Uhh, so, we…… Are doing well.

– Step, step, step.

– Step, step, step.

– Click, click, click.

I couldn’t even say that the scars from that day have all healed, but it was fine because we were all together.

Today was exactly one day since Duke Simon de Sarnez’s trial.

Christelle and Isabelle have been staying in Strauder Palace thanks to Empress Frédérique being considerate of their situation.

Duchess Blanquer and her family left the palace as soon as the trial was finished, but they have been staying at the Duke’s Estate in the Imperial Capital because Eva did not want to return to the territory.

It was a surprising decision considering the fact that they had no understanding of their children until now. And……

“You seem quite free for the Captain of the Fleur-de-lis.”

“Your Royal Highness.”

I immediately called out to the man to my left.

The Imperial Crown Prince twitched one eyebrow and looked down at me.

‘Why are you being so mean to someone five years younger than you?

You would turn anybody who told you that you look pretty free for the crown prince of an Empire into barbecue.’

“Isn’t it okay for him to get some rest because it is Saturday? Walking is good for your health.”

The February weather in the Imperial Capital was similar to that of Seoul (the weather setting being mild all year long must have been fed as snacks to Demy), so we gathered in small groups to walk the hallways of Juliette Palace instead of outside.

Apparently this was pretty common in the salons with many nobles.

Chestnut was about 10 meters behind us, jumping around while carrying Tithé in a burlap sack.

Little Bacary pouted while walking on my right.

He didn’t dare to talk back to his superior, but he didn’t seem to want to be kicked out without a fight.

I quickly continued to speak.

“How is your body feeling? I’m worried that your energy might still be low in this cold weather.”

“……I am doing fine, your highness. The mana interphase was quite long but there was no sequelae.”

The young man answered stiffly like an AI speaker.

I heard a few days after returning to the palace that he made a prophecy about this scheme before becoming unconscious.

However, this seer did not wake up until four days after the trial.

According to the Viscount’s House of Bacary, he had never had mana interphase that was this long before.

There was quite a lot of concern, even within the Imperial family, because he was unconscious for three weeks.

The Imperial doctor and healing priests checked on him quite often, worried that this young talent was in pain.

Even I visited Strauder Palace a few times the last two days to check on his condition.

Thankfully, little Bacary recovered and woke up.

He can only eat soups like tourin for a while because he had been unconscious without any food for so long…… And he lost all memory of the incident once again, but…

“I’m so sorry.”

I apologized. The wide silver eyes underneath the glasses looked back at me.

“Just like at the Masquerade…… I can’t help but think it is my fault. You received a burdensome revelation, little Bacary. I’m sure it was very scary and painful.”

‘Prince Jesse, you are someone who makes all revelations go awry.’

That was what the seer had said to me in the Blanquer Duchy.

He also warned me to stay away from Christelle.

At the ball after that, he saw content not originally found in the story and lost all of his memories.

He also got a bunch of nose bleeds since then. It was all because I changed the future.

“……”

I didn’t transmigrate into this world by choice, but I did not feel well knowing that a child was continuously in pain because of my existence.

Furthermore, I had decided to not force myself to be distant from the main characters.

It meant that little Bacary was going to continue walking down a path of pain.

Something like this could happen again at any time.

‘I wish that this kid couldn’t see anything at all. The Almighty God or whoever doesn’t really need to show us any hints.’

“You sure have many unfortunate events.”

“Please.”

‘What is up with this guy today?’ I quietly rebuked the crown prince punk who was being mean again.

I didn’t care that the punk scowled his handsome face and checked on the young man.

His face looked chaotic.

“……It is not your fault that I see those hallucinations, your highness.”

“I know. But I can’t just ignore it as if it has nothing to do with me. These are pains you would not experience if I was not here.”

“Nonetheless, there is nobody who feels apologetic to someone who makes prophecies that seem to curse them, your highness.”

“It is because they have not seen you in pain, little Bacary.”

I smiled bitterly and answered, making the Captain quickly turn his head and walk while looking forward.

His blue hair that matched his robe was fluttering.

‘Did he think I was just pitying him? It’s absolutely not something like that.’

“I simply did what I needed to do as a vassal of her Majesty.”

He brusquely answered. I couldn’t help but respond.

“You are not calling yourself a magic tool now.”

There seemed to have been at least a small effect of my telling him that he is not a tool and that he is a person with a special ability every time I saw him.

I smiled brightly and the seer bit down on his lips.

We then noticed Eva and Isabelle walking with arms intertwined from the other side.

The young Duchess’s eyes turned as sharp as cactus thorns after spotting little Bacary.

