The blade and warmth.

If the prince was the blade, Edith was the warmth. After the prince conducted brutal t*rture and cruel threats, Edith would enter with a glass of water.

“Please drink some water. There’s no poison.”

Edith said, stirring the glass of water with a silver spoon. Esteban just stared at her.

‘The prince plans to use me when targeting naive young men.’

The prince didn’t deploy Edith when interrogating the viscount. Or rather, he kept Edith far away. When the prince interrogated Viscount Arthur, Edith didn’t even approach the vicinity.

But when dealing with young Esteban, who had just begun sending out marriage proposals, it was different. The prince seemed to judge that Edith would be effective in persuading Esteban, so he deployed her after finishing his own interrogation.

‘He must have been crying. What terrible threats did he make?’

Except for the bandage around his neck, there were no visible wounds. He didn’t seem to have any parts of his body too painful to move, but the tired areas around his eyes were red.

‘Just a big child.’

After assessing the man, Edith handed him a glass of water. He hesitated briefly before accepting it.

“His Highness is truly merciful. He knew from the beginning that I came as a spy, yet he spared my life.”

Edith carefully began speaking.

“Not only did he spare me, but he also guaranteed my future.”

Though perhaps not for a very long time.

“So you should side with His Highness. It’s not too late even now. It will be too late after His Highness becomes Emperor.”

Edith gently soothed the man, caressing his feelings. They needed to properly open the mouth of Viscount Arthur, who was still keeping silent, by inciting Esteban.

**

“Did he listen well?”

The prince asked as Edith returned. He was just drinking tea. The prince gestured to the seat across from him, ordering Edith to sit.

“After Your Highness had already reduced him to pulp, even if Siren had been sent in instead of me, he would have understood well.”

“Siren, is it. Edith, what was it like when you were young?”

“Pardon?”

“You’re now my subordinate, so I need to know about your past.”

The man asked Edith while sitting leisurely and drinking tea.

Though the prince asked in a relaxed manner, when the word “past” emerged, Edith’s focus began to waver.

After taking a moment to catch her breath, Edith began to open up about her past.

“Until I went to the ducal household at eleven, they were happy days. Though I was pointed at, my mother only dealt with high nobles, so our living was quite comfortable.”

“An unexpected past.”

The prince showed an expression of surprise.

“That’s why it was more terrible. After going to the ducal household.”

Edith spoke with a slight frown, as if recalling her past.

“What did the people of the ducal household do to you that you describe it as terrible, Edith Köhler?”

“The Duke neglected me, and his wife and daughter tormented me. My brother tried to take me by force.”

Edith spoke calmly.

“How did they torment you? Specifically.”

The prince demanded specific explanations from Edith. Edith opened her mouth without hesitation.

“They never called me by name. They always called me a field mouse, saying that since I wasn’t a person but a mouse, I should pick up anything that fell with my mouth. Whenever I tried to escape because I couldn’t bear it, the lady would hang me upside down. They couldn’t hit me hard enough to leave marks because I was merchandise to be sold at a high price. Do you find this interesting?”

“Quite. Continue, Edith.”

“When Henrietta was bored, she would pull out my hair and strangle my neck…”

Edith took a deep breath before continuing.

“Henrietta strangled my neck so often that eventually she became able to control the pressure. She reached the point where she could distinguish between causing pain and causing unconsciousness without even timing it.”

Edith spoke while sweating as if her neck still felt constricted. Just recalling the memory of being strangled made it difficult for Edith to breathe.

“Are you alright?”

Noticing Edith’s condition rapidly deteriorating, Ludwig asked her with concern.

“I’m fine. The rest was common torment that appears in books. For meals, they would bring leftover food to my room, and that’s what I ate. Even in winter, I couldn’t use hot water for bathing. I often caught colds, but eventually even that became bearable. It was a life without any warmth.”

“……”

“I fear that after hearing these stories, Your Highness might also think little of me and torment me, but on the other hand, I hope that by revealing these inner thoughts, you might recognize me as a loyal subject.”

Edith carefully concluded.

After a moment of silence, the prince continued.

“You said you read many books. How did that come about?”

“Around fourteen, there were days when I would pull my hair and scratch the walls. The Duke said I was doing it out of boredom, and that reading books would help me regain my senses. After that, a maid brought books from the library every day.”

“Did your condition improve?”

“Yes, my condition improved greatly. Afterward, I became absorbed in reading books. Without stopping.”

“Oh my… A life I couldn’t even imagine. What kinds of books did you mainly read?”

Edith rolled her eyes for a moment, trying to recall the books she had read.

“The maid was illiterate, so she just brought any books without any particular theme.”

The prince suddenly stopped questioning and silently looked at Edith. The man, who had been looking at the woman with kind eyes, spoke up while gazing at Edith.

