The wary look remained in his eyes, and instead, he clung to me and buried his face against me. As if trying not to succumb to temptation.

Somehow understanding Lukian’s feelings, I gently stroked his head and said:

“It’s okay, you like candy.”

He was a child who would light up at the sight of candies that occasionally came with desserts. Like all children, I too had been entranced by their taste in my childhood.

Though I did have a habit of selectively picking out only the bright red ones from the colorful candies in glass bowls.

Interestingly, Lukian’s tastes were similar to mine, even insisting on only strawberry-flavored candy.

I turned to Lorena and said:

“He likes strawberry flavor.”

“Oh, is that so? Let me see.”

Lorena rummaged through her pocket, then raised the corners of her mouth with a smirk.

“Ah! Here it is.”

I took the red candy she offered and popped it into the child’s mouth. Unlike before, the child rolled the candy around while nuzzling his head against me.

Lorena, who had been staring at this scene, spoke as if entranced:

“Ah… I want to raise one too… Oh my! What a mistake! I’m sorry, Miss. I’m sorry, young master. I just couldn’t help myself because you’re so cute.”

At that moment, Lukian’s shoulders flinched.

Lorena, who quickly covered her mouth and apologized, couldn’t possibly imagine the child’s true identity. Though I knew this, I still swallowed nervously.

I had the thought that her intuition might be as developed as my brother Iankar’s, as if she had antennae on her forehead.

“You’ll need to be more careful in the imperial palace, Lorena.”

I hid my previous thoughts and cautioned Lorena again.

She was a woman prone to frequent slips of the tongue. Perhaps this was why Viscount Soriano had withdrawn her business rights.

“Of course, Miss. Though I tend to blurt out what’s on my mind, I do know when and where to be careful.”

Lorena answered with a somewhat arrogant attitude, as if she had already forgotten her mistake. She was truly a woman who switched gears quickly.

※※※

As our three-day journey neared its end, the carriage passed through the capital’s gate and reached the imperial palace. While waiting after showing our identity badges to the Aspera Palace guards, the sound of hoofbeats approached from a distance.

As the guards lined up to salute, a man jumped off his horse that had approached close by. Barely acknowledging the salutes, he casually passed through the line and came directly to the front of our carriage.

“Iella!”

Instead of opening the carriage door, the man stood by the window and called me.

“Your Highness the Second Imperial Prince?”

The carriage interior suddenly became busy.

Lorena fidgeted, unsure whether to get out or stay seated, watching for my reaction, while Lukian lit up his eyes and held me tightly.

I gently patted the child’s hand, gestured for Lorena to stay seated, and turned my attention to the window. After pulling aside the curtain that had been drawn to block the sun, a rush of hot air flowed in.

Forcibly smoothing my furrowing brow, I slightly bowed my head to the pale man standing outside the window.

“I greet Your Highness the Second Imperial Prince.”

When I raised my head, Allen smiled brightly.

“You must be tired from traveling without rest. Was everything alright?”

“Yes. But what brings you here?”

When I asked, disguising it as a genuine question, Allen answered casually:

“I heard you were coming, so I came out just in case.”

Then his gaze swept over the carriages following behind and the knights who had dismounted, before returning to me.

“My heart is already racing. It feels like I’m really welcoming a bride. Don’t you feel the same?”

Perhaps due to the noticeably increased luggage, a hint of excitement shone in his eyes.

They say delusions are free. I looked at the purple eyes rippling with emotion and silently smiled.

Allen, taking my smile as affirmation, responded with an even deeper smile.

“Ah, instead of lingering here, shall we go? I’ll escort you outside.”

After briefly exchanging greetings, Allen’s gaze briefly passed over Lukian. Though it was just a fleeting moment, I wasn’t sure, but his brow seemed to furrow.

Allen promptly signaled the coachman and knights to depart, and soon the clattering of hooves once again adorned the main road of the imperial palace.

※※※

Unlike the temporary annex where I had stayed before, this time I was guided to an annex quite close to the Emperor’s palace. I held Lukian’s hand on my right and led Lorena on my left, shooting daggers at the back of the man who walked ahead, chattering away.

