The crown prince’s palace had not changed much since the first time I had visited.

In the daylight, the garden appeared even more delicate and exquisite. The interior was decorated with new ornaments and silk fabrics.

… the only thing that had changed would be the people we would meet inside.

The tension made my heart ache like the last starlight of dawn.

‘Calm down.’

I consciously took a deep breath.

Before my mother and Eciel, who had alighted before me, could notice my unease and turn around, I quickly put on a composed expression.

“This way, please.”

The chief attendant of the crown prince’s palace came out to guide us personally.

My mother followed him, and I walked in step with Eciel behind my mother’s skirt.

The location might be unfamiliar, but the order of things was all too familiar.

As my tension slightly eased, Eciel glanced ahead and briefly leaned towards me.

A very small voice came to me.

“Mom and I will stay with you. It’ll be alright.”

Before she could whisper more, she hurriedly moved away.

Yet, the two sentences my sister left behind lingered warmly in my ears.

Knowing how uncomfortable I always felt when meeting other children, she must have been worried about me.

Though my current tension was due to the political and ceremonial matters we were about to face, rather than the interaction with a new peer group…

That didn’t mean I wasn’t grateful for her kind reassurance.

I smiled faintly.

If this wasn’t a place where I had to maintain my composure and manners, I would have lightly held my sister’s hand.

It was a bit regretful.

However, while I felt regret, the chief attendant’s steps didn’t falter, and my mother didn’t look back either.

The beautiful palace slid past my fixed gaze, flanking me on either side.

Luxurious scenery composed of elegant furniture and delicate decorations.

Exquisitely crafted items appeared frequently enough to make me want to stop and admire them. But I passed by quietly.

‘Now is not the time to take notice.’

How long had we walked like that?

A majestic and splendid door appeared before us.

At that point, the chief attendant smoothly came to a stop.

“One of the members of glory is here. Please pay your respects.”

“Of course.”

My mother’s short response was followed by cautious first steps. A reflexive tension rose to my throat, momentarily making my head feel fuzzy…

But my mother’s steps remained natural, despite her likely being more nervous than I was.

As soon as she reached an appropriate distance, she walked slightly ahead of us, and greeted her with utmost respect.

“We greet the member of glory. The family of Chelsiers from the East seeks blessings and glory.”

“May blessings and glory be with you.”

A gentle and soft female voice. It must be the empress.

As soon as my mother paid her respects, I slowly lifted my bowed head. As my gaze gradually rose, I saw a small woman looking at us.

… and the person sitting next to her.

Once darkly shining blue, now the white hair attested to her advanced age.

However, that was the only trace time had left on the appearance of the duke.

Her golden eyes still shone sharply, piercingly, and vividly, as if defying the passage of time.

‘How can that be?’

Those eyes showed an undiminished spirit unbroken by time.

Olga Illian Sisana.

The oldest living member of Astariol. The head of the western region. The Astariol of Truth. The mother of the empress.

With numerous duties and rights, her unwavering eyes fixed sharply on me.

Not my mother or my sister, but only me.

The tension briefly revived.

However, this was a place where I could neither openly tense up nor carelessly let my guard down.

My posture remained straight and my gaze respectful.

I maintained a slow and polite demeanor, focusing my attention on the empress.

The empress… outwardly seemed more tense than I was. Tightly pressed lips, intermittently trembling eyelids, and eyes darting busily between the duke and my mother.

“Well… Duchess, please take a seat. And the young Duke and young lady Chelsiers too.”

Her barely controlled voice wavered slightly, as if afraid of the inevitable clash.

That made me realize.

‘This person doesn’t resemble the duke.’

There might be some resemblances if I looked closely. But right now, it seemed rather that my father resembled the duke more.

The cold and sharp atmosphere they both exuded. An eerily resolute and orderly demeanor.

An inhuman detachment formed by their rigid and arrogant focus.

The empress lacked the sharp intimidation that flowed through the duke’s entire being.

The more I saw the empress’s frail and gentle impression, the more it reminded me of…

‘The crown prince.’

