Chapter 12

To begin with, even in the first timeline my sister had lived through, the Crown Prince’s faction and the Mage Tower had never been on particularly good terms.

And yet nobles—people who still carried the name of nobility—continued interacting with the Mage Tower and freely importing magical artifacts. Naturally, someone wanted to seize any excuse they could against them.

Magic could not be allowed to win public support and strengthen the Mage Tower’s political influence.

Besides, the Mage Tower openly opposed the Crown Prince entirely.

If we could somehow draw them to our side, that would be even better.

My sister finally spoke as though she had made up her mind.

“I’ll have to visit the Mage Tower myself.”

“Sister? Personally?”

In this life, she had abandoned the magic she once loved so dearly and taken up the sword instead—all to protect me.

If she returned to the Mage Tower, old attachments would surely resurface.

Had I made things too large again and only caused her more pain?

As if reading my thoughts, my sister gently stroked my hair.

“If going to the Violet family and the Mage Tower can help you, then I don’t mind. But in exchange, promise me you’ll be extremely careful during that time.”

“I promise.”

“A promise alone isn’t enough. I think we need someone else to protect you too.”

Minabel looked at my sister with a dignified expression that practically screamed, “At last, my turn has come!”

But my sister did not spare Minabel even a single glance. Instead, she summoned parchment from somewhere and immediately wrote a magically delivered letter.

* * *

What is this?

“So this is how we meet.”

“…How exactly did I end up here?”

“When the young duke of Rosena personally stamps a formal request with the family seal, how could a powerless prince possibly refuse?”

Was he mocking me? Or joking?

Whatever it was, my head felt dizzy.

For reference, this was the Third Prince’s Palace.

Today, Lucian Advein—his blue eyes calm as ever—was inviting me to sit before him as though this situation were perfectly ordinary.

“You should sit. Your health isn’t very good, after all. And while the young duke is away, you’ll apparently be under my protection here.”

‘Good thing I never told him his title amounts to nothing more than “frail youngest duke’s daughter”…’

I suddenly remembered Minabel muttering those words recently.

Frail youngest duke’s daughter.

For some reason, the phrase struck me deeply now.

“Ah…”

My body isn’t the problem right now—my heart is.

When my sister said she would find me somewhere safe, I assumed I would be staying at some estate outside the capital.

Even if leaving for several days seemed excessive, it was still believable coming from my sister.

But this?

What exactly was this?

“What’s wrong? Does the tea not suit your taste?”

No, it’s the location and the company that don’t suit me.

Yet the prince merely tilted his head as though he genuinely could not understand the issue.

As if he were simply disappointed that the tea he personally liked did not suit my palate.

“No. I was simply startled by the sudden private audience and behaved discourteously.”

“There’s nothing discourteous about it. Judging from your expression, it seems the young duke failed to explain things to you beforehand? You sisters appeared remarkably close, so this puts me in a difficult position. It makes me look like I kidnapped you outright.”

Exactly! That’s why my sister should have explained something before leaving!

Left with no choice, I sat across from him.

After lifting the teacup and taking a careful sip, I forced the corners of my lips upward into a polite smile. He responded with a faint smile of his own.

“The aroma is lovely.”

“Before you drank it, I instructed them to test it with a silver spoon for poison first, since I heard you always do so. I took special care preparing it, so I hope it pleases you.”

“Ah…”

My sister and Lucian must have spoken at great length without me.

And naturally, the topic had been me.

Yet somehow, the person who most needed to hear these conversations had heard absolutely none of them.

This is absurd.

I want to go home.

Internally, I was screaming exactly that.

Externally, of course, I revealed nothing.

Even if I had rarely left the house, I had long since learned the behavior expected of a duke’s daughter.

“Though to be fair, I too pay close attention to poisonings, so I understand the concern. Even so, the level of care shown toward you was quite extraordinary.”

“My health is not particularly strong. Sugar that tastes merely sweet to others can sometimes become lethal poison to me.”

