The carriage that had been moving smoothly came to a sudden halt.

The horses seemed startled by the abrupt stop, and faint sounds of their whinnying and stamping hooves could be heard from outside.

“I apologize, Your Highness!”

Joseph, a royal guard riding at the front of the escort, quickly turned his horse toward us and apologized.

Carlo’s gaze immediately turned to me.

“Are you alright?”

I quickly nodded at the fierce energy swirling in his blue eyes.

“…Are you actually worried about me right now?”

“Why wouldn’t I be?”

He narrowed his brow as if wondering what nonsense I was talking about, checked my complexion, and then turned to Joseph while keeping one arm around me.

“I’m sorry. Someone suddenly rushed in front of us and collapsed on the road…”

“Someone…”

The sounds of following guards quickly pulling their reins to stop their horses flooded in.

When Carlo stepped out of the carriage, I tried to follow, but he closed the door first.

“Stay here.”

At his words, the carriage attendant who had quickly approached to open the door immediately stopped.

Carlo mounted Joseph’s horse and galloped forward.

I opened the window and peeked out slightly.

“……”

In the distance, the dark figure of a dying person lay collapsed.

He was crawling on the ground, wearing clothes no better than rags.

“Wa… water… I’m thirsty…”

I covered my mouth in shock at his serious condition as Carlo’s horse stopped in front of the man.

“Save me… please…”

His faint voice was as dry and rough as sand.

“What happened?”

“It appears he was robbed. His limbs are fractured. It seems he just crossed the St. Berte border.”

“Identify him and take him to the December Center.”

“Understood. Hand him over to Sir Caleb.”

When Joseph nodded and instructed his subordinates, the soldiers hurriedly lifted the man onto their shoulders.

Soon the man’s body was loaded onto a horse like a limp bundle.

But Caleb…? I feel like I’ve heard that name somewhere.

I pulled my body, which had been halfway out the window, back inside.

The man’s disheveled hair and the thick layer of dirt covering it.

Somehow that scene wouldn’t leave my eyes, making me feel strange.

“Where is December?”

I asked Carlo after returning to St. Berte Castle.

Walking down the corridor, he looked down at me indifferently and bluntly replied.

“Go rest. You’ve been in the carriage for a long time.”

“Where is the December Center?”

“I’ll answer after you rest.”

When he stoically yet firmly told Medlin to take me away, I quickly looked at Norbert.

At my silent plea, Norbert reluctantly spoke.

“You can think of it as a kind of rehabilitation center. It’s a place where people who have lost their ability to make a living or those who are too poor to receive medical treatment can stay.”

“…Is it like a welfare institution?”

“You could see it that way.”

“Wow…”

I looked up at Carlo with slight admiration.

“What.”

“You seem like a secretly good person. Setting up something like that.”

“I don’t run it directly.”

“Of course, you’re busy with many duties. That’s why the Caleb family is temporarily in charge of the place, Madam.”

Norbert added with a gentle smile.

Right, Caleb!

Now I remembered where I’d heard that name.

“Rich folks take up the spots first, so they don’t accept people like us. Should’ve slipped some money to Caleb.”

It was the name Mary and Jeanne had mentioned while hanging laundry a few days ago.

After hesitating briefly, I asked about the part I didn’t understand.

“…How much money does one need to pay to enter?”

“Money? That place was established to care for the disadvantaged. Since its goal is to rehabilitate people and return them to society as normal members, all activities and education including exercise are provided free of charge.”

“But…”

Jeanne had said they needed to give money to this person called Caleb to get in… that it was a place occupied by the more wealthy…

“…You said the Caleb family is temporarily in charge, right? How did that family come to manage this December place?”

When I asked Norbert, lost in thought, Carlo abruptly stopped walking.

As a result, Joseph, Norbert, and Medlin also stopped in succession.

“Actually…”

Norbert looked at me with an awkward smile and took a deep breath as if making a big decision.

“It was one of your duties, Madam.”

“What?”

Startled, I looked at him and then turned my gaze to Carlo.

He simply closed and opened his eyes slowly in confirmation without saying anything.