Allen, seemingly unaware of my gaze, appeared preoccupied with introducing various parts of the newly renovated Itia Annex.

“If you go around that side, there’s the banquet hall, and to the right of that is the dining room. And over there is the first reception room, and I’ve also prepared a small reception room next to your room. You can choose based on the visitor’s status or their closeness to you. Though I’m sure you already know this without me telling you.”

‘He wasn’t such a chatterbox before.’

Did he eat something wrong? He’s proudly explaining things he doesn’t even need to.

Although it was merely a matter of stopping and walking repeatedly on the way to the room I would be using, Allen’s behavior could only be seen as unexpected.

“How do you like this frame?”

He suddenly stopped walking and turned toward one wall.

After examining the frame with a wavy pattern border that had been sparsely hung throughout the corridor, he turned his gaze to me.

“Does it look familiar?”

His purple eyes sparkled as if expecting something.

“It’s a familiar style of painting.”

“Right?”

Allen, raising the corners of his mouth slightly, continued with a face that said ‘I knew you’d recognize it.’

“See this brushwork? It’s so delicate yet bold that it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to call the artist the greatest surrealist painter of the era.”

“…Indeed.”

“And look here too. Isn’t the color combination amazing? How can someone create such a quiet, static expression with contrasting colors? It almost seems alive. When you stand still and look at it, don’t you feel like you’re being drawn in?”

What a great art enthusiast he is. No, it’s more like he’s elaborately packaging a terrible painting style. I nodded my head as if agreeing with his words.

“Among all the other excellent works, I particularly like this one.”

“…It seems so.”

“I knew my eye for art was exceptional. Ah! Is that frame still in good condition? Though it might be worth less as an early work, its value will skyrocket later, so keep it safe.”

“…Yes.”

Despite my consistently delayed responses, Allen didn’t seem to mind. He simply continued to shrug his shoulders and speak.

“Shall we continue?”

As Allen started walking ahead again, my footsteps, along with Lukian’s, Lorena’s, and Enya’s, followed behind.

But after just a few steps, he stopped again and endlessly spouted unnecessary words.

‘Will we ever get to see the room today?’

After swallowing back the words that rose to my throat numerous times, I finally understood why Allen was behaving so out of character when we reached the long-awaited room.

His hand turned the doorknob, and the door opened silently. While I was stunned by the shocking scene inside the room, his words penetrated my ears.

“Like other places, I put the most effort into this room. What do you think? Isn’t it perfect for your taste?”

I couldn’t utter a single word, and he bent at the waist and spoke with the words of a proud gentleman.

“I hope it pleases you, my lady.”

“Wow, doesn’t it make you feel like you’re losing your mind?”

Lorena, who had toured the room once, approached me. With Allen already gone, she had no one else to be mindful of and freely expressed what she had been holding back.

“How can such an aesthetic sense exist? It’s beyond my understanding.”

I agree. I don’t understand it either. Instead of speaking, I turned my gaze toward the window. At the moment, that was the only way to preserve the peace of my eyes.

“My goodness, unless my eyes were at my feet.”

After looking around the room once more, Lorena continued:

“How can everything be pink? I swear.”

“……”

I made no response. Nevertheless, Lorena continued to spread her criticism.

“What did he call it? The greatest surrealist painter of the era? For something with random colors slapped on? I could paint better with my feet.”

“……”

“To even praise such a difficult-to-call-art piece and talk about having an eye for it. Sigh, what a waste of the palace’s money.”

Lorena had no hesitation in openly criticizing a member of the imperial family. She maintained an attitude that suggested she wasn’t openly cursing him to his face, so what was the problem, and continued to grumble endlessly.

It seemed remarkable that she had held back until Allen disappeared.

“Lorena.”

When I quietly called her name after just listening until then, she turned to look at me. But instead of saying “I’ll be careful” as before, she awkwardly twitched the corners of her mouth and showed a decaying smile.

For a brief moment, silence finally descended. But it didn’t last long. Lorena, who had been just moving her lips, opened her mouth.

“I didn’t say anything wrong… Are you going to throw me out again like last time?”

