The palace carriage stormed into the estate late one afternoon, quite some time after that.

The former queen consort is critically ill—no one knows when she’ll pass. We can’t send her away from the palace, so we’ve moved her to the detached palace for now. 

The moment those words fell from the lips of the person sent from the palace, something shattered inside Adeline’s mind.

…What?

Her voice wouldn’t come out properly. Her chest constricted like crazy.

When she’d seen her mother last time, the signs of illness were clear, but that unyielding spirit had still been there. So she hadn’t thought things would deteriorate this suddenly.

And yet…

Adeline didn’t even think to grab anything and pushed away the maids’ hands as she descended the stairs in her indoor clothes.

“Madam, please wait just a moment…!”

Tanya followed behind Adeline as she burst through the door.

Panting as she rushed down the stairs, Adeline practically tore open the carriage door. It was the carriage the king’s attendant who’d just delivered the message had arrived in.

“Leave now.”

“Pardon? But…”

What’s this about? The person who was actually supposed to board hadn’t even gotten on yet, but Adeline was adamant.

Her voice thundered at the bewildered coachman who looked at Adeline and Tanya.

“Leave right now!”

Soon the wheels began moving, sliding forward. The horse hooves kicked through the snow. The scenery outside shook violently.

Adeline clasped her hands together like she was praying and muttered.

“No… No… Not yet…”

Empty whispers filled the carriage.

She hadn’t been able to witness her father’s final moments either.

Back then it was because entry had been restricted.

This time too…

What if she couldn’t even hold her mother’s hand one last time on her final journey? The despair from that time choked her again. She gripped her knees until her fingertips turned white.

Darkness had already descended on the palace when they arrived.

Again, before the carriage door even opened, Adeline jumped out first and ran toward the detached palace.

She ran frantically and lost her balance, falling, but immediately got up and ran again.

“Open this door.”

The guard standing at the entrance to the detached palace blocked her path.

“I apologize, but no entry permission has been issued.”

“My mother is dying, what does that matter!”

“Orders haven’t come down yet.”

“Move!”

Gasping for breath and screaming, Adeline looked like someone who couldn’t see anything.

“Let her through.”

When an official who appeared belatedly leisurely showed the royal seal, the guard permitted entry.

The corridor without a single human shadow was pitch black.

The chill seeped into her bones, like the lights had been off and the place left empty for a long time.

When she opened the bedroom door, a few candles flickered.

Her mother lying on the bed didn’t look like a living person. She didn’t even seem to be breathing.

“…Mother.”

After running to the detached palace like a madwoman, now she was afraid to take another step.

“That’s not true, right? It’s not, right? Not yet.”

Adeline approached with difficulty and grasped her mother’s hand, stiff like dried firewood. The once white and lovely hands had gone cold as ice.

“…Mother, I’m here. I’m here.”

She brought her trembling hand under her mother’s nose and bowed her head. Faint though it was, her mother’s breath still continued. But it seemed ready to go out at any moment.

Sensing the end, Adeline finally burst into tears.

She stood there dazed, then collapsed to her knees. Sobs mixed with wet breaths kept pouring out.

She pressed her tear-soaked cheek against her mother’s cheek. On that frozen skin, Adeline murmured, pressing her cheek and lips against it like she was trying to transfer even a little of her body heat.

“…I’m scared, I’m actually so scared. Please don’t leave me behind.”

Her hunched, delicate shoulders shook.

* * *

The funeral was excessively quiet.

For the death of a former queen consort, bells should ring, black cloth should hang throughout the city, and mourning flags should drape from every balcony, but Varsen acted like nothing had happened.

The royal family sent formal condolences and officially announced Luise Rosenthal’s passing. 

However, they didn’t arrange it as a state funeral. The ceremonial procedures and formalities were cleanly omitted.

Adeline had no heart to cling to those formalities.

She hadn’t expected anything from the start.

Even so.

