‘I won’t avoid it. Even if I get caught up in a mudslinging fight and lose my life.’

“I’ll do what I can here. I won’t run away.”

“……”

Isabella gave no reply. She simply met Diana’s unwavering gaze in silence.

“…You’ve grown a lot.”

Isabella murmured quietly.

“I understand your wishes. But my decision will not change.”

“Your Majesty!”

“This is for your own good. Natasha!”

Without giving Diana a chance to protest, Isabella immediately called for Natasha.

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

“I think we’ve kept Gilrod waiting too long. Please escort the princess.”

Diana looked at Isabella desperately, but Isabella deliberately avoided meeting her eyes any further.

Reluctantly leaving the office, Diana asked in as calm a voice as she could manage,

“Your Majesty, your health… is it all right?”

“…There’s nothing to worry about.”

Isabella gave a faint smile as she spoke. It was a smile not of a queen, but of Diana Ahiel’s aunt, Isabella Ahiel.

***

After sending Diana away, Isabella once again gazed out the window into the distance.

“Children grow up too quickly.”

She muttered softly to herself, when a knock sounded at the office door.

“Isn’t it a bit too soon for another checkup? Seeing your face makes me feel even sicker.”

Isabella greeted Gilrod curtly as he entered the office.

“Only if Your Majesty is well can the kingdom be well too.”

Gilrod replied firmly and immediately began a quick examination.

Gilrod Paolle was a respected pharmacologist and also the vice dean of the royal university, but he had served as a physician in the royal family even before his appointment as vice dean.

As the queen’s personal doctor, he visited Isabella’s office at least twice a week to check her health.

As Isabella sighed softly during the checkup, Gilrod glanced at her over his thick glasses.

“Did something happen with the princess?”

At those words, Isabella looked at him as if she’d seen a ghost.

“Your sigh sounds different, Your Majesty. Normally it’s just ‘ha…’ but today it’s ‘haa…’. Haha, I’m joking—I saw Princess Diana coming out.”

“You dare tease the queen? Are you saying you’ve lived long enough?”

It was a chilling joke that could make one’s knees shake, but Gilrod just laughed it off.

“Aren’t I Your Majesty’s only friend? If you kill me, with whom will you spend your dull hours, now that you have no one to exchange silly jokes with?”

“Lately, Natasha’s sense of humor has been improving daily, so it’s actually quite entertaining.”

At Isabella’s words, Natasha made a seriously troubled face. The odd combination made Isabella throw her head back and laugh heartily.

“So, what did the princess say to make you sigh so deeply?”

“Gilrod. It’s not easy to say this in front of you… but I’ve only managed to stay sane all this time because of those two children.”

“I understand how you feel. Even though I lost my own grandchild… That’s what war is, isn’t it?”

Gilrod answered as calmly as he could.

“No matter how much you say that’s what war is, when Edgar died, I thought I would go mad. You’ve known me a long time, you know how much I respected my father. His words meant more to me than any law.”

Isabella opened and closed her stiff right hand as she continued.

“I thought the best thing I could do was uphold my father’s wishes and maintain the country. But that was a delusion. The world was changing fast, and my arrogant choices divided the nation and led to civil war. With these hands, I killed my own kin.”

Gilrod remained silent, but he listened to her more intently than anyone. The deep look in his eyes seemed to recall the child and the young grandchild he had lost to war.

“If I could go back, I would risk my life to stop the war.”

“Your Majesty always did your best. Please don’t blame yourself.”

“Gilrod. I… I have regrets.”

Isabella’s deep blue eyes flared brightly.

“But Diana said to me, she doesn’t want to have regrets. She said she won’t run away.”

“……”

“When I look at Diana, I remember my own fearless youth. I want to protect that child. I don’t want to lose any more family. I’m sick of regret. So I’ll protect her in the way I believe is right. However…”

At that moment, the cry of a hawk soaring freely in the sky rang out from outside the window. Isabella’s gaze turned to the blue sky.

“…Sometimes, I hope I’m wrong.”

***

Diana found herself gazing at the horizon as the sunset faded.

“That’s all for your afternoon duties, Your Highness. Please take a break.”

Jerome said as he organized the documents.

Diana rested her chin in her hand, staring blankly into space. She had tried to shake off her gloom while working, but she knew that if the queen refused to see her, there was no point in making repeated requests.

