“…Where is this?”

“You’ll find out soon.”

She remained unfriendly until the end. The lady-in-waiting left Saena standing there and disappeared, as if her job was done.

She sighed softly and stood waiting. Though she waited for a long time, no one appeared and only the wind blew. A thick floral scent brushed past her nose with the wind.

‘Rose scent?’

Roses again.

It seemed to be one of the imperial palace’s back gardens, but she wasn’t sure exactly where.

Just as she was starting to suspect someone had abandoned her in this deserted corner of the back garden to play a prank,

“Over there.”

Someone appeared.

“Follow me.”

It was a different woman from before. Was she another lady-in-waiting? Though she wasn’t wearing a maid’s uniform, the probability was high, but Saena couldn’t be certain.

Taking comfort in at least not being abandoned, Saena followed the woman.

Her legs ached from walking too much after so long, and her feet felt painfully constricted in high heels, but she endured it.

After walking a bit more, they came upon what appeared to be one of the many palaces within the imperial grounds, and a bit further, a gazebo that seemed to belong to the palace’s owner appeared behind the building.

The gazebo wasn’t empty.

Saena was more than puzzled — she was shocked.

‘Lady Barnes?’

In truth, Saena had internally predicted the anonymous person of power would be the Prince. Though she didn’t know why, it just felt that way.

But her prediction was wrong. She couldn’t tell if this was something to be happy about or not.

‘Did she really send for me?’

Elaine Barnes didn’t even look at Saena. She continued what she was doing, treating her like a ghost.

Still, she should greet her.

“I pay my respects to Hebeta.”

Though she bowed at the knee and waist, there was no response, so she couldn’t rise. Saena forcefully held herself up on trembling legs.

Snip. Snip.

From what she had just seen, Elaine Barnes was arranging flowers. The sound of branches being cut off nervously continued, but still no word to rise came.

Sweat beaded on her forehead and trickled down her face to gather at her chin.

She was trembling. Just as she bit her lower lip, unable to bear the strain on her shaking waist and legs any longer, she finally heard the word to rise.

“Welcome.”

Elaine Barnes spoke in a voice that wasn’t welcoming at all.

Though Hebeta wasn’t yet part of the imperial family and a simple bow would have sufficed, Saena acted cautiously, sensing it would be trouble if she upset her in her territory.

“I am honored.”

Saena tried her best not to show any emotion.

“It’s my hobby to arrange flowers using Royal Roses that only grow in the imperial palace. I decorate them carefully and send them to the Prince’s palace every day, and His Highness loves them very much.”

…Is she bragging about her privileges? Though she’s not sure at which point she should feel envious.

“Does the lady know how to arrange flowers?”

“I’m not good at it. I never learned.”

Though she had no intention to learn either, she answered that way to avoid unnecessarily antagonizing Elaine.

“You mean to say you haven’t learned flower arrangement, a basic accomplishment for noble ladies?”

“Yes. That’s how it turned out.”

“I suppose it was neglected since the Countess isn’t around.”

Though she implied Saena couldn’t learn because she had no mother, Saena felt angry but held it in.

“I’ll teach you a bit.”

“……”

“Please bring five roses of each color from over there.”

When she turned her head in the direction Elaine Barnes indicated, she saw several large vases with roses of various colors mixed together.

Swallowing a sigh, Saena went to the vases. Though she looked around for a while, she couldn’t find any suitable bucket or tool to carry the roses. There was also no one around to ask for something to carry them in. It seemed she had no choice but to carry them in her arms.

The front of her dress might get stained with sap, but what could she do.

Saena reached into the vase.

‘First the blue ones……’

Saena picked out only the blue roses. The rose stems were tangled and difficult to pull out.

“Ah, be careful not to tear the flower heads since the petals are delicate.”

Such detailed instructions.

She wondered why they had put so many roses in one vase to begin with. If these flowers were cut for arranging, wouldn’t it have been better to separate them from the start?

The flowers were packed so tightly there wasn’t much space between them. Saena had no choice but to work her fingers under the flower heads around the stems. When she could grip a stem with her fingers, she would pull it out.

She had gathered roses of two colors and was pulling out red ones.

The last one was in the back corner and hard to see. As she tried to work her fingers into the gap to reach it, she had to force it a bit.

“Ah!”

She thought all the thorns had been removed, but apparently not. Her fingertip was torn where she had been pricked, and blood began to bead up.

