“Why, why?”

The child swallowed hard and asked. Klaus met the child’s eyes warmly and answered.

“For his mother.”

“Did His Majesty the Emperor have a mother too?”

The child widened her eyes, seemingly thinking that someone so scary wouldn’t have a mother.

“Yes, he had a very beautiful mother.”

Klaus tried to recall the image of his mother, whom he barely remembered. Fine platinum hair, pale skin, golden eyes.

Among those hazy memories, the sound of her calling out the Emperor’s name stood out vividly.

His mother loved the former Emperor, his father. She loved him so much that she lost her mind and only called his name.

Even for a mother like that, there were days when she was mentally sound. On those days, Klaus was allowed to meet her.

His mother liked sunflowers that bloomed brightly. When he visited her with sunflowers resembling her warm golden eyes, she greeted him with a childlike smile.

“Your Majesty visiting like this makes today a happy day.”

However, she didn’t recognize Klaus.

Her memories had stopped since she was confined to her room. She didn’t even remember that she had a child.

At one time, Klaus tried to tell her that he was her son. But she never believed it. She thought it was just a bad joke.

“How could someone kill their father for their mother? That’s too terrible.”

Riana blinked her blue eyes, which were similar to Count Glenn’s, and asked.

Was her curiosity also like the Count’s? Klaus slowly stroked the child’s red hair and answered.

“Because she might feel lonely walking the path to the afterlife alone.”

Riana tilted her head as if she didn’t understand.

His mother never left the room. She eventually passed away there.

He didn’t particularly feel pity or sympathy for her. Since she tried to assassinate the Emperor’s beloved Empress, not killing her was an act of grace from the Emperor.

However, her existence was somewhat special to Klaus.

She was the only person who reminded him that he wasn’t alone in this world.

Like him, who lived without recognition from anyone, she also lived alone like a ghost in the spacious castle.

Someone who no one sought out and who didn’t respond to anyone, much like himself. Sometimes, just knowing that fact gave him a reason to live another day.

And then she died.

Her death shattered the world he had barely been holding together.

With no place to go or stay, his mind turned its arrows outward.

There was no need to agonize painfully. The answer was simple.

If no one acknowledged his existence, he would make them just like himself.

As beings that don’t exist in this world.

As ghosts like him.

Klaus first went to the Emperor. And he cut off his head and offered it before his mother’s corpse. So she could be with the person she longed for.

“Hmm, then is His Majesty the Emperor a good person?”

“Does he seem like a good person to you?”

“I don’t know.”

Riana pursed her lips, pondered, and eventually said she didn’t know, snuggling into Klaus’s embrace.

Soon, the door burst open, and a woman who looked very much like the child entered the room. She placed her hands on her hips and looked at Riana.

“Riana, I told you not to bother your father.”

Riana, not wanting to leave, glanced at her mother and snuggled further into Klaus’s arms.

“I wasn’t bothering him.”

“Yes. Our princess was just running an errand, right?”

Klaus sided with Riana, playfully meeting the child’s eyes. Watching them, his wife shook her head.

“Anyway, you two get along so well. You should stop indulging the child’s whims.”

“Children grow up indulging their whims.”

“What if she becomes spoiled! Anyway, Riana, get off your father’s lap now.”

At her mother’s nagging, Riana reluctantly got off Klaus’s knee.

His wife took the child’s hand, which was filled with reluctance, and asked,

“What were you talking about so funnily with your father?”

Although she had entered the room with a stern face, she didn’t seem to intend to scold Riana, as warmth was evident in her eyes as she looked at her.

“Just, old stories?”

Riana replied with a playful smile.

“Oh my, where did you get hurt?”

Listening to the voices of the two as they left the room, Klaus licked a drop of blood from his finger.

The mask that had been neatly placed on his face slipped off, revealing his original expression. A languid yet somewhat dangerous expression.

He turned his head to look out the window.

His gaze landed on a large river stretching across the plain. Beyond the river was the Celestine Duchy.

A quiet, peaceful, and dull place, much like the Duke.

