I had an ominous feeling from the moment Reytan left for knight training, and watching him become Crown Prince now twisted my insides. Seeing Annelia standing with Luden made me feel even worse.

Everything was because of Annelia. Things had gone wrong from the moment she used her wicked words to manipulate Kajiian and get me pulled out of knight training.

If I’d completed knight training properly, if I’d been in the military and participated in the war, I could have aimed for the Crown Prince position again. No matter how much Father said I couldn’t have it, I might have caught a chance to make him reconsider.

Lorina gritted her teeth and controlled her emotions. She couldn’t ruin things now.

She smiled and approached Reytan with Mires, speaking cheerfully.

“Reytan, congratulations.”

“Sister Lorina?”

Reytan looked flustered by her appearance. Laysia also looked at her with wary eyes. Ignoring Reytan’s attitude, Lorina approached Luden and spoke to him.

“I’m sorry about before.”

Luden looked at Lorina and opened his lips.

“Sorry about what?”

Lorina was taken aback by his question. Since he hadn’t replied to her letter, she’d just said it once more as a formality, but his response left her speechless.

“Do you know what you did wrong to me before apologizing?”

Luden recalled what Annelia had written in her letter. He found Lorina’s behavior irritating—acting similarly to how Millen had. That’s why he needed to know if she was truly apologizing.

If Lorina was genuinely apologizing, he intended to accept her apology.

“Well, what I did wrong was!”

“Tell me everything.”

Luden spoke sharply. Lorina was at a loss for words. She didn’t particularly think she’d done anything wrong. When Lorina couldn’t speak, Luden raised one corner of his lips and shook his head.

“Apologizing without knowing what you did wrong to the other person isn’t an apology.”

Luden spoke firmly. He was also letting people know he wouldn’t accept her apology.

“This is too much. When I’m apologizing like this!”

Lorina bit her lip, trembled, and turned around. Luden had become much more attractive than before. Her heart fluttered like it used to. The fact that such a Luden wouldn’t accept her was because of Annelia.

She glanced briefly at Annelia standing beside Luden and left the banquet hall. Like Millen, it seemed difficult for her to apologize and slowly become friendly with them.

* * *

Caromiel drank until late at the banquet. I told him that Millen had come to the estate without warning since morning, and that I’d been firm with him since he seemed to be ignoring my words.

“Father seemed bitter about it.”

I thought of Caromiel. Though they were family, Caromiel seemed hurt by Millen’s attitude—an attitude that couldn’t be called familial.

“That kind of thing must be difficult.”

Luden looked out the window, seemingly recalling the past.

“Hearing that story reminds me of when my uncle betrayed me before.”

Luden narrowed his eyes and was lost in thought for a while, then turned his gaze to me and grinned.

“I thought that wound would never disappear.”

He quietly stroked near his chest.

“Thanks to Annelia, it’s gone.”

“It’s because you let it go, Luden.”

“No. Because Annelia gave me pure affection and made me cry, I came to trust people more.”

My heart stirred at Luden’s words. Though I hadn’t done it hoping for this kind of affection from the start, ultimately my goodwill had changed fate and captured him.

He moved close and sat beside me. Then he held my hand tightly and kissed the back of it.

“I’m looking forward to spending time alone together.”

“We need to tell Anan what happened at the ball.”

“Mother said she’d sleep first.”

“Wh-when?”

“She whispered it to me after Annelia left.”

My face heated up at Luden’s words. I knew all too well why Anan had said that, so I unconsciously rolled my eyes slightly.

“Luden, those kinds of things are forbidden in the carriage.”

“What kinds of things?”

Luden asked, pretending not to know. I punished him by pressing his cheek with my finger.

“Don’t pretend you don’t know!”

“Well, I’ll only do this kind of thing in the carriage.”

He pressed his lips to mine. When his lips approached, a sweet sensation soaked through my body. I tried to push him away, but when he leaned his face forward and smiled slightly, my resolve weakened.

No, that expression with that face is cheating!

“Is it really not allowed?”

That’s definitely using his good looks! He’s exploiting his face. I tried to say something, but I was so entranced by his face that I just stared blankly without realizing it. Taking advantage of that gap, he quickly kissed me.

He really did only kiss me. But that kiss was really…

When the carriage stopped, my legs were trembling so much I couldn’t stand up.

* * *

Luden looked at the sleeping Annelia. Her blonde hair was disheveled. Watching her fall asleep like fainting after making love, unable to overcome her exhaustion, he got dressed and went up to Anan’s room. Anan had said she’d sleep first, but somehow he felt she wouldn’t be asleep.

When Luden knocked on the door, he heard a sound from inside. Luden quickly opened the door and went in. Anan seemed to have been reading a book—seeing Luden, she set the book aside and removed her glasses.

“What is it?”

“I talked with Annelia about children.”

At Luden’s words, Anan grinned.

“What did she say?”

“Annelia said to get a healthy body and then have a child.”

“Having a child requires preparation.”

Anan seemed to agree with Annelia’s words.

“Your body needs to be ready, but your heart needs to be ready too. Raising a child is hard work. You weren’t a child who required much attention, but it was still very difficult.”

Especially since Anan had a weak body, she’d spent precarious times carrying a child. If she miscarried, having another child would be difficult, so she’d been extra careful.