I answered carefully, choosing every word to avoid giving him anything to use against me.

A faint smile passed across his face—one impossible to fully read.

“Ah, listening to stories about you made me forget for a moment. Let me introduce him. This is Haston—the attendant, knight, meal server, chef, and general everything-else that I trust and rely on most.”

As though naturally changing the topic, he gestured toward the man who had silently stood behind him the entire time.

“If Your Highness says it like that, it sounds as though there’s absolutely no one else in this palace.”

Haston answered in a gentle voice that nevertheless carried unmistakable sharpness underneath.

Sharp enough that I wondered whether it was truly acceptable to speak to one’s master that way.

“It’s not exactly wrong. Ever since my brother ordered that no one enter here, hasn’t this place become somewhere only half-dead corpses come and go?”

“Your Highness.”

“Ah, do corpses even come in? Or do they only leave?”

Outwardly, he resembled a frail gentleman.

But unlike his appearance, his gaze was astonishingly sharp.

If I had to compare it to something, it resembled the look in my sister’s eyes whenever she observed others.

The eyes of someone who constantly believed others harbored hidden motives and never once relaxed his suspicion or vigilance.

Perhaps noticing my gaze on him, Haston quickly smiled brightly before politely greeting me and speaking again to the prince.

“Your Highness, if you continue lying so excessively, you will surely be struck by divine lightning the moment you step into the temple.”

“Haha. Then I suppose I’ll have to drag you into it with me. We’ll be struck together.”

“I would prefer to survive, actually. Besides, regrettably, I already have someone else in mind.”

“I dislike you too.”

“……”

I slowly blinked, suddenly feeling as though I had become an unwilling extra trapped inside a comedy routine.

Certainly, the Third Prince’s Palace was so quiet it was difficult to believe a prince actually lived there.

It almost felt as though the Imperial Family wanted the palace itself erased from existence.

The silence was so complete that even if an assassin entered, they would obviously be caught immediately.

Of course, the palace had not always been this isolated.

Once, young noble sons chosen as Lucian’s playmates had visited regularly. Tea parties had been held there, and guests came and went often.

Everything twisted after the emperor completely ceased public activity and the eldest son, Vincent, began handling affairs as though he had already taken the Crown Prince’s seat.

“From this moment onward, no one may visit Prince Lucian’s palace without my permission. The physicians have advised minimizing outside contact due to Lucian’s poor health, so remember it well.”

“But why dismiss even the nurse who has attended His Highness since childhood—”

“She behaved carelessly and wasted the palace’s resources freely. I personally reviewed the records myself. Are you questioning me?”

“…That is not what I meant.”

“Then be careful yourself. If you attempt to meet Lucian behind my back, you will not return unharmed.”

Vincent had declared all of this coldly while Lucian himself listened nearby.

After that, the prince’s palace became this silent.

Since I myself had spent most of my life quietly confined to isolated bedrooms without visitors, it took me some time to realize just how unnatural this silence truly was.

“Your Highness, can’t you see Lady Rosena looking at us strangely right now?”

“If you hadn’t brought it up, the atmosphere wouldn’t have become strange in the first place.”

At the same moment, Elian—who had remained by my side—leaned slightly closer and whispered into my ear.

“My lady, shall I say your condition has worsened?”

Even Elian apparently thought the image of me sitting here felt deeply bizarre.

If we offered an appropriate excuse, perhaps I could move somewhere more comfortable to rest.

But I quietly signaled refusal without making it obvious.

I still hadn’t learned anything here yet.

My sister would never send me somewhere with ill intentions, but objectively speaking, the prince’s palace was hardly somewhere a person could casually entrust themselves without understanding the situation.

“You two seem extraordinarily close.”

I finally spoke, hoping to interrupt the prince and Haston’s exchange so something productive might happen.

Instantly proving that their squabbling had partially been for show, both men stopped simultaneously and looked toward me.

“You looked utterly uninterested in speaking with me at all, my lady.”

Because you made it painfully obvious how uncomfortable you were making me feel.