The way she rolled her eyes seemed somewhat cautious, but she still appeared quite confident.

“No.”

“Then? Will you report me to His Highness?”

“No.”

“……”

Lorena’s gaze, now with her mouth firmly shut, didn’t leave me. She watched me for a while without a word, as if not wanting to miss a single expression on my face.

“You’re strange.”

“How so?”

“You’re neither getting angry nor threatening to tell His Highness. Why are you overlooking my rudeness?”

Did she know all along? I turned to look at Lorena once more before calling for Enya.

Enya, who had been busy unpacking, soon approached me and bowed her head.

“You called, Miss?”

She had heard the entire conversation between the mistress and her lady’s maid but didn’t show it.

I removed my hands that had been covering the child’s ears in front and gently pushed him toward Enya.

“I should go greet His Majesty first. Could you take Lukian to his room?”

“Yes.”

Only after Lukian, who had hesitated, walked a bit, then looked back, and finally disappeared completely from the room with Enya, did I move to the table.

On the thin marble tabletop, which someone had brought in at some point, sat smooth white porcelain tea sets.

I pulled forward a teacup elegantly decorated with blue dye. I hadn’t noticed until it caught my eye, but I suddenly felt extremely thirsty.

Just as I was reaching for the teapot, Lorena, who had quickly moved to my side, beat me to it as if remembering her duty.

“You should have told me if you were thirsty. You shouldn’t be trying to pour tea yourself.”

“……”

“If you take away my job too, my position becomes awkward.”

“You’re right. Thank you.”

“Oh my? You’re most welcome.”

Lorena made a light response and poured tea into her own cup as well. Steam rose from the transparent green liquid that was still hot due to the heated stone.

“Having to sip hot tea on such a hot day… Forget dignity, they should at least bring out some cold water. Tsk.”

Her dismissive words didn’t seem meant for me to hear. She just spoke whatever came to mind, but somehow her words made me smile.

As I silently smiled and lifted my teacup, I felt her gaze.

The tea was hot, just as Lorena had said. I just moistened my mouth slightly and let it slide down my throat, feeling a mild pain as the lump descended.

“Miss, you really are strange.”

The conversation continued from earlier. I put my teacup down on the saucer and raised my eyes.

“What do you mean?”

When I asked casually, Lorena immediately asked without a moment’s hesitation:

“Why do you tolerate me?”

“Is there a reason I shouldn’t?”

When I responded  with another question, her expression to sour.

“Are you perhaps terminally ill? Otherwise… do you realize that everything is just strange?”

“Does it seem that way?”

“Yes.”

“There’s no special reason, Lorena. I’m neither angry with you nor deliberately enduring you. We’ve already settled what needed to be exchanged between us, so I just hope our relationship becomes amicable.”

“……”

“And as you said, having one person on my side might be good. Does that answer your question?”

Lorena’s mouth slowly opened. She blinked her eyes, as if she couldn’t believe it, while looking at me.

I looked at her and added:

“Please tell me if this is just my misunderstanding. If you still have old grudges, it would be good to resolve them now.”

※※※

While Enya was fixing my hair, Lorena, who was sitting beside me with her chin resting on her hand, suddenly blurted out:

“Hmm… that ribbon doesn’t seem right. Isn’t the accent too out of place?”

Enya, who was tying a bright yellow ribbon to my hair that had been rolled on both sides and half-tied at the back, quickly turned her head.

“Is it… not good?”

“No.”

After speaking bluntly, Lorena stood up. She carelessly rummaged through the ribbon box on the dressing table with her fingertips, then pulled out a green ribbon.

“Use this one. It seems they chose it considering your hair color, but this matches better with your current outfit.”

“…Won’t it be too monotonous?”

Enya looked a bit shrunk but still spoke her mind.

‘Did they become close when I left her at the Soriano Viscount’s residence?’

I rolled just my eyes to observe the atmosphere between Enya and Lorena in the mirror. They were engaged in quite a serious debate.

“Why?”

“Since Miss’s dress gown is light green and her shoes match the color too, if the ribbon is also the same…”

“So you think it’s boring?”

“…Yes.”

