Since he hadn’t been knighted yet, he was just Rupert.

“That’s right. You haven’t been knighted yet.”

“……”

Suddenly, Sage looked at Rupert with a serious expression.

“This won’t do. You’re too flawed to be assigned to Saya.”

“Why now?!”

“If people find out that Saya’s guard isn’t even a knight, what do you think they’ll say?”

“I don’t mind…”

Saena tried to say it didn’t matter to her, but Sage didn’t give her a chance to speak and muttered while looking at Rupert.

“Even if his skills are lacking, maybe it’s better to assign two more serious guards…”

“–Alright! Fine, I’ll get knighted!”

Saena was about to protest that having two guards would be uncomfortable for her, but Rupert shouted instead.

Though he looked full of complaints, he essentially declared that he would get knighted. The timing of his knighthood was much earlier than in her previous life, and Saena was surprised.

“Alright, then we can just barely add you to the list for the knighting ceremony during this Founding Festival.”

The number of knights a family could retain depended on their noble rank. Within that limit, they could appoint knights at their discretion, but it still required the Emperor’s approval.

A knight’s skill represented the family’s reputation. Naturally, if someone lacked the ability, they wouldn’t be appointed as a knight.

Although submitting the list and receiving approval was more of a formality, without the Emperor’s consent, the knighthood wouldn’t be official. Unless there was a war, the knighting ceremony was held only once a year.

The Founding Festival. If they missed this opportunity, they would have to wait until next year.

“Until you’re knighted, you’ll be a ‘temporary guard.’”

“…Oh, come on. Cut me some slack.”

The fact that Rupert’s reason for finally accepting knighthood was to become Saena’s guard didn’t sit well with Sage, who seized the opportunity to nitpick Rupert even more.

Watching their antics, Saena found herself smiling, forgetting everything else for a moment.

* * *

Elizabeth’s sense of initiative was remarkable.

Perhaps she had made the reservation on her way back, as a letter arrived the very next day.

[Saena,
Since you don’t seem to be in good health, I arranged for the boutique to come to you so you wouldn’t have to go out.
Fortunately, the Madame agreed to the request.
I’ve already discussed the designs, so you just need to spare some time for measurements.
– Beth.]

In her previous life, Saena had known little about dresses or accessories, so Elizabeth handled everything for her.

Even now, while Saena had a better understanding of what suited her, she still wasn’t particularly interested in adornments. So she simply let Elizabeth handle it and focused on other matters.

For the past few days, Saena had been searching for traces of Yuri. She combed through her memories and explored every corner of the estate.

In the garden, there was an old zelkova tree that cast the largest shadow near the mansion. On its trunk were lines marked at regular intervals, along with small dates and initials.

It was where Saena and Yuri had measured their heights as children, competing to see who was taller.

…Only one set of marks remained.

Panicking, Saena hurriedly got up and ran to another part of the garden.

In the eastern garden, where trees rather than flowers were the main feature, there was a tradition in the Debov family of planting a tree for each child born, wishing for their health.

There was Sage’s tree, next to it was Yuri’s tree, and next to that was Saena’s tree.

At least, that’s how it should have been.

But Yuri’s tree was gone.

Between Sage’s and Saena’s trees was an empty space, just large enough for another tree to have been planted.

‘Please…’

Desperately, Saena thought of a few more places.

The knot in the tree in the back forest where they used to hide, the attic where their childhood toys were stored.

But the carvings they had made in the knot were also only hers, and the toys were the same.

She rummaged through the mountain of toy boxes, but not a single one belonged to Yuri. Covered in dust, Saena returned to her bed, filled with a sense of loss.

Perhaps because of her obsessive thoughts, Saena dreamed of her childhood.

『Saya, my tree is taller than yours.』
『No, it’s not! It’s just that one branch is sticking out a little more!』

On a sunny day, when they were about seven or eight years old, young Yuri and Saena were bickering in the eastern garden, measuring the heights of their two trees.

The trees had been planted side by side the year they were born.

Being the same age, the trees were roughly the same height.

『What are you talking about? Obviously, my tree’s branches are longer and straighter!』
『So what if the branches are long and straight? My tree is fuller, and its leaves are much prettier!』
『Leaves are all the same. What’s so pretty about yours?』
『Look at the color. Mine’s light green, and yours is a dull dark green with spots all over!』
『Ah, that’s because—because mine’s in the middle and doesn’t get as much sunlight!』
『Still, that’s how it is, isn’t it?』
『Ugh, fine! I’ll ask Dad to move my tree! Dad—!』

Saena had laughed out loud.