“Come to think of it, I wonder how Ravenne is doing. I hope she received the gift I left for her.”

His blue eyes, looking out the window, gleamed sharply like a predator eyeing its prey.

***

After my quarrel with Ilion, Sebastian came to see me. He conveyed that we would be leaving for the duchy over the weekend on Ilion’s behalf.

Sebastian, in a rather roundabout way, said it was okay not to come, but it seemed more like Ilion’s intention than Sebastian’s.

Of course, I had no intention of following his wishes so easily.

How lightly must he have thought of me to believe Sebastian could dissuade me?

“Please tell him that I will definitely follow for the Duke’s sake.”

I sent Sebastian back, adding that if he wanted to stop me, he should come himself, but Ilion never came to see me.

Time passed, and it was the morning of our departure for the duchy.

I came out to the entrance, intending to have a word with Ilion for openly avoiding me despite our fight, but I didn’t see him.

“He left last night?”

“…Yes. He wanted to check on something in advance.”

Somehow, the person who is always punctual is nowhere to be seen.

This heartless guy!

I explained so thoroughly that the incident with Royden was a misunderstanding, yet he chooses to act so childishly?

“He’s not a child, really!”

As I fumed with a flushed face, Spinel, who was yawning beside me, muttered.

“Ravenne, there’s no need to go to such lengths for someone who doesn’t even remember you. It’s not like he’s the only man in the world.”

“Right. Master needs to meet a better man.”

Spinel saying that is one thing, but why is Royden insisting on coming along too?

It was as if it was only natural for the two of them, or rather, the two dragons, to be standing at the entrance.

“Who do you think is causing this now?”

I glared at Royden and asked.

“Of course, it’s because of Ilion.”

His reaction looked like he was wondering why I was asking something so obvious. They say you can’t spit on a smiling face, but at this moment, I felt like I could. A lot, too.

***

When we arrived at the duchy using an artifact, Tara, the head maid who manages the place, came out to greet us.

Perhaps Sebastian had already informed her, as she wasn’t particularly surprised by the visit from Spinel and Royden and showed us to our prepared rooms.

The mansion in Delas was similar to the one in the capital, but it felt warmer and cozier overall.

Could it be that the mansion resembles the person managing it? Somehow, it seemed to slightly resemble Tara’s impression.

“Um, Tara. Did the Duke go out, by any chance?”

I followed her and quietly asked about Ilion’s whereabouts, who didn’t even come out to greet us.

“He left the mansion early this morning.”

“Early this morning… No matter how much he doesn’t want to see me…”

I felt beyond disappointed to the point of betrayal.

“He doesn’t hate you, Miss.”

Tara hurriedly denied my words. It seemed my muttering was a bit too loud.

“Recently, there have been some disappearances around the territory, so he went to investigate that matter.”

“Disappearances?”

“Yes. He went to meet someone who had just returned home after being missing.”

Tara mumbled with a slightly worried expression.

Is it serious enough for the lord to investigate personally?

“Could you tell me where that is?”

“I’m sorry, but the master told me not to tell you, Miss.”

Her smile implied she hoped I wouldn’t ask further.

Ilion, that thorough guy. I didn’t expect him to warn Tara in advance.

In the end, without gaining any useful information, I arrived at my room, unpacked a little, and looked out the window.

Delas, the territory of the Celestine family, was famous for its wine. Perhaps because of that, the vast plains surrounding the territory were lined with grapevines showing their bare branches.

“It’s big.”

“Isn’t it?”

Lily, who was organizing the luggage on one side, answered.

Right, it’s really annoyingly big…

I wondered how I could possibly find Ilion in this wide plain.

Did Ilion feel this way when he looked for me?

Thinking about how he might have worried or been curious about where I was and what I was doing when I disappeared without a word made past events prick at a corner of my heart. It seemed my conscience was somewhere around there.

I continued to gaze out the window for a while, but the cold wind blowing over the fields offered no pleasure in the scenery.

Rather than waiting idly for Ilion, not knowing when he’d return…

“Lily, since we have nothing else to do, shall we go out to the village?”