“Take me with you too, brother.”

Henrietta, dressed in mourning clothes after Duke Köhler’s funeral, began pestering Neil as she followed him.

Immediately after the duke’s funeral, Neil packed his belongings to go to the imperial palace. Neil frowned, avoiding his sister’s gaze as if he found her annoying.

“Brother, I told you I could help. I said I have a plan to bring back that Edith girl.”

“That’s not your real purpose for wanting to follow me to the capital. Don’t come to the capital looking for a husband and getting into trouble with some handsome knight who’s only good-looking on the outside. Just stay home, Henrietta.”

Neil scolded Henrietta with a sneer. After checking the man’s gaze, Henrietta raised her eyes fiercely.

“Who do you think you’re fooling? You’re the one who caused Father’s death. Right? Yet you, who caused such an accident just to find one wretched girl, are telling me to stay home? What have I done wrong compared to you? Huh?”

At Henrietta’s words, Neil’s movements momentarily stopped as he was gathering his prized sword. After a strange silence passed, Neil turned to Henrietta and opened his mouth.

“Henrietta Köhler. Legitimate daughter of the Köhler family. Yes, you’re just a legitimate daughter. Not the head of the family. I don’t know what you’re thinking, Henrietta, but there’s one thing you should always remember.”

Neil turned his body toward Henrietta, threatening her in a low voice.

“I am now the head of this family. Don’t forget that I can sell you to an old pervert at any time.”

“And before that.”

“I could crush that tongue of yours that speaks such nonsense right here and now.”

Swish. Neil drew his prized sword from its scabbard. Hearing Neil’s words, Henrietta hesitated for a moment, but then ground her teeth and continued speaking.

“You still need to take me to the capital, don’t you? How do you plan to extract the prince’s mistress? The Crown Prince will be hostile toward us now. And what if you ask the Crown Prince to return Edith and he keeps that girl for himself? Huh? I’m telling you I have something definite! That girl won’t be able to resist coming with us. Because I have her mother.”

Neil flinched momentarily at Henrietta’s words and looked down at her with a surprised face.

Having played her trump card, Henrietta raised a confident smile.

**

“Hey, that’s water for the young lady.”

“What young lady? She’s nothing. She’s an illegitimate child and they say she’ll be abandoned soon. I heard abandoned mistresses can only become prostitutes. Maybe if the prince gives her a little money, she can buy a house and avoid becoming a beggar. Even so, she’s still trash who can never set foot in this palace again.”

“I guess you’re right.”

Edith approached the door and listened carefully. She heard the sound of someone spitting. The maids who had gone to fetch bath water were arguing in front of the door before spitting in the water.

‘Everyone here hates me too.’

Having lived for a long time watching the attitudes of maids, Edith had developed a habit of eavesdropping on what maids said about her.

So even after coming to the prince’s palace, Edith often put her ear to the door to eavesdrop on what the maids were saying about her.

And today, Edith had to face another unpleasant reality.

Although Ludwig had given her a separate room, Edith was officially a mistress. Moreover, Ludwig, busy with investigations these days, had not visited Edith almost every night.

It seemed like the prince’s love had cooled as soon as they arrived, and the abandoned mistress had to endure the maids’ glares.

‘How long must I endure people’s contempt and ridicule?’

Not only the maids but also the servants of the imperial palace often looked Edith up and down with vulgar gazes.

If there was anything better than when she was in the ducal household, it was that the meals were excellent and the maids couldn’t openly disrespect her to her face, though she couldn’t guess what might be in her food.

But today, Edith, not wanting to bathe in water with spit, slowly addressed the maids who brought the water.

“Did someone spit in this? I see traces of spit here.”

Edith pointed to one side of the water container as she spoke to the maids who had brought it. It wasn’t a significant trace, but since they had just spat in it, the tiny bubbles that had risen were noticeable.

“What? No. That’s impossible. This is very clean, fresh water.”

Edith was good at distinguishing people’s voices. When the maid who had just spat denied it, Edith continued speaking to the other maid.

“Is what this girl saying true? Is this really clean, fresh water?”

The maid who heard Edith’s words couldn’t say anything. Confirming her suspicion, Edith slowly continued.

“Then would you drink some of this? Especially from this bubbly part.”

“W-well.”

She wouldn’t be able to drink it anyway. Edith knew this from experience. At her suggestion, the maid turned pale and couldn’t offer any excuse, nor could she drink the water.

“If you tell me the truth, I won’t have you fired at least. You know that even though I’m just a lowly mistress, I have the authority to fire you.”

“I-I’m sorry, Miss Edith. Margaret did something bad, and I couldn’t stop her.”

