The warmth quickly broke down the bad blood between them. Roa wrapped her arms around his neck and held him tight.

“Why……”

“Roa?”

“Why did you come only now? Your Highness, do you know how long I’ve been waiting?”

As long as she could escape from this hell, she didn’t care who it was. Whether it was family, Yvaine, or knights.

Roa no longer wanted to feel that she was alone. She had experienced a future with no visibility in a short time.

“I was so scared.”

Becoming like a child, Roa clutched her lifeline tightly and burst into tears. Seeing the person who had come to save her, all her sorrow rushed in at once.

She threw a tantrum despite knowing it wasn’t his fault.

Yvaine was flustered by Roa’s loud sobbing and awkwardly patted her back, trying not to hurt her.

“Don’t cry. I don’t know how to comfort you when you cry.”

“But the tears won’t stop.”

“I’ll have to find a way to stop you from crying.”

“Punish that man.”

Drawing strength from his awkward comfort, Roa shed even more tears. The intruder who had invaded her lonely world was warm.

Only then did Roa, whose whole body was in pain, tattle to Yvaine about the actions of the man who had frightened her.

Her words were full of the intention to have him scolded.

Finding such a Roa both cute and funny, Yvaine barely held back his laughter. He knew that laughing now would make her more upset.

“Waaaaaah, Your Highness. That man threatened me.”

“Is that so? I’ll have to teach him a sharp lesson.”

A smile formed on Yvaine’s lips. The crown of Roa’s head, buried in his arms and nodding, was cute.

Yvaine pressed Roa’s crown with his finger. That became the switch.

“Now let’s go home, Roa.”

With those words, Roa lost consciousness. The mental thread she had been barely holding onto was difficult to maintain after finding her ally.

Yvaine looked at the unconscious Roa and hardened his expression severely.

With his usual polite smile gone, he looked down at the man kneeling under the knights’ guard.

“How dare you, not knowing your place.”

The man’s whole body tingled. The murderous gaze pierced his skin. With no escape route, the man quietly kept his mouth shut.

It was natural, as the knights’ sword tips were aimed at his neck and heart at the slightest movement. The man now regretted his life.

“Noel Millan. Have you been having fun all this time?”

Yvaine called him by his real name. Born as an illegitimate child of a marginal viscountcy and abandoned by the family—that was his identity.

He was a coward who took out the filth of the world he had experienced on the weak. He was someone who wouldn’t have been noticed if he hadn’t crossed the line.

Noel smirked when he heard his name after so long. He never dreamed he would hear again the name he had abandoned when he left that house.

“I am honored that Your Highness even knows my name.”

“This is the first time the word ‘honored’ has felt so repulsive.”

Yvaine lifted his chin with his foot. At the attitude that showed he didn’t even want to touch him with his hands, Noel gritted his teeth, his pride hurt.

“Are you upset? That pleases me. I only need her to like me.”

“Ugh!”

Yvaine laughed as he kicked him in the chest. Bullying bad people made people happy.

The knights raised Noel, who had fallen to the ground from the strong kick, and made him kneel again. There was no time to soothe the area he had been hit.

“You shouldn’t pretend it hurts. How much pain must the people you’ve killed have felt.”

“Is it okay to kick people?”

“I thought you were a beast full of greed, but it seems you were human.”

“I have been human from the beginning!”

Noel, who didn’t repent his wrongdoings, shouted at Yvaine, asserting his dignity.

Yvaine found his appearance absurd. It was ridiculous that the person who most resembled a beast among those he had seen claimed to be human.

“Shut up. A dog should be quiet to be loved.”

Unable to hide his displeased mood, Yvaine vented it outward, and the knights beside him gagged Noel’s mouth.

Even with his mouth gagged, Noel struggled to rush at Yvaine. Yvaine looked down at him coldly with emotionless eyes.

“It’s tiring to listen to a beast. Imprison him. I will impose a severe punishment.”

“Yes, I will obey your command.”

The knight bowed his head and struck the back of Noel’s neck. Yvaine adjusted the disheveled Roa’s posture as he looked at the limp Noel.

A knight standing right next to him carefully asked while watching him.

“We will escort Lady Roa Helena to the duke’s residence, Your Highness.”

Yvaine shook his head at the knight’s words. The shadow running from far away was someone he knew.

The knight, following Yvaine’s gaze, quietly stepped aside at the sight of Roan Helena.

Roan, with a pale face, spotted Roa unconscious in Yvaine’s arms from that far distance and increased his speed.

“Your Highness!”

