Ephnic had a hard time making out what Hailey was saying. It sounded roughly like she wanted to have a meal together and take a walk, but his practically-a-little-sister suddenly coming at him with a face like that left him dazed. Eventually Lian, unable to watch any longer, cleared his throat and snapped him back to his senses.

“Your Highness? Your Highness?”

“Oh, Lian…”

Lian’s prompt made Ephnic raise a hand and gently push Hailey back. Following his touch, Hailey let out a small “Oh” and stepped back one pace.

“Lian, did you call for me just now?”

“Yes, Your Highness. Were you not in the middle of reviewing documents?”

“Right… right, I was. I’m quite busy, aren’t I?”

Hailey, who had been chattering nonstop even after being pushed back, finally fell quiet and looked up at Ephnic in silence. Lian’s plan was on the verge of succeeding. At that moment, Ephnic felt something odd and studied Hailey for a brief moment.

‘Could it be that she can’t bring herself to admit she lost the compass? She feels bad about it, so she’s acting like this?’

He gave a faint nod, settled his thoughts, and offered Hailey an awkward smile. Without a reason like that, he simply couldn’t make sense of her behavior.

“Lian, go take a short walk or something.”

“Pardon?”

“Hailey, I have something to give you, so come along.”

The moment he finished speaking, Ephnic turned on his heel, and Hailey trotted after him. When Ephnic wasn’t looking, she glanced back at Lian and stuck her tongue out at him in a teasing flash.

“La, Lady.”

Lian stood frozen in place for a long while, thoroughly stunned.

***

Click. The heavy sound of the office door closing rang out. ‘Hailey’ followed Ephnic inside the office.

‘She really came in! Just the two of us!’

She savored the feeling of bliss.

Just by being a Lady, she could be close to the royal family and come and go from the palace freely!

‘So this is the Crown Prince’s office. It’s wonderful! Breathtaking! The best!’

‘Hailey’ gazed at the countless books lining the walls and the few magical instruments by the window, pouring out one exclamation after another. She even hummed to herself without realizing it. Strictly speaking, she was Marianne, possessing Hailey’s body.

Her goal today was to test whether she could actually get inside this place. It didn’t go as smoothly as she hoped, but she succeeded in the end, and she was thoroughly intoxicated by that fact.

‘Exactly. With the Crown Prince right there in front of me, there’s no reason to cling to a rotten rope, is there? I’m not Marianne anymore. I’m Hailey Hersen! The one and only Lady of the Hersen ducal family, with a bloodline pure as they come, that’s me!’

Marianne smiled quietly, like she already held the whole vast palace in her hands, and when Ephnic wasn’t looking, she spread her arms wide and spun herself around in a full circle. Whether he knew her thoughts or not, Ephnic swept his dark hair aside and sat down at his desk, rummaging through the drawer.

“Hailey.”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

“How long are you going to keep calling me ‘Your Highness’? What’s gotten into you?”

Ephnic stopped rummaging and looked quietly at Marianne.

“Pardon?”

Caught off guard by the unexpected question, Marianne straightened her posture and looked at Ephnic. His tone alone was just as gentle as before, but a cool chill had crept into his eyes. Quick to read the room, she froze slightly, forced a smile, and let her eyes dart around.

‘Stay calm. Didn’t Hailey always call him ‘Your Highness’? Then what did she call him? ‘Your Highness’ in the formal sense? She called him something that dull?′

“I… want to call you… Your Highness. Is that… not all right?”

Deciding she couldn’t drag it out any longer, she spoke in halting, clipped phrases. She could feel it herself, the way goosebumps raced across her entire body from the sheer tension.

‘Could she have been found out?’

Marianne didn’t yet know that her thoughts were written plainly across her face.

Thud.

“……?!”

The sound of the drawer shutting made Marianne flinch. Ephnic, paying her no mind, laced his fingers together and rested his arms calmly on the desk. Then he propped his face against the back of his hands and looked at her face for a long, quiet moment.

“You.”

Some time passed. The moment Ephnic opened his mouth, Marianne gripped her dress tightly in tense hands and swallowed hard.

“Yes… Your Highness.”

