Anaïs buried her face in Camilla’s shoulder and shook her head.

“I’m sorry, sister. If I had done better, you wouldn’t have had to come all this way……”

“What are you talking about? Nobody’s perfect. Thanks to you, I get to set foot in the Empire, so there’s that.”

Camilla tried to respond cheerfully.

Honestly, she was terrified. Rumors of the Empire’s eccentric Emperor had spread even to the Kingdom of Lucia. And now she was furious about this dress incident…..

The delegation hadn’t been requested by the Emperor. The Kingdom of Lucia had quickly dispatched them before she could make demands. In other words, they were preemptively groveling.

“Speaking of which, they’ve exhausted us from the moment we entered the country….. I’m worried about what’s to come. Do you know anything about the Emperor that might help?”

Anaïs nodded vigorously at Camilla’s question.

“Of course. I’ve had people gather recent information about her. I’ll tell you everything, so let’s sleep together tonight.”

“Wonderful. It’s been a while since we sisters shared a bed.”

Camilla carefully wiped away the tear stains on her face and called for the maid waiting outside. Her expression and tone immediately reverted to anger.

“I’ll be sleeping in her room, so prepare the bed.”

Using the excuse that she would be punished by standing beside Camilla all night, Anaïs entered the bedroom with her. The sisters lay side by side, chatting softly until late into the night.

When Camilla, exhausted from her long journey, drifted off to sleep, Anaïs closed her eyes as well.

A moment later, she slightly raised her head and waved her hand above Camilla’s face. After confirming her sister was in deep sleep, Anaïs carefully rose.

She stood on her tiptoes, moving silently toward the vanity next to the dressing room.

Camilla wouldn’t have come to the Empire without knowing the situation. Her earlier demand for a report had been for show.

A king who was appropriately intimidating and irritable—that was the image Helmut wanted Camilla to project.

Camilla wouldn’t have come empty-handed on a mission to appease the Emperor.

‘She wouldn’t have brought it in jewelry form like I failed with. But she wouldn’t have brought something that could be confiscated during entry inspection either…..’

Only Camilla had enjoyed reminiscing about happy memories. Throughout their conversation, Anaïs had been thinking solely about the magic stone.

‘Where could she have hidden it?’

Camilla was too easy for Anaïs to read. She had been designated as the successor early on and raised delicately under Helmut.

‘Of course, compared to me who was raised as a spy.’

D*mn Helmut.

Anaïs bit her lip as she examined the vanity. All her own items had been cleared away, replaced by Camilla’s cosmetics neatly arranged in a row.

‘If it’s my sister, it’s obvious.’

Anaïs carefully inspected each cosmetic item.

‘It would be something she could carry around at all times….. Aha!’

When she removed the mirror attached to a powder case, she found an orange-glowing magic stone inside. It was much larger than the one she had received, being the same size as the mirror. Moreover, its color was much deeper and more vivid.

While checking if there was anything else, she heard Camilla stirring. Anaïs held her breath and froze, then cautiously looked back.

Her sister remained in deep sleep, unaware she was being robbed.

‘I’m sorry, sister. But I need to survive too.’

Anaïs tucked the powder case deep into her bosom and quietly slipped out of the bedroom.

After the door closed, Camilla opened her eyes.

“Anaïs, are you really going to do this?”

Camilla muttered with a sigh. As if she had expected this all along, she didn’t get up from the bed.

A moment later, a shadow flickered by the window, and Helmut appeared.

He smirked at Camilla as she quickly rose from the bed.

“See? What did I tell you?”

“I apologize.”

When Camilla lowered her head, Helmut smiled coldly.

Before dispatching the delegation with Camilla as its head, Helmut had secretly ordered:

“Anaïs will try to steal the magic stone, so prepare a fake one in anticipation.”

Camilla had no choice. While hiding the fake magic stone in her belongings where Anaïs would likely find it, she had defended her sister, insisting Anaïs wouldn’t betray Helmut.

But Anaïs had gone through with it anyway.

“You have nothing to apologize for.”

