“Adele Gr…… No, I was not thinking of anyone.”

Even the lady-in-waiting standing nearby was startled by the far too obvious lie and drew a sharp breath. ‘Adele Gr.’ Whatever it was, it was clearly a person’s name.

The prince in a fairy tale does not cheat on his princess.

Was Rohide truly a real prince?

The partner of the kiss with the prince in Layla’s imagination had changed from herself to an unknown woman.

Her small fists trembled.

It was the first moment in her short life that she had felt the emotion of her chest about to burst with rage.

It was at that moment.

‘Oh? That is……’

Layla’s eyes suddenly sparkled.

The golden marble she had seen not long ago was rolling along. On the other side of the garden.

Glancing around, there was no one paying attention to her. Rohide was staring blankly at the sky or the mountains, and the lady-in-waiting had just gone to fetch refreshments after reading the mood.

It was difficult to keep looking at Rohide, who was probably thinking about that Adele or whoever it was.

Layla made a great decision and climbed down from her chair without the lady-in-waiting noticing. Even during that time, no one paid her any attention.

Under normal circumstances, it was something she would absolutely never do according to the conduct expected of a lady, but there had to be days like this every now and then.

It was the bold thinking of a five-year-old child.

Layla finally caught up with the marble and, afraid it would escape again, threw herself forward and grabbed it.

She had come much farther than expected. She had come almost to the very end of the wide garden.

Layla’s heart pounded, having never once wandered alone even in her own home’s garden.

The marble had grown so much in the time she had not seen it that it was difficult for Layla to lift.

She barely managed to hold it in place to keep it from rolling away, and stared into it.

“What on earth is this?”

A beautiful, large marble that appeared suddenly and then vanished in an instant.

Layla’s curiosity was piqued. On top of that, the color was so mysteriously beautiful that she wanted to keep gazing at it.

Should she call a lady-in-waiting right now and have her make a large box to hold it? She would surely ask why she had suddenly left her seat. What would she say in response?

As Layla was pondering this, something flashed through her mind. It was a vast flood of scenes that could not be absorbed in a short time.

“Eek!”

Startled, Layla let out a shriek and covered her mouth. It would be a problem if the adults came running after hearing a loud sound.

She looked around anxiously to check whether the adults nearby had heard.

Fortunately, it seemed no one yet knew she was here.

Relieved, she turned her attention back to the marble.

Just what was happening inside this marble? Layla held her breath and looked into it.

It was at that moment. A splitting headache struck and her heart began to race wildly.

“Ugh! S, someone here……”

Layla, writhing in pain, suddenly stared blankly into the air. As though something was right in front of her.

A long stretch of time passed like that.

“Young lady, where are you?”

From behind came the urgent voice of the lady-in-waiting searching for the disappeared Layla. From the hurried footsteps, it was clear how flustered she was.

Layla’s face was now calm.

When she rose from her spot, the golden marble quietly disappeared into the air. Layla turned around without surprise.

“I am here.”

Having heard the young lady’s voice, the lady-in-waiting’s footsteps drew closer. Layla had been hiding behind a small bush in the corner of the garden.

“My goodness, did you come all the way here alone?”

The lady-in-waiting tidied her young lady’s disheveled dress. Whatever the reason for her sudden strange behavior, they needed to hurry.

If the count found out that the seat across from the prince had been empty the whole time, there would surely be a scolding.

Once the dress was completely neat, Layla smiled freshly. The charming smile, uncharacteristic of a child, was enough to momentarily capture the lady-in-waiting’s gaze.

“Let us hurry back to the prince.”

“Are you feeling all right?”

“Hehe, what is there to feel bad about? After all, I am the next queen.”

Layla hummed cheerfully and took the lead.

Something about her atmosphere had changed. Even if the lady-in-waiting tilted her head, there was nothing she could understand.

“Young lady, it is dangerous to walk alone. Let us go together.”