“Shh! Your voice will wake her from sleep.”

Roan immediately bit his upper lip and swallowed his voice.

Coming right up to Yvaine, Roan stamped his feet looking at the wounded Roa.

“Is our Roa alright?”

“She seems fine except for having fainted.”

“That means she’s not fine at all.”

Roan quietly muttered as he brushed Roa’s hair behind her ear. Her precious face was full of wounds.

“Thank you for saving our Roa, Your Highness.”

If the timing had been even slightly off, what would have happened to Roa—he couldn’t even imagine.

Roan deeply bowed his head to Yvaine, who had done his best as if it were his own matter.

“That’s enough. Saving my people is only natural.”

Yvaine handed Roa over to Roan’s arms. As much as he wanted to hold her longer, there were too many eyes watching.

“I’ll give you a week’s vacation. Stay by your sister’s side until she finds stability.”

“I am grateful for your consideration, Your Highness.”

The incident was concluded. It was time to go home.

* * *

“Roa, what are you doing?”

Monia opened the door and asked Roa, who was lying on her stomach on the bed writing in a notebook. Roa raised her head at Monia’s call.

“I’m writing now. I’m going to publish a book.”

“Really? What’s it about this time?”

Knowing that her daughter published books under a pseudonym, Monia affectionately stroked Roa’s hair, placed the refreshments she had brought on the bedside table, and sat on the bed.

Monia, who had no talent for writing, found her daughter amazing. She was proud of how talented she was, wondering whom she took after.

“It’s a love story between a commoner and a noble.”

“Is that so? That sounds quite interesting.”

In a reality where the class system was distinct, something that couldn’t happen was being created beautifully in the notebook.

Seeing Monia’s interested expression, Roa excitedly chattered away.

With the momentum to tell the entire plot of the book, Monia put a cookie in her mouth, telling her to calm down.

“This time, the princess said she wants to see you.”

“The princess?”

“Yes. She asked your father when you could come visit.”

Roa hesitated to answer Monia’s words.

Reading the fear in her daughter’s desire to avoid this subject, Monia inwardly sighed.

“You don’t have to go if you don’t want to, darling.”

“It’s not that. I want to see the princess too.”

“Then shall we go to the imperial palace together this time?”

Roa, who had been chattering away, firmly closed her mouth and chewed on a cookie. Monia smiled bitterly at her daughter’s behavior.

After the incident, Roa, who had been bedridden for several days, was unlike her former self and refused to go outside at all.

The child who used to eagerly await outings every day now showed negative reactions to the idea of going out, so Monia couldn’t help but worry.

Monia embraced her daughter with both arms.

“The Slave Syndicate has been completely eradicated now. You don’t have to be afraid anymore, Roa.”

“What if something like that happens again?”

Her mind understood, but the knowledge hadn’t reached her heart. The great betrayal of her complacent heart was still deeply imprinted.

Wounds that had completely healed began to throb again. The phantom pain was stronger than expected. Fear dominated her.

As Roa curled up her body, Monia grabbed her daughter’s shoulders.

“Ah…… Mom.”

“It’s okay, darling. Calm down. Mom is here.”

Monia responded immediately to Roa’s pain. Roa met her eyes looking at her and calmed her breathing.

“Mom, I’m afraid to go outside.”

“You can take it slowly. I’m always by your side, aren’t I?”

“What if I keep being afraid to go out?”

Monia sat her daughter on her lap. Roa found stability in her warm embrace.

“If you can’t go out, you’ll just live with Mom forever.”

“But……”

“Darling. I can do anything to protect you.”

Monia felt guilt washing over her for letting Roa experience this terrifying ordeal alone.

If possible, she should have been the one to experience it, not Roa.

Monia hugged Roa tightly.

“You have many people around you. Don’t be too afraid. If this harsh world troubles you, Roa, think of the people around you.”

Monia knew that Roa would realize she wasn’t alone and find her way through. At her comfort, Roa thought of many people.

Her parents, Roan, Reno, Yvel, and finally, somehow, Yvaine came to mind as Roa closed her eyes.

“Could you tell the princess that I’m trying?”

“Yes. Mom will pass along the message.”

Monia worried that she might have unnecessarily stressed her daughter. Feeling that she had been too hasty, she even felt remorseful.

“Rest, darling.”

Monia laid Roa on the bed and stepped out of the room. Outside, Mikel stood waiting with a worried look.

Monia shook her head at her husband.

Their attempt to get Roa outside today had failed again. Mikel bit his lip as he looked at her.

“It’ll be okay. Our daughter is strong.”