Sending her mother off this quietly made her feel even more melancholy. Adeline requested King William to allow her to take her mother’s remains to Harden. Even as she made the request, she thought she’d be refused, but for some reason the king permitted it.

As she got out of the carriage and straightened her black dress while looking down at her feet, Adeline suddenly had this thought.

Was it okay for her mother’s life to end like this?

No, had her mother been someone who could only end up this way from the start?

The snow-melted ground of Harden was particularly muddy.

Adeline entered the modestly arranged funeral hall and paid her respects before her mother’s coffin. Tears poured down like rain.

Though her mother had hated her all her life, Adeline couldn’t hate her mother completely. 

Rather, she wanted to be loved by her more than anyone else, wanted to be acknowledged by her.

“As of today, you are no longer my daughter! My daughter Adeline Rosenthal von Krauben is dead. You’re just a lowly wench of Belliche, nothing more.”

Even when she was disowned, even when she faced that frost-like expression, Adeline loved her mother.

Even though she’d treated her like an ignorant child all her life, told her nothing, and never gave her warm maternal affection.

She was squeezing her eyes shut and holding back the sobs trying to burst out when—

“…May you rest in eternal peace.”

A calm voice came from beside her and she turned her head. Then she saw the face of someone familiar and most needed in this moment.

“Kailen? When, when did you get here?”

“Just now. I came in the middle of work and have to leave soon. But your eyes are so swollen, all red.”

At Kailen’s words, tears poured even more from Adeline’s eyes. She threw herself into Kailen’s arms as he stood beside her.

She’d hoped he would come. But at the same time, she’d thought that since he was busy, it might be hard for him to come all the way to Harden.

Kailen had always disapproved of Luise. Naturally. Her mother had also loathed and despised him. Who would enjoy being rejected? So she’d told him it was fine if he was busy, not to worry.

“Thank you for coming, for coming even though you’re busy.”

Kailen stiffened for a moment, but soon embraced her.

* * *

After the funeral ended, her mother’s remaining estate looked even more empty. The corridor seemed wider than before, the ceiling higher. The estate with its person gone was full of bone-penetrating cold even with a fire lit in the fireplace.

Mrs. Neumann said as she removed her black gloves.

“The next few days will be harder for you, Princess.”

Adeline nodded.

“You must be tired… Thank you for helping sort through her belongings. Honestly, without you I would have been too overwhelmed to do this alone.”

“Yes. Her Majesty would have wanted me to help you, Princess.”

The next day, after spending several hours organizing the bedroom and dressing room and sharing a simple breakfast, the two opened the firmly locked door to Luise’s study. Then they each settled in appropriately distant spots.

They searched through bookshelves, opened drawers, opened boxes that came out of there, and opened envelopes too.

A large box from the last drawer mostly poured out unsorted letters.

Mrs. Neumann called to Adeline as she examined each sender and sorted them carefully.

“Princess, let’s open this safe here first.”

Mrs. Neumann knew the password to her mother’s personal safe that even her daughter didn’t know.

“Yes, alright.”

Mrs. Neumann set down various documents from the safe in front of Adeline—bank notifications, sponsorship statements, the list of personal assets her mother left behind, trust account books, and so on.

“This is…”

Below the heavy pile of documents, she saw a notebook with a brown leather cover. Adeline carefully opened the notebook. But a faded envelope and a photograph fell out from inside.

Adeline’s hand stopped as she was flipping through the notebook. Adeline’s eyebrows contorted as she picked up the fallen photograph.

Leopold and his wife, who had been crown princess, and siblings who looked exactly like the two of them were captured in the photo—she couldn’t tear her eyes away.

“…Brother.”

Mrs. Neumann’s face as she looked at that photo was also full of sympathy.

Her hands were urgent as she removed the seal from the envelope. Though not a drop of sweat appeared in the cold study, strangely the paper felt particularly slippery, like it was soaked with sweat.

Adeline immediately recognized Leopold’s handwriting. Her handwriting had become similar to Leopold’s except for the rounded ends.