In the end, the maid named Lisa confessed to Edith that Margaret had spat in the water. The situation was resolved by firing Margaret.

When evening came, Ludwig visited Edith’s room for the first time in a while.

“I heard there was a commotion during the day.”

Ludwig, who showed his face after a long time, was visibly fatigued.

“I fired a maid who spat in my water.”

“Well done. Now that the Crown Prince has taken power, even insignificant maids are trying to climb up.”

“I heard Neil has finished his father’s funeral and is now coming to the imperial palace. He still seems to be after you, Edith.”

At the mention of Neil coming, Edith began to tremble.

“You have one task. I’ve heard that Alicia’s lover, who is accused of assassinating the Emperor, is being held in the High Court. Since he was abroad at the time of the incident, no charges have been confirmed against him yet. So if you’re an acquaintance, you can visit him. Could you disguise yourself as Alicia’s acquaintance and visit him?”

“Yes.”

Edith obediently accepted the prince’s order. Now that they were in the same boat, the prince’s survival meant her own survival.

**

The next day, Edith dressed in fancy clothes and disguised herself as Rena Köhler, a friend of Alicia and a branch member of the Köhler family, before going to visit the man.

Perhaps because her face wasn’t well-known yet, the visit proceeded smoothly as the prince had said. Edith entered the prison and slowly addressed the man, examining his complexion, which had become quite gaunt.

“I am Rena Köhler, Alicia’s friend. Do you recognize me?”

“Rena Köhler?”

Alex had never actually seen Rena Köhler, but he had vaguely heard that she also had pink hair.

After examining the woman’s hair color, the man gradually relaxed his guarded expression as he looked at Edith.

Edith began to tell the man stories about Alicia that the prince had shared with her, to make him trust her.

When the man’s wariness had completely melted away, she carefully began to carry out Ludwig’s orders.

“Please tell me. I can secretly relay it to Alicia.”

Edith began to speak in a whisper, using the smallest voice that only the man could hear.

**

‘Whew, I was nervous, but fortunately it was successful.’

The man readily spilled all the information Ludwig had requested.

Edith, who had dressed in fancy clothes to look like Rena Köhler, began hurrying down the corridor to return to the prince’s palace.

Click, click.

Thump, thump.

As Edith walked straight toward the exit along the long corridor, heavy footsteps were heard from behind her, though she couldn’t see who had appeared.

‘Who is it? A guard?’

Even if she was a noble lady, no escorts or third parties were allowed during visits. Tense at the sound of footsteps, Edith paused briefly.

While debating whether to look back, the footsteps of the man following her grew louder. The man was getting closer to her.

‘There shouldn’t be anyone here who would recognize me.’

Becoming anxious, Edith quickly took steps and began walking briskly. She tried her best to walk quickly without being too obvious.

Then the man following her from behind called out to her.

“Rena Köhler.”

The man called Edith’s name from behind. When he summoned her, Edith’s entire body froze with tension.

As Edith tried to assess the situation by looking at the guards standing far down the corridor, the guards began bowing their heads not to her, but to the man standing behind her.

Edith had no choice but to stop walking.

“I need to check something, so turn toward me, Miss Rena Köhler.”

The man ordered Edith, who was standing frozen in place, to turn around. From his authoritative manner, it was clear he was not someone she could defy.

“Turn around, show me your face.”

When the man urged her again, Edith had no choice but to turn her head. There was no way to escape anyway.

“Pink hair.”

“And”

“Not green”

The large man in uniform examined Edith’s hair before staring at her pupils and speaking. One step, the man moved closer to the woman.

“Purple eyes.”

And another step. The man approached the woman and examined Edith’s face as she lowered her head.

“A woman with enough backing to enter this place illegally disguised as Rena Köhler. You are Edith Köhler, Prince Ludwig’s lover. Correct?”

Stop. The man stopped right in front of Edith’s face. The man with platinum blonde hair and eyes as cold as the deep sea was looking down at Edith.

“……”

‘Am I going to be arrested?’

Edith clenched her fists. Though the prince’s plan that no one would be there had gone awry, the guards outside would report the situation, so perhaps Prince Ludwig might come to rescue her.

“And you are Young Duke Leonard Sachsen.”

Edith, who had clenched her fists to calm her nerves, spoke boldly to the man. It was clear that lying would not work in this situation anyway.

“Have you seen me before?”

The man looked down at the woman who recognized him with a curious expression.

“Platinum blonde hair.”

Edith’s gaze brushed the man’s hair and slowly moved downward.

“Blue eyes.”

“And only two nobles have the right to enter this prison at any time, and the other one is too old.”

Edith quietly looked up at the man and answered.