Ilion looked at me with a stern expression as I entered the office.

He seemed to be in a bad mood since morning, so I was planning to be careful today…

“Didn’t you say you’d just eat cake and come back?”

“Of course, I did eat it.”

“Why did you take the holy relic?”

“W-What do you mean…?”

I tried to play innocent.

“A soldier saw you taking the item, didn’t they?”

Really, they tattled on me just like that? I didn’t expect that.

“I heard Miss Spinel’s magic wasn’t returning, so I thought maybe if I took it to the temple, we could get some help.”

It didn’t seem right to lie, so I confessed the truth. Based on the big data I’ve accumulated over a long time, I didn’t think Ilion would scold me too harshly for this.

As I expected, Ilion sighed but didn’t probe further into that matter.

“Why did you come back with His Majesty?”

“T-That wasn’t my fault!”

“I haven’t said it was your fault yet. I’m asking what happened.”

Always causing trouble… an excuse automatically spilled out.

I recounted to Ilion the same story I had told Sebastian earlier.

“That’s why I told you not to go to dangerous places.”

“If even the place in front of the temple is dangerous, then where on earth isn’t…”

“Ravenne!”

Ilion furrowed his brow and called my name, having heard my quietly muttered voice. He looked like a teacher scolding a misbehaving child.

“Yes. I won’t go.”

“Sigh. Words don’t seem to be enough.”

“Pardon?”

What does he intend to do then?

“You’re banned from going out for a while.”

“…What?”

“You need to learn that breaking promises comes with consequences.”

“But…”

Banned from going out! I’m not a teenager! Banned from going out?

“If you want me to lift it, show me that you’re sincerely reflecting. Then I’ll reconsider.”

Ilion concluded the conversation as if he had nothing more to say.

“That’s all for today.”

“W-Wait a moment.”

I hurriedly grabbed him as he was about to leave.

“Your Grace, thinking about it, I believe I was wrong. No, I’m sorry.”

“What…?”

“It all happened because of my shortcomings. It was my oversight.”

Ilion, who was about to stand up, raised an eyebrow and sat back down.

“Oh? What did you do wrong?”

“Ahem, well… taking the holy relic without Your Grace’s knowledge?”

“……”

Ilion looked at me with an expressionless face. It seems my answer wasn’t to his liking.

“Also, saying I’d just eat cake but then going off elsewhere…”

I quickly added to my list of wrongdoings. But that answer didn’t seem to please him either. His tightly crossed arms showed no signs of loosening.

“Presumptuously receiving help from His Majesty the Emperor… though I didn’t actually ask for help.”

I added one more thing while watching Ilion’s reaction, though I wasn’t very confident about the last one.

But even that didn’t seem to be the answer Ilion was looking for.

“Are we playing a guessing game about what you did wrong? If so, why don’t you write a list on paper? I’ll grade it for you.”

“Will you really forgive me if I write it?”

Ilion let out a deep sigh at my tactless question.

***

After all the lessons were over, I asked my tutor Jena who was packing up her things.

“Um, teacher. How do you show sincere reflection?”

“Pardon?”

Jena asked back, wondering why I was suddenly talking about reflection.

“What did you do so wrong?”

“Well…”

What I did wrong… huh.

To be honest, I don’t really understand why Ilion is so angry.

I’ve already been suffering from the ban on going out for nearly a week, but Ilion still shows no sign of lifting it.

It’s not like I tried to cause financial damage to Ilion like before, nor did I intend to earn his hatred.

In fact, I’m the one wondering if this is really something to be so angry about. What did I do so wrong!

“I’m not sure about that.”

“Don’t you think you need to know that first before you can reflect?”

That’s why I’m asking.

“I just want my reflection to appear sincere.”

I knew it wasn’t right to be so focused on appearances, but I didn’t care.

For now, I needed to appease Ilion immediately. That’s the only way to escape from this prison without bars.

Jena gave an awkward laugh at my shameless answer.

“If it’s difficult to express sincerity verbally, how about trying to convey it in writing?”

“Writing?”

Does she mean a letter of apology?

“Sometimes sincerity comes through more in writing than in words, you know.”

A letter of apology…

I couldn’t remember writing an apology letter since the last time I fought with a friend and wrote a sorry letter to the teacher.

After Jena left, I was left alone in the study. After pondering for a while, I picked up a pen.

***

Days when I visited the Imperial Palace were always tiring. My sharpened nerves rarely calmed down.

Not just Klaus, but recently Artia had been showing particular interest in me.

It’s not that I think badly of her, but the truth is I don’t want to deal with her.

It’s not that she’s done anything wrong, but it’s unpleasant to feel like my secrets are being exposed to others.

