“Dead? What do you mean?”

Wendy blinked at her mother’s sudden words.

“The Empress is wary of the Second Prince, so it’s only natural.”

Aaron, scolding Wendy for not knowing this, stood in front of the mirror. Looking at his reflection with satisfaction, he brushed his hair back.

“I heard the Third Prince isn’t fond of him either. Whether it’s the First or Third Prince who ascends the throne, the Second Prince is as good as dead.”

“Is that true?”

Wendy’s eyes sparkled.

Just thinking about April being above her made Wendy so angry she would wake up in the middle of the night. She hoped what Aaron said was true.

She couldn’t stand the thought of April, who was always acting superior, marrying the Second Prince—a man rumored to be ugly, ill-tempered, and with nothing going for him except his royal blood. On top of that, the border knights who came to escort April until the wedding were putting on such airs.

‘Princess Consort? I could be one too!’

Since the Third Prince hadn’t married yet, there was still a chance for her. It was obvious. In the entire empire, aside from April, she was the only unmarried young lady of noble birth. Her father was surely keeping that in mind as well.

‘Of course he wouldn’t marry me off to just anyone.’

Wendy was certain, having met the Third Prince several times at banquets, that he had feelings for her too.

Aaron clicked his tongue at Wendy’s dreamy, dazed eyes, but she was already lost in her fantasies and didn’t hear him.

“Wendy.”

“Yes, yes! Mother.”

Wendy snapped out of it at the duchess’s gentle call.

“Royalty will be attending the wedding. Shouldn’t you prepare as well?”

“Oh, come on! Why are you telling me only now? Meril! Meril, where are you?”

April might be the bride, but Wendy had to be even more beautiful than her. Calling for Meril, Wendy hurried outside. The duchess watched her go with a bright smile, prompting Aaron to click his tongue again.

“You’re too soft on Wendy, Mother.”

“Isn’t she cute?”

“She’s too childish.”

“That’s why you have to look after her. She’s your only sister.”

“You shouldn’t say things like that in public.”

No matter how much the Second Prince was the late empress’s son, royalty was still royalty. No one would ever accept an illegitimate daughter of a duke as a princess consort. In other words, it was a fraudulent marriage.

The duchess nodded at Aaron’s whispered words.

“Oh my, you’re right. I should be careful with my words.”

“That girl was only ever meant to serve our family’s interests.”

“Yes, you’re right.”

The duchess’s smile did not fade. Her son had grown up to become the heir to the dukedom, and soon her daughter would enter the imperial family.

The seat beside her husband, which she had lost to a mere maid. Who could have guessed that maid would become pregnant in that fleeting moment? Her lifelong regret was not killing that maid immediately when she found her in her husband’s bed right after giving birth. If she had, April wouldn’t exist today.

She’d always wanted to appear virtuous in front of the duke. She took care of it later, but by then, April was already in the world.

“So cheer up, Mother. There are guests from the palace here, too.”

“Yes.”

The duchess nodded at Aaron’s encouragement.

“But I still need to pay her back for today’s humiliation.”

“Well, I can’t stop you from that.”

Aaron’s eyes met the duchess’s, and a cruel pleasure flickered in both their gazes.

***

Exactly two days later, April wanted to ask the Duke of Bright something. Why wasn’t the Second Prince, who was supposed to come, showing up, and why was that knight captain always hanging around?

She had planned to complain about the knight captain, who kept making advances at her, but since the Second Prince was nowhere to be seen, she couldn’t bring it up.

April spent the morning wondering how to respond to Calsion, who had barged into her room demanding tea. She wanted to ignore him, but one thing held her back: he knew she had tried to defy the emperor’s orders and run away.

‘What if he tells the Second Prince?’

Because of these worries, April ended up having tea with Calsion in the garden. She looked up at the clear sky.

‘Now that I think about it, this is strange.’

The Duke of Bright, who cared so much about appearances, was nowhere to be seen. A stranger had entered April’s bedroom at will, yet he didn’t reprimand anyone.

