“What?”

Kalaian’s face hardened instantly. Mishuan tilted his head.

“Wasn’t that in the letter? She collapsed today, and I helped her.”

“…There was nothing like that, but she’s been tired lately due to her weak constitution.”

“It seems she didn’t write about that to avoid worrying you.”

“……”

He looked taken aback and then fell silent as if lost in thought. After a long while, Kalaian muttered with a pained expression.

“It seems I’m always just tormenting Aristena…”

“……”

“Perhaps I should speak to His Majesty and request a personnel change to send her back…”

At this, Mishuan looked aghast and spoke, dumbfounded.

“No, does your thinking stop when she’s involved? Why is such an intelligent person acting like this? Don’t you consider her efforts in researching all night? How do you think she would feel if she’s forcibly sent back to the Magic Department? Not to mention, the damage to her reputation?”

“……”

“And you know what? I don’t think Your Highness needs to blame yourself to this extent. Of course, there might still be aspects where you fail to consider her…”

Mishuan sighed deeply. Then he looked at him with an uncharacteristically subdued gaze. At this man who had long since fallen apart.

“…The reason I decided to follow you was because I thought… if I came here… if I met her again… your condition might improve a little, my lord.”

Mishuan turned and walked towards the window. As he put his foot on the windowsill, he left these words before departing:

“You’re making an effort, aren’t you? For her to be happy this time. I don’t think there’s any need to belittle that effort by blaming yourself.”

Mishuan leaped out the window and disappeared. Kalaian quietly sank into thought.

Soon, he took out some stationery from the drawer and began writing a letter as usual. As he did so, his hand stopped dozens of times.

Finally, he put down the pen and buried his face in one hand.

Even he couldn’t understand…

What he was doing now, if he was doing it right.

Asking you to show him the direction of life again… is it still selfishness?

Aristena.

Can someone as selfish as me contribute to your happiness?

* * *

Aris arrived at work early in the morning and ventilated the research room. Feeling the lukewarm breeze, she diligently cleaned and then neatly groomed herself in front of the mirror in the corner of the research room.

Then she gathered the documents with the agenda and left the annex. According to the plan, she should have asked for permission yesterday from the superiors for a geological survey of the place where cracks had appeared, but it ended up being postponed to today.

The place she had to visit for this was the palace where the Crown Prince was. Although she felt reluctant, she had no choice as he was in charge of overseeing this Magic Research Department.

Aris decided to think positively. Since coming to the imperial palace, she hadn’t been to any buildings other than East Wing 2, so she thought she might as well take this opportunity to look around.

Aris tightened her grip on the file folder. It’s okay, it’ll be fine.

Since she knew the geography of the imperial palace well, she just walked wherever her feet took her. Before she knew it, she was right in front of her destination.

Aris deliberately ignored her trembling fingertips. Because the Crown Prince’s palace was quite close to the Empress’s palace, she could see the familiar shape of that building beyond.

Don’t mind it. You have nothing to do with that…

Feeling her back stiffen, Aris stepped into the Crown Prince’s palace. She could see various people, including palace servants.

‘Where should I go to meet him…’

Aris looked around anxiously. The familiar attire of the servants that could be seen everywhere and the majestic appearance of the palace, incomparable to the annex, made her feel like she was suffocating. Aris patted her chest.

‘Calm down, calm down, Aristena…’

Perhaps it was too much to come here so nonchalantly. She had been fine until she was in the annex.

It seemed as if they were all glancing at her and whispering. With cold gazes. With contemptuous sneers. Calling her the stupid Glass Empress pushed in by the East…

“Excuse me…?”

With a sudden call, someone gently touched her shoulder. Aris turned around, startled. A girl who looked like a palace maid was looking at her with wide, rabbit-like eyes.

“Are you alright? You were just standing still, and you didn’t respond no matter how many times I called…”

“Ah… I’m fine.”

Aris hugged the file folder tighter with her slightly trembling hands. The sound of her pounding heart echoed in her ears.

The girl looked at her with an unreadable expression. Aris rolled her eyes, feeling awkward. Why wasn’t she leaving? Did she look suspicious? Did she recognize her as someone from the East?

Since coming to the imperial palace, she had occasionally received gazes strangely similar to the one this girl was giving her now.

She tried her best to ignore it, but in the end… was it because she was from the East that they were giving her unfavorable looks? Even though the two groups had achieved reconciliation, there was still little change in the prejudices they held towards each other.

“Dr. Aristena… right?”

“Yes, is there something…”

In response to Aris’s dejected answer, the girl covered her mouth with both hands and suddenly let out a cheer. Her eyes widened in surprise. Due to the girl’s cheer, others also glanced this way.

“Oh my! I heard you had come to the imperial palace… I really wanted to meet you!”

“Pardon? You… wanted to meet me?”

Aris opened her mouth slightly in surprise. Suddenly, all her tension dissipated. The girl clasped her hands together, her eyes shining with admiration.

“Do you remember the magical relief supplies you provided at a low price two years ago? The ones you developed yourself…”

“Of course, I remember.”

Aris couldn’t forget it as it was when she achieved her first results and felt a sense of accomplishment. The girl spoke with eyes full of joy.

“Thanks to that, my younger sibling’s illness could improve. Even though we called many doctors, there was no improvement… When the whole family had given up, we brought in your magical device as a last resort, and my sibling’s condition improved.”

She bowed deeply in gratitude.

“Thank you so much, Doctor. I’m so, so grateful… Because of the expensive medical fees and medicine costs, our family was getting more and more strained and we had no choice but to let go of my sibling… Your magic is a miracle. That day, I learned for the first time that miracles really do exist…!”

The girl with reddened eyes bowed several more times in gratitude. Aris was at a loss in the face of this outpouring of thanks. It was the first time she had received such profound gratitude, and at the same time, it was the first time she had directly confirmed that someone had been helped by her achievements.

Her vague desire to be useful and the thought of wanting to help someone had been just a small box she had kept in her heart all this time. But now, it felt as if that box had suddenly expanded to surround her.

‘Someone actually needed me.’

To someone, I was truly useful…

Aris was suddenly overwhelmed with emotion.

“I’m so glad. That it was helpful… I’m really, truly glad.”

With a feeling as if her heart was floating, Aris smiled happily. The girl personally guided her to the Crown Prince’s office.

And before parting, she whispered words of encouragement.

“Everyone I work with likes you too, Doctor. Some people seemed to not understand why you rejected the marriage proposal from His Highness the Crown Prince… But the fact that you still came to work at the imperial palace means that His Majesty also recognized your abilities. I’ll continue to support you, Doctor!”

“Thank you for thinking so highly of me.”

Aris greeted the girl who looked about seventeen with a bright smile. Thanks to her, all her tension had melted away like snow.

With renewed confidence, Aris knocked on the door and announced her visit. At the same time, there was a commotion from inside his office.

Aris was confused, but when she was granted permission, she calmly entered and greeted him.

“I greet Your Highness the Crown Prince, the small sword protecting Belvaiden.”

If she hadn’t met that girl earlier, she would have surely trembled recalling old memories. She felt truly fortunate and happy.

Aris raised her head to look at him. But an unexpected and bewildering sight entered her view. Kalaian was standing in an awkward posture, supporting himself with one hand on the desk. Behind him, she could see his chair pushed back ungracefully.