Elena raised her hand to touch the pin. The light bead felt smooth and silky to her fingertips. The pin, with tiny diamonds forming a pattern, showed signs of having been well-maintained despite withstanding the passage of time.

“What meaning does it have?”

“It means I wouldn’t mind giving you everything I have.”

At Lady Schmie’s words that she wanted to give all of herself right away, Elena covered her face with both hands. The constant application of sweet candy to her ears was hard to bear.

“Mother.”

“Stop interrupting.”

Lady Schmie patted Elena’s hand. Then she told Rudfelix not to interfere.

“It’s good that you adore Elena, but do it in moderation.”

Isn’t it a good thing since she’s the woman he loves? Elena looked at Rudfelix while cooling her reddened cheek with one hand. His discomfort was evident in his furrowed brows.

“I come first.”

“My goodness?”

“I will be Elena’s first in everything.”

That’s why he said to do it in moderation.

Elena reached out to Rudfelix to stop him. Lady Schmie, who was in the middle, naturally extended her hand and held Elena’s. As a result, Rudfelix’s hand, which had been reaching toward Elena, lost direction in midair without grasping anything.

“Let’s see you try.”

Lady Schmie smiled and provoked Rudfelix.

“If you tell me not to adore Elena like this, it makes me want to do it more. Let’s see who can claim more of those firsts.”

“……I accept.”

Lady Schmie had issued a challenge, and Rudfelix had accepted it.

‘Is this really something to compete over?’

Elena could only open her mouth without saying anything. Then Kraicher, who had been a bystander, cleared his throat.

“The Grand Duke’s competitive spirit takes after my wife.”

He gestured toward Elena, saying she shouldn’t worry about it.

Elena lightly touched the back of Rudfelix’s hand. When Rudfelix turned to look at her feather-light touch, Elena subtly shook her head. Understanding her signal to stop, Rudfelix leaned back against the sofa.

When Elena turned her head, Kraicher examined her eyes closely. He had heard that her eyes were different colors, but now both were fresh, clear green eyes.

“Are you alright now?”

“Ah…… yes. Thank you for your concern.”

Elena opened her eyes wide and then bowed her head in greeting.

“If you’re comfortable with it, would you share what you know?”

Kraicher carefully asked about Elena’s eyes. He didn’t mind if there was some secret, but he wanted to hear about it.

“I don’t know the details either. Just……”

Elena looked at her father, who had been sitting quietly, occasionally wiping tears with his handkerchief. Now that the atmosphere had calmed, he seemed more relaxed, sitting quietly in his place.

‘It feels like I’m digging up father’s sadness, so I’m reluctant to speak.’

Her words trailed off because explaining about her eyes would require mentioning Count Jellisto’s painful past.

As Elena fidgeted with her mouth, Count Jellisto looked up. When their eyes met, the Count nodded as if giving permission to speak.

“When I was young, I was in a carriage accident. It was a severe accident where we rolled down a steep slope and the carriage was completely destroyed. I had no major injuries from the accident and regained consciousness quickly.”

In truth, that’s when she became Elena, but she decided not to mention that.

‘I thought my heterochromia was natural back then.’

For several days after the accident, her eyes remained in different colors, so she thought her eyes were naturally different. She was surprised again when she learned that wasn’t the case after adapting to Elena’s life.

“Father said someone protected me.”

The amount of tears soaking into her father’s handkerchief increased. Seeing her father, Elena unconsciously felt a sting in her nose and clutched her skirt.

“I think someone protected me this time too.”

Elena smiled brightly with an innocent expression. She decided to save for later the fact that she had previously been in and out of the imperial library trying to discover the secret of her eyes.

‘Since I can’t be certain yet, I’ll tell them later.’

There was a legendary clan called the Godkin. Humans who bore the fruit of the gods. They possessed special powers, and each descendant was born with different abilities.

She decided to wait until she was certain about her hypothesis that her mother was a descendant of the Godkin and that she had inherited those powers.

***

“Our signals were accurate, so it’s truly unfortunate that something went wrong somewhere.”