“When is your birthday?”

The prince suddenly asked.

“September 8th.”

“Two months left, then. After this birthday, you’ll become an adult?”

“Yes.”

“How have you spent your birthdays until now?”

“No different from ordinary days.”

For Edith, birthdays were just as painful as any other day. The people of the ducal household didn’t care about Edith’s birthday in the first place.

“I see.”

The prince showed a dark expression. His tone suggested he had expected this.

“Then is there anything you’d like to do for your birthday?”

“Something I’d like to do?”

“Yes. Something you’d like to do.”

The prince slowly gazed into Edith’s eyes. The man’s red eyes sparkled like rubies.

“Well, I… I don’t have anything.”

“Really? Not even wanting to receive a gift?”

‘Has he developed sympathy for me after hearing about my past?’

Edith quietly sorted through her thoughts. Sympathy? She had never seen a noble who felt sympathy for her.

“Tell me what birthday gift you want. If possible, I’ll grant whatever you wish.”

The prince spoke boldly. That he would grant whatever she wanted. He was a man with more compassion than she had thought.

Edith reproached herself for having been too suspicious of him.

“If you’re saying this out of sympathy for me, your words alone are enough.”

“No. You are pitiful, that’s true, but I’m not a man who spends money out of sympathy.”

“What?”

What is he saying now? Edith looked at the prince with sparkling eyes.

“After your birthday passes, do you have no intention of truly becoming my mistress, Edith? I only refused because you’re not yet an adult, not because I have no interest in you.”

Ludwig smiled and said his piece to Edith, who had been full of expectation.

**

“Leo!”

A woman in a bright yellow dress approached Leonard, who had come to the imperial palace for a rare audience with the Emperor, and called his name cheerfully.

The woman with neatly braided black hair twisted up was Princess Mirabella of the Empire.

The princess’s cheeks naturally flushed red as soon as she saw Leo.

“Are you going to leave without seeing me after coming all the way to the imperial palace?”

“Today I’m just stopping by for work…”

“Always work! Work! Work! There’s probably no noble in the empire who works as much as you, Leo. Don’t you ever get tired?”

Leo responded to the princess’s nagging with just a slight smile.

“If there are few nobles who work, then all the more reason I should work, considering the peace of the empire.”

“No matter what, you should rest sometimes, Leo. Mother has newly decorated the glass greenhouse. Would you take a moment to see it with me? Please?”

The princess began pleading with Leo like a child throwing a tantrum.

“I’d like to make time for you, but right now merchants from Lübeck are waiting for me, so it’s difficult for me to spare time.”

The man answered the princess with a polite smile.

“Merchants? Are you saying you meet such lowly people in person? Can’t such people just wait if told to wait?”

The princess tilted her head. She seemed upset that Leo, whom she hadn’t seen in a long time, wouldn’t make time for her.

“They have schedules too, so I can’t ruin them carelessly. Let’s postpone the greenhouse tour for next time. Well then, goodbye.”

Leo left the princess’s side without further words. The princess sighed deeply as she watched the man walk away.

**

“Mother, I’ve returned.”

Neil’s voice upon his return was extremely subdued.

“You said you went hunting, but where on earth did you go? Hmm?”

“I went to the Kirene Mountains. I heard there were silver deer there.”

Lady Köhler didn’t ask about the results of Neil’s hunt. She could already tell how the hunt had gone just by his empty hands and miserable expression.

“I see. Then get some rest. Henrietta has now returned to normal. The child was stillborn.”

Lady Köhler mentioned the ‘child’ with a frown, as if recalling something unpleasant.

“It would have just been a burden in life anyway.”

“That’s right. Henrietta, the most beautiful woman in the west, falling for the seduction of a lowborn. So Neil, you must never be enchanted by such wicked people. Understand? You must become Princess Mirabella’s match. When Her Highness comes of age, we’ll send a marriage proposal. Understand? Until then, you must be careful with girls.”

“Don’t worry. I have absolutely no intention of taking lowborn women as mistresses. I’m not as foolish as Henrietta.”

“That’s my son. Mother only trusts you, son. How can you be so reliable?”

Excited by Neil’s words, Lady Köhler patted her son’s shoulder.

“Where has Father gone? Does he still go riding every day?”

Neil asked about the duke, who wasn’t present.

“Don’t even mention it. The new horse your father bought is such a fine steed. He can’t bear not riding it even for a day. Sometimes after having a glass of wine at lunch, when he’s in high spirits, he says he needs to ride and goes to the stable. Hans worries so much.”

“I see. What if he has a riding accident… He should be more careful.”

Neil’s face, which had been expressing concern about his father, was suddenly overshadowed by an unreadable darkness.