“Captain Bacary. You are not glaring at his highness again, are you?”

“……I have no reason to do so. I will be on my way as I have a prior appointment with Ms. Condé. Madam Rambouillet.”

Little Bacary said hello to Isabelle, respectfully bowed toward the crown prince and I, and then quickly left the hallway.

He didn’t seem to even look in Eva’s direction.

Miss Condé should be our chef, Laurence. I felt satisfied that he seemed to be going to get his daily ration of bread before he left.

Of course, we had, once again, not been able to have a deep conversation.

‘I wonder if he will be wary if I said let’s grab a meal together when he is free.’

“What were you talking about, your highness?”

Eva sneered at the young boy’s back as she asked. I quietly looked down at the child.

The young Duchess sometimes silently looked out the window since losing her older brother.

She also stopped enjoying opening mail and came to see me more frequently than before.

She was no longer wearing funeral clothes, but the sadness and shock did not disappear because the funeral ended.

Even if Robert was the worst older brother ever, it was impossible to erase him from her life overnight.

I completely understood Eva’s complicated emotions.

I couldn’t help but smile after seeing this little girl walk up to me so energetically.

“We were simply exchanging pleasantries. What about you two, Eva and Isabelle?”

“We were discussing the logistics of running Salon de Victoire! Lady Isabelle is an adult and gives quite a lot of great advice, your highness. She is my consultant.”

Eva massaged Isabelle’s arm and proudly answered.

Since the middle of last month, the young Duchess… Had started to focus again on the takeover of ‘Blois – Drunken Truth.’

The place was going to be called ‘Salon de Victoire.’

The child brought over a thick catalog to choose the furniture with me and went around with the Johann father and son duo to look at lighting and decorations.

I had been staying at the palace since returning.

Nobody was imprisoning me here, but I thought it would be best to not go out until the state of affairs settled down.

I felt apologetic to Eva about that.

I would have understood if she showed her disappointment, but I was so thankful that she was being considerate of me.

“Thank you very much, Isabelle. The young Duchess is burdening you so much.”

I looked over at Isabelle and commented.

“What do you mean by burden?!” Eva grumbled, grabbed my hand, and shook it.

The woman gently curled her eyes.

“No, your highness. I am not familiar with participating in the Beau Monde…… I am thankful that I am able to go around to all sorts of places thanks to the young Duchess.”

“We went to the salon at the Moutet Count’s Estate a few days ago. We wanted some inspiration.” She slowly explained.

Isabelle was doing a great job overcoming the situation……

Even with this incident digging deep into her life.

Duke Sarnez…… To speak just of the results, he was not executed.

He had taken his own life just two days in the Imperial Capital prison.

I heard that he smashed his head against the stone wall.

The Imperial Guard had been keeping an eye on him so that he could not harm himself, but they were mainly there to prevent him from hanging himself, so everybody was shocked at the sudden and unexpected method of self-harm.

They rushed into the cell and called the doctor, but the Duke had already lost consciousness. It was a cowardly and dishonorable escape.

The Imperial Palace was told of his death about two hours later.

I went to see Isabelle and Christelle as soon as I heard about it.

I just sat next to the mother and daughter all day because I didn’t know what I should say.

I made sure the two of them ate and left a Divine Oracle with them so that they could sleep properly.

[If you are okay with it, I will be back again tomorrow. Please rest well.]

“Thank you very much, your highness.”

I was extremely grateful about the ability I was given.

The fact that those who stay in the Imperial Palace sleep well and only have good dreams thanks to my ether…… That was a total blessing. It really was.

“There is a sleeping area for Gerrit and the kids as well, your highness. But Lady Isabelle suggested making a large window toward the hallway. She said kids might run into problems even when they are sleeping. She recommended the window so that anybody would be able to keep an eye on them as they walked by.”

“That is true. We should also only put light blankets.”

I immediately added on, making Isabelle nod her head and smile beautifully.

Thankfully, she had other family members to rely on.

Her birth family, the Viscount’s House of Rambouillet, was a caravane household that traveled between the neutral regions and the masterless deserts without portals.

They were wealthy and were a major figure in the inland transportation industry, and were not heavily targeted during this situation.

I heard that she had a political marriage to Duke Sarnez because her family was interested in sea commerce as well.

The Viscount and his wife hugged and welcomed her back, and the Sarnez Duke’s Estate, where Christelle and Isabelle had been living, was immediately purchased from the Imperial family and placed in Isabelle’s name.

I also heard that they treated their granddaughter, Christelle, as a bundle of luck.

The old couple gave her the nickname of ‘our pink camel.’

