Diana remembered Louis as a complicated person. He was a more devoted brother than anyone, and a crown prince with limitless potential. He would continue to be so, and Diana had no intention of denying his true nature.

But he was also like a hawk gliding across the sky.

Freedom.

The one dream that might still be burning within his heart.

—Diana. Our enemy is within. We must never forget the enemies who killed our parents.

The fate that bound him only made his longing for freedom burn brighter.

—We, at least, must never turn our backs on each other. You, Diana, must never betray me!

And there, only obsession and hatred remained…

“Riri is my sister! Touch her and I’ll kill you all!”

But for the kingdom’s future, for the prosperity of the royal family, when you yourself bind your own spirit—

“Louis, your happiness…”

When you turn your back on yourself, who will save your happiness?

“Your Highness,” Ian called out to Diana.

“…Calm the child down. Avoid violent methods.”

“…Alright.”

Ian, who had rolled up his sleeves, reluctantly let them fall back down.

He grabbed the frantic Theo by the scruff and took him outside the hut.

Diana looked down at the young girl, Riri, lying quietly in the corner of the now peaceful hut. Riri was struggling to take ragged breaths.

“Is it this child, Mother…?”

It was an inexplicable pull. What was her mother trying to tell her?

And the pervasive smell inside the hut—what was it?

“Theo…?”

At that moment, Riri painfully opened her eyes.

“…I told you to avoid violent methods,” Diana scolded Ian. Theo had at least five bumps on the back of his head.

“So how am I supposed to handle a stubborn brat?”

“Well…!”

Diana started to get angry but instead let out a sigh.

“Would you treat the children born to the lords like this? Please treat everyone as if they were our children.”

“…Our children, huh.”

Whether Ian let his imagination run wild or not, Diana approached Theo. She bent down to meet his gaze and saw the tear stains on his face.

“…”

Theo flinched but no longer rejected Diana’s gentle touch.

“You know who I am, Theo.”

Diana wiped away the tear marks as she spoke.

“…Princess.”

“Mind your manners, kid,” Ian said coldly.

“…Your Highness.”

Theo quickly corrected himself, but his rebellious gaze remained.

“Theo. We’ll do everything we can to help Riri recover. I promise.”

Diana glanced at Riri, who was being treated in the corner.

“And to heal Riri, we’ll need your help.”

“My help…?”

“Huh?”

“…Are you asking for my help, Your Highness?”

Watching Ian, Theo corrected his words.

“I want you to tell me how you and Riri got sick. I’ve heard this fever may have started in Kte Village. If that’s true, we need to know what happened here.”

Theo couldn’t ignore Diana’s deep blue eyes any longer.

“I don’t really know… Ahem, I mean, I don’t know much, Your Highness… I’m frustrated because I don’t know the reason either. At first, I thought it was just a cold. The kind you catch during the changing seasons.”

Theo looked at Riri worriedly as he spoke.

“But then, no matter how much medicine we took, the cough wouldn’t go away. More and more people in town started coughing, too. Everyone just thought it was a lingering cold. We really didn’t know. We didn’t mean for the illness to spread…”

“It’s not your fault, Theo, nor Riri’s, nor the townspeople’s. I’m not blaming anyone, so don’t cry, Theo.”

At some point, Theo was silently crying.

“Please save Riri, Your Highness. Riri hasn’t done anything wrong. Neither have the townspeople. It’s all my fault. I couldn’t get medicine in time… The illness spread beyond the village because of me…”

He cried like a child, but never made a sound, which made it even more heartbreaking.

Diana silently stroked Theo’s head and hugged him.

“I’m sorry… It’s all my fault…”

She felt like everything was her fault, and the tears she’d been holding back threatened to spill.

If only she’d been better prepared for the future she foresaw, if only her words had carried more weight…

“You wouldn’t have had to suffer so much…”

Like Theo, Diana faced him with tears in her eyes.

“I promise. I’ll set everything right. I won’t let the nightmare repeat.”

Theo couldn’t fully understand, but he nodded.

Seeing that small nod, Diana smiled, and Theo’s rebelliousness melted away like snow.

“But Theo, what’s the source of the smell in this place?”

Diana wiped away her tears and asked.

