Ferdin, the Princess, and the child together created a strangely harmonious scene. Erin gave them a small bow, similar to her greeting that morning.

Ferdin carefully grasped her shoulder and looked into her eyes with concern.

“Are you alright, Lady Erin?”

“Pardon…?”

Erin was taken aback by Ferdin’s sudden question. Did he know about what happened to her the other night? No, that couldn’t be.

“Recently… you haven’t looked well.”

Looking at Ferdin who was worried about her, Erin recalled the dream she had.

Their close proximity felt similar to that moment in her dream. The memory of him kissing her forehead in that dream flashed through her mind.

Erin Liserth, you’ve lost your mind.

If Ferdin knew what she was thinking, he would surely despise her.

How was her current state any different from the rumors? The villainess obsessed with Ferdin who dragged him down to ruin.

Erin stepped away from Ferdin. His expression darkened. Ferdin stared at her blankly. The Princess pushed Ferdin aside and stood before Erin.

Erin couldn’t tell if she was imagining it, but one corner of the Princess’s mouth seemed slightly upturned.

“Lord Ferdin, please step aside for a moment. Lady Erin seems uncomfortable!”

“Un…comfortable…?”

“Yes, yes, standing so close would make anyone uncomfortable, wouldn’t it? Oh, that reminds me, I have something to ask of Lady Erin.”

As soon as the Princess finished speaking, the child clinging to her legs spoke with blushing cheeks.

“Please… please give me a name!”

“A name?”

“The child says they have no name. They specifically wanted to ask Lady Erin… because you’re the one who gave them a new life.”

The child’s eyes sparkled brightly while looking at her. Erin knelt down to meet the child’s gaze.

Give them a name? Was she worthy of such a task?

What Erin had done wasn’t anything special. Anyone else in her position would have made the same choice. Despite thinking this, Erin felt her heart swelling. She had changed someone’s life.

The child’s expression was full of vitality.

Their eyes were so clear that it was hard to believe this was the same child who had been sitting hopeless and dazed in the werewolf territory.

‘They said they had no family.’

Unlike the refugees who had found their places, this child had nowhere to go. That’s why the Princess was temporarily caring for them while looking for a place for the child.

Looking at the child, Erin recalled her own childhood. She had the Marquis’s mansion, but never once felt it was a place she should return to.

Noticing Erin’s hesitation, the child clung to her leg.

“I… really want Lady Erin, who saved everyone, to give me my name.”

“I see.”

Erin smiled at the child. But her expression quickly stiffened. The Princess and Ferdin were looking at her with surprised faces.

For a moment, she thought she heard Corelia’s voice.

“Erin, a lady doesn’t smile carelessly. Frivolous smiles make others uncomfortable. Besides, your smile isn’t particularly pleasant to look at.”

Ferdin and the Princess probably didn’t find her smile appealing either.

But the child’s next words caught Erin by surprise.

“You’re beautiful, Lady Knight!”

“Beautiful…?”

“Yes, you’re so lovely! Please smile more often.”

It was the first time anyone had asked her to smile more.

“Don’t smile, Erin.”

“Nobody likes your smile!”

“How utterly vulgar.”

Corelia had whispered those words whenever Erin tried to smile even slightly.

She looked at the child and smiled brightly.

“Bahan. How about Bahan?”

“I love it!”

* * *

Ferdin felt a strange sensation, like time had stopped. The child, now named Bahan, happily bounced around next to Erin.

Beside them, he saw her smiling with the corners of her eyes crinkling. At Erin’s warm smile, Ferdin felt his heart beating faster.

She was simply smiling brightly. But he found himself wishing those eyes, gazing at something lovable, would turn toward him.

“Ferdin, have you fallen in love?”

Ferdin frowned. Why was Ditrion’s question coming to mind now?

But truthfully, he had his suspicions.

Even if he couldn’t be certain it was love… Ferdin found himself excessively concerned about Erin lately.

He felt anxious when she wasn’t in sight.

Whenever someone became important to him, Ditrion would either take them away or crush them. And for Ditrion, the First Prince of the Empire, this was a very simple task.

He would replace Ferdin’s beloved nanny with his own, or take away his swordsmanship teacher who had been with him for years.

Anyone Ferdin showed even the slightest affection for within the imperial palace would inevitably become Ditrion’s person.

He hated for Ferdin to possess anything wholly for himself.

Of course, some people remained by Ferdin’s side despite this. But misfortune always befell them. Even his mother had disappeared that way. From then on, Ferdin decided it was better not to love at all.

Even if he loved, he would never say so. Only then could he protect his people. That’s why he deliberately tried not to show that he cared about Erin. But for Ditrion to say such things to him… had he been looking at Erin that often?

He watched as Princess Asili healed Erin. The Princess’s holy power was truly remarkable.

When she placed her hand on Erin’s abdomen, Erin’s face visibly relaxed.

After healing Erin, the Princess approached Ferdin with a tired expression and whispered in his ear.

“Escort Erin back.”

“What?”

“Stop just staring at her with that face that says you want to be alone with her.”

The Princess pushed Ferdin’s back as she spoke. It happened before he could properly respond to her words.

Ferdin found himself standing beside Erin.

“Lord Ferdin?”

Erin looked at him quizzically. Ferdin blushed at her gaze.

‘No, Ferdin. You know you can’t do this.’

But… the Princess had a point. The exhausted Erin might encounter Ditrion on her way.

For some reason, Ditrion seemed very interested in Erin. So to help her handle such a difficult situation, it made sense for him to escort her.

Telling himself that his intentions were absolutely not personal, Ferdin spoke to Erin.

“Lady Erin, may I accompany you to the dormitory?”

What if she found it strange? Ferdin worried as he looked at Erin.

But contrary to his anxiety, Erin simply nodded slightly.

Her ears turned red as she lowered her head.

* * *

Erin and Ferdin walked together. Though he hadn’t deliberately tried to notice, she had a pleasant scent.

Ferdin had to restrain himself from moving closer to her.

“Please… her…”

“Don’t forget…”

The Princess had said Erin was the one who changed her fate.

And in that memory he saw with his ability… he knew Erin from somewhere in that unknown space.

“This is the first prophecy I’ve received, so I don’t fully understand. But Lady Erin might be hiding much more than we think.”

The Princess looked sad as she said this. Following Erin, Ferdin gazed at her small but sturdy shoulders. He could hardly imagine how much burden those shoulders carried.

Walking silently, Ferdin suddenly stopped. She had abruptly halted in front of him. As he moved beside her, she grabbed his arm with trembling hands.

‘Erin is trembling?’

Ferdin slowly turned his gaze to where Erin was looking.

A beautiful woman with long hair and striking features was walking with Karon Liserth. He had seen her before, both at the imperial palace and in Erin’s memories.

Corelia Liserth.

She was smiling and having a friendly conversation with Karon.

‘They truly look like mother and son.’

But Erin’s reaction to Corelia remained strange. Ferdin’s expression hardened. He carefully extended his arm and embraced Erin’s trembling body.

He could feel Corelia turning to look at them. In Ferdin’s mind, he recalled the scars on Erin’s back.

Marks that looked like they had been made by something thin and long. Those wounds he had vaguely suspected were inflicted by someone from House Liserth.