Aunt Lila’s face was deathly pale as she saw the doctor off.

“Ann.”

“Yes…”

“Have you ever met your aunts?”

It was a sudden question. Ann slowly shook her head. The aunt’s face darkened terribly. Ann couldn’t ask why. She just watched the aunt who kept sighing deeply.

“How old are you this year?”

“Five years old.”

“I see.”

Ann was five this year. Though she was thin like a stick and short, she often heard she was more mature than children her age. She was also good at studying. She could easily solve math problems that the master’s daughter couldn’t. So she could certainly take care of her mother.

“…You have to take good care of your mother.”

Aunt Lila, who had been quietly wiping away tears, stroked Ann’s cheek. Ann nodded. Aunt Lila couldn’t stay by her side long either. She herself had seven siblings at home. If it weren’t for a close colleague’s matter, she wouldn’t have been able to leave her post this long.

Though Ann didn’t fully understand adult circumstances, she knew Aunt Lila worked hard, so she quickly urged her to go home and saw her off. Then she was left alone with her mother. She looked down at her haggard mother. Her pale face was unmistakably that of a sick person.

“Mom, don’t worry. Now Ann will take care of you. You just get better. Okay?”

She whispered while wiping her mother’s face covered in cold sweat. Ann hugged her mother’s neck as she moaned without hearing her words. And she prayed to her father whom she couldn’t remember.

‘Dad, if you’re in heaven… If you’re watching over us, please make Mom better. Please let Mom and me live long and healthy lives.’

But contrary to her prayers, her mother didn’t live long. Ann now looked at Lennox’s mother while recalling her own mother’s face that had grown hazy. 

The Queen Dowager, who had her long black hair elegantly pinned up, was looking at her son today too with very affectionate eyes.

But Lennox wasn’t gazing at his mother. His gaze was directed at the teacup gripped by Ann’s white fingers. Ann sat between mother and son, quietly stroking the teacup. 

The teacup embossed with splendid flowers held red tea.

“I heard you’re accompanying Ann to the Saphoras villa. Is Charlotte going too?”

“No. Charlotte doesn’t like the forest.”

“Oh my. Charlotte would like anything if it’s with you.”

“She finds fishing boring and doesn’t particularly like hunting either.”

“It seems Ann doesn’t particularly like hunting either. Isn’t that right, Ann?”

She felt like she’d shrivel up in the power struggle between mother and son that gave no quarter. Ingrid’s blue eyes turned toward Ann. Her dry lips felt parched. She didn’t know what to say in response. No, at times like this, whose side should she even take?

Though this power struggle had continued for years, Ann still didn’t know. What kind of reaction was the right one? 

Duchess Valenska had told her not to be present with both of them from the start. But if that were easy, it wouldn’t be this agonizing.

“I…”

“Ann likes walking in the forest. She also likes watching when I hunt.”

“If that’s the case, Charlotte would like it too. Take Charlotte along this time. Then Ann won’t be bored either.”

“Did Charlotte say that? That she wants you to take her too?”

“Lennox.”

A sharp yet refined call flowed from her red lips. Lennox looked at the Queen Dowager staring at him intently with the exact same gaze. He didn’t want to bring Charlotte to Saphoras. That place was a private estate for just Ann and himself.

Every summer, they always headed to Saphoras. The villa where they could enjoy both the sea and forest was as secluded as it was tranquil. 

There wasn’t much for Charlotte to enjoy, who liked glamorous balls and the bustling city atmosphere. He knew she wouldn’t like it because he’d experienced it early on.

Charlotte found boring places like country villas tedious. Then she’d bring her friends and enjoy gambling and singing and dancing every evening.

He didn’t care. As long as she didn’t try to separate Ann who was with him, or as long as she didn’t show checking glances toward Ann while spreading gossip that wasn’t quite gossip to her friends…

He was sick and tired of Ann being at a loss, reading Charlotte’s mood. Ann was his possession. Whether friend or whatever… It didn’t matter what name she was called by. Just like it didn’t matter how their relationship was defined.

“The royal wedding isn’t far off.”

“I know without you telling me.”

