King Peter carefully embraced Eve and led her to his carriage.

Canon Hampshire, who had been punched in the face by the king, was bound and thrown into the carriage’s luggage compartment.

There was no need to gag him as he was already unconscious.

With the coachman’s whip, the four horses began to move vigorously.

She sat next to the king, surrendering her body to the swaying carriage.

Through the window, she could see the clear autumn sky, and cosmos flowers along the road
danced in the wind.

The king, who was looking out the window with Eve, asked carefully.

“Are you alright?”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

“We’ll be there in a few hours. Just bear with it a little longer.”

“Thank you.”

The conversation naturally came to a pause.

Father and daughter had to feel a pleasant awkwardness due to the 20 years they had spent apart.

But even that was welcome and joyful.

Peter, who had been staring straight ahead, narrowed his eyes and spoke.

With an unnecessary clearing of his throat.

“Hmm. Queen Isabella will find out soon enough. Clara will scold me.”

“Pardon?”

Although Aria and Hessen were friendly nations and free travel was permitted once identity was confirmed, King Peter’s status meant that the border guards would certainly know he had crossed the border, and a report would soon reach higher authorities.

King Peter turned his head to the side and looked down at Eve.

“Of course, I plan to make up an excuse that I came secretly to buy a gift for Clara.”

“…Thank you. Because of me.”

King Peter shook his head.

“Isn’t it natural? My second daughter, whom I thought was dead, is right here.”

The emerald eyes gazing at Eve were filled with love.

“Your Majesty.”

“Monica named you well. I couldn’t even give you a name before sending you away… May I also call you ‘Eve’?”

“Yes. Of course.”

“Then, someday, could you call me father?”

Eve blushed and gently nodded.

“Thank you, Eve.”

He met her violet eyes once more with a gentle gaze, then looked forward again.

Though no words were exchanged, an indescribable serenity settled in the carriage, centered around the father and daughter.

Just sitting beside the king and knowing they were blood relations was enough to make Eve’s heart swell.

With her pounding heart, she glanced sideways at the rock-like presence sitting next to her.

‘This person is really my father…’

It’s unbelievable.

Like a dream.

King Peter Gion, no, her father, had hair like hers and a gentle impression.

He was as tall as Victor, muscular, and of enormous build.

His fists were two or three times the size of Eve’s.

A hunter father, even bigger than Bruce. Yet he wasn’t frightening at all.

Those were the fists that had knocked down the lecherous lord, Canon Hampshire.

‘I wonder what it feels like to touch them?’

Looking at the hammer-like fists resting on his thick, strong knees, Eve fidgeted with her own hands.

Though she was twenty-three, she felt a bit embarrassed by her childlike thoughts, but she couldn’t help the warm feeling rising inside her.

‘The person who used to hit me wasn’t my real father.’

Strangely, the memories of being beaten and abused lost their power. The scars remained, but they no longer hurt or troubled her.

“Would you like to touch it?”

King Peter, sensing Eve’s gaze, turned to her and asked. Eve nodded obediently.

Carefully, she placed her hand on top of his rock-like fist.

It was warm and firm.

“Don’t worry. Father will protect you with these hands.”

“Yes. Thank you.”

King Peter changed his hand position to firmly hold his daughter’s hand.

Feeling shy, she lowered her eyes and looked down at the toe of her shoe for no reason.

Suddenly, something occurred to her, and she asked him.

“How did you know I was your daughter? Did you meet my mother, I mean Monica?”

“Well, partly that, and also your shoulder.”

“My shoulder?”

Her eyes naturally went to her own shoulder.

She had habitually covered the scar on her shoulder with makeup.

“Do you remember when you fell into the water during our boat trip? Clara saw it then. The butterfly-shaped scar.”

“Ah.”

When she was pulled from the water, she thought she had vaguely heard her godmother’s voice.

“From birth, you had a mark on your shoulder, and your sister Melissa had one on her waist…”

He hesitated briefly as he began the story.

“But are you sure you want to hear more? It might be a difficult story.”

“It’s fine.”

Hearing Eve’s answer, he resumed his story. His brow furrowed as if painful memories came to mind.

“The problem was that you and your sister were twins. My father, the previous king, knew you were twins and wanted to have you removed, but we wanted to raise both of you well.”

“Yes. I heard from Joan.”

“Right. When he saw that you had the same mark as Melissa on your shoulder, he…”

He closed his eyes tightly.

She didn’t need to hear the rest to understand.

A butterfly-shaped candle snuffer, rarely used nowadays, had been used as a branding iron.

The butterfly scar over the mark was formed that way, and Monica Olivier fled with the baby to escape the previous king who wanted to kill the child, falling from a cliff into a river.

Eve already knew this part of the story from Joan.

“In truth, after Monica fled with you, I searched everywhere for you, avoiding my father’s eyes. But I couldn’t find you. Since you fell from the cliff, I thought you were dead.”

