A loud roar rang sharply beyond the thick door once more.

“Walk!”

“No! I said no, Father!”

This time, it was loud enough for even someone other than Astariol to hear.

The faces of the Empress and the Crown Prince turned similarly pale, and Mother’s expression faltered briefly.

Of course, Duke Sisana and her granddaughter’s faces remained impassively pale, without even a hint of color.

Meanwhile, Eciel glanced back and forth between Mother and me.

Her wide green eyes were clear. Unlike her tightly pressed lips, her eyes were filled with questions.

What’s going on, Claire?

My younger sister’s puzzled question echoed in my mind.

But what could I possibly tell Eciel?

‘Just pretend you don’t know anything.’

I gave her a slight wink.

Sometimes it was better to act ignorant, even if you knew something.

This was clearly one of those times.

Because the cause of this commotion was probably Marquess Levantas and his son.

‘… besides, either the Crown Prince or the Empress must be involved.’

Regardless of Evan’s character or disposition, he is the emperor.

An emperor must move in a more rational direction and make cooler judgments.

It wouldn’t make sense for him to allow the Crown Prince to interact deeply with the largely insignificant Levantas family.

If Evan decided.

But the Empress was weak, and the Crown Prince was gentle…

‘… they must have invited him.’

Feeling sorry for the child who would be left out.

Compassion, goodwill, mercy. A mild and benevolent mindset of that sort.

To be honest, it wasn’t a bad attitude for me. It was generally better to have superiors who were gentle rather than harsh.

But <gentle> was nearly synonymous with <easy to belittle>.

At least to the Marquess of Levantas.

Whether it was the Empress or the Crown Prince who showed mercy, or both, it was unknown.

But if Marquess Levantas truly respected them, he wouldn’t have brought his son while scolding him.

And no matter what the reason or why it was happening, speaking carelessly…

‘It would be like pointing out that the Empress and the Crown Prince invited someone without any discernment.’

Therefore, Mother began to chat peacefully, as if she knew nothing.

“This is a nice tea. Did Her Majesty the Empress personally select it?”

“Oh, Callen chose it…”

“Stop talking and go!”

The Empress’s barely audible answer was buried again by the rough voice.

Duke Sisana clicked her tongue softly.

She didn’t care that her daughter was hesitating and turning pale beside her.

In the end, a long, uncomfortable silence that no one could manage stretched out. The violent noise was getting closer and closer beyond the scattered silence.

Great. This was hopeless.

I clicked my tongue inwardly.

This was never going to go smoothly from the start, but I didn’t anticipate it would fail smoothly for such an unforeseen reason.

Regardless, Marquess Levantas appeared like a master capturing a runaway slave.

“Meet the Honored One. I am Levantas, tasked with the duty of guarding the border.”

I deliberately didn’t look in that direction.

The man’s voice was thick with barely concealed greed.

… he probably wished that the Emperor, Duke Sisana, and Duke Chelsiers were all present.

Even if not, he would have considered it useful to be involved in this meeting in the future.

In contrast, his son seemed to have at least a minimum of shame.

The boy squeezed out a barely audible voice from his throat.

“… Artair Jaen Wilfram Tenelier.”

If it were Evan, he would have greeted him with a smile first, then insulted Marquess Levantas in every possible way.

If it were Father, he might have ignored the greeting altogether.

However, if the Empress and the Crown Prince were the kind of people who could turn away such a young child, the Marquess of Levantas and his son wouldn’t have been invited in the first place.

The Empress hesitated for a moment, then finally accepted the greeting.

“May blessings and glory be with you.”

Thus, the last guest was also acknowledged as a rightful invitee.

… unlike Mother, who managed a formal smile, Duke Sisana didn’t even look at Marquess Levantas.

