Then he checked her outfit and frowned.

“Louis, are you trying to escape the castle again….”
“Ah, no!”

Asralda, who had finally spotted Kyle, shook her head quickly. Then she spoke to the man.

“Lieutenant Kyle, it’s fine. I’ll explain everything and leave with him right away.”

Despite urging him to hurry, the man nodded obediently. He was well aware that Aiden had a friendly relationship with Kyle. He said he would be outside the room and soon opened the door and left the office.

Still making a face, Kyle asked her.

“If you’re not trying to escape, why are you dressed like that?”
“Well, you see… I had to meet someone urgently, so I asked the Commander for permission. It’s an important matter, and the Commander allowed it.”

She had just been released from confinement in the Duke’s palace yesterday, so why did he allow her to go out in this situation? Kyle couldn’t understand it at all.

“Who do you have to meet urgently?”

As Asralda hesitated, she answered honestly.

“It’s Princess Marinda Muriel.”

Even though Marinda and Aiden were long-time childhood friends, Asralda decided to call her by her name to make it more convincing.

Kyle’s expression became a bit subtle when he heard that name.

“Were you always friends with Princess Marinda?”
“No, we just met a few times recently when she visited.”
“But why Princess Marinda?”

No matter how much she thought about it, there was nothing specific that came to mind. Even if they were childhood friends, it didn’t seem like her personality to pry into such private matters, so Asralda gave a vague answer.

“A few days ago, Princess Marinda asked me for a favor when she visited the castle.”
“To you, Louis?”
“Yes.”

As expected, Kyle didn’t ask any further questions. Instead, he was lost in thought about what he was thinking. After a while of silence, he nodded as if he understood and spoke.

“If you’re going this far to meet her in this situation, it must be something urgent.”
“Yes, it is.”

Asralda nodded in relief.

Then suddenly, Kyle took out a pocket watch from his pocket. After checking the time, he smiled and spoke.

“Then let’s go together.”

Asralda was taken aback by his unexpected answer.

“What do you mean…?”

“Princess Muriel. I also happened to have something to discuss with her. We still have some time before we leave. Let’s go together.”

***

I couldn’t understand why things turned out this way.

Asralda sat next to Kyle, both of them boarded the carriage. Kyle sat with his legs crossed, holding his thumb and staring at the scenery outside the carriage with an indescribable expression.

When has the air between Asralda and Kyle ever been so awkward? Not even when he had confessed to her. The conversation she had with the man who had been waiting for her in front of the door kept coming back to her mind.

After repeatedly refusing Asralda’s refusal, Kyle finally opened the door and said to the man,

‘I heard this was a surveillance duty.’
‘Yes? Oh, yes!’
‘I’ll go instead, so just rest.’

The man was silent for a moment, as if he was unsure how to respond. His expression was very awkward.

‘Yes? But…’
‘If you’re worried about Aiden’s orders, don’t worry. I’ll explain it to him.’

Kyle always used formal language in front of the knights when talking about Aiden. But at that moment, he didn’t. He persuaded the man by revealing that they were close friends.

With a smiling face and gentle pressure, Kyle finally succeeded in taking the surveillance duty from the man.

‘If you feel uneasy, I can follow you separately… would you do that?’

Although she said she had something to do with Marinda, it seemed like he had other intentions.

Unlike every other time when he spoke cheerfully, Kyle didn’t say a word and seemed lost in thought even after boarding the carriage.

Without a single conversation, the two soon arrived at Marinda’s mansion.

***

Marinda dreamed a dream. It was something she dreamed of occasionally when she was eight years old.

Marinda was sitting on the floor drawing with colored pens. Her mother was on the bed looking down at her with a sickly face.

She stared intently at the ring hanging from Marinda’s necklace and asked,

“How many times have you used the ring?”

Marinda lifted her small hand and counted her fingers before answering.

‘Hmm, let me see. One, two, three, four… 25 times.’
‘How many white jewels are on the ring in total?’
‘Thirty.’
‘How many times can you use it now?’
‘I used it 25 times out of 30, so I have five left.’
‘Didn’t Mom tell you to use the jewels only when needed?’
‘Only when it’s necessary.’