“My, my, my.”

Suddenly, a man’s voice came from behind.

The clicking of a tongue in apparent concern sounded strangely familiar.

‘Why is the Prince suddenly here?’

Saena’s back instantly stiffened.

“No, Elaine. What were you thinking, making a guest do such rough work?”

“Your Highness……”

“Lady Saena has been hurt.”

“……”

The Prince scolded Elaine Barnes while speaking Saena’s name. As if they were already on familiar terms where he could use her name.

“Blood is flowing from such delicate hands, tsk tsk.”

The Prince suddenly approached and grabbed Saena’s wrist to examine the wound. The roses she had been holding scattered to the ground as her arm was suddenly extended.

“Your Highness, the flowers……”

“The roses aren’t important. We must treat the wound first. Someone! Bring water here immediately!”

The attendants who had been nowhere to be seen earlier suddenly appeared in droves.

The attendant at the front held a large basin. It appeared to be made of marble or metal, with an odd texture to the eye.

Clear water rippled inside it.

Both the Prince’s gaze at the basin and his grip on Saena were unnervingly intense.

“Your Highness. Please release my hand.”

“We need to clean it before applying medicine, yes?”

As soon as one attendant placed a table and another set the basin on top, the Prince forcefully pulled Saena’s captured hand and plunged it into the water.

“Ugh.”

The wound seemed to hurt more from the strong grip squeezing her wrist. If anything, the tight grip seemed to make the bleeding worse rather than stopping it.

When Saena’s hand entered the clear water, drops of blood from her index finger spread in pink swirls. The white basin made the spreading color even more vivid.

“…Huh?”

But then, something strange happened.

Fwoosh–.

Light leaked from the basin and the water’s color changed.

Though it should naturally have turned red from the blood spreading, the water in the basin was blue. From certain angles, it almost looked purple.

While Saena stood frozen, not understanding what was happening, Elaine Barnes approached with a loud cry.

“……Your Highness!”

Startled, Saena pulled her hand back and stepped away. The Prince’s grip had loosened, allowing her to easily slip free.

“How… how could you do this!”

Elaine Barnes’s face was contorted as if deeply shocked.

“Right in front of me…, how could you!”

Why was she appealing to the Prince with such tearful, resentful looks?

Meanwhile, the Prince began laughing with what seemed like an ecstatic expression.

“Haha, hahaha!”

Saena couldn’t understand this contrast.

They were both acting strange, but the Prince’s reaction was especially odd. It was extremely unsettling.

It seemed to be because of the strange change that had occurred in the basin, but not knowing what the blue color meant made her anxious.

What did they just do with someone else’s blood…?

That anxiety made Saena step backward.

“…You!”

Her movement seemed to irritate Elaine Barnes, whose gaze turned toward Saena. Her eyes were filled with such malice that she looked ready to tear Saena apart right then.

What had she done to deserve such treatment?

Being in front of an imperial and Hebeta, she couldn’t freely leave the place. They needed to give permission first.

Saena finally spoke.

“Please allow me to withdraw, Your Highness.”

Though she needed to know what was going on, her mind was filled first with the thought that she had to escape this place immediately.

“What are you saying? We must treat your injury.”

“It’s just a small flesh wound. It doesn’t even hurt.”

“I saw the blood flowing.”

And Your Highness used that blood for something.

The Prince appearing right as she got hurt, the basin being ready as if prepared — it definitely didn’t seem coincidental. It was almost laughable how he now pretended to be concerned.

“Please allow me to leave.”

Saena repeated emotionlessly. The Prince’s expression slightly hardened, perhaps thinking she was being rude.

“You’re not as gentle as you look, are you?”

“……”

“Men prefer gentle women over stubborn ones, my lady.”

“……”

“You’d do well to remember that. For your future.”

I don’t particularly plan to marry, so it probably doesn’t matter.

Saena thought to herself.

“I will take my leave now.”

“Tsk.”

When Saena spoke again, the Prince clicked his tongue.

“Very well.”

Permission was granted, though he seemed displeased about it.

After paying her respects to both the Prince and Elaine, Saena left that space. Though she felt uneasy, as if something had caught the nape of her neck, there was nothing she could do about it right now.

Returning to the Princess’s palace as quickly as possible without running, Saena called for the knight and servant who had accompanied her and swiftly left.

Leaving behind an enormous sense of unease.