“Sigh… I’ve failed again. What kind of person was I before?”

At my spontaneous honesty, Norbert couldn’t give any answer and kept his mouth shut.

Medlin clasped her hands tightly in prayer, not knowing what to do.

Joseph, standing behind Carlo, watched me as if I were an alien.

“Just a moment…”

Just then, a soldier approached and urgently relayed a message to Joseph, who listened quietly and then approached Carlo.

“The man we were going to place in December says he has no memories at all.”

“What.”

“Amnesia, he says…”

As Joseph trailed off, everyone’s gaze, along with Carlo’s, turned to me.

I blinked blankly before choosing to smile weakly. What else could I do?

“Haha… that’s unfortunate. Amnesia, you say.”

“Indeed. Must be the trend these days?”

At his cold response, I smiled even more and grabbed Medlin’s arm.

“Shall we go? I need to reclaim December.”

“We were waiting outside the castle, but according to the servants, you dove right in.”

Joseph, returning to the office, relayed to Norbert the news that Carlo had rescued Lea from the river.

Standing beside Carlo’s desk, Norbert flinched in surprise and looked at Carlo.

“Did such a thing happen?”

Carlo didn’t answer Norbert’s question and looked down at his documents.

Joseph, sitting on the sofa drinking tea, said:

“We didn’t think you would rush to save her so urgently.”

“You’re mistaken.”

“I heard you were faster than light.”

“Have I ever hesitated to save any of you?”

“You’ve never hesitated, but you usually tell us to wait. A broken leg will heal quickly. No need to cry over a slightly torn arm.”

“……”

“But your reaction speed was different this time. Exceptionally so.”

Joseph mimicked the scene he hadn’t witnessed, using his hands to show someone jumping from a ship into a river.

Carlo elegantly turned the pages of his documents without looking at Joseph and spoke in a rather calm tone.

“Nothing makes time pass more slowly than when life hangs in the balance. Even the same reaction feels slow to the person experiencing it. I regret that you felt I told you to wait.”

At his composed response, Joseph raised both hands as if surrendering.

“One thing is clear—someone wants the Grand Duchess dead.”

“To eliminate evidence?”

“Perhaps they’ve split into those unwilling to give up their interests and pushing forward, versus those willing to abandon their interests but eliminate evidence.”

Joseph nodded in agreement and stood up.

The imperial family and the Azanie family had conspired to marry the Duke of Hedegen and Lea Azanie.

There must have been some deal between the two families, and the attack could be seen as a result.

Was it simply to kill Carlo?

It was likely an attack to take what he possessed.

However, Carlo survived and publicly declared before everyone that the Grand Duchess’s well-being was his top priority. As a result, the imperial family and the Azanie family now seemed to be at odds.

The imperial family would accuse the Azanie family of plotting all these incidents alone regarding the Grand Duchess, while the Azanie family would desperately try to reverse public opinion against the imperial family’s attacks.

The outcome would be the same. In the end, wouldn’t they end up tearing each other apart?

“A letter has arrived from Branch Manager Swinton. He says they’ve begun pressuring the imperial family to repay their loans.”

Norbert reported, relaying the letter Randolph Swinton had sent him.

Joseph approached Carlo’s desk.

“The Grand Duchess is certainly suitable for making the two families hostile to each other, but what do you plan to do with Her Highness the Grand Duchess going forward? Will you leave her as she is?”

“First, find out which side tried to kill Lea.”

When Carlo calmly instructed, Joseph hesitated briefly before nodding without showing his thoughts.

“Understood. I will definitely determine whether it was Count Azanie or the Empress.”

“What are you thinking, Joseph?”

“…Do you trust the Grand Duchess? Somehow it seems like you’re protecting her and the city.”

Carlo stared at Joseph before letting out a hollow laugh.

“I understand what you’re thinking, but refrain from assuming I’ve completely fallen for this woman who is my wife.”

“You don’t want to keep her with you?”

“What are you saying? I, more than anyone, that woman…”

“Madam is visible over there.”

At Norbert’s words, Carlo’s gaze instinctively turned toward the window.

“Where is she going now without resting?”