“Will she really be alright?”

“Of course. Don’t worry and go to work.”

Monia hurriedly helped Mikel prepare for work.

Meanwhile, Roa, who had been listening to her parents’ conversation through the not-quite-closed door, pulled the blanket over herself out of frustration.

She had tried to go out, but her body froze at the front door. When she got into a carriage, she found it hard to breathe as memories of that time came back.

Just thinking about the people who had died and been injured because of her made her unable to control her emotions due to guilt.

‘My parents say it’s okay, but they must feel differently inside.’

Roa thrashed about under the blanket, thinking of her parents who were suffering because of her. The neatly arranged blanket became a mess.

As a result, the blanket that had slightly slipped to the floor no longer covered her face. Sunlight streamed onto it.

“Ah, the weather is nice.”

Roa turned her head to look out the window where sunlight was coming in. The birds flying around seemed to have no worries, which made her envious.

After staring blankly outside for a while, Roa sat up at the sound of knocking on her door.

“What is it?”

“Miss, a letter has arrived from the imperial palace.”

“Hmm? Is it from the princess?”

“I’m sorry, they didn’t specify.”

The maid carefully handed Roa a letter stamped with the imperial seal. The sender’s name was not written on the front of the envelope.

Normally, Roa would have concluded it was from Yvel, but due to her new connection with the crown prince, she couldn’t determine who it was from.

If she was curious, she had no choice but to open it herself. After gesturing for the maid to leave the room, Roa cut open the envelope with a knife.

Inside the envelope were two clean white pieces of stationery.

“When did they become so close?”

Roa smiled broadly at the letters sent by the crown prince and princess, each sending one amicably.

Of the two identical pieces of stationery in color and design, the princess’s letter contained grumbling about the crown prince’s refusal to write a letter because he was embarrassed.

Despite claiming to be embarrassed, the crown prince’s letter, which showed signs of being written seriously, was filled with concern for Roa from beginning to end.

Yvaine’s sincerity was evident in the content asking if her injuries were better now, and that although he had heard she couldn’t go outside, he hoped she would find courage.

Roa placed the letter on her face and lay down on the bed with her eyes closed. Half of her legs dangled off the bed, hanging limply.

“I haven’t seen him since then.”

Realizing that she hadn’t been able to thank Yvaine because she wouldn’t go outside, Roa raised her trembling hand to the sky at the memory of that day.

Although still scared, there were too many people worried about her. Reno, who had visited her home and scolded her for being unlike herself, was one of them.

As Monia said, Roa was not alone.

“Sigh. Let’s not be weak.”

‘I can’t live inside the house forever.’

Opening her eyes, Roa finally abandoned her long bed rest and opened the tightly closed window.

Pleasant wind caressed and comforted Roa. She placed the read letters on the bedside table.

Nothing would be resolved by lying down. Roa stretched in the sunlight and moved her steps.

“Yan~ Prepare to make cookies.”

Roa’s shout echoed through the mansion.

At the sudden cookie commotion, Monia came out of her office and discovered Roa receiving an apron from Yan.

“Daughter, what are you doing?”

Monia blinked her eyes, not understanding the situation, and demanded an explanation from Yan. Not knowing the details, Yan shook her head.

Roa, who could resolve their curiosity, opened her mouth with a fresh smile.

“I’m going to make cookies as gifts.”

“Who are they for?”

“For His Highness the crown prince and Her Highness the princess.”

Monia approached with a surprised expression at Roa’s answer.

She couldn’t adapt to her daughter’s changed attitude, who until just a few minutes ago had been frightened at the mere mention of the imperial palace.

Roa deliberately smiled more broadly, exaggeratedly turning up the corners of her mouth to ease Monia’s worry.

“They both said they really want to see me. And it’s not polite that I haven’t thanked him for saving me.”

“Are you going to the imperial palace now?”

“Yes! I’m going to make cookies and visit.”

Roa fidgeted with her hands as she spoke to Monia. Monia nodded with trembling pupils at the proposal her daughter had made first.

“Um, I’m still scared, so could you come with me? Are you very busy?”

She was so happy that she could barely speak properly.

She had believed her daughter would overcome this problem quickly. Monia’s face was much lighter, having one less worry.

“Of course. Should Mom help you make the cookies?”

“Yes! Mom, teach me how to make your special butter cookies.”

Monia handed the pan she was holding to Yan. Yan, who naturally took Monia’s pan, had an excited face.

She was full of desire to deliver this good news to the mansion. It was a special day that would call for a party if the people in the mansion who had worried about Roa heard it.