“Listen, that’s not boring or monotonous; it’s called unity or stability. If one part stands out too much, it diverts attention, and when attention is diverted, doesn’t it make proper conversation difficult?”

Enya was the one who finally lowered her tail after the rather lengthy explanation.

“Ah… Is that so? I hadn’t thought of that.”

Lorena, who had gained the upper hand, grinned.

Enya accepted it and unwound the half-tied bright yellow ribbon.

‘It won’t even be visible since it’s tied at the back…’

Enya, who hadn’t considered factors like stability, seemed a bit deflated. Yet her fingertips remained nimble, quickly completing the styling.

“All done, Miss.”

After carefully tucking the loose strands of hair that had fallen forward behind my ears, Enya smiled brightly as if she had never been discouraged.

I glanced at my reflection in the mirror and stood up.

“Where’s Lukian?”

“He seemed tired and said he was going to sleep.”

“I see. Then you stay by Lukian’s side. If he seems uncomfortable in any way, send someone immediately.”

“Yes, Miss.”

“Shall we go, Lorena?”

※※※

The path to the Emperor’s palace remained quiet. Occasionally priests or officials could be seen passing by, but unlike before, there were no groups gathered whispering.

However, I could clearly see them rolling their eyes as they passed by me.

Rumors surrounding me silently invaded my mind. I deliberately ignored them and continued walking forward.

Then, feeling it was too quiet, I glanced to the side. Lorena, who had been walking beside me the whole time, looked unusually tense, unlike her usual self.

Perhaps she was feeling fear at the possibility of encountering the Emperor. She probably had never faced the Emperor at such close proximity.

‘Those without an appointment cannot have an audience with the Emperor.’ I considered informing her of this fact but changed my mind.

‘It’s not like she doesn’t know.’

In any case, this would be her first time venturing into such an intimate place. It was natural to be nervous, and she wasn’t the type of woman to be consumed by that nervousness. So perhaps she needed time to calm herself.

I fixed my gaze forward again. Some silence was maintained, and the straight corridor crossing the inner courtyard came to an end.

After a moment, the door to the quiet quarters slowly opened, and the chief chamberlain appeared. Upon seeing me, he gave a slight bow and addressed Lorena.

“Your companion cannot enter. Please wait here.”

Momentarily flustered, Lorena turned her gaze to me, and with my single word, “Go ahead,” she bowed her head.

“Understood.”

Though I felt sorry to leave her alone outside without a proper place to rest, I followed the chief chamberlain who had already started walking.

He guided me to the same small tea room adjoining the Emperor’s bedchamber as before.

“Your Majesty, Lady Iella Roberos of Runoa has arrived.”

The Emperor rang a bell instead of speaking.

“Please enter.”

After nodding to the chief chamberlain, the door closed silently.

Taking careful steps, I reached the Emperor and respectfully bent my knee in greeting.

Emperor Ribatris raised his lowered head and spoke indifferently:

“So, you’ve resolved your urgent matter?”

“Yes. I’m grateful for your consideration.”

“Sit.”

At the Emperor’s command, I sat down in the same place as before. I immediately raised my eyes to examine the Emperor’s complexion. The bluish bruises remained unchanged.

‘No, have they become darker?’

Noticing my reaction, he smiled faintly and asked me:

“How do I look?”

“You don’t seem uncomfortable, but you don’t look comfortable either.”

“Hmm… Is that so.”

The Emperor, who had been leaning back comfortably in his single-person sofa, spoke softly. He seemed lost in thought for a moment before continuing in a whisper:

“Your contribution is significant in my recovery, even though only a small portion of the poison has been purified. However, after you left for Runoa, I began coughing up blood again. It seems my once-damaged organs are acting up.”

“Haven’t you received treatment from the holy priests?”

“Of course I have. I receive healing rituals at set times every day. Yet I can’t escape this condition. Isn’t that strange?”

The Emperor’s purple gaze, with one hand supporting his chin, quietly observed me.

“How should I put it? It’s as if these wretched things are multiplying, if that makes sense.”

“……”

“The sensation is so vivid, as if they’re alive and moving.”

The Emperor’s lips closed, and I pondered his words.

‘Alive and moving?’