With that thought, my gaze naturally turned to the crown prince.

A child sitting beside the empress, occasionally glancing at his maternal grandmother.

As Eciel and I approached, he greeted us first.

“It has been a long time, young Duke Chelsiers. And young Lady Chelsiers too. Please, have a seat here.”

A gentle face resembling the empress. His green eyes prominently showed unresolved anxiety.

On any other occasion, I would have looked into those eyes, thinking of Eciel.

But I couldn’t help but look past those green eyes on the other child sitting next to the duke.

‘… Lucrezia Yere Sisana.’

A pale face contrasted by dark, deep blue hair.

No expression emerged, but a <social> smile appeared a beat later.

A rustling taste of tension lingered in my mouth.

It was that child.

The one who prophesied my existence and grew up aware that she was an Astariol, unlike me.

‘Are all Astariols like that?’

Just as my father resembled the duke, that child also resembled my father.

More precisely… the child that everyone said my father used to be.

As I slowly took my seat, the duke and the child’s unyielding gaze followed me.

So straight and proper that it was difficult to call it rude.

Before my well-composed composure could unravel, I miraculously noticed the empress’s gaze.

She was hesitantly looking between me and the duke.

‘… ah. She has to introduce us as the host.’

What a troublesome task to be burdened with.

If only her own mother would cooperate… but the duke was busy scrutinizing me, oblivious to her daughter’s predicament.

And the empress seemed to not have the courage to disturb her mother.

An uncomfortable silence settled in.

The stillness grew heavier, and my mother’s face remained firmly serene without any sign of speaking.

Was the duke so unwilling to speak about me?

I understood her feelings… but we couldn’t waste precious time like this forever.

I was about to say something to my mother.

But Duke Sisana was faster than me.

“What’s your name?”

A question directed clearly at me, one that I couldn’t ignore.

I didn’t remain silent for long.

“Nice to meet you, Your Excellency. I am Claire Lucy Disandos, the young Duke of Chelsiers.”

Eciel, who had learned all too well to follow suit when I greeted, also introduced herself.

“I am Eciel Livsa Rege Tolona Disandos. Claire’s twin sister.”

A clear and ringing voice.

I unconsciously smiled slightly, but Duke Sisana didn’t smile at all.

She just nodded briefly and curtly.

Then a stern voice followed.

“This is my granddaughter. Introduce yourself, Yere.”

The golden eyes of the beautiful child shifted from Eciel to my mother, then to me, and back to my mother.

A golden gaze that seemed slightly intrigued.

“Hello, Duchess Chelsiers. I am Lucrezia Yere Sisana.”

“… nice to meet you, Lady Sisana.”

Then my mother hesitated a bit before adding a formal remark.

“Claire, Eciel, please get along with her.”

A flicker of emotion appeared in the duke’s otherwise impassive gaze.

And then she looked at me.

I blinked once and unconsciously avoided the duke’s gaze.

‘…she called her granddaughter by her baptismal name.’

Of course, a baptismal name was not a name that shouldn’t be used. It was just a name chosen from the scriptures, so it was not commonly used.

Only those who had taken vows as priests were called by their baptismal names.

Therefore, my family still called me Claire.

Even though I received a baptismal name, I was still their daughter and sister, an Astariol without being called <Lucy>.

But the fact that Duke Sisana called her granddaughter by her baptismal name…

‘… that person, in other words, thinks of herself and her granddaughter as pieces of the divine rather than as people.’

And <originally> Astariols grew up in such an environment.

Learning about God before humanity, realizing that they were beings beyond others rather than conforming to unwritten rules and other people.

I finally understood my father.

His coldness, arrogance, distance, and unfeeling demeanor. His independent attitude, entirely unconcerned with others’ views and difficulties.

All of it was never a problem for him or the two Astariols before me.

No one would have pointed it out as a problem to them.

Suddenly, a breeze blew.

Not a psychological breeze due to emotional turmoil, but a real one.

… and with the long, natural breeze came a muffled commotion.

“No!”

A sound that should never be heard in this place.