Naturally, it was Fedric who spoke first.

“I have no idea how happy I was when I received your letter. If Father hadn’t recognized the handwriting from your childhood scribbles he kept, I would’ve thought it was someone else’s scheme—ugh!”

The Grand Duke kicked Fedric in the leg.

It happened so fast that Annely briefly wondered if she had imagined it—but when she saw Fedric frowning as he rubbed his leg, she burst into laughter.

“You still kept those?”

“Your room is still exactly the same, too. We haven’t touched a thing. Father and I take turns cleaning it.”

The Grand Duke tried to kick him again, but having already suffered once, Fedric dodged quickly.

As Annely watched the scene with a smile, the Grand Duke cleared his throat awkwardly.

“It’s just… I didn’t want to entrust it to someone else’s hands.”

Annely had always known that they cared for her, but she had never imagined that they would clean the room she had used as a child themselves. For the first time, she felt the same quiet warmth from them that she had once felt from the late emperor and empress.

“If I ever get the chance, I’d love to see Father’s and Brother’s cleaning skills.”

Intending to keep the divorce hidden for as long as possible, Annely chose her words carefully and deliberately left them vague. It was a promise without a date, yet their expressions brightened all the same. Aware better than anyone of Annely’s current position in the capital, they said nothing further.

“The letter…”

Annely thought back to the letter she had sent.

In truth, it had not been particularly long or special — hardly something that should have inspired such happiness. Its contents were ordinary and stiff, written with excessive formality and lacking any hint of intimacy. She had known from their reply that they were pleased, but seeing them in person now made her realize just how much that simple letter had mattered to them.

“I’ll write more often from now on.”

The letters they sent her were ordinary, too, and arrived infrequently — once every three months, in accordance with an unspoken rule that Annely had never broken herself.

Thinking back to the long period during which Annely had not written at all, the Grand Duke and Fedric were filled with happiness. Having been separated from her since childhood, they rarely had the chance to see her in person. At times, they had eased their longing by looking at the portraits that Tedor had sent them. They had never resented the distance Annely kept between them.

Once the conversation began, it flowed without pause.

Fedric spoke almost non-stop while Annely and the Grand Duke mostly listened, offering only the occasional response.

After talking himself hoarse, Fedric finally stopped to catch his breath and take a sip of tea. Seizing the moment, Annely asked carefully.

“About your coming to the capital this time… did something happen in the North?”

In her previous life, Annely’s attention had been entirely focused on Carlos, so she knew little about the North or the imperial court. Nevertheless, she clearly remembered that the atmosphere in the North had become tense at that time, with the country on the brink of war.

This memory alone made her realize how dangerous the situation had been. She couldn’t help but ask.

The Grand Duke and Fedric hesitated briefly, surprised that Annely would take an interest in such matters. However, they had no intention of hiding anything from her.

“I came to report something to His Majesty. Strictly speaking… it’s before anything has actually happened.”

“Over the past few years, the amount of food the barbarians have plundered hasn’t been insignificant. It seems they’re preparing for war.”

Fedric softened the Grand Duke’s blunt explanation.

“Then… does that mean a war will break out soon?”

She had already suspected as much, so Annely wasn’t surprised—but her face still went pale.

“Not immediately. There’s a high chance it’ll happen within the next few years. But don’t worry too much. The Duke of Da Vinci won’t be sent to the battlefield.”

It was a lighthearted remark, meant to ease her concern.

Annely knew she was supposed to relax at those words, but the sudden mention of Carlos caught her off guard, and for a brief moment, she failed to control her expression.

Startled, Annely noticed the Grand Duke’s sharp gaze and hurriedly forced a smile.

“I’m worried about Father and Brother as well—not just Carl.”

At that, Fedric laughed loudly.

“By the way, are you getting along well with the Duke?”

He asked casually.

Having expected the question from the moment Carlos was mentioned, Annely answered without hesitation.

“Just the same as always.”

Although no one could ever know their true feelings, they had genuinely enjoyed a good relationship for the past three years. Aside from Berry, none of the people the Grand Duke had placed around them had been allowed to get close. Their harmony had not been an act — it had been genuine.

