But now, of all things, here they were.

Reunited in an unexpected place after four years.

The boy had grown considerably taller at twenty, but his face had somehow become even more delicate.

And in that form, he had become a close personal attendant to the crown prince, who was in the process of seizing real power over the kingdom.

The first people anyone hoping to make an impression on the crown prince cultivated were his aides and personal attendants.

Unless one held a senior position, gaining access for a visit or an audience required making a good impression on them first, and an invitation to the palace salon depended on it.

And his own flesh and blood already occupied that position.

Raul was not the chief chamberlain, but he appeared to hold a position close to it.

Parnelli realized that an unexpected ladder had appeared on a path that had always seemed impossibly far and high.

He had also noticed something remarkable during his last visit, when he had brought the interior plans for final approval.

His Highness the Crown Prince trusted Raul enormously and respected the boy’s choices.

In fact, after speaking with the crown prince to get a sense of what direction he wanted for the interior design, Parnelli had discovered that His Highness had no particular preferences of his own.

Most of his instructions amounted to words like ‘stylish,’ ‘moderate,’ ‘understated.’ That was the bulk of it.

Having braced for someone difficult, Parnelli had felt considerable relief to find him not particularly demanding.

Instead, whenever Raul made a suggestion to His Highness, he accepted it with mild indifference.

‘What if we open up this wall and extend the width of the fireplace lambris, then paint everything white? The wallpaper could be pale blue silk. We can match the furniture to it.’

‘Do that, then.’

The crown prince had nodded and ruffled the back of Raul’s head with a small smile.

It was a scene that conveyed not just trust but a quiet, unmistakable fondness.

His Highness’s hand had rested casually on Raul’s shoulder the whole time, absently twisting the boy’s hair between his fingers. Raul had been too focused to even notice.

Parnelli’s mind moved quickly inside the moving carriage.

Four years in the palace, and he had earned that kind of trust already?

‘Hmm……’

He rested his gloved hands on his knees and thought.

He had heard the crown prince had high standards and a sharp tongue, that earning his favor was no easy thing.

Senior members of the nobility had been censured for incompetence recently, and even the king himself was being gradually edged out of the power structure.

Raul had clearly inherited his intelligence and was navigating things well.

If he could use Raul as a connection and catch the crown prince’s eye at this turning point in the political landscape, the path forward might open up.

What Parnelli ultimately wanted, beyond the directorship he had secured through his wife, was the position of Minister of Culture and an entry into politics.

He had already achieved a great deal, but his ambitions had only grown larger.

He became convinced that if he could bring Raul around, the boy could serve as a bridge to his advancement, and a quiet elation began to rise in him.

The cold way he had severed things four years ago nagged at him, but he was confident he could smooth it over somehow.

Parnelli stroked his smooth chin and murmured to himself with satisfaction.

“Looking at him now, he resembles me even more.”

Not as imposing as himself, perhaps, but the boy had grown up handsome enough to be well-liked even among men.

“Who knows. He and the crown prince might even be…… that sort of thing. I’ll need to watch for a while.”

The moment to let slip that they were father and son could wait until it was most advantageous.

Before that, it would be worth finding a way to spend some private time with Raul.

Parnelli suppressed his rising excitement and fastidiously smoothed his appearance.

˗ˋˏ ♡ ˎˊ˗

Riley came back empty-handed that day.

She had even ventured into the back alleys of the outer district where the magazine was said to sell best, but the stalls had nothing she was looking for.

When she asked the vendor, he told her the copies that had come in at dawn had sold out in the blink of an eye.

‘How is that possible!’

“All the girls heading to the cotton mill and the candle factory nearby come down this road. They snatch them up quick, every one of them.”

The vendor fanned himself leisurely, grinning all the while, clearly pleased with the sales.

“You came looking for it too, knowing how well it sells?”

“Ha, well…… it’s so well-known I was just curious, that’s all.”

“These days even servants from noble households come to buy it on the sly, you know? Surely their mistresses or the young ladies of the house are sending them on secret errands.”

Riley left the vendor to his knowing smirk and turned into another alley.

But that day’s issue was sold out everywhere, and she could not get her hands on a single copy.

In the end, she had no choice but to return to the palace empty-handed, without having seen the magazine at all.

“It’s all his fault.”

Running into Parnelli of all people and wasting all that time.

Why the sudden interest in me, after all this time?

Why on earth does he care how many years I’ve served His Highness?

The memory of Parnelli’s cold eyes denying any connection between them refused to leave her.

“I’ll just ignore him.”

She let out a troubled sigh, scratched her head, and stopped by the servants’ lounge on the first floor of Eli Palace.

She pulled out the attendance ledger, recorded her return, and started up the servants’ staircase.

She had nearly reached the second-floor landing when she came face to face with Jayden, the senior attendant.

He was coming down looking pale as a sheet, and she was about to ask what was wrong when he grabbed her arm first.

“Raul, where have you been?”

“……Just into the city…… Is something the matter?”

She had gone out with a proper pass, so the question struck her as odd. Her heart gave a small, uneasy lurch.

“His Highness has been looking for you for quite some time.”

“He knows I had the day off, doesn’t he?”

“Yes, but the atmosphere is a little different from usual. Something feels off. Either way, he’s been waiting in your room for hours, so you’d better go.”

“What?”

Riley’s eyes went wide.

“He’s, he’s waiting in my room?”

Why my room……?

A cold, crawling sensation moved down her spine.

The heart that had been fluttering was now pounding in earnest.

˗ˋˏ ♡ ˎˊ˗

She hurried up to the third floor, and the corridor was so deathly quiet it only made her more anxious.

The chief chamberlain was coming from the other direction and spotted her, then walked over quickly.

“Raul, have you done something to displease His Highness?”

“N, no.”

Riley saw her own frightened face reflected in the chief chamberlain’s grave eyes.

“Is there something you’ve been hiding?”

The chief chamberlain’s voice dropped low and careful, and Riley’s fear deepened.

“N, no, there isn’t.”

But the moment the words left her mouth, her stomach dropped.

Something she had been hiding?

Her heart began to pound harder.

The corridor leading to her room had a strange, oppressive silence hanging over it that was not normally there. It was frightening.

“In any case, His Highness has been waiting in your room for hours. Go quickly.”

Riley swallowed hard and forced her reluctant feet to move toward her room.

She was shaking inside, as though walking toward a verdict, but she kept her inner avoidance instinct running at full capacity.

There can’t be anything wrong. He probably couldn’t find something and is waiting for me to come back.

She forced herself calm, moved her stiff limbs, and reached her door.

But her composure did not last.

The moment she opened it, a cold, oppressive air seeped out from inside her room, unlike anything she had ever felt there before.

And the room itself was in complete disarray, as though it had been ransacked, or searched.

There were not many pieces of furniture, but every drawer, every shelf, every wardrobe had been turned out and overturned. Riley slowly looked to one side.

Andrea was there.