Why did it feel as though the young lady had suddenly grown up all at once in just a short while?

– – –

A grand mansion built of red brick.

No one had noticed yet, but looking closely, there was something out of place. It was because there was a small child scaling the wall in a perfectly relaxed posture.

‘How dare they skip training without a single word.’

When she had been serving as knight commander, if anyone had been absent without leave, she would never have let it slide.

Was it not only natural to show up even when one was ill?

It seemed she had been treating him far too well lately.

‘Back in my day, something like this was unthinkable.’

Adele shook her head while pressed flat against the wall.

She already knew Vincent’s bedroom well from having been there once before. Adele skillfully avoided the people around her and arrived at the bedroom.

But the inside was empty, contrary to her expectations.

‘I thought he was sleeping in.’

It seemed there was some kind of family event. Since Vincent was a noble, he could frequently find himself in unexpected situations.

Should she just turn back? She was briefly deliberating over what to do when a sound reached her ears.

“You useless wretch!”

After the irritable shout, a dull thudding sound followed in succession. Adele moved without hesitation.

The place the sound had come from was the duke’s study, the same one where she had once broken a window.

As she drew closer to the study, the voices became clearer.

“Just what did you do to make the prince go quiet? What exactly do you do properly!”

She had a complete grasp of the situation.

Adele did not hold back.

She knew at least fifty ways to break a window safely without getting hurt.

Crash!

Adele broke the glass window with practiced skill. However, she did not know how to muffle the sound.

The duke was startled by the sharp sound and spun around. In his flustered state, he dropped the switch he had been holding.

Wherever he had gotten it from, it was an even thicker switch than the one she had seen before.

“Ah, is, is that not the Lady of the Grey family?”

Duke Usder had a good memory. He immediately recognized Adele from having seen her briefly and stumbled over his words.

What on earth was this situation? Was he seeing things correctly? Usder Rogato looked back and forth between the broken window and the small child.

“And this scene right now?”

The duke tilted his head. The scene of the broken window alongside that red-haired child felt familiar somehow.

Only a fool would fail to connect the dots given everything that had happened up until now.

As the duke rapidly deduced the hard-to-believe truth, his face gradually turned crimson.

His son standing behind him, on the other hand, was going paler and paler. Vincent had gathered his courage and stepped in front of his father to stop him, but there was no way he could have stopped him.

Duke Usder shoved Vincent aside and shouted.

“You have been deceiving me all this time? And even the prince! Do you think I will let this tiny little thing get away with this?”

The duke could not contain his rage and tore at his own hair. The fact that he had been played by a child like this sent a fury surging up inside him that he could not suppress.

Adele had been found out entirely, but she walked into the room without any concern.

“Blabbering away so noisily. I know people like you very well.”

She made her way to the desk directly in front of Duke Rogato.

When Adele ran her hand across the desk, the duke’s anger grew even greater.

“How dare you touch it with those dirty hands! Do you know how much that is worth? Only a family of distinguished prestige like ours could ever afford such a fine……”

“I said you are being noisy.”

Adele clenched her fist sharply. And without a moment’s hesitation, she drove her fist into the leg of the expensive desk.

“Th, that fi…… fine……”

The desk split in half in a single blow. The duke stared at it blankly for a long while. He seemed utterly unable to believe the reality before his eyes.

The desk, having lost one leg and split clean in two, wobbled and then collapsed with a loud crash.

“A fist is just the thing for adults who will not listen.”

“Th, this is absurd……”

Duke Rogato, having received a severe mental shock from the scene unfolding before him, staggered briefly and then fell backward.

“Good. I was wondering how I would knock him out this time.”

“Wh, what?”

Vincent was standing there with his mouth hanging open in bewilderment. Adele grabbed Vincent’s hand without hesitation.

“People are coming. Let us escape.”

“Aaah!”

Adele and Vincent’s bodies soared toward the open terrace window.