Though everyone kept it hushed, by then Everitt also knew about the scandal between his mother and uncle, and the dirty rumors surrounding it. But he didn’t believe it at all. The reason was simple: anyone who had seen even once the way his mother and father looked at each other would have known those rumors were false.

Eloise held her son’s hand and began to speak.

“When I was young, the previous Emperor came to my mother, claiming to be my father. From that day, we lived in the imperial palace. You know this much already, right?”

“Yes, Mother.”

“The palace didn’t suit me. I was practically imprisoned there. Every night, I would look at the moon and pray. Please send someone to save me, please let me leave this place.”

Her hand, reduced to just bone and skin from long illness, trembled faintly. Everitt gently clasped it in his own.

“That wish came true. Of course, my savior was your father. Liam was the only love of my life. I can assert that before meeting him, I wasn’t myself. Our time together wasn’t very long, but I don’t regret it at all. The time I loved him was the brightest period of my life. Because I loved him, I could also love you with all my heart.”

Eloise’s eyes still sparkled like a young girl’s when she spoke Liam’s name. She whispered affectionately to her only surviving son.

“So, my son, I hope the same fortune finds you. May you recognize your lifelong love at first sight. May you also experience the fullness and joy of love throughout your life. And I pray to all the gods I know that this time lasts long for you.”

“Mother…”

Everitt realized these were essentially her last words. His throat tightened, and he couldn’t say anything. He could only hold Eloise’s hand firmly yet gently.

“Remember. If you wish for it desperately, your voice will reach the gods, and your destiny will appear before you. Just as it did for me.”

Everitt became Grand Duke just before Eloise passed into eternal rest. He devoted himself entirely to overseeing and reorganizing the country. To those around him urging him to take a Grand Duchess and produce an heir, he would only reply, with what might have been jest or sincerity, that he would someday meet his match as if by destiny.

He had no fiancée arranged through political means. It was probably Eloise’s will. She wanted her son to be with someone he truly loved, not someone his parents arranged for him.

In the year Everitt turned twenty-four, a message came from the Empire. Natalie, who had just come of age, was calling for potential husband candidates, and the Emperor asked—or rather ordered—him to please come help his youngest daughter choose a proper man.

The last time Everitt had met Natalie was during winter when he was fourteen. Even then, she was still a young girl. Ten years had passed since then. They had occasionally exchanged letters during that time. In none of those letters had Natalie mentioned engagement or marriage.

‘A party all summer long to choose a fiancé… That doesn’t sound like Natalie.’

Though puzzled, Everitt wrote back to the Emperor accepting the invitation and prepared to go to the summer palace. She was like a little sister to him, and he couldn’t ignore relations with the Empire.

When he arrived at the summer palace and met Natalie after so long, she had grown into a beautiful woman. Seeing Everitt, she fluttered her fan and grinned.

“It’s unusual for Everitt to attend a ball.”

“I came because you called, Natalie. If it were any other woman, I wouldn’t have bothered.”

“You’re saying things you don’t mean. I know everything; you came for political reasons, didn’t you?”

It seemed Natalie already knew he had come at the Emperor’s command.

After exchanging a few words, the awkwardness quickly disappeared. In the upturned corners of the noble princess’s eyes, traces of her bold childhood still remained.

She snapped her fan shut and, pointing it around the ballroom, said:

“Every unmarried man here is a candidate to be my fiancé.”

“Really? I…”

I just came to monitor whether you’re choosing a proper man, at your father’s request. Everitt stopped mid-sentence as he realized. The Emperor had summoned him because he was also considering the position of Windswell’s Grand Duchess for his youngest daughter’s future. It was such a simple ploy that he felt foolish for not noticing earlier.

“Ah, I see. I’ve been had.”

As Everitt gave a hollow laugh, Natalie smiled, gently creasing the corners of her eyes.

“Why not? It’s not impossible.”

“Save that expression for those other men scattered around. No man could resist it.”

Everitt lightly flicked the tip of Natalie’s nose with his finger.

“Ouch. Do you still think I’m a five-year-old child?”

Natalie glared at him while rubbing her nose.

Everitt raised the corner of his mouth as if nothing was wrong. But something felt off. She wasn’t like this before. She had never seen him as more than a cousin.

At first, he only thought she seemed a bit different, not necessarily strange. After all, though they had exchanged letters, it had been nearly ten years since they’d met in person, more than enough time for a person to change.

Indeed, after spending a few days together, Natalie was still Natalie. She still had that tomboy-like quality from before, and she still boldly pursued what she wanted. Her keen intelligence in reading and judging people’s true intentions while pretending not to was also the same.

But occasionally, there were moments when she seemed uninterested in anything around her, or somehow tired and weary. When asked if she was tired, she would brighten her expression as if nothing had happened.

‘She must have wanted to hold parties all summer. Is she already bored? Is there no man she likes?’

These glimpses of her behavior made Everitt slightly uneasy. She had just turned twenty. It should be a time when she could simply enjoy everything happily, especially at an event meant to find a husband.

He cautiously spoke with her chief lady-in-waiting as well, but it seemed Everitt was the only one who had noticed these things.

So he began to observe Natalie more closely. He was worried about his cousin, and if she chose a strange man as her husband while feeling anxious, he wouldn’t be able to face the Emperor.

As he watched, another side of Natalie began to emerge. It was a side that appeared mainly when dealing with certain men—unlike her usual self, she would seem somewhat naive, trusting others without suspicion, or showing an excessively innocent aspect. At times, she also displayed an impulsive side, acting first and thinking later.

‘…This is concerning.’

Everitt rubbed his brow as he observed her. It felt like something serious might happen if he didn’t keep watching her closely.

The Empire was generally peaceful except for the border regions, and even the weather was good in the south. Having grown up as the beloved youngest princess in the imperial palace at the center of such a place, perhaps it was natural that she developed this innocent side.

‘Or maybe…’

Though he didn’t want to think this far, he also suspected it might be an act. Natalie only showed this side of herself in front of a very select few men. The prince from the neighboring country, the Empire’s finest knight, and even a wandering minstrel. While the third had nothing going for him except his voice, weren’t the first two quite decent husband candidates?

…But why would Natalie do such a thing? She was someone who didn’t need to put on an act or be cute except in front of the Emperor.

However, the day came when Everitt changed his mind. It was a few days later, during a ball that continued until late at night.

After dancing for hours, Natalie grumbled softly.

“…My feet hurt.”

“Why don’t you sit here?”

When Everitt offered her a chair, she promptly sat down and gulped a glass of champagne with bubbles fizzing up.

“Be careful. If you drink that quickly when you’re tired, you’ll get drunk.”

“Everitt?”

Natalie tilted her head as she looked at Everitt lecturing her. Her eyes quickly filled with a smiling expression.

“My feet really hurt too much. I don’t think I can even walk now, let alone dance. I’d like to rest now, would you mind taking me to my room?”

Such an obvious seduction.