The mysterious man muttered without any tension despite standing before Suharto.

“The rolling rocks followed a pattern, and when we sent our people to check several times, that pattern held true. Why did it happen like that? It’s strange.”

The man cutely tilted his head before smoothly changing the subject.

“Even though Your Highness handled it competently, why did rocks fall on that spot?”

The man praised Suharto while insisting they had done nothing wrong.

“Hmph. You think you can avoid blame with those meager words?”

Suharto stood up from his seat as if such a thing were impossible.

“You dare walk in here on your own feet, thinking you can escape punishment if you’re not a noble of my country? If you wanted to gain my favor from the start, you should have handled the matter properly.”

“Your Highness, this incident is regrettable, but there will be plenty of opportunities.”

As Suharto’s impatient hand moved toward his sword, the man smiled and prepared to flee.

“The Grand Duke has a woman, doesn’t he?”

The voice of a woman entering with a black veil diffused the tense situation.

“How about using her?”

“Elena?”

Suharto frowned as if displeased. Although she had confronted him in the valley, he still liked Elena.

If possible, he wanted to take her rather than kill her. He wanted to feel the thrill of suppressing her defiant attitude.

Seeing Suharto’s changed expression, the woman changed her approach.

“That lady has completely captured the Grand Duke’s heart, hasn’t she?”

The woman’s red lips twisted.

“If you use her, you can take what Your Highness desires.”

“Even if the Grand Duke has given his heart now, how long has it been? How can we know when such momentary passion will cool?”

Suharto turned his head, seemingly disliking the plan. Meanwhile, the man slipped behind the woman and placed both hands on her right shoulder. He was relying on her, as she had calmed the Crown Prince’s excitement with just a few words.

“It’s not momentary.”

The woman tapped her lips with her fan as if recalling the past.

“The Grand Duke’s feelings didn’t develop in a brief moment. I’ve confirmed it personally, so you needn’t worry about that.”

“When? Ah, that time.”

The man clapped his hands.

“I once overheard a conversation between them before they became lovers. The Grand Duke made up an absurd excuse to take her to his home.”

The man explained to Suharto in detail when he had heard this. He supported the woman’s argument by mentioning how Rudfelix had lured Elena, who was trying to return home from an annual event, to his house instead.

“He urged her to bathe quickly. This suggests their intimate relationship has been going on for quite some time.”

The woman lightly waved her fan.

“Since I’ve confirmed it personally, I believe we can sufficiently shake the Grand Duke. Kidnapping that aide would bring great benefits.”

“Kidnap her to shake the Grand Duke?”

Suharto continued the thought on his own, as the woman didn’t need to explain in detail what impact it would have.

While his fingers tapped the table at regular intervals, the man’s expression changed constantly. He worried that the Crown Prince might reject their proposal and draw his sword again. He wanted to leave this place quickly.

‘This is why I said we shouldn’t reach out to the Crown Prince.’

He was neither a stupid human easy to manipulate, nor someone who would give a second chance if a plan failed.

“Just kidnap her.”

“I won’t kill her.”

When Suharto gave his permission, the woman’s lips twitched.

“I’ll contact Your Highness as soon as the task is complete.”

“Good.”

After Suharto left the secret room, the man placed his hand on his eyebrow and stretched his neck as if looking into the distance.

“He’s gone. He’s gone. Whew.”

The man placed his hand on his chest and exhaled an exaggerated sigh.

“But do you really have no intention of killing her?”

He had held back his words earlier, but now that they were alone, there was nothing to hide.

“You liked the Grand Duke.”

That’s why she had been looking for an opportunity to meet him at the annual event. After continuously missing chances, she had followed the Grand Duke when he left the ballroom alone, but…

She had only returned after overhearing sweet conversations with his aide.

“I’m going to kill her.”

“Of course you wouldn’t leave her alone.”

The man immediately nodded at the woman’s sincerity.

“Anyway, it’s good to shake both the Grand Duke and the Crown Prince…… Let’s create our own world.”

While the man smiled sinisterly, the woman planned the kidnapping with an indifferent face.