“I’m a bit touched. Hearing our camel instead of our little puppy is fresh. It makes me feel super special? You know what I mean, right, your highness?”

“Yes, yes.”

……The main character now had a family whose naming sense was as bad as hers. That was good.

“Then we are going to do another round that way. We also have to discuss the opening day festivities, your highness.”

“Please work slowly, Eva. You are always welcome to call me or his Royal Highness if you need anything.”

“Yeeeees, your highness.”

The child peeked at her cousin, who was standing firm like a light pole, showed her respect in a lovely way, and walked off.

I smiled and looked at the two of them.

“Was the Baron invited as well?”

The crown prince’s magnificent low voice echoed against my ears at that moment.

His orange eyes were already looking at the opposite side of the hallway.

I followed her gaze to see Joanne, wearing a colorful fur hat, discussing something with Christelle.

Vice Captain Élisabeth, who had been listening to her, shook her head in disagreement.

“She received her title back and suddenly became free. She got angry and told me she had nowhere to go, so I am temporarily protecting her.”

I chuckled as I explained.

That was correct. Joanne had been ‘Baroness Joanne de Haas’ since last month!

The young man’s voluminous inner lashes moved with discontent.

“Is your territory and wealth just decorations?”

“It is difficult to adapt after suddenly becoming wealthy and a noble, your Royal Highness. Furthermore, Joanne has become famous not just for her paintings but also her hair style, so people recognize her when she walks out…… So she is just taking refuge.”

“How foolish.”

He sharply judged. But this really was a happy event.

At the Empress’s birthday celebration on January 7th, the artist finally recovered her family’s honor.

Justice was served only after three generations, having affected her grandmother, mother, Joanne and her brother.

“……The imperial family of the Empire publicly express our condolences to Baron Haas, who was murdered by the late Emperor Romero, as well as his family and descendants. It was clearly wrong for my grandfather to make a judgment and proceed with an execution even without a confession. This Empress, as well as the late Empress Céline, also cannot be free from fault as we did not reverse the happenings of that day.”

The Empress had officially accepted the Riester Imperial family’s wrongdoings and apologized in front of hundreds of VIPs.

Joanne, who was invited to be there, started crying.

Even I got teary recalling how she had been so adamant about her great grandfather’s innocence.

‘It’s embarrassing the more I think about it! If it was wrongfully taken away, he should think about getting it back.’

‘Hey mister, I’m telling you that it was all slander! Some other dude pushed the blame on my great grandfather.’

Vice Captain Élisabeth, who had always been a bit cold toward Joanne, was nice and offered her a handkerchief that day.

I was in good spirits as I looked up at the crown prince. His fiery eyes immediately looked back at me.

I know it takes a long time for an injury to heal… It may even leave a scar forever, but……

There are still good and happy things within it. I didn’t want to bury all of that in the pain as well.

“You need to be on her good side, your Royal Highness. Joanne is the only one who can draw your portrait as close to the real thing as possible. You will regret it around the time you ascend to the throne, your Royal Highness.”

The crown prince snorted.

I was happy to see him and Christelle start to get even more good friends.

I also felt a bit proud that I had a foot in that adventure as well.

Everybody other than me was overflowing with personality, but it wasn’t weird if you considered the fact that main characters sparkled like shooting stars.

They do say that birds of the same feather flock together.

“Duke Bellang will also be a reliable helper for you as well, your Royal Highness.”

Yes, Baron Bellang was now Duke Bellang.

I raised my index finger and the crown prince stared at it. ‘Do I have some sauce on it?’

“I don’t need any political help.”

‘You are only saying that because you are an only child.

If you had even one younger sibling, this would not be QNW but more like a certain HBO show.’

“I just want one thing.”

“……”

The punk’s voice was gently shaking. This had started as a simple walk, but the mood suddenly became heavy.

Maybe the male lead had a special skill that he could use, but I could not look away from him.

The clear orange eyes rumbled in front of me. I forgot about my neck hurting from looking up for so long and gulped.

My heart thumped with helpless anticipation.

‘What if he says Christelle? Do they have Nature Kindergartens here?’ (TL: Apparently these are a thing)

“Prince Jesse!”

Flinch! Ganael called out from behind me.

I quickly took two steps away from the crown prince.

I didn’t know why I acted that way despite not having done anything wrong.

I quickly turned around and looked into the young boy’s golden eyes. The child looked extremely flustered.

“I’m really sorry for interrupting, your highness. But the message…… Eek, the message you sent to her Royal Highness was returned.”

He looked extremely embarrassed. The young boy’s flustered look instantly transferred over to me as well.

—
Translator’s Comments

Uh oh, that doesn’t sound good.

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