“High Priest.”

Perhaps because I spoke with an overly bright voice, Millean stiffened and stepped back a couple of paces.

“Whoa.”

What’s with that gesture, like he’d encountered a wild animal?

But I paid no mind and approached him.

My eagerness stemmed from the hope that if anyone could solve this problem, it might be Millean.

“High Priest, I have something to tell you.”

“Is it about the cat?”

“How did you know?”

Millean then asked me with an unchanging expression.

“Is what you want to take the cat away?”

“Yes, I’d like to take care of her until His Majesty returns.”

In truth, I wanted to continue caring for her even after Ainberg’s return.

Miamo was originally a cat that had been with me.

“Let’s do that then.”

“…Really?”

“Have you lived your life being deceived?”

His invariably brusque voice came flying, but I was still pleased.

“Thank you. Thank you so much.”

I didn’t know why he was helping, but it was appreciated nonetheless.

It seemed highly suspicious and possibly scheming for him to so readily help with my request, as he wasn’t the type to do so.

But I didn’t care as long as I could hold Miamo in my arms again.

“But the person currently taking care of the cat seemed quite difficult…”

When I trailed off and looked at Millean, he snorted.

His eyes said that difficult or whatever, it wasn’t a problem at all.

“Anyway, go back with that understanding.”

“Wait, High Priest.”

“……?”

I held back Millean as he was about to turn away. Then, covering my mouth with my hand, I lowered my voice and asked.

“When will you send it?”

“……”

“You will give it to me before this life ends, right?”

Millean stepped back and looked at me with a strange gaze.

“What do you mean?”

“It’s a joke. I’ve been so curious since that day—”

Millean cut off my words and responded dryly.

“Wait. His Majesty isn’t here now.”

Not long after returning to my room, the priest I had encountered earlier personally brought Miamo in a cage.

He apologized to me with an uncomfortable face, then put Miamo down and fled outside.

But I had no time to pay attention to his reaction. When I hurriedly opened the small door of the cage, I saw Miamo’s small body curled up in the corner.

“Miamo.”

When I called her carefully, Miamo showed a reaction.

Her emerald eyes seemed to widen slightly, then she suddenly sprang forward.

“Miamo, oh… my goodness.”

I felt a familiar warmth and soft fur in my arms. When I embraced the small, soft creature, Miamo meowed for a long time.

“Miss, it really seems amazing.”

Sabine clasped her hands together and spoke with a somewhat overwhelmed expression.

“It seems Miamo immediately knows who you really are.”

“It seems so. Actually, she’s been like that since I first saw her.”

I told Sabine about what happened when I came to get approval for my marriage with Levi.

“I see. What a clever one.”

Miamo, who had returned to my arms, drank and ate enough, then fell asleep in a comfortable position.

After taking a breath of relief watching her sleep on the soft cushion, I finally recalled what Millean had said.

‘Wait. His Majesty isn’t here right now.’

For the first time, I thought that what I had been deliberately ignoring might actually be the truth.

Ainberg really does have something going on.

There might have been something I didn’t know, something I hadn’t realized.

Will I find out when he returns?

What is Millean trying to tell me?

How long do I have to wait?

‘Someone made a dangerous deal to protect you.’

‘A dangerous deal?’

‘There was a small mistake in the middle, but still.’

‘What does that even mean? Protecting me? And what mistake?’

‘You’ll know soon. So don’t try too hard.’

Should I have listened to Leonora from the beginning?

Right now, it didn’t seem like the truth would be within my grasp no matter how hard I tried.

It felt like I was always being looked down upon from one step ahead, no matter how fast I ran.

When my mind is this complicated, going outside and chatting noisily is the best solution.

“Sabine, let’s visit Soniel.”

❀❀❀

Soniel listened very seriously to the story of bringing Miamo. She seemed interested from the fact that the Emperor kept a cat.

“The Emperor keeps a cat?”

She rolled her eyes around and smiled awkwardly.

Though I kept quiet out of tact, I could guess what Soniel was about to say.

It was a strange situation no matter who heard it.