“I see.”

“Were you disappointed by Annelia’s words?”

Luden shook his head.

“I just realized that having a child is a more complicated matter than I thought.”

Anan nodded lightly and stretched her arms toward Luden. Then Luden approached her and was embraced.

“I want to see my grandchild.”

“I’ll work on it.”

“If a child doesn’t come, you might feel anxious. Keep your mind at ease.”

Anan shared her experiences.

“The husband’s role is important when having a child. You need to comfort your wife when she’s anxious. Don’t be discouraged by one failure, and leave it to the flow of fate.”

“Thank you.”

Anan’s words resonated with Luden one by one.

“And before that, go on a trip.”

“A trip?”

“It’s hard to travel when you have a child. You haven’t traveled with Annelia since returning from knight training, have you?”

Luden’s eyes wavered.

“Annelia couldn’t have traveled with me while you were gone. I have a weak body, so I’ve never left the estate.”

“I didn’t think that far.”

“Luden, it’s because you’ve only been running forward until now. Annelia doesn’t know how to rest either.”

Anan wanted them to live more slowly. Both Annelia and Luden were people who ran hard toward their goals. That’s why they looked ahead and moved forward. 

But from the perspective of someone who’d lived life first, she wanted them to look to the side, sightsee, step back sometimes, and live leisurely like that.

“I’ll talk with Annelia about it.”

“Do that.”

Luden kissed Anan’s cheek and left. Watching her son, Anan felt a strange feeling.

The young child had been wounded in the succession struggle and desperately endured. Now he’d overcome everything and was discussing an heir with his wife.

To think he’s grown this much. Anan closed her eyes and became lost in thought.

When a grandchild was born, she wanted to give them plenty of love.

* * *

When I woke up, it was already noon. I tried to get up but lay back down. Since this always happened when I slept with Luden, I just stayed quiet, then glared at Luden, who was processing documents in my room.

“Really, Luden, how did you endure on the battlefield?”

“It was very difficult.”

Noticing I’d woken up, Luden set down his documents and approached the bed, sitting on the edge.

“I talked to Mother about children.”

“What did she say?”

“Well, she said to travel before having a child.”

“Tr-travel!”

I hadn’t thought of that. Of course, I’d planned to build various memories with Luden, but I hadn’t thought of traveling.

“But can we go?”

“We don’t have a concrete schedule yet, so now is the opportunity.”

True, once he started scheduling things, he’d be busy. Plus, if I had a child on top of that, I couldn’t dream of traveling for a while. I rolled my eyes around and grinned.

“How many days will we go?”

“We can’t go long, so about two weeks.”

“Where does Luden want to go?”

“There’s a place with a hotel by the beach. It has a pool and a sandy beach, so it’s good for playing.”

I’d never been to the beach in spring. I imagined seeing the beach, having a cup of tea, and walking on the sandy beach with Luden.

“Good. Let’s go together.”

I held his hand.

“I’ll have to close the counseling center.”

“Take a break from going to His Majesty too.”

“Mm, now that the war is over, don’t I not have to go to the imperial palace?”

Luden shook his head.

“He’ll probably keep calling you.”

“Luden, at times like this, agree with me!”

“His Majesty doesn’t seem to have any intention of letting Annelia go.”

Luden’s words seemed right. For now, I sent Kajiian a letter saying I had to travel, so I couldn’t come to the imperial palace for two weeks.

The day before we left for the trip, Kajiian sent a gift telling us to have a good trip. I tried to refuse the gift, but after seeing its contents, I couldn’t bring myself to do so.

The gift that came with the letter was an invitation that only those permitted by imperial family members or the Emperor’s invitation could enter.

Luden, who looked at the gift with me, put the invitation in the letter envelope and packed it.

“We’ll be going here. His Majesty will be disappointed if we refuse. He gave us a gift matching Annelia’s schedule, so let’s not refuse this.”

I’d been hesitating too. Since his words were right, I nodded, left the luggage to the servants, and went upstairs to greet Anan.

Anan was sitting on the sofa drinking tea. When we entered, she stood up smiling. Seeing her bright smile, I felt sorry we couldn’t go together. Anan couldn’t handle the trip because she didn’t have good stamina.

“So you’re finally leaving tomorrow.”

“I’ll go see the beach and come back.”

Anan narrowed her eyes, seemingly reminiscing about the past. Then she rubbed the corner of her eye with her finger, tilted her head, turned it again, and looked at me.

“It’s a place I often went with my husband, so Luden probably has memories of going there as a child too. Though he couldn’t go after inheriting the title.”

“It’s been a long time since I’ve been there too.”

“I’m really looking forward to it!”

I thought of the hotel and beach Luden had told me about. It would be nice to relax at the hotel, take a walk while looking at the beach, and walk the shore holding hands with Luden. 

So I’d prepared a light dress to wear at the beach in advance. Though it was spring, the sunlight was hot, so I didn’t forget to pack a hat to protect my face.

And since I had the invitation the Emperor gave me, I had to go to a special place too. I couldn’t suppress my excited heart and smiled brightly. Luden looked at me like that and pressed my cheek firmly.

“Come back soon. Tell me later how you played.”

At Anan’s words, I nodded vigorously. And so Luden and I left on our trip through the warp. Of course, we took maids and servants to attend to us as well.