***

“Everything in this castle belongs to Father. Even you.”

Since Leticia was a hostage, Chamuka’s words were not wrong.

So she returned without being able to refute anything.

The next day’s meal had even less conversation than usual, and Leticia kept her mouth shut carefully while observing the father and son who never once looked at each other.

After finishing dinner and returning to her room, Aina came in saying she would help change into nightclothes.

“Your Highness, what are you thinking about that makes your expression so gloomy?”

“…I never said I would use you as my personal maid, so I’m wondering what exactly you’re doing here.”

Though she had put thoughts about Aina aside, seeing her cheerfully smiling in front of her made her somewhat…

A spy, wasn’t she? Why doesn’t she run away? Why is she here?

“Oh come on, who else would take care of Your Highness’s body?”

“I can dress, wash, and feed myself just fine. You know where I’m from.”

Leticia was about to demonstrate her technique of changing clothes in 10 seconds flat that she learned at the theater troupe, but just let out a deep sigh instead.

The sight of a small child curled up and sighing deeply was more cute than serious.

Aina, regretfully unable to hug the child who was officially a prince, bent down to meet Leticia’s eyes.

“You sent away all the other servants and nanny, but specifically kept only me, which means you’ve accepted me.”

“That decision is still pending. I could send you back even now.”

“You even know such words?”

“Don’t you know what Borba Troupe’s most popular play was last year? It was ‘LaChaCha’s Trial.'”

It was about deciding whether to send the tax collector LaChaCha to heaven or hell.

The role Leticia played was Rafael, the baby angel lawyer from heaven.

“I memorized lots of legal terms from that…”

Moreover, while her peers were reading fairy tales, Leticia had been reading stage scripts, so her vocabulary was closer to that of an adult.

“You played the baby angel role, right? I think your hair was curlier then. So adorable.”

“I deliberately made it curly. It looks more angelic that way.”

Aina gently touched the ends of Leticia’s hair.

Honestly, Leticia could have been bald and still looked angelic, so Aina didn’t quite agree with her statement.

“Either way, it was all about your face… Actually, that face might be one of the reasons why Basilinte cherishes you…”

This casual conversation knowing that Leticia was Leticia.

Leticia thought this might be the last luxury she would indulge in before dying.

Whether the girl before her was a spy or whatever, that must be why they left her here.

Even knowing she would die as a prince, someone wanted to acknowledge that she was Leticia Borba.

Leticia casually brushed aside this sudden realization and responded to Aina’s words.

“If anything, since they’re beautiful themselves, they probably don’t care much about it.”

“True, His Grace the Grand Duke and the Grand Duke’s son are both incredibly beautiful. But somehow, they don’t seem quite human. More like beautiful still life paintings.”

To Aina’s assessment, which could have been either praise or criticism, Leticia half-agreed.

The people of Basilinte definitely had something inhuman about them.

Of course, Leticia alone thought they harbored goodness inside. That it was all because of the curse.

But since she couldn’t talk about Basilinte’s curse, Leticia couldn’t really argue with Aina’s words.

Instead, she changed the subject.

“By the way, don’t call Chamuka ‘Grand Duke’s son.’ He says he doesn’t like being called that.”

“Why?”

“I don’t know. Just don’t call him that.”

“Why does Your Highness know so little? Why don’t you try asking? You’ll be staying here anyway since you can’t return to the Empire.”

Leticia unconsciously nodded at Aina’s grumbling.

“You’re right…”

She had thought she shouldn’t know because it was confidential, and shouldn’t do anything because it was family business.

But as Aina said, Leticia wouldn’t be returning to the Empire.

And she wouldn’t be alive here much longer either. Because she would die soon!

Even better. Dead people don’t talk.

So whether it was Basilinte’s secrets or family matters, it wouldn’t cause any problems if she knew.

Having thought this far, Leticia realized there were many things she could do.

That night.

Even though Tan wasn’t in front of her door, Leticia climbed the stairs to the third floor and knocked on Chamuka’s door.

***

“I’m going to die soon, Lord Chamuka.”

Chamuka thought the prince before him was a bit strange.

For instance, smiling brightly while talking about one’s own death wasn’t normal by any common sense Chamuka knew.

“Which means whatever you tell me, you’ll feel relieved and won’t have to worry about it being leaked.”

“……”

“So you can tell me anything.”

“Are you curious about yesterday?”

She might be curious about the conversation he had with his father last night. Or about the box his father took away.

Either way, it all happened in front of the prince.

“No. What I’m curious about is why Lord Chamuka stayed still last night. It looked like you wanted to follow His Grace.”

The prince didn’t ask why his father said those things, or what was in that box.

“I’ve noticed that people of Basilinte don’t make any choices without a reason. But is it not allowed for that reason to be ‘just because I want to’?”

“Actually, that’s the most important thing,” the prince muttered quietly before continuing.

“So I’ll be your reason. Tell me anything. Then I’ll give you permission to follow him.”

“Why should I listen to you?”

“If you don’t, I’ll die right here.”

The prince said this with empty hands, holding nothing that could be used as a weapon.

Though it sounded like a threat, it wasn’t.

The prince was just giving Chamuka an excuse. An excuse to move as he wanted to.

After saying this, the prince quietly waited for Chamuka’s response.

Chamuka stared at the prince for quite a while.

He knew nothing about the prince. Not even their real name.

The prince was just the prince. Who they were as a person didn’t matter.

Father said he would bring the prince of Herta, and so he brought this child. Chamuka had no reason to care about this child.

Though he was annoyed by this child getting caught up in his father’s foolishness, that was because of his father, not because of this child.

Yes. Everything was his father’s problem.

Even this strange feeling now.

“…What father took away last night was my younger sibling’s coffin.”

Chamuka matched the prince’s purple eyes with his own, paying attention to his reaction.

For the first time, Chamuka was curious about the child before him.

“I think we should make a grave, but father still can’t accept my sibling’s death and keeps that coffin next to mother.”

“So did you bring it? To bury it?”

“……”

He didn’t answer, but the prince seemed to guess the answer and changed the question.

“Do you want to go get it again? No, rather than ‘want to’… um… do you feel like you should go get it again?”

“And then?”

Will you make an excuse for me?