Genoa asked without taking his eyes off the passing view of the Ivanstein ducal residence through the carriage window,

“Bane, is the princess in her room now?”

“I’m told she’s in the south garden, my lord.”

At Bane’s answer, Genoa’s gaze, which had been looking out the window, turned sideways.

“South? The south garden shouldn’t be maintained right now.”

The Ivanstein ducal residence, boasting an unnecessarily large garden, wasn’t maintaining gardens other than the east and north sides by Genoa’s order. The reason was that it was bothersome to look after. Except for the west garden, which was strictly controlled for entry, it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that the south garden was completely abandoned.

“I heard she often went there while you were away, Duke. Apparently, she dismissed everyone around except for one maid attending to her.”

Bane still couldn’t shake off his suspicions about the princess. He had received reports earlier that the princess had visited the south garden, but he didn’t immediately report it to Genoa to monitor her movements.

Of course, it was partly because Genoa hadn’t asked about the princess’s movements, but he was waiting until the princess did something suspicious. Bane had a belief that the princess would do something within the mansion, taking advantage of the time when Genoa was tied up at the imperial palace to finalize the emperor’s funeral procedures.

“Should I go take a look?”

Genoa’s eyes lowered as he rested his chin on his arm propped on the carriage window. Seeing this, Bane nodded obediently and asked.

“Will you go alone?”

“Yes.”

“……Understood.”

Bane didn’t say things like it’s dangerous or that he shouldn’t go alone. He had read the look in his lord’s eyes, which seemed to regard him as pathetic every time he brought up such words.

‘Even if the princess seems harmless, there’s no royal who would harbor goodwill towards a duke of an enemy country that ruined their own country. If we wait, the princess will reveal her true intentions.’

Bane decided to be more open-minded and cultivate patience.

“I’ll inform the butler and head maid not to disturb you.”

“Alright.”

He went out of the carriage and instructed his subordinate to turn the carriage towards the south garden, as his lord had decided to go there alone. While the carriage headed towards the south garden, the personnel accompanying Genoa headed to the mansion, their original destination.

In the distance, the butler and head maid who had come out to greet them could be seen looking flustered as they saw only Genoa’s carriage heading elsewhere. After confirming that Bane was approaching them, Genoa took his eyes off the window.

“The south garden, huh.”

The south garden required a bit more travel by carriage from the main gate of the Ivanstein ducal residence. It was also the garden that was first excluded from management targets because it was the farthest from the mansion. The tower where the mad duchess of the first Ivanstein was confined long ago was right there.

“……”

Recalling that time, Genoa fell into an uncharacteristic reverie. He had seen Mel entering this mansion for the first time from that tower. It could be said that it was where their one-sided first meeting took place.

Knowing that the Princess of Reibritton, who looked exactly like Mel, was in that south garden, Genoa felt his mood both sink and lift in a strange way. With this feeling he had never experienced before, Genoa rose from the slowly stopping carriage.

“Wait here.”

“Yes, my lord.”

After dismissing the coachman and the guard knight who had been driving the carriage, Genoa slowly headed towards the entrance of the south garden. Although he had instructed them not to maintain it, it seemed that basic maintenance was still being done, as the garden’s condition wasn’t too bad to look at.

The fact that it was vastly different from the past when the previous Duke of Ivanstein, who liked flashy things, had turned the south garden into a rare flower bed, made Genoa quite satisfied.

“…you have to do it like this!”

“It’s too difficult……”

How much further had he walked in? The princess’s voice began to be heard beyond the quiet garden. Without realizing it, the corners of Genoa’s mouth curved into a slightly pleasant arc. His footsteps entering the garden gained a bit more speed. As he did so, the voices of the princess and the maid attending to her became clearer.

“Like this?”

“More forcefully!”

“More? I might get hurt at this rate.”

“Abandon such hesitation. You need to steel your heart.”

A conversation was going on that was utterly incomprehensible. It certainly seemed that, as Bane had said, the princess was doing something suspicious in the south garden.

Genoa approached the princess, suppressing his presence. Then he saw the princess and the maid crouching down with their backs turned to him, swinging their arms. What they held in their hands were small shovels.

Shovels? Genoa paused for a moment.

“……”

Though it wasn’t intentional, when his thoughts stopped, so did his steps.

A princess and a shovel. A princess, her maid, and shovels.

It’s a combination of words that would never match even if you put them together. But that’s what was now before Genoa’s eyes. He stood still for a moment, just blinking, before calling out to the princess.

“What are you doing right now?”

“……!”

“……!”

The princess and the maid jumped in surprise like startled rabbits. The front view of the princess as she turned around was a sight Genoa could never have imagined.

Her fine hair, which had been tied up or let down, was now completely disheveled, and inside her dress skirt, she wore pants that servants would wear, with the skirt hem tied up in a knot. Moreover, she held the shovel he had seen earlier in her hand, and soil that hadn’t been fully shaken off fell to the ground with a thud.

“D-Duke Ivanstein, this is……”

“Did you perhaps kill someone?”

“……?”

At Genoa’s question, which he asked with furrowed brows, the princess’s eyes widened and her mouth opened slightly. Seeing the princess unable to answer and just moving her lips, Genoa spoke with a voice filled with subtle certainty.

“I’m asking if you were burying a corpse just now.”

“A corpse?!”

Seeing the princess startled, shaking both her hands and head simultaneously, Genoa put his hand to his forehead.

“If you had just told me first, I would have handled it cleanly for you. Why did you do it yourself……”

“No, no! What are you talking about!”

Mel, feeling wronged, denied it vehemently. She couldn’t understand why Genoa’s thoughts jumped in that direction. Moreover, what did he mean by handling it cleanly? If he thought Mel had killed someone in the first place, he should report it to the imperial guard and have her punished, not talk about handling it.

Mel rubbed her arms, which had goosebumps, feeling as if she had unintentionally learned the extent of what she was allowed to do in Genoa’s mind.

“Then what were you doing here?”

Mel hesitated at that question and answered in a voice as small as an ant’s.

“……farming.”

“What did you say?”

“Farming!”

Far… ming.

Genoa, with his furrowed brow, silently stared at Mel for a long time. During this time, Mel swallowed repeatedly, feeling her mouth go dry.

How much time had passed like that? Genoa, who had been standing still like a statue, suddenly strode towards Mel and pushed her aside. Then, small sprouts on the garden floor became visible.

“This is farming?”

“Yes…… it’s farming.”

Mel, feeling embarrassed, fidgeted with her fingers and then quietly lowered the hem of her skirt that she had tied up.

“You’re saying the princess was farming in the garden of the Ivanstein ducal residence.”

“……I’m sorry for not asking for permission.”

At Mel’s words, Genoa stared at her face for a moment. When Mel slightly averted her gaze, Genoa turned his eyes back to the small vegetable patch made in the garden.

“The sprouts have grown.”

“Lin said the soil seems good, so they’re growing well……”

Lin, who had been standing pale and rigid without breathing, jumped in surprise when her name was mentioned.

“Your Highness!”

“Ah.”

Mel covered her mouth with her hand, realizing her mistake. She didn’t even notice the black mark the soil on her hand left on her face.

“Oh my, I’ll bring something to wipe it off!”

Lin used the good excuse of soil on Mel’s face to quickly run out of the garden. Mel’s fingers twitched and trembled in the air as she tried to stop Lin.

“Haa.”

A deep sigh escaped between Genoa’s lips. Mel’s shoulders shook even before she could confirm the soil on her face.