However, worried that Oscar might be hurt again by holy power leaking from his poorly controlled emotions, the thought consumed his mind until he couldn’t stay in that space any longer.

Oscar probably didn’t mean it that way. I shouldn’t have spoken like that…

The past suddenly came flooding back, making him act irrationally without realizing it. Oscar’s hurt expression in that final moment remained vividly imprinted in his mind.

I’m worried something might have happened.

Though he had placed people near Oscar, and their reports indicated no problems so far, Zachary was already at his limit. He wanted to embrace that soft, warm body and sleep.

“P-Prince!”

Zachary couldn’t continue his thoughts. The sound of knights rushing toward him urgently interrupted them. Zachary slowly raised his head. The knights, who normally wouldn’t run in the corridors, were making quite a commotion.

A strange uneasiness rose within him.

“Lord Oscar has disappear-urk!”

And sure enough, that uneasiness proved correct.

The knight who had run up breathlessly couldn’t finish his sentence.

“Speak clearly.”

Zachary had grabbed the knight’s collar in one swift motion. As the knight struggled in mid-air, blue light flickered in Zachary’s eyes.

“Before I kill you.”

Everyone present had never seen Zachary lose his composure like this.

***

Wow, I’ve really gotten healthier. This is amazing progress.

I grinned as I observed my body remaining fine even after stepping onto Imperial soil.

Though I could barely breathe from tension when presenting my nameplate at the border, once inside, my body was perfectly fine. Thanks to that, my tension gradually eased.

Thank goodness I have House Raven’s nameplate. I never thought I’d use it like this…

What I presented was House Raven’s nameplate that I had received from Genevieve before. I used Raven’s because I wasn’t sure how the Empire currently viewed the spell-using Serpentine family.

Moreover, perhaps due to the elixir I had been taking, my body felt even lighter than usual. Previously, I would feel like sinking into a swamp the moment I stepped on Imperial soil, but not anymore.

Wait for me, Zachary.

Now I just needed to find Zachary. He would surely be at the palace. My heavy footsteps, weighed down by my tired body, lightened at the thought of Zachary being in the palace. But when I approached the palace smiling brightly and presented my nameplate…

“I have a personal acquaintance with Prince Zachary Thaddeus…”

“Do not speak that name so casually. You could burn to death.”

Hmm… could I really get in?

I really didn’t prepare properly.

Regret hit me belatedly. I should have brought something to prove I knew Zachary… I had just rushed through the blizzard, driven by the single-minded determination to meet him somehow.

“I really do know him. If you could just bring a few knights from inside…”

“Why would such people vouch for your identity? Or what, looking at your appearance, are you a beggar? Beggars these days are so brazen. You clearly stole that noble’s nameplate. Get lost quietly before we sound the alarm.”

And now I’m being treated as a beggar. It was a bit unfair, but when I glanced down at my appearance, I couldn’t help but close my mouth. My hood was a mess from the blizzard, and I had even covered my face to conceal my identity.

Well, even at the border they looked at me like they’d seen a ghost.

I sighed and hesitated before finally speaking. Since the Empire still believed in the Lumina God, I was reluctant to reveal my real name. However, if I gave a fake name, I would never be allowed inside the palace.

“Though I came to possess this nameplate due to circumstances, my real name is Oscar Serpentine. Please, just relay my name once to the Prince…”

“Oscar… Serpentine?”

The Serpentine family? Just as the gatekeeper’s brow furrowed slightly, the response came from somewhere completely different. Someone walking sluggishly behind the gatekeeper had murmured my name.

What’s this?

I stared in puzzlement at him. I wondered if it might be a familiar face, but it was someone I didn’t recognize.

“Good day, sir!”

The gatekeeper startled and gave him a respectful greeting. Only then did I realize the man behind the gatekeeper was wearing a knight’s uniform.

If not for that uniform, I wouldn’t have known he was a knight. His appearance was so disheveled, as if he had been sleeping rough for days. While I was taken aback, the knight hurriedly came to me and spoke.

“Did you just say Oscar Serpentine? Yes? Yes?”

“Ah, well.”

This person’s eyes seem a bit wild…

For a moment, I felt a chill down my spine, wondering if he was someone our family owed money to. But the knight clinging to me looked so desperate. It seemed as if he might burst into tears at any moment if I turned out not to be Oscar Serpentine.

“Yes, that’s correct, but…”

I had to answer reluctantly. The knight’s lips trembled at my response, and he spoke politely.

“If it’s not too presumptuous, could you please remove your hood?”

“My hood?”

“Yes, please, I beg you.”

He was so earnest that I couldn’t refuse. Besides, he didn’t seem likely to harm me, and if I needed to prove my identity, showing my face would be best. I carefully removed the hood I was wearing. The gatekeeper, who had been looking at me with distrust until just now, suddenly widened his eyes in shock, and the knight who had been watching me remove my hood with his hands clasped together…

“Oh, merciful Lumina!”

Covered his mouth.

“Now we’re… saved…”

The knight made incomprehensible sounds and knelt before me.

***

I couldn’t make sense of how the situation was unfolding.

“Please wait here just a moment! Please, please…”

Through the pleading knight, I was able to enter immediately and was then guided to this room.

Where I was now was an ordinary room. It had only the most basic bed and wardrobe. Though the exterior was elaborate, the interior was so sparse. Whose room was this?

From the knight’s reaction, he seemed to know who I was, yet Zachary was nowhere to be seen.

I calmed my heart that had been racing in anticipation of seeing Zachary right away. Then I sheepishly ran my fingers through my hair. Actually, it was a rather foolish thought, but I had expected Zachary to appear immediately when I came here.

What was I thinking, expecting such a busy person…

As I was rubbing my cheek in embarrassment, I saw the door open slightly.

Could Zachary have come already? My body moved before I could properly think. I jumped up from my seat and headed toward the door without realizing it.

“Zachary, I-“

I rushed toward the door, words tumbling out rapidly.

“I’m sorry for telling you to go to the Empire. When you left, I should have stopped you right away, but I was too shocked to do anything. But I missed you so much that I came…”

The moment I flung open the door, I firmly closed my lips in bewilderment.

Before me was not a large figure, but a very small child.

Could Zachary have had a child?

Though it must be a misunderstanding, the child resembled Zachary.

The child had Zachary’s black hair and blue eyes, and was looking up at me with bright eyes in a fair-skinned face. Seeing that face that looked about to cry, I glanced out into the corridor.

There’s no one here?

A child wandering alone in this palace? Looking at their appearance, they seemed well-raised, but why were they alone? Perhaps they had come to visit the palace and lost their parents?

These are definitely Imperial royal traits.

Why did they look so much like Zachary? Could this be Zachary’s hidden child?

Though all sorts of thoughts whirled through my confused mind, I quickly lowered myself to sit before the child who looked about to cry.

“Hello, I’m Oscar. How old are you?”

“…E-eleven years old.”

After hesitating for a long while, the child told me their age. Are eleven-year-olds usually this small? Though I had that thought, I smiled as harmlessly as possible, crinkling my eyes.

The child stared intently at my face for a while. Then, blushing slightly, they said something unexpected.

“My… my lady… why are you wearing men’s clothing?”

…That sounds strangely familiar somehow. As I blinked my eyes, I suddenly recalled the moment I first met Zachary, when I had fallen from the serpent’s passage.