After that day, Kyla Bailey’s obsession with Duke Blake began. She suddenly showed up at the royal training grounds where the White Lions were practicing.

“Go, Duke!”

And somehow she even found out about his public schedules—showing up at a lunch with the ministers, sitting at the next table with a princess.

“Enjoy your meal, Duke!”

Her bright smile and little finger wave made it obvious—she was dead serious about teasing him.

“At this point, isn’t it going too far? She’s clearly holding a grudge against the White Lion Knights! Remember, it was them who dragged her in during the last incident!”

The royalist ministers were outraged, clutching the backs of their necks.

“The Count is no different! How can he keep defending her when his daughter’s behaving like this?”

“Exactly! Who knows how much the Count is pouring out of his own treasury? There’s hardly a place in the capital where you don’t see that girl’s face.”

“No wonder she’s always been spoiled and caused trouble since she was little. Ugh, that socialite menace… Can’t we just send her away somewhere?”

It was said during a council meeting. Haiden, who had been silently reading documents beneath long, lowered lashes, finally spoke in a low, deep voice.

“Enough.”

“But—!”

“Is that something that needs to be discussed in the middle of a council meeting?”

He already had a cold expression, and even a slight drop in his voice could send chills down anyone’s spine. And now, with those sharp eyes glaring at them? Even the bravest nobles felt their knees go weak.

As the atmosphere in the chamber grew icy, another noble next to them quickly smoothed things over.

“Yes, yes, let’s focus. We’re in the middle of important matters…”

Even after the meeting ended, people kept whispering.

“Tsk, the viscount brought it on himself. His Grace has been under stress because of that woman, and he brought her up for no reason.”

Haiden brushed past them without acknowledging a word, ignoring the gossip completely. He was a man so terrifying that it felt like not even a drop of blood would come out if you stabbed him. Naturally, the other ministers quieted down and acted respectfully.

Meanwhile, as he passed through the crowd, Haiden pressed his lips into a tight line, anxiety flickering behind his calm facade.

‘I really can’t get involved with her any further.’

No matter how hard he tried to push her away, she kept coming back—like a wild animal, more determined than ever.

Feeling the rising danger, Haiden returned to his study, threw down his documents, and collapsed into the chair in front of his black desk.

‘How long do I have to keep running like this?’

He had always been someone who knew how to confront things head-on—he had never run away from someone like this in his entire life.

But she? Her persistence was something else entirely.

‘There’s got to be a better way…’

Then his eyes caught sight of a newspaper article.

***

“Going out again today?”

Princess Everett had come to visit around lunchtime. She delicately raised a teacup painted with pale pink cosmos and asked softly.

“Of course. Where was it again?”

“There’s an official schedule for lunch with the people from the Teracanis Temple at Henchester Blanc this afternoon.”

The temple usually avoided stepping into the royal palace to maintain neutrality. This was the same when they had meals with the aristocratic faction.

Moreover, the temple people didn’t eat meat…

There was only one restaurant the Duke could possibly choose.

***

“Alright, let’s leave in an hour. We can’t go empty-handed while strolling through the shopping district.”

At Kyla’s words, Everett raised her eyebrows with interest and sipped her tea.

An hour later, Kyla arrived at Henchester Blanc. As she stepped out of the carriage, she raised her fan to shield herself from the dazzling sun.

From another carriage, Mary ran over with a parasol in hand.

Since they had some time to spare, Kyla figured she might as well get some shopping done.

“Where should we start?”

The two of them had been trading with young merchants from the Yoker family since they were young. Both their households—and their personal fortunes—were more than abundant.

So in the capital’s most prestigious shopping district, the moment they showed up, every store rushed to treat them like the highest tier VVVIPs.

Their first stop was a jewelry store.

As for dresses, they were all custom-made anyway, with designers visiting their estates to present catalogs and take measurements.

But true gems—those rare, one-of-a-kind treasures—had to be seen in person, carefully preserved in a merchant’s vault.

“There’s something new from Tallis I heard about.”

The jeweler was one of the wealthiest in the entire district, known for housing treasures of unbelievable value.

“You two always have the sharpest ears in Blanverque. How did you already know about something that only arrived on a dawn ship yesterday?”

Ah, the power of connections. A young merchant from Tallis had tipped them off.

“Please, prepare yourselves.”

The jeweler carefully opened a black velvet box he had set aside in advance.

“This is a pale blue Grandy Dierlight necklace, specially made by Margarita, the first queen and founder of Tallis.”

As soon as the box opened, a brilliantly sparkling necklace appeared, dazzling enough to make their eyes widen.

Grandy Dierlight was rarer and more expensive than diamonds.

Everett recognized it immediately and smiled.

