“I’m insane.”

Valoid muttered the words quietly to himself.

Rivy stood beside him, but he wasn’t speaking to her.

She would usually have asked, concerned, “Did something happen, Your Highness?”

But she was now resentful towards him.

‘Yes, Your Highness has clearly lost his reason. How could you hand over that box? And to a woman like her!’

Rivi Hilnet was the daughter of Sevi Hilnet, the former head maid.

That meant the box containing clues to Sevi’s whereabouts was also Rivi’s greatest weakness.

‘What if she takes it to her father and tells him everything?’

Marquis Penrose was obsessed with exposing the late Queen’s infidelity.

This was the only way he could remove Valoid from the line of succession.

To do so, they needed to find Sevi, the late Queen’s head maid, and Turello, the court clown.

If the Marquis ever got his hands on the box, it would be game over.

No one understood that better than Valoid himself.

And yet, despite knowing exactly what was at stake, he still placed it in her hands.

‘And of all people, to Marquis Penrose’s daughter!’

Rivi found it impossible to accept reality.

Unexpectedly, Valoid himself was wrestling with thoughts not so different from his subordinate’s.

‘Was giving Serine that box truly the right choice? Could I not have persuaded her another way? What are the chances she’ll take the box and return to Marquis Penrose?’

If Serine’s resentment towards her biological father softened even slightly, she could leave Valoid at once.

If that happened, Valoid himself would be completely f*cked.

He would lose the woman he was desperate to keep, and at the same time hand his enemy the leash to his own neck.

“…Crazy bastard.”

“Pardon?”

“You’re still here. You may leave now.”

Finally alone, Valoid rubbed his temples irritably.

It was as though he were trying to erase the woman who occupied every corner of his mind.

Yet no matter how many times he thought about it, he could only come to one conclusion: He must like her enough to lose his mind.

And of all people, the daughter of his enemy.

***

Spending time together before an engagement was important.

With that in mind, Suzanna sent Helix a letter full of pitiful complaints.

[People keep saying they’ve seen Brother Raymond here and there. Then why won’t he come home? Has family stopped mattering to him now? Everyone keeps leaving me behind.]

Following several complaints, Helix kindly offered to cheer her up.

While waiting for him to arrive, Suzanna allowed the maids to fuss over her to their heart’s content.

The maid tending to her hair brushed her long curls carefully until they shone with a soft, beautiful gloss. Then, after pinning up half of her hair and decorating it with white pearls and lilies, the style accentuated her youthful innocence perfectly.

“You look absolutely beautiful, Lady Suzanna!”

“Lord Helix won’t be able to resist falling for you all over again.”

Suzanna was thoroughly pleased with how she looked.

The only unfortunate thing was the stark contrast between her black hair and her crimson eyes.

If only one feature had been lighter, she would have suited the soft, feminine styles that were in fashion at the time much better.

Disguising her disappointment, Suzanna chose a pale pink dress.

It was her favorite color and it softened the sharp intensity of her vivid eyes, making her appear far more delicate and lovely.

She slipped on pearl-adorned shoes and put on thin lace gloves.

Despite the fact that Helix should have arrived a while ago and been waiting for her, there was still no sign of him.

“My lady, they said Lord Helix arrived over half an hour ago.”

The maid sent to check returned with a puzzled tilt of her head.

“They said he went upstairs to escort you himself, but where could he possibly have gone?”

“Perhaps he wants to play hide-and-seek with me.”

Suzanna smiled prettily.

She had already been sitting still for hours and was beginning to feel restless.

“I’ll check upstairs myself. Just in case, the rest of you go search the garden.”

“But, my lady—”

“I know. We’re not officially engaged yet, so we shouldn’t be alone together. But this is our house, isn’t it? With no one watching, who would dare gossip carelessly?”

Her blood-red eyes swept sharply across the maids’ faces.

The maids instinctively shrank back, unable to argue further.

“Ready or not, here I come.”

Suzanna began searching through the rooms upstairs one by one.

This was the house where she had been born and raised.

There was no way she would lose at hide-and-seek here.