“…I see.”

“According to Monica, she hit her head on a rock when she fell from the cliff and lost her memory for about three months. When she regained consciousness, she found herself living forcibly with a hunter in the mountains, as I heard from Monica.”

“My mother.”

“Yes.”

Mother had told her she was just an unknown actress…

She raised me while hiding that she was a royal handmaiden.

There was a reason she hid the scar and warned me to be careful around nobles.

“How can I ever repay that debt? Though material compensation isn’t enough, we offered Monica half the kingdom. Do you know what she said?”

Eve lowered her eyebrows and shook her head.

“‘If you give it to me, I will give it all to Eve.'”

“What?”

“That’s the kind of person Monica Olivier was.”

One side of her heart trembled.

She had indeed received immense love from her mom, Monica.

‘Thank you, Mom.’

Perhaps it was because she felt at ease.

Following the vibration of the carriage, her tense body relaxed and became drowsy.

Her thin eyelids felt incredibly heavy.

She shouldn’t fall asleep…

“Now that he’s passed away, you don’t need to be afraid anymore…”

As she listened to the story, Eve’s head gently rested on the king’s shoulder.

King Peter looked to the side with surprised eyes, which grew wider before curving into half-moons.

“Oh my.”

The king gently held the cheek of his daughter, who was about to fall sideways, with his large hand.

The child was as delicate as a cosmos bud fluttering outside the carriage window in autumn.

As she rested her head on his shoulder while holding her breath, the soft touch and warmth of the child made his throat tighten.

‘I thought I could never live as a father anymore…’

To his daughter, who had already closed her eyes and was breathing softly in sleep, the father
sang a lullaby to hide his tears.

The Hessen royal lullaby that Monica had sung to Eve.

~Sleep well, sleep well, my beloved child. When you’re in mother’s arms, all the world’s sorrows and pains melt away.~

With the sound of the lullaby, the carriage wheels raced vigorously toward the Kingdom of Hessen.

* * *

‘Eve has left me. She deceived me and disappeared. From my side.’

“Kheuk… E-ve.”

The despair of loss was more enormous than expected.

His solar plexus was so constricted that he couldn’t breathe.

Returning to his room, he fell to his knees as he opened the door, clinging to the doorknob for support.

Choking sounds escaped from his mouth.

“Your Grace!”

“Hueuk.”

Fortunately, Edmond was at his door and prevented a mishap. He took out a paper bag from his bag and held it to Victor’s mouth.

“Hoo hoo.”

Victor’s complexion was like that of a dead person as he urgently placed his mouth on the bag’s opening to steady his breathing.

Once his breathing stabilized, he got up and sat haphazardly on the floor.

His disheveled black hair, wrinkled shirt, and limbs sprawled out in disarray.

‘I can’t believe His Grace would show such a disheveled appearance.’

What was more surprising was that even in this state, he remained sensual and beautiful.

Edmond barely managed to support him into the room and sat him on the bed.

Victor raised his half-closed eyes and asked Edmond.

“What is it?”

“Since you’re not feeling well, I’ll tell you later.”

“What could be worse than this? Tell me quickly.”

“…”

“It’s about Eve, isn’t it?”

“You might already know… Madam wanted to tell you herself on her birthday.”

“So what is it?”

“Madam was pregnant.”

“…Pregnant?”

“Yes. It seems she left without telling you.”

A shadow fell over Edmond’s blue eyes.

The golden eyes became clouded with despair, and the handsome man’s face contorted.

“Aaaaargh!”

Unable to bear watching his master’s agonized scream, the doctor quietly left the room.

Left alone, Victor collapsed onto the carpet and wailed.

‘What have I done to you…’

Hot tears flowed from the corners of his eyes down his cheeks.

Sobbing from the pain that felt like his chest was burning, he lost track of how many hours had passed.

“I must find her…”

Suddenly coming to his senses, he began searching the city streets like a madman. Not the roads frequented by nobles, but the streets mainly used by commoners.

People hurriedly bowed as they saw the obviously distinguished nobleman suddenly appearing
and running around.

“Eve!”

A few meters ahead, a platinum-blonde woman was walking with small steps. Despite her ordinary clothes, her shining platinum blonde hair immediately caught his eye.

He ran like an arrow cutting through the air and grabbed the woman’s shoulder to turn her around.

“Eve!!”

“W-what are you doing?”

When the woman screamed loudly in fear, a child holding her hand hid behind his mother with frightened eyes.

“Ah, I-I’m sorry.”

It wasn’t Eve.

Not the beautiful, mysterious violet eyes, but ordinary brown ones.

Not platinum blonde, but ordinary blonde hair. He had been mistaken.

The commoner woman gave a quick bow and hastily left the place with her child.

‘Eve, where on earth are you?’

He rubbed his face and shook his sweat-soaked black hair. Then he began running through the streets again like a madman.