At Lennox’s irritable answer, Ingrid’s expression hardened. Her son had been particularly sharp lately. His temperament had never been ordinary to begin with. 

She recalled her deceased husband. He was a man who had been dull enough to sometimes feel indifferent. Though his appearance resembled him perfectly, had he failed to inherit that temperament?

‘Still, they’re the same in that one thing.’

Wanting a woman unsuited to his station. Yes, they were the same in that one thing. Ingrid turned her gaze to look at the woman who was pale like sitting on a bed of thorns. 

Fourteen years had passed since she first saw her. Even when she was a scrawny little girl, she’d thought her beauty was exceptional.

“Still, she can’t compare to Lady Charlotte, can she?”

The noblewomen close to Charlotte’s mother subtly put down Ann, who had appeared with the title of ‘the girl who instantly captivated the difficult prince,’ adding their comments one by one. 

Though beautiful, she couldn’t compare to the dazzling Charlotte. Though uncommonly lovely for a commoner child, that was all…

‘So they said she was nothing.’

But even now, Lennox’s heart remained with that ‘nothing’ commoner girl. That was the problem. No matter how beautiful Charlotte was, it was useless to Lennox…

“Still, Ann knows her place well.”

It was something Helena de Valenska often said. Since she was a woman who had raised Ann quite carefully, Helena would take Ann’s side along with Sophia, Countess Hervonne, with whom she was close. 

Ann had no greed. She dared not desire the queen’s position, of course, nor even the thought of being adopted into a noble family.

What if it had been a different child instead of Ann? A girl as clever as Ann but more greedy?

“Ann doesn’t know such things. If she did, she would have wanted to become my or Sophia’s adopted daughter. That would have quite grated on Lady Charlotte’s nerves… Even if she couldn’t become queen.”

Helena, who had been quietly sipping tea, opened her lips. Her words were right. Ann knew her place. That’s why she earned no one’s hatred except Charlotte’s.

The reason her maids defended and protected Ann wasn’t because Ann was special. Nor was it because Ann’s beauty was too precious for a commoner.

“What do you think, Ann?”

Ingrid asked with a testing smile. Ann, who had been stroking the round surface of the teacup, raised her head to look at her. Her unusually pale face was shadowed.

“…With my limited insight, since the royal wedding isn’t far off, I think it would be good to spend this summer at the palace rather than the villa.”

Ann tried not to stammer. She didn’t look at Lennox either. Ingrid looked satisfied. She answered, “That’s a good idea too.” Ann nodded.

“The Saphoras villa can be visited anytime. Next year, the year after…”

Ann trailed off. Lennox’s gaze reaching her persistently was as cold as an awl. 

But this was right. Ann took a sip of hot tea to settle her churning stomach. She’d heard they’d added a bit of honey, but she couldn’t taste any sweetness.

* * *

“Ann.”

She’d just seen off Ingrid, who was getting up to attend a reading at the grand salon. A rigid low voice rang in her ears. Before Ann could turn her head, she looked at the man who snatched her shoulder sharply. The hand gripping her was as rude as it was urgent.

“You…”

“Don’t be angry.”

His distorted face was pitiful. Strangely, even when angry, Lennox had a childlike side. Others might not know this. Perhaps it was only with Ann. Lennox had many such things. Only with Ann. Particularly only with Ann was he soft and lenient. But…

‘What good does that do?’

It was useless. No matter how special Lennox was only to her. So what of it? 

Ann didn’t want to do anything with Lennox’s special feelings. Lennox was someone for whom even the word ‘undeserved’ was insufficient. Therefore, she’d never coveted him once. Love was different from the desire to possess.

“How can I not be angry?”

“You can go to the villa anytime.”

The Saphoras villa was a place they’d never skipped once since they started living together. Ann recalled the tranquil mansion in Saphoras.

Saphoras had been a renowned resort among the upper class since ancient times. 

That mansion was also one of the royal family’s villas, and with a small farm and ranch experience available, it was an extremely pastoral and beautiful place. The sheer coastal cliffs and green forest. Everything magnificently situated there…

Ann had liked that place from the beginning. Actually, she’d liked every place she went with Lennox. Because…

‘Because I went with you, Lennox…’

Ann chewed on the bitterness.