It had already been a week since the envoy from Andurus arrived.

  I thought the news would cause more shock, but the nobles were calmer than I expected, probably since it happened so often in the past.

  Although some of the nobles had already started trying to gain favor.

  What had been odder was Caitel’s reaction… I didn’t know what he was up to, but he kept inviting them to have meals and tea together. He had been acting more gentle than I expected. Thanks to all these dinners and meetings for tea, I became so exhausted. Well, it was nice that he hadn’t drawn his sword to kill them… but I couldn’t help feeling down after seeing him being so kind…


  Hmph, and he said I was his only child!

  One couldn’t trust anyone in this world. Life was a lonely battle, and I would have to take care of myself!

  “While I was away for a while, something funny happened.”


  Huh? This voice was…


  “A new member of this royal family. This is really interesting.”


  When I turned my head behind the sofa while reading a book, I saw a man who should not have been there pushing his head inside.

  Dranste.

  I immediately grimaced. Where’d this guy come from?

  “Where have you been?”


  “Why? Did you miss me?”


  What was he saying? Couldn’t he even see my cold stare? Dranste smiled coquettishly. Oh, why were there so many people I wanted to punch?

  He used to stay in the palace longer and even had his own room, but it has become rare to see him these days. He disappeared along with the wind so often that I didn’t care anymore.

  Anyway, this guy’s a mystery. It had been more than seven years since I had seen him, and I knew nothing about him but his name. I expected to see him from time to time, but the more I knew about him, the more I felt like I was falling into the mystery. What I found out was that he was Caitel’s teacher in the palace and was a very suspicious person.

  Well, I was not saying I had to find out about this, but looking at this face made me so… annoyed. Dranste knew a lot about me, but I didn’t know anything about him. This was unfair.

  “Go away. I’m not going to play with you.”


  I couldn’t stand the heat in my stomach while I looked at that face.