If she had to leave soon, she would need to find something she could do for the kingdom before then. The problem was, she didn’t know where to start.

“I’m going for a walk.”

“I’ll go with—”

“Alone. Please don’t follow me. I’ll just circle the garden right out front.”

As Jerome narrowed his eyes again, Diana quickly added,

“If you’re that worried, you can watch from the terrace.”

“I was planning to do that anyway.”

Jerome replied as if it were only natural.

A little later, when she stepped outside into the garden and looked up at the palace, she saw Jerome really was watching her from the terrace.

When she frowned in annoyance, Jerome folded his arms and snorted pointedly.

“Ugh, really.”

To Diana, he was just a nag, but in truth, Jerome was a competent talent from an elite family.

He graduated top of his class from the royal university and became a royal aide at the young age of twenty-two. He had been by her side since she was fourteen, and now, at nineteen, he was still there.

Before Jerome, Diana had been assigned many aides, but most of them ran away before long.

Though called an aide, in reality, they practically managed her every move 24 hours a day. Diana couldn’t stand the suffocation, and neither could the aides, so they all ended up giving up on each other quickly.

In that sense, Jerome, who had served as her aide for over five years, was truly exceptional.

Isabella had offered Jerome all kinds of rewards to keep him tied to the palace, but he refused all the benefits the queen tried to grant him and stayed by Diana’s side without any conditions.

“……”

Diana thought she understood why Jerome stayed with her, though she’d never asked him outright.

She guessed that Jerome was with her because of Louis.

The two, being the same age, had known each other since childhood. Or rather, they were more than just acquaintances…

“I don’t know. Those two are complicated too.”

Diana took a deep breath instead of sighing.

She walked toward the sunset with her arms open wide. With her eyes closed, she felt as if the soft petals of spring flowers brushed her fingertips.

As she was enjoying that simple freedom, she faintly heard the sounds of a scuffle somewhere.

She followed the sound.

“Ha, what a stubborn fellow…!”

“What are you doing here?”

Diana asked when she found the source of the commotion.

There, Ian was struggling to stop Yan from eating the flowers.

“Whew… I was waiting for you, Your Highness.”

“How did you know I’d come here?”

Ian pointed to Jerome, who, though now farther away, was still watching Diana from the terrace.

“It’s like I’m wearing a sign saying where I am at all times.”

Diana grumbled with a sigh as she glanced at Jerome.

Seeing Diana with Ian, Jerome’s eyes widened and he clung to the terrace railing as if he might jump down at any moment.

“…He looks seriously mistaken. Lord Ian, you’d better be careful of Jerome for a while—!”

At that moment, Yan rushed at Diana.

“Ahaha, that tickles, Yan!”

As Yan licked her arms, she grabbed Yan’s head with both hands and rubbed it vigorously as if in playful revenge.

“He missed you so much. You have no idea how hard it’s been stopping him from causing trouble.”

“I missed you too.”

“……”

When Diana replied while looking at Ian, he seemed at a loss for words for a moment, rubbing his neck and turning away.

“Then I’ll come here at this time every day.”

“What?”

To her surprised question, Ian just smiled as if he hadn’t heard.

Just then, Jerome’s voice could be heard from behind. It wasn’t her imagination—Jerome was really running toward them.

“Uh-oh, should we run?”

“What?”

Ian quickly mounted Yan and reached out his hand to Diana. She took his hand almost reflexively and climbed onto Yan.

“Your Highness! You promised to only walk in the garden!”

Jerome’s distressed voice quickly faded behind them.

***

“Let’s go back now!”

Diana shouted.

But instead, Ian urged Yan to go faster, and the startled Diana grabbed his waist tightly.

She could feel him laughing playfully. He probably didn’t realize Diana was glaring at the back of his head.

He headed for the western forest. Inside the castle walls, there were several wooded areas, but the western forest was the closest to the walls and the farthest from the palace’s central buildings.

After a while, when they reached the high western hill, Ian stopped Yan.

“How did we end up all the way out here…?”

“You’re the one who took my hand, Your Highness.”

At Diana’s complaint, Ian replied innocently, as if he was not at fault. Diana found him irritating, but couldn’t argue, since he was right.

“Your Highness, come over here.”

He went up to a slightly higher spot and called her. Diana, who had been pouting at him, decided she might as well go and climbed up.

“Well? Wasn’t it worth the climb?”

“……”

When Diana reached where he was standing, she was left speechless.