“Found you.”

She caught the faintest hint of movement coming from one of the empty rooms.

Thinking she might surprise him, she opened the door quietly, making sure not to make a sound.

Sure enough, Helix’s tall figure came into view.

Dressed impeccably in a formal suit, he stood with one hand casually tucked into his pocket, looking over the bookshelf — perhaps because there was no one else around to see him.

This relaxed, unguarded side of his character was enough to make any woman’s heart flutter.

He was examining Suzanna’s childhood portraits and old black-and-white photographs so intently.

‘How adorable.’

Since no one was looking, it might be all right to hug him from behind.

Helix remained absorbed in what he was looking at, completely unaware that Suzanna was approaching him quietly.

She found herself wondering which of her many appearances had captured his interest.

The moment the photograph behind his broad frame came into view, the warmth vanished from her eyes.

‘Of all things…’

It was the only childhood photograph of Serine that Suzanna had.

In the picture, Suzanna stood smiling mischievously while holding an orange rag doll that she didn’t remember having.

Next to her, Serine sat stiffly in a chair; her tightly pressed lips perfectly reflected her timid nature.

Perhaps she found the camera too unfamiliar and overwhelming because her wide eyes were filled with quiet unease.

Against the pale blue backdrop, she looked like a frightened kitten.

‘Helix. Out of all the countless photographs, why are you looking at that one? Was it just coincidence?’

At that moment, Helix turned his head.

Having already looked through the photographs once, he showed no hesitation as he moved his gaze towards its next target.

However, just before he could focus on another portrait, he spotted Suzanna and flinched in surprise.

“Suz.”

“What were you doing here, Helix?”

The way she abruptly stepped forward to block his view was instinctive.

Suzanna smiled brightly enough to outshine every black-and-white fragment of the past.

“Did you get lost while looking for me?”

Or were you searching for someone else?

“It seems I mistook the room. I know it would have been proper to leave immediately, but I was tempted by the desire to see what you looked like as a child. If it offended you, then I apologize.”

His tone while explaining himself to Suzanna remained as gentle and courteous as ever.

If she pushed him any further, she would surely end up looking like an unreasonable, hysterical woman.

“Apologize? There’s no need for that between us. Though I am curious—what did you think of me? What was I like as a child?”

“There are not enough words in this world to properly describe how lovely you are.”

Smiling faintly, Helix took Suzanna’s hand and pressed a kiss to the back of it.

Oh, surely no maiden alive could keep her heart from fluttering at the sensation of lips brushing lightly against her skin before pulling away.

“Shall we go watch the play now?”

“Alright.”

As she left under his escort, Suzanna glanced back one last time.

The portrait that Helix had been about to examine caught her attention.

In it, an adult Serine was seated in a chair, looking physically frail.

She looked gloomy and painfully thin, like a sickly invalid.

This naturally made Suzanna stand out even more beside her, with her radiant smile and her gentle hand on Serine’s shoulder.

She was the bright, kind-hearted younger sister caring for her disabled older sister.

This had been the intention of the composition from the outset.

The painter was perceptive enough to understand Suzanna’s wishes, and had made her beautiful, too.

And yet—

Why did it still feel as though Helix’s gaze had been fixed on Serine instead?

‘Helix Lauren.’

It seemed that the time had finally come to erase Serine from her world completely.

***

Legal disputes over territorial ownership were always lengthy and exhausting.

As dawn slowly broke, Valoid dragged a tired hand down his face.

His legal advisers at the royal court were probably preparing to present the land deeds and patents granted by the House of Riegenberg.

Along with these, they would ask several pointed questions regarding the identity of Count Earthwand’s ‘great-grandson’, who had appeared after a ninety-year absence.

Having slipped on his coat, he was just about to step into the entrance hall, bathed in the pale blue light of dawn.

It was then that he noticed the strange expression on Livy’s face as she came to see him off.

“What is it?”

“Well, um… it’s nothing particularly serious, but…”

“If you wait until it becomes serious to report it, it’ll already be too late. What is it?”

“Lady Serinne has been missing since last night.”