Helmut approached and cupped Camilla’s chin. His touch was so gentle, incomparably different from how he treated Anaïs.

Looking into her eyes, he said:

“As I’ve said many times, you’re too kind.”

Some people are born good-natured. Camilla was one of them. At the same time, Helmut recalled his past self.

He had trusted his family and the parents who bore him implicitly, only to end up with the scar on his face.

‘Is it because you and I keep overlapping in my mind….. Is it out of pity?’

He didn’t want Camilla, at least, to go through such experiences.

“Don’t let anyone see your kind side. They’ll immediately think of ways to exploit you. When you show anger, be more violent and cruel. You sent people away too quickly earlier.”

“I couldn’t help it.”

Camilla tried to explain but closed her mouth when she saw his eyes instantly turn cold.

“Your sister was born with a bad nature. If it weren’t for me this time, you would have had your magic stone stolen, and the diplomatic mission would have completely failed.”

“I’m ashamed. Should I go catch her right now?”

Helmut chuckled.

Even at a moment like this, her only thought was how to save Anaïs.

He shook his head as if she were hopeless.

“Leave her be. She’ll die soon enough, fluttering around like a moth to flame.”

Hearing this, a flash of sadness crossed Camilla’s face. Helmut didn’t let it pass.

“That’s your problem. Your heart is too soft.”

“How can I become stronger?”

Helmut smiled bitterly.

“Perhaps by surviving a h*ll where family members kill each other.”

“Is that what you experienced, Lord Helmut?”

Camilla asked, but he didn’t answer. It wasn’t that she shouldn’t know—he simply didn’t want to speak of it.

She stared blankly at the empty space where the powder case Anaïs had taken used to be, hoping that what Helmut had experienced would never happen to her.

⁕⁕⁕

When Daphne woke up in the morning, she found Gabriel’s pigeon playing in its cage.

As he had said, the bird was well-trained and usually stayed quiet, but would coo incessantly when it had a message to deliver.

‘If Gabriel sent it yesterday….. It should have been cooing!’

Daphne anxiously checked the cylinder, but it was completely empty. After staring at it blankly for a moment, she softly called out.

“Lara?”

Lara, who was attending to her morning duties as her personal maid, came running.

“Did you call for me?”

“Did you take the note by any chance?”

Lara, with her strong pride as a knight, shook her head with a slightly stiff expression.

“As someone who must uphold the knight’s code, I could never do such a thing.”

“Then who could have touched it….. Surely His Highness the Grand Duke wouldn’t have stolen it?”

Seeing Lara’s expression stiffen further as she remained silent, Daphne knew she was right.

“So it was him. Haah……”

Daphne sighed, dropping her shoulders.

Meanwhile, Lara wanted to correct the word “stolen,” but she didn’t want to engage in a lengthy conversation with Daphne.

So she kept her mouth shut, but Daphne spoke again.

“Why does he treat me this way?”

“Why don’t you ask him directly? I can arrange a meeting right away if you wish.”

“Through you, I can meet the great Grand Duke immediately? Or is it because it’s me that he’ll agree to meet?”

Daphne raised one corner of her mouth in a sneer. Lara was growing irritated, but her concern was different.

‘It’s true that His Highness did something against the knight’s code, but even so….. How dare she use the word “stolen” about His Highness!’

For the loyal Lara, this was an unacceptable statement.

But the Grand Duke’s knights never approached any mission emotionally. This was especially true if it was a direct order from Kartun himself.

She addressed Daphne with a respectful attitude.

“Miss, it’s true that you can meet him immediately through me, as I am His Highness’s trusted knight. But what’s more important is that he entrusted me with your protection. That shows how important you are to His Highness.”

Lara emphasized the words “His Highness” with particular force. It was a kind of warning not to speak lightly of her lord.

Daphne found Lara frustrating.

Perhaps due to her experience of being betrayed in her previous life, she absolutely detested loyalty to either gods or people.

Of course, she revered everyone who guarded the Forest of Sleeping Monsters. But Lara was so immersed in knighthood, honor, and loyalty that she overflowed with pride.