“Why don’t you make some for your dad and Roan while we’re at it?”

“Then we’ll need to make a lot, will we have time?”

“If we all make them together, it won’t take long.”

At Monia’s answer, Yan nodded so vigorously her head might fall off. Then she ran down the corridor, saying she would gather people right away, before Roa could even stop her.

Running around was not polite, but Monia, whose mood was soaring with happiness, didn’t stop him at all.

Interestingly, Yan, who would take care of her this time, was similar in personality to Hannah.

A small smile bloomed on Roa’s face as she recalled Hannah and Sir Eyle, who had survived with the help of the imperial knights before she was severely injured.

‘Really.’

Roa lowered her outstretched hand as she watched Yan, who would work as her personal maid while Hannah was on vacation.

Monia pushed the dazed Roa’s back toward the kitchen.

“It’s going to be a noisy outing, Mother.”

“Sharing this touching moment together is a good thing.”

Monia’s face was also full of smiles.

Chapter 4. The Flower of Love Blooms

“We are here to see His Highness the crown prince.”

Roan and Yvaine, who had been unable to focus on their work due to worrying about Roa, thought they were dreaming when they saw her.

Both looked at Roa with identical expressions of disbelief as she entered with a bright smile and greeted them.

Roa spoke to the two who couldn’t say anything.

“Why aren’t you saying anything? Should I leave?”

Among them, Roan, who had directly felt Roa’s fear, opened his eyes wide at Roa’s outing to the imperial palace.

Roan jumped up so abruptly that his chair tumbled backward and rushed to Roa. Yvaine, a step late, stared blankly at them.

“Roa! What brings you all the way here? How are you? Are you okay? Did you come alone?”

“Ask one question at a time, brother.”

Roa calmed her brother amid the bombardment of questions. She fell into Roan’s arms as he rejoiced.

Roan instinctively hugged Roa back. The warm body temperature was no lie.

“I came with Mother.”

“Where did Mother go?”

“She’s in Father’s office.”

Roa, who had caused quite a commotion in Mikel’s office immediately upon arriving at the imperial palace, showed the cookie pouches she had brought.

The sweet smell quickly filled the office. Roan was very familiar with the smell. He immediately recognized that they were cookies made by his mother.

“Did Mother make them?”

“No. I made them.”

“Really? Our Roa is so good at making cookies too?”

Roa bowed her head in embarrassment at Roan’s fuss. She didn’t dislike her brother who appreciated even small things.

“This is for you, brother! And……”

Emerging from Roan’s embrace, Roa distributed all the cookies and approached Yvaine, who was standing watching her, with the remaining pouch of cookies.

Yvaine swallowed as he watched Roa approaching him. With a nervous heart, he stood awkwardly.

Roan shook his head as he watched Yvaine lose his composure.

“Your Highness, thank you for saving me. My apology for the late gratitude.”

Roa, who had come right up to him, bowed deeply to express her gratitude. If it hadn’t been for the crown prince, she might not have been in this world.

Roan couldn’t bring himself to interrupt the two and quietly slipped out of the office. That didn’t mean he approved of their relationship, though.

Yvaine watched Roan leaving with blazing eyes and made a scared expression at the sharp warning, then patted Roa’s shoulder.

“Is it okay to come outside now?”

The warm touch on her shoulder resembled that time. Roa straightened her bent waist and met Yvaine’s eyes.

“I’d like to say I’m okay, but honestly, I’m not okay yet.”

Her hand, which had pretended to be fine, trembled again. She stretched both hands in front of Yvaine, saying look at this. Her beautiful healed hands trembled slightly.

“Just because of such an incident, my hands still can’t control themselves at the word ‘outing.’ Pathetic, isn’t it?”

Her calm voice made her even more pitiful. Yvaine unconsciously reached out and interlocked his fingers with Roa’s.

The trembling stopped in their joined hands. Partly because she was too surprised, but also because stability washed over her. It was ironic that his blunt face looked gentle.

“Not at all. It wasn’t just ‘such an incident’ for you.”

Even with that awkward comfort, Roa gladly accepted it. His sincerity was transmitted through their hands.

“It was something that should never have happened to you.”

According to the investigation, Noel had gone crazy at the news that the Slave Syndicate had been eradicated.

He had attacked any expensive-looking carriage, and that carriage happened to be the one Roa was riding in.

“You did nothing wrong.”

Roa, who had been feeling guilty, finally bowed her head. The words that she had done nothing wrong struck her heart deeply.