She felt victorious over Yuri. She remembered sticking her tongue out and teasing him.

Of course, it hadn’t ended there.

Afterward, Yuri secretly went to the garden, even bringing a ladder, and plucked all the pretty leaves from Saena’s tree, grinning mischievously.

When Saena saw the tree, which had yet to fully mature but had been growing straight and proud, with its leaves grotesquely ripped off, she screamed and charged at Yuri.

『Yuri Debov! Do you want to die?! If you touch my tree one more time, I’ll have your tree dug up!』
『Bleh!』

Yuri stuck out his tongue, mimicking what she had done before, and ran away. That was the last scene Saena saw before waking up.

‘Ah…’

She thought she had finally pulled herself together…

But the dream about Yuri instantly bound Saena again to her past memories.

Was it because they were twins? The persistent sense of emptiness that wouldn’t fade easily came back to shake her whenever it pleased.

“I shouldn’t have said I’d dig it up…”

The absence of the other half who had been with her since birth brought a greater void and sorrow than she had anticipated.

If she had to describe it, it felt as though half the weight of her soul had been taken away.

‘When Yuri heard the news of my death in my previous life, did he feel the same way?’

Sitting up in bed, Saena suddenly wondered about that.

It seemed likely.

A deep, hollow sensation, as though one side of her heart had been ripped away, spread within her. She pressed her tear-filled eyes with her hands as she slid off the bed.

The tree she had seen in her dream was so vivid, as if she had seen it in person.

Sage’s tree, Yuri’s tree, her own tree.

The three trees that had once stood side by side no longer existed, yet the image she had just seen in her dream was as clear as reality.

For some reason, she felt an urgent need to see it for herself.

Carefully opening the door to avoid making any noise, Saena stepped out of her room. She descended the stairs and exited the building, walking swiftly toward the eastern garden. Her steps slowed as she approached her destination.

She walked through the forest of trees, each belonging to a member of the Debov family, planted as part of the family tradition to wish for the health of each child born into the household.

Even though she walked as slowly as possible, she eventually arrived. Her tree came into view immediately. Saena’s tree, now fully grown, bloomed flowers in spring and bore fruit in autumn.

But Yuri’s tree, which was said to have been planted thirty minutes before hers…

It neither bloomed nor bore fruit—its very existence was gone. All that remained was an awkward empty space between Sage’s tree and Saena’s tree.

‘Yuri…’

Even though the dream had felt so real, it was just a dream.

The empty space between the trees stung anew.

The tears that welled up blurred her vision, and Saena stopped walking for a moment.

Why had she come here again, as if to confirm something?

Even now, all she could see was the cruel absence that greeted her.

Was it a particularly bright night under the moonlight?

Something shimmered in front of her, as if the moonlight was reflecting off the tears clinging to her eyelashes.

Saena wiped her eyes with her palm and looked up at the sky.

The moonlight she saw above was nothing special. It wasn’t even particularly bright. The moon was half-covered by clouds and wasn’t even a full moon.

Letting out a small sigh, she lowered her gaze again to the empty spot where Yuri’s tree should have been.

“……?!”

And then she froze in surprise.

There was… something, something there. Even in the faint moonlight, it was visible. Something was there.

With trembling eyes, Saena approached and knelt down in front of it.

Her shaking hands brushed against the cold soil. Her palm, damp from the dew that had settled overnight, stopped at one spot.

In the very place where Yuri’s tree should have been, there was something small and faintly green.

“…It sprouted.”

Indeed, there was a tiny leaf sprouting there.

The sprout was small, but it didn’t seem to be grass or weed.

A sprout, even though it wasn’t spring. The sight felt oddly auspicious, and the fact that it had appeared in this exact spot naturally made her feel a sense of affection for it.

‘If this sprout grows, what will it become? Could it… become a tree?’

Saena didn’t have the ability to tell what kind of plant it was just by looking at the sprout.

But somehow, this tiny sprout brought her a sense of comfort.

It felt as though someone was telling her that Yuri hadn’t completely, entirely disappeared… That he wasn’t entirely gone.

And because of that, she couldn’t help but feel reassured.