Perhaps Soniel would exclaim that the Emperor deeply loves the Empress. Not wanting to repeat a similar conversation, I quickly changed the subject.

Afterward, we talked about horseback riding, which Soniel said she had recently started learning.

“At first, I was really scared. I screamed so much just from sitting on it.”

“I didn’t see how you screamed, but I can almost picture it.”

“But once I got my own horse and became a bit friendly by calling its name, it got much better.”

Just then, someone knocked on the reception room door.

When I reflexively turned my head, it was Johana, Soniel’s personal maid.

She opened her mouth with a polite expression.

“Miss, Sir Messis has arrived.”

“Who did you say arrived?”

Soniel looked at me, unable to hide her surprised and confused expression.

Who came that made her react like this?

The name sounds familiar.

“It seems you had a prior appointment. Who is Sir Messis?”

“He’s my philosophy and history teacher. He said he would postpone today’s lesson.”

“Really?”

“Yes, he said he would postpone it to late evening or tomorrow because you were coming, but what happened?”

Then Johana spoke again.

“It seems Sir Messis said it’s difficult to adjust his schedule suddenly on the same day.”

Soniel looked at me with a dejected face.

“I’m sorry, my lady.”

“No, I’m the one who came unannounced.”

I stood up to leave.

“My lady, the lesson only takes an hour. But if I do well, it might end earlier.”

I caught the meaning of Soniel’s additional words.

“Then shall I wait?”

Somehow, I didn’t feel like returning to the palace either.

Perhaps it was because my heart felt empty and lonely.

“If you would, I’d be really grateful. I’ll come back as quickly as possible.”

“Don’t do that, take your time. I’ll wait.”

After Soniel left with Johana, I remained alone in her room, enjoying the leisure time.

I was sitting in a chair so soft that I felt I might fall asleep at any moment, looking out the window.

“The garden is quite impressive.”

It was a peaceful scene, but my mind was not.

Feeling like thoughts would start chaining together again, I jumped up from my seat.

Stop these useless thoughts and let’s take a walk!

I decided to call Sabine from the next room and go down to the garden together.

When I went outside and called for Sabine, she came out with a drowsy face, as if she had fallen asleep.

“Miss, are you leaving already?”

“No, she has a lesson now, so I decided to wait for a while.”

“A lesson?”

Sabine rubbed her eyes and asked me back.

“She said it would end in an hour.”

“You’re waiting a whole hour? You must really like Miss Soniel.”

Walking toward the garden, Sabine spoke with a voice tinged with jealousy.

I wanted to tease her and showed an exaggerated reaction.

“She’s young but thoughtful and very cute.”

“……”

“I don’t have any sisters, only brothers. I’ve never had memories or experiences of taking care of someone, so it’s fun being with Soniel.”

“Ah… I see.”

Sabine nodded with lifeless eyes.

“But not as much as you, Sabine.”

“Oh, what are you saying, Miss.”

Look at those nostrils flaring while saying “what.”

We giggled as we strolled through the front yard of the Viper family. The front yard connected to the garden was neatly maintained, reflecting my former father’s personality.

“Miss, this place is just like a maze. It would be perfect for hide-and-seek.”

Perhaps because it had been a while since she had such leisure, Sabine looked particularly excited.

“We’re not children, what hide-and-seek—”

“I’ll find you first!”

“Ah, forget it.”

While saying forget it, I slowly walked inside.

“Miss, I won’t look for you!”

“Please don’t. You probably won’t find me today anyway.”

“We’ll see about that!”

If we’re going to play hide-and-seek, we should do it properly.

I lifted my dress and strode forward.

Of course, I didn’t forget to check the entrance and direction while going deep inside.

The garden was much wider than I thought. After walking for a while, the path abruptly ended, and beyond it stood trees I had never seen before, densely packed.

“Is that still part of the garden?”

Going a bit further inside, I saw a screen wall.

“This should be good enough.”

Thinking that she would never find me if I hid here, I raised my head.

“……?”

In the distance, I spotted a building too large to be a stable and too clean to be a warehouse.

What is that?