Yes. As soon as her family fell, Michael took her and hid her. Some say Michael led their downfall.”

Hyacinth blinked slowly.

Though it was closely related to her, it felt like a distant matter. Unreal.

“They say Hildegard’s father mentioned breaking off the engagement… but does the detailed backstory matter?”

“It doesn’t.”

“Exactly. How you use this information is up to you.”

“How can I use it?”

Hyacinth asked, though she knew well.

Unlike women, men were not required to remain chaste before marriage. However, having an illegitimate child was a different matter.

Destroying a family.

…What a destructive love.

Hyacinth scoffed.

She had wondered who was more miserable between a woman who wasn’t loved and a woman who received a crazy love. She now knew the answer. It was the latter. She never wanted to be that ‘Hildegard.’

She had too much and was too materialistic for that.

“If you still want to marry Michael despite everything…”

In that case, she could thoroughly revise the marriage proposal to her advantage. Michael would surely try to bring the illegitimate child, the poor woman’s child, into her family registry.

It was enough to put her in a superior position in negotiations…

“No.”

Hyacinth whispered dryly.

“I don’t want to live as a second fiddle all my life.”

“Right. Then it’s not a breakup, but a cancellation.”

“Yes.”

“Sorry for the shocking news, Hyce.”

Hyacinth shrugged.

Arthur was like that. He would display terrifying determination and then make a huge blunder. He always did. Although for someone full of mistakes, the results were often annoyingly good…

But the result of this mistake wasn’t so good.

“Now it’s time to choose my marriage partner again.”

“Brother will feel sorry for you.”

“…”

“Father too. Hyce, it means you can marry whoever you want.”

She opened her lips, but no sound came out. She had to say something, but no sentence formed.

Hyacinth regripped the reins she was holding. Her pounding heartbeat transmitted to her hands. She was anxious. She felt her blood vessels expand.

“Even if Brother opposes it… this time, Mother will stop him. He didn’t make a fatal mistake.”

“Ben… Ben, what do you hope for?”

“I hope my cousin is happy. And I hope you forgive my clumsy brother a bit.”

“I see.”

“Yeah.”

A gentle touch briefly rested on Hyacinth’s hair and then fell away. Between Benjamin’s departing fingers was an acacia petal.

The falling flower rain was the tears of spring.

Hyacinth took a deep breath, filling her lungs with the fresh scent of spring. She exhaled long and then inhaled deeply again.

She could feel it. She was standing at a crossroads in her life. It was an intuition, no, a certainty.

“What will you do?”

“Well…”

Hyacinth looked back on the path she had taken. Some paths could only be traveled by moving forward blindly.

“Shall we return to the castle, brother?”

“Sure.”

The cousins turned their horses side by side.

As soon as Hyacinth arrived at the castle, she sought out her uncle in the King’s Chamber.

And she declared the annulment.

* * *

Benjamin’s prediction was exactly right.

The moment the explanation ended, Arthur became a major criminal, Aunt exploded in anger, and Uncle became sullen. Caleb was caught trying to storm out of the room.

Strictly speaking, it was before the engagement.

No matter how contemptible Michael was, without results, there was no way to hold him accountable.

“Everyone, leave.”

At his Father’s stern command, Benjamin stood up, dragging Caleb with him. The eldest son, Arthur, glanced around, and the king naturally got angry.

“You fool, couldn’t you hurry up!”

“Sorry, Hyce.”

“Of course you should be sorry! How many times have I told you not to rush! When will you grow up, you married fool!”

Uncle, unable to contain his rising anger, kicked Arthur out of the room.

So, only she and the two monarchs remained inside.

“Hyce.”

Queen Johanna spoke first.

Her tone was slow and cautious, as if carefully choosing her words.

“Yes, Aunt.”

“Who do you want to marry?”

“…”

“Do you want to marry Duke Trisel?”

I haven’t thought deeply about it yet…

But with just a simple question, her cheeks flushed hotly.

Hyacinth let down her hair pinned behind her ear to hide her reaction. Not just her cheeks, but her earlobes must have turned bright red too.

Her uncle muttered as if he had a headache.

“Arthur did something stupid. But, Hyacinth…”

“That’s enough, Kendrick.”

“Just a moment. Just this one thing, Johanna.”

The king, soothing his wife, cleared his throat and looked at his niece. The child who looked exactly like his long-deceased sister. The bright-eyed girl had grown into a fine lady.

Though the child had already become an adult, why did Hyacinth still seem like a child to him? If his three sons were his pride, his only niece was his blessing.

A precious gift given to them by God.

“Hyacinth.”

“Yes.”