“This is the one Margarita supposedly wore at her coronation, right?”

“That’s the necklace that the queen’s husband tried to steal for his mistress, which changed history, right?”

Kyla added, lifting the necklace gently to get a closer look.

The jeweler explained.

“At a glance, it has a hint of green—like a mix of tourmaline and blue diamond.”

“How is it?” Everett asked.

Kyla turned the necklace back and forth in her hands for a moment, then closed her eyes.

At that moment, the history infused into the metal seeped into her.

“Casilius! How could you betray me? I trusted you to the very end!”

Queen Margarita’s feelings of betrayal and rage washed over her with crushing intensity.

This was a power Kyla had possessed since childhood—when she touched an old object, she could naturally sense the emotions it held. Even if the item wasn’t particularly old, if the emotions within it were strong enough, she could see fragmented glimpses of its past.

‘That’s how I found out Gellensid had poisoned the tea.’

Kyla continued to ‘feel’ as she gently handled the necklace. As soon as she became aware of her ability, she began trading with young merchants.

Outwardly, she acted like a troublemaker and was nearly expelled from high society, but the time she bought with her antics allowed her to associate freely with Everett and even establish a company named Lullaby.

The company had one goal.

With neighboring countries drawing closer and trade advancing, it was only a matter of time before power would no longer come from nobility—but from wealth. When that time came, they wanted to use money to buy influence and peacefully unify the royalist and noble factions.

Her father had dismissed it all as nonsense, but Kyla didn’t agree. She had saved up enough funds to build an entire kingdom of her own, after all.

Of course, only a very select few people involved in the business knew this secret.

Holding the necklace, Kyla nodded in satisfaction.

“It’s definitely real.”

At that, Everett signed a figure into a palm-sized ledger brought by a servant and handed it over to the merchant. His movements were confident and practiced.

“The payment will be made under the name Lullaby in two days. We’re still doing the transaction in Rovril currency, right?”

“Yes, of course, Princess.”

By using Rovril—the currency of Tallis—for large transactions, the deals didn’t show up in the Blanverque market, making it harder for the royal family to detect. And since the merchant imported goods from Tallis anyway, he needed Rovril currency.

“My lady, the others have finished their meal,” said Mary, who knocked lightly on the door before stepping inside.

“Okay, I’ll be right out.”

This was how they’d been stockpiling funds: by purchasing valuable goods ahead of time and selling them later when the demand was highest.

‘This necklace is an old relic from Tallis. Someone from there will surely want it someday,’ Kyla thought to herself contentedly.

“Everett, is there anywhere else you want to go?” she asked.

It had been a while since they’d strolled the streets hand in hand. With the mess around Gellensid and both of their families watching them closely, they hadn’t had much time to just enjoy each other’s company. She wasn’t ready to go home just yet.

“Somewhere else?”

Both Kyla and Everett turned to look in the same direction.

“I heard astrology is all the rage these days.”

As it happened, every astrologer in Blanverque seemed to be out on the streets today.

“Is there some kind of festival?”

Kyla was far too curious to simply walk past something like that.

***

Just as Kyla was approaching one of the astrologers…

Haiden, having just parted ways with the temple members, spotted her from a distance and gave a faint smile.

“Your Grace, you seem to be in a good mood today…”

He was usually cold and emotionless, but today, he looked genuinely cheerful.

One knight elbowed another and whispered:

“Idiot! It’s because that young lady didn’t show up today!”

“Ah… I see…”

But Kyla Bailey was right there.

Amid the crowd, no one else could see her, but Haiden’s eyes caught her immediately.

‘She looks happy.’

Kyla Bailey always smiled more brightly when he wasn’t around. But the moment their eyes met, she would put on that same fake smile and walk toward him again.

Haiden quietly watched the woman as she animatedly spoke to an astrologer and poured out a handful of gold coins.

“Your Grace, what do you think is going on? Is this a festival? I haven’t heard anything about one…”

“According to the papers, young noble ladies have recently become obsessed with astrology. I suppose today is a promotional event.”

“Oh, they do promotions like this?”

The White Lions behind Haiden perked up with interest.

“If you’re interested, you can go take a look for a bit.”

After all, the Teracanis temple people had just returned.

With the duke’s permission, the White Lions excitedly blended into the crowd. Being young and vigorous, they looked incredibly innocent.

However, it wasn’t long before they returned with drooping shoulders, clearly disappointed.

Haiden, who had been calmly sipping tea nearby, asked:

“What’s wrong?”

“The fortunes were completely off. They’re all nonsense.”

“What did they say?”

“No matter what we asked, every single astrologer told us to beware of a man with black hair and green eyes…”

The White Lions’ eyes slowly and cautiously scanned Haiden up and down.