Marinda’s mother made a light gesture in response. Marinda quickly stood up from drawing and jumped onto the bed, hugging her mother tightly. Holding her tightly, her mother said,

‘Marinda, stop coming here now.’
‘Why, Mom?’

While gazing at Marinda’s innocent face, her mother smiled dryly.

‘Even if you use up all those gems, I can’t go anywhere beyond the time I have with you.’

Her mother’s smile was so ambiguous that Marinda couldn’t tell if it was a smile or a frown. Marinda looked at her mother with a blank expression.

But Mom, without this gem, I can’t see your face. It’s something I really need.

What did Mom say in response? No, she couldn’t bring herself to say anything to her grieving mother and just kept her mouth shut.

The ring allowed her to meet her long-missed mother, but in the end, it couldn’t bring her back.

Marinda, who had been wandering in her dreams for a while, woke up sobbing for a long time at the nineteenth open funeral of her mother.

When she opened her eyes, she was being called by Ophelia with an urgent expression on her face, as tears stained her cheeks.

“Miss! Marquis Kyle has arrived!”

Marinda, who had just woken up from her nap, was startled a beat late.

“What? Kyle?”
“Yes! He’s in the reception room right now!”

At the sound of that name, Marinda momentarily doubted her ears.

It was rare for Kyle to visit Marinda’s mansion in person. Even in her previous life, he only came to see her after stopping by at the Duke of Aiden’s mansion and seeing Asralda’s face.

Since entering Aiden’s knights following Asralda, he hadn’t even sent a simple greeting letter.

Marinda got up belatedly with a bewildered expression. She had been beaten by her father and was hurting all over, but she quickly called for her maids to start getting ready.

After checking her appearance in the mirror several times, she came out of the room and went down to the reception room. As she was going down the stairs, Ophelia called out to her in a hurry.

“Miss, your shoulder…!”

There was a slight blue bruise on Marinda’s white shoulder. After telling her to wait for a moment, Ophelia ran up the stairs and soon brought a shawl to wrap around her shoulder.

As Marinda stood in front of the reception room and adjusted her hair once again before opening the door, Ophelia lowered her head and smiled.

“Does it look good?”

Marinda was always meticulous about managing her expression, but this time she couldn’t help it. After trying hard to act nonchalant, Marinda finally smiled faintly and said,

“Yes, it’s good.”

And as she opened the door, her young smile disappeared in an instant.

“Marinda.”

As Kyle got up from the sofa with a bright smile, Marinda saw a familiar face sitting next to him.

‘Asralda…?’

Without realizing it, she stared at Asralda with a stiff face. But Marinda soon entered the room with a big smile as if nothing had happened.

“Kyle.”

Kyle approached Marinda with a smiling face and hugged her lightly.

“How have you been?”
“I’m fine. But what’s going on in the middle of the night?”
“There’s someone who wants to see you. And I have something to tell you.”

He glanced at Asralda, who was sitting up from the sofa and looking in their direction.

“Do you know Louis Grantry? He’s a new recruit in the knights, and he said you asked him to do something before.”

Marinda looked at Asralda. Their gazes exchanged meaningfully. After a while, Marinda nodded her head naturally.

“Yeah, I’ve been so absent-minded lately that I completely forgot about it.”

Then she raised her head seriously.

“Kyle, can you excuse us for a moment? I have something to talk to Louis about.”

Kyle, who had been staring at Marinda, smiled and nodded without hesitation.

“I’ll be in the garden. Call me when you’re done.”
“Okay.”

After giving a warm glance to Asralda, Kyle left the room.

As soon as the door closed, Marinda looked at Asralda with a sharp gaze.

“Did you tell him?”
“What?”

Her face was full of emotions that were uncharacteristic of her. In addition to discomfort, there was a sense of restlessness that she couldn’t explain.

“The story I told you last time. Did you tell Kyle about it?”