These days were already troubling because of Spinel’s words, and each day felt particularly long.

“Where’s Ravenne?”

Upon arriving at the mansion, Ilion habitually asked where Ravenne was. She was currently the biggest problem and homework in Ilion’s daily life.

She was probably responsible for 80% of why the days felt particularly long.

“She’s in the study.”

“The study? Isn’t it past the time her lessons should have ended?”

“She said she had some work left to do.”

“What work could she have left…”

Ravenne had been coming to find him every day, acting particularly kind.

When he returned from outings, she would wait at the door like a puppy, watching his reactions before anyone else.

He had an inkling of what she wanted, but being of not-so-pleasant character, he had no intention of lifting her ban on going out.

It was strange that she hadn’t come to find him today.

“It seemed like she was studying…”

“That can’t be.”

Ilion denied Sebastian’s answer, saying it couldn’t be. He knew she hated studying, making faces when she had to…

Ilion knew Ravenne too well, and Sebastian didn’t deny that either.

Ilion naturally directed his steps towards the study.

The study was quiet. Not even a rustling sound could be heard.

Just as he thought Ravenne might have already left, he saw a figure slumped over the desk, sleeping.

‘…As expected.’

He hadn’t expected it, but of course, it wasn’t because of studying.

Ilion approached quietly, muffling his footsteps. Papers and pens were scattered on the table.

There was something written on the paper, but it was difficult to read.

Ilion picked up the paper to examine it more closely.

[To my dear Duke,
I’m sorry for breaking my promise to quietly eat cake and return, and for taking the Church’s item at my own discretion. I have no words to say even if I had two mouths. It was entirely my fault.
I regret and regret my carelessness again.]

The period at the end of that sentence was so round and large that it blurred the paper. It seemed the pen had lingered there for a long time after making the dot.

[But wait, isn’t it not all my fault? Am I God? How could I have known that a pseudo-religious group would come at me with a knife? How could I know the Emperor would show up there? And, one could suddenly go somewhere else while eating cake, right? It’s tyranny to call all of that my fault and impose a ban on going out!]

Unlike the previous sentences which were somewhat readable, from this point on, the handwriting had deteriorated to the point of being difficult to read. There were also many traces of erased words here and there.

And at the very end, there was a small, indistinguishable doodle.

It had triangular horns on both sides of a circle, and inside, two diagonal lines jutted out in different directions.

‘…What did she draw?’

Ilion tilted his head, looking at the doodle that vaguely resembled a human face.

The letter that had started with ‘To my dear Duke’ ended with sentences blaming him, calling it tyranny.

‘Though I think it’s excessive to ban her from going out to the extent she can’t even go to the garden…’

It was natural to be resented for taking away the pleasure of drinking tea under the sunlight, which Ravenne loved.

But even if he was called a tyrant, he had no intention of retracting his decision.

Ravenne needed to be more aware. At the very least, she needed to realize what she had done wrong.

Not this kind of reflection just for show…

“…Hungry.”

Ravenne mumbled like she was sleep-talking and raised her body. Her drowsy eyes stared blankly ahead as she stretched.

“Isn’t it time to eat yet…”

As she turned her head while stretching, her face froze as if she had seen something she shouldn’t have. Then she blinked repeatedly.

“…W-When did you arrive?”

“Just now.”

Her eyes, lighter than usual in the sunset light, looked at his hand and began to tremble slightly.

“…W-What’s that in your hand?”

“It was on the desk.”

Before he finished speaking, her hand quickly reached out. Ilion lightly lifted the paper, avoiding her hand.

“H-How rude of you to read someone else’s writing without permission.”

“It said ‘To my dear Duke,’ so I thought it was written to me.”

“……”

“If not, do you have another duke you hold dear?”

Ilion asked with a raised corner of his mouth.

“How could that be? You’re the only duke for me, always.”

Unlike her sweet words about him being the only duke, Ravenne’s eyes were fixated intently on the paper.

Then she reached out her hand once again, trying to take advantage of a moment of carelessness.

But it was futile.

Ilion easily avoided Ravenne and waved the paper at a distance she couldn’t reach, saying,

“Your effort is commendable, but setting aside the poor handwriting, unfortunately, it hasn’t improved at all from the excuses you made to me the other day.”

“I sincerely reflected…”

“It says right here, ‘But wait, isn’t it not all my fault? Am I God? How could I have known that a pseudo-religious group would come at me with a knife?'”

Ilion kindly read it out for her.

“More than that, what’s this last word? Ty…ranny? Tyranny?”

“……”

Ravenne kept her mouth shut.

Unfortunately, it seems what she had written wasn’t a letter of apology, but a letter of challenge.