It was unthinkable that the duke, who loudly proclaimed he would revive the family by marrying her off and receiving a huge bridal fund, wouldn’t interfere with her private tea time with another man.

“What are you thinking about so deeply?”

And to think he was talking so arrogantly to the future princess consort.

‘Does being the knight captain make him special? How trusted is he that he can act so high and mighty?’

April pouted as she drank her tea. Then, surprised by the fragrant aroma that filled her mouth, her eyes widened. Compared to this, every tea she’d had before was nothing but dirty water.

“What’s wrong?”

Calsion asked April, who was blinking in surprise. But April had no time to answer him—she had to savor this wonderful tea. It was on par with the teas served at the tea parties of the Duke of Cephiron, another ducal family of the empire.

“Amazing.”

“Hm?”

Calsion frowned at April’s exclamation. He didn’t seem pleased that she was ignoring his question and just drinking tea. April, seeing his furrowed brow, finally spoke.

“The tea is especially delicious today.”

“What?”

“It’s a tea that’s pampering my taste buds.”

“I’m glad you like it.”

“Excuse me?”

“I brought it myself.”

“Cough!”

April, who was about to swallow her tea, ended up spitting it out, choking. Calsion watched her indifferently and handed her a handkerchief. April took it, flustered, and wiped her mouth.

Feeling the embroidery at her fingertips, she glanced down.

“Huh? This is…”

“Return it when you’re done.”

Calsion tried to take the handkerchief back, but April quickly dodged and clung to it.

“Why do you have this?”

“Because I picked it up.”

“It’s mine.”

“It was on the ground, so the person who picked it up owns it.”

April was dumbfounded by Calsion’s shameless claim to her handkerchief, his face not even changing color. She glared at him and asked sharply,

“Were you always this shameless?”

“Me?”

“Yes. You.”

“You?”

“…Well…”

April’s voice grew quieter and quieter. Faced with Calsion’s piercing gaze, she eventually fell silent.

‘Why are his eyes so fierce?’

She was about to become royalty. So why couldn’t she speak informally to a knight captain? April couldn’t understand herself.

A few minutes later, after briefly backing down, April glared at him again.

‘Should I just let it go? He’ll be my subordinate soon anyway.’

But there was an aura about him that made it impossible to be casual. She felt like something bad would happen if she dared to speak down to him.

April forced an awkward smile and spoke.

“Anyway… it’s mine, so please give it back.”

“I can’t, in case you change your clothes like a maid and run away again.”

“Hey!”

Startled by Calsion’s heavy retort, April jumped to her feet, worried someone might overhear that she’d tried to run away.

April bit her lip and glared at Calsion, but he didn’t react at all. He just calmly lifted his teacup.

Since he didn’t respond, April felt awkward standing up. Embarrassed, she glanced around the garden. She’d never had tea out here before.

‘Well, if I’d tried to have tea here, Wendy wouldn’t have allowed it.’

All the good places in the mansion belonged to Wendy and Aaron. Even this quiet, peaceful garden was theirs alone—a bastard like her couldn’t have it.

As she listened to the sound of the breeze rustling through the trees, April heard a strange noise.

‘Huh?’

Hearing a squeaking sound, April ran toward the trees. Calsion placed his hand on his sword as soon as she ran, but April quickly returned and snatched the handkerchief from his hand.

‘She’s quite agile…’

He read her movements but saw she had no intention of running away, so Calsion decided to just watch.

“I have to go up quickly!”

“Now?”

“Yes!”

April carefully lifted the handkerchief in her hand. Seeing the bird flapping weakly, unable to fly with its injured wing, Calsion raised his eyebrows.

“You’re taking the bird to your room?”

“Yes.”

Without waiting for his answer, April dashed toward the mansion. Calsion watched her skirt flutter as she ran, then turned to Yulifa as he approached.

“The duchess has made her move.”

“…Understood.”