Evening approached without having found any significant clue. It had already been awkward being in the room with Eden, but sitting together in the dining room made it even more so.

It was Kayla, as expected, who broke the awkward silence first. Her uniquely gentle voice was always pleasant to hear.

“Duke, when would you prefer the wedding date to be?”

It was a question I had no prepared answer for, but Eden responded without any sign of flustering.

“I am always ready.”

“My, how thoroughly prepared you are!”

Whether that answer was quite satisfying, Kayla’s playful laughter spread through the room. Amid it, a cough that seemed to signal something was not quite to one’s liking was heard.

“Ahem… even so, she is our only daughter, so we cannot send her off right away.”

“The Count is right. I do not take this lightly either.”

“……”

“What I mean is that whenever my beloved fiancee is ready, any time is fine.”

As he said his last words, he looked at me and smiled pleasantly. At that smile, I could only return an awkward smile without saying anything.

“Ha ha…”

After his answer, Kayla hurriedly added words as though the answer she had been waiting for had finally come.

“As a matter of fact, we have already settled on a date for the ceremony.”

“Pardon?!”

At her sudden words, a startled exclamation escaped before I could hold it back.

“There is a gifted sor… no, a gifted fortune teller, and they say that marrying on the date they selected will lead to a happy life.”

“I told you not to believe in things like that…”

Before Brandt could finish speaking, Kayla stepped in front of him with her body.

“I am not the type to believe in such things, but then again, there is no harm in believing either.”

It did not seem like something that could be resolved by objecting, so I chose to accept it.

“When is it?”

“Exactly one hundred days from today, they said.”

“One hundred days?!”

Even having resigned myself to it, one hundred days from now is far too soon, is it not?

I looked at Brandt with eyes that begged him to object, but he seemed to have already given up and added nothing.

“Yes, I thought at least six months would be needed, but they insist it must be exactly one hundred days from now.”

“Mother…”

“That is all right, is it not, Duke?”

“It is a perfectly good date. Once we return to the ducal estate, I will start by announcing the wedding date.”

“As expected of the Duke.”

Only after the dinner that only Eden and Kayla seemed to enjoy came to an end and I returned to my room was I able to say the words I had not been able to say to him.

“Eden, what were you thinking, confirming it like that?”

“Confirming what?”

“The wedding date. We are in a con…!”

My voice nearly rose, but considering that this was the Count’s estate, I barely managed to hold it back and continued in a quieter voice.

“We are in a contract marriage, so how can you just decide something like that on your own?”

“As you say, it is a contract marriage, so what is wrong with doing it sooner?”

“Eden…!”

Of course, the agreed-upon divorce was two years after the marriage, but since Siobhan and I were not yet in any kind of relationship, I wanted to put the wedding off a little longer.

“After the wedding, I need to focus on eradicating the anti-bloodline faction.”

Unlike my complaints, his answer came out quite seriously, and I could not say a word.

Right, serving the Emperor is Eden’s duty, so what does the wedding matter.

“All right. Let us do it one hundred days from now. But in exchange.”

“In exchange?”

“Divorce in two years.”

“……”

“You know that, yes?”

He gave no answer to my question and simply nodded slowly. It was only a nod, but it was enough of an answer for me.

Since Siobhan would be my dedicated knight until Dias returned, all I needed to do was get close to him quickly, even now.

Not long after I had entered my room, someone gave a brief knock at the door.

The one who appeared at my response was Brandt.

Whether to call it fortunate or not, since Eden and I had been apart and each attending to our own interests, there was no awkward situation to speak of.

“I have prepared a room for the Duke to sleep in.”

Brandt opened his mouth before Eden could say anything.

“After all, the ceremony has not yet been held. Ha ha.”

“……”

“Is that not so, Duke?”

Brandt, wearing a good-natured smile that made it impossible to refuse, pressed for a wordless answer.

“Thank you for the Count’s thoughtful consideration.”

The subtle tension passing between the two of them was somehow visible to the eye. No sooner had I sensed that tension than I stepped between them.

“Thank you, Father. I was just about to show him to another room myself.”

Since there was still the secret of the notebooks I had yet to uncover, it was more comfortable without Eden around.