Even if that harmony now belonged to the distant past.

“Oh, right. Oliver has a fiancée now.”

Annely’s eyes widened. This was different from her previous life.

“Really?”

“Yes. He came up to the capital on Father’s behalf last time, and on his way back, he crossed paths with someone. He brought her to the North.”

“That’s wonderful.”

Though she smiled in happiness, Annely suddenly recalled the look Oliver had given her before they parted. She had known his feelings hadn’t been fleeting, so she hadn’t expected him to give up so easily—but unexpectedly, he had found a connection quickly.

“Then what about you, Brother?”

Annely asked, her eyes sparkling.

Fedric was already thirty, yet still unmarried—and that had been the case in her previous life as well. Up until Annely’s death, she had never heard that Fedric had taken a lover.

“Aren’t you planning on giving me a sister-in-law?”

At her blunt question, Fedric flushed and let out an awkward laugh.

“I’m too busy to worry about things like that.”

Among the nobility, marriages were typically arranged from a young age. Some got married in their teens, while most did so as soon as they came of age. Annely met Carlos when she was twenty-one and married him the following year. Yet Fedric, well past the usual age, had not even been engaged.

The Grand Duke never pressed him about it, but Annely thought it was a shame.

“I want to see my nephew as soon as possible, Brother.”

As she was no longer able to have children herself, her desire to have a niece or nephew became even stronger. Although she had meant her remark lightly, the atmosphere froze in an instant.

When Annely miscarried, neither the Grand Duke nor Fedric travelled to the capital. Annely knew they must have had their reasons, so she did not take it to heart. Perhaps out of consideration for her, they never once mentioned the miscarriage in their letters. Instead, carriage after carriage arrived, filled with items said to be good for her health.

More than two years had passed since the miscarriage, yet Annely still had not become pregnant again. Rumors had begun to quietly spread that she might be infertile.

There was no way they could not have heard them.

“Annely.”

The Grand Duke called her name in a low voice.

“There’s a story that’s been passed down in the north. It says that parents and children are connected by an invisible thread. The only difference is whether that thread is long or short. If it’s long, you will meet again in the next life. If it’s short, you meet in this one.”

As she repeated his words, Annely unconsciously placed a hand over her lower abdomen. She was bound to that child by a very long thread. Just as in her previous life, she hadn’t been able to meet the child in this one either.

But if the Grand Duke was right, then because they were connected by that thread, she would meet the child again someday — even if not in this life.

“That’s a lovely story.”

Annely smiled.

Seeing that her smile was genuine, the Grand Duke finally felt at ease. Although they were not especially close, he knew Annely to be gentle by nature and could not speak of her miscarriage lightly.

They had lived believing that pretending not to know was a form of comfort. However, the rumors that had recently reached them had left them feeling deeply displeased.

The Grand Duke resolved to put an end to them once and for all.

“Right, right. Then I suppose I should hurry and get married, if only to give you a niece or nephew.”

Fedric’s teasing words loosened the tension that had settled over them.

As their conversation resumed, Ronan arrived.

“His Majesty has sent me to inform you that the meal is ready.”

They rose at once and headed for the dining hall. It was only then that Annely realized just how long it had been since she last shared a meal at the Imperial Palace.

When they arrived, Tedor was already seated. Annely took the seat to his left, while the Grand Duke and Fedric sat to his right.

With a gentle smile, Tedor asked.

“Uncle, did you have a good conversation?”

“Thanks to Your Majesty arranging the meeting.”

“Thank you.”

Upon hearing Annely’s words, Tedor’s smile broadened.

She was sincerely grateful. Although it wasn’t proper courtly etiquette, if they had met for the first time at tomorrow’s banquet, they would never have been able to talk so freely.

Even during the meal, Fedric talked non-stop. When Oliver’s engagement was mentioned, Tedor paused briefly.

“Oh? I thought he had no intention of marrying, since he’d already named his successor and there’d been no news for so long. I suppose I was mistaken.”

Two years older than Fedric, Tedor spoke to him casually.

Fedric went on to vividly recount for everyone how Oliver had met his fiancée.