“The smell? I clean every day!”

Theo protested, his face flushing.

“Haha, no, I don’t mean a bad smell. I mean the strong scent of disinfectant.”

Diana laughed as she clarified.

“If it’s that… it’s probably from the factory. There’s a pharmaceutical factory behind our house.”

At Theo’s words, Diana looked at Ian.

Ian immediately understood and nodded.

“Everyone probably noticed coming up—the people living higher on the hill are in worse condition. It must be related to the factory. Just in case, let’s have me, Colonel Medi, and Lord Ian go check the factory.”

“Wait a moment.”

As soon as Diana stepped out of the hut and hurried toward the factory, Ian stopped her.

He handed her a handkerchief.

“…”

“What, do you want me to wipe your tears for you?”

Diana glared at him once before snatching the handkerchief.

Ian quietly smiled as he watched Diana turn away to wipe her eyes.

“Oh?”

Medenta watched the scene with interest.

“Oh—?”

Medenta teasingly stuck her mischievous face in front of Ian, but he simply ignored her.

Soon, the three arrived at the factory entrance and, without saying a word, looked up at the massive smokestack. Smoke from burning something inside poured out constantly. The thick gray smoke drifted straight toward the village.

At the huge factory’s front gate, a company sign painted in bright red stood out.

“Lepri Pharmaceutical Company.”

“Your Highness. The factory manager is away today, so it looks like we can’t meet him right now. He’s on a business trip,” the colonel relayed from a staff member.

“Is the manager really on a trip?” Diana asked meaningfully, her eyes still fixed on the wastewater flowing into the stream.

“I’ve smelled this disinfectant somewhere before…”

Murmuring, Diana turned back toward the village.

“Colonel, we must meet the factory manager. Whether we wait in ambush or storm the factory, we must meet him.”

“Yes, Your Highness!”

***

Meanwhile, at Theo and Riri’s house, Riri’s breathing had thankfully eased.

Theo seemed to have recovered some of his smile, but he still wouldn’t let go of Riri’s hand.

“But you two don’t look alike at all,” Dale observed.

“Of course not. We don’t share a drop of blood.”

Dale’s eyes widened at the unexpected answer.

“What? Really?”

“But Riri is my sister.”

“A pair with a lot of history, huh…”

While Dale was moved by the siblings’ bond, Theo, quietly watching the sleeping Riri, suddenly asked,

“How do you marry the princess?”

“What?!”

This time Dale’s eyes nearly popped out. Grinelda was also so surprised she just blinked in confusion.

“Not funny, kid,” Ian said, returning at just the right moment. But a faint vein stood out on his forehead, showing his irritation.

“I’m not joking.”

Theo was serious.

“If I marry the princess, Riri can live in a better environment and get well quickly. We wouldn’t have to live in poverty like this!”

“Hah, so you want to make a fortune by marrying her?”

“Well, it’s not just about money.”

Ian’s face clearly said, ‘Then what is it?’ He looked ready to listen.

“Her Highness… has a beautiful smile.”

“Oh my.”

Just then, Diana returned from her tour of the village with Medenta.

“Your Highness, Theo is aiming to be your future husband! Isn’t it about time you found a new lover?” Grinelda teased, deliberately trying to get on Ian’s nerves.

“Oh my, I do like Theo because he’s handsome.”

“Huh?”

Ian was dumbfounded by Diana’s reaction.

“So Her Highness judges by looks too. They say a handsome face calms even the worst temper. I have such a temper, so I need a handsome husband. Hahaha!”

Medenta laughed cheerfully.

“Haha. Is there any man in the world who could handle you, sister?”

Of course, Dale’s comment earned him nothing but a big lump on his head.

Everyone was laughing and joking, and Theo covered his mouth to stifle his own giggles.

Diana watched with satisfaction, but soon darkness fell over her face again. Ian was the only one who noticed the change.

By then, night had fallen over Kte Village, and Diana’s group decided to stay at a nearby inn.

Diana couldn’t sleep at all. She was weighed down by unresolved problems with no clues to solve them.

Just then, there was a knock.

“Your Highness, it’s me.”

At the sound of that voice, she slowly opened the door, and into her room—

Ian entered.