“You knew I bought a potted plant, didn’t you? That’s why you’re here.”

“A potted plant…?”

His thoughts apparently settled, Ephnic suddenly smiled and rose from his seat. He picked up a small pot from the windowsill and held it up pointedly.

“Your acting is terrible.”

Acting…?

‘Was she found out? What does a pot have to do with anything?’

Whether it was her imagination or just the way he was, he was clearly smiling, yet somehow gave off an unsettling air. She was doing her best to avoid his gaze, but the heavy atmosphere seemed to press against her skin.

‘What… what do I do? Am I going to get caught this easily? Was it inevitable, being so close to each other?!’

Ephnic walked toward Marianne, one step at a time.

Step. Step.

The closer he got, the more her heart pounded and her mouth went dry. Before she knew it, Ephnic stood right in front of her, looking down at her without blinking those blue eyes. As he drew close enough for her to hear his breathing, the tension made Marianne swallow involuntarily. Anyone who faced those blue eyes head-on at this distance would have done the same.

“You asked me to find you one, remember? A blue rose. In the middle of winter, no less.”

Marianne was bewildered.

‘She wasn’t found out? It was just her imagination?’

So she tilted her chin into her hand and pretended for a moment that she couldn’t quite remember.

“Right! I did! I asked you to find me a blue rose!”

“It’s such a rare variety I figured there wouldn’t be any, but I heard there were some at the far northern edge and tracked it down. Turned out there was one, just barely. Quite a bit of trouble on your behalf.”

Ephnic, who said so little until now, added an explanation seemingly to help her along. He even wore a relaxed smile. Seeing that, Marianne finally realized it was all in her head, and her nerves eased so quickly that she broke into a sheepish grin right along with him.

“……”

Ephnic raised one eyebrow slightly, looking like he expected exactly that. Then he brought the pot he kept hidden behind his back forward and held it out.

“Here.”

The pot in his hand appeared to have no flower blooming in it yet.

“Oh, it hasn’t bloomed yet?”

“You kept hovering around me because you felt too bad to ask for it outright, didn’t you?”

Fortunately, Ephnic handed over the pot without much fuss. He even threw in a joke that no ordinary jewel could come close to its value. Marianne broke into a full laugh and played it up shamelessly.

“That’s right, haha. You really are perceptive, Your Highness.”

‘Phew, of course. How would he ever figure it out? This face itself is proof of being Hailey. I got scared for nothing.’

While Marianne smiled with a little shake of her shoulders, Ephnic dusted the soil off his hands.

“I’m really quite busy now. Shall we make an appointment next time?”

He folded his arms and spoke to Marianne, as though he finished what he had to say.

“Oh, yes! I’ll come to you first, Your Highness.”

“Do as you like.”

Marianne hugged the pot to her chest with a lightened heart and scurried out of the office in quick little steps. The spring in her step and the hum that came out on its own made it clear she was in quite a good mood.

But there was one thing she didn’t know. Ephnic smiled not only when he was in a good mood or when something went well, but in one other situation too. That was when he wanted to hide what was on his mind.

“A rose.”

Ephnic murmured to himself, stroking his chin as he stared quietly at the spot Marianne left.

“What to do?”

Unlike before, his expression was so blank it was impossible to tell what he was thinking.

“I never mentioned anything about a rose.”

***

At the same time, a dressmaker’s shop bustling with ladies. Each one wore a bright, eager expression as she had her elaborate and beautiful dress made.

Invitations for the ‘additional ladies-in-waiting selection’ went out to prominent families and ordinary families alike, and even to commoners. ‘Marianne,’ who carried Hailey’s soul, was one of them, so Hailey also hurried to the dressmaker’s. And fortunately, she managed to secure the fabric she wanted before anyone else.

“About this much on the shoulders would be good, wouldn’t it, Marianne?”

Marianne, Marianne.

Every time she heard that name, Hailey felt a pang, a stubborn refusal to ever get used to it. No matter how she thought about it, the only way back to her original body was to find a breakthrough through the goddess.

‘I have to be the one who becomes a lady-in-waiting.’

“Hmm… what if we bring it down just a little more like this?”