Is it not better to call on him when I need him, rather than having him nearby and fretting over nothing?

“All right, have a good night. Duke, please have a restful night as well.”

Brandt, who had guided us to the rooms, looked back at me several times with a face full of lingering reluctance.

Afraid that if I stopped to talk with him, he would cry as he had before, I pretended not to notice and went into my room.

Since there was nothing more to discuss with Eden, I guided him to the room Brandt had shown us.

“Good night, Duke.”

The moment I said my farewell and turned to leave, Eden’s large, firm hand caught hold of me. The touch of that hand reaching me was careful.

“Eden?”

“……”

“Eden.”

After several calls that went unanswered, words came from his lips that I had not expected at all.

“If you happen to have a frightening dream, you may come.”

That answer was endearing enough that an unstoppable laugh escaped me.

“Pfft.”

His expression as he watched me laugh seemed to carry not only the question of “Why are you laughing?” but also a hint of displeasure.

“I will be fine. If Eden happens to have a frightening dream, you may come.”

“Really?”

“Really.”

“……”

“But you must tell me what the frightening dream was about.”

“Why?”

“Because you might have come over with a lie.”

“That story could be a lie too.”

His last answer was something I had not thought of, and an easy reply did not come.

“Hmm…”

“Yes?”

“I do not think you would do that.”

“Why would you…”

“Now, now, that is enough, please do go inside, Duke.”

Only after pushing him all the way into the room and shutting the door was I able to stop the conversation.

I am a very busy person who needs to stare at those notebooks until my eyes fall out starting right now!

I turned away with a rather satisfied expression, like a protagonist who had just completed a quest.

The coffee I received from a handmaiden on the way back to my room completed my preparations for an all-nighter.

The total number of notebooks Eden and I had found together was five. The one with the ancient script written in it was the last one we had found.

I did not know the order of the notebooks, nor which notebook or which page held what.

It felt as though I was experiencing firsthand what it meant to bang one’s head against a wall.

I sat down once more at the desk where I had spent day and night sitting before moving my residence to the ducal estate, trying to find a way back.

“Hoo…”

Even though it was a chair I had sat in so often and for so long, it felt unfamiliar.

Perhaps it was because of the small hope that had formed since then, but an inexplicable tension wrapped around me.

Not long after sitting down, the small clock on the desk chimed to announce midnight.

Contrary to the resolve I had firmly made, my hands did not move easily.

It was because, even if there truly were a clue that could get me back, I was worried about what to say to Eden.

The thought of going back without saying anything to him did not sit well with me, and it also seemed like it would be too much to manage on my own.

Yet if I were to tell him, I had no sense of how much to say.

Unable to arrive at an answer, my slowly moving hand came to rest on top of the first notebook I had found.

Only after swallowing several dry gulps did I open the notebook.

The first notebook I opened was entirely blank. The next one I opened was the same.

Nothing was written, to the point where the worrying I had done beforehand seemed entirely unnecessary.

I went through all five notebooks thoroughly, but not even a trace of writing was visible.

Hoping there might be indentations left from pressing down while writing, I held them up to the light of the lamp and then the fireplace, but as expected, nothing appeared.

“What is this!”

Unable to hold back my frustration at the situation not going as I wished, the anger spilled out of my mouth.

I felt like throwing a pillow and screaming, but the late hour and the fact that this was the Count’s estate kept my reason intact.

Without noticing, nearly two hours had passed since I had begun looking at the notebooks at midnight. The coffee I had been given was long since empty, and I was debating whether to ask for a new cup, but I could not bring myself to wake anyone at this late hour.

On top of that, if I woke someone at this hour, it would surely reach my parents’ ears by morning.

Whether the effects of the coffee had run their course, my eyes were beginning to droop closed.

Knock.

A faint knocking sound reached my ears.

I had been half asleep, but the knock was unmistakable.

At this hour, who, and why?

Wondering if it might be a stranger, I minimized every movement as I made my way to the door.

Just as I was debating whether to open it and reached for the door handle, another knock came.

Unlike the one I had heard a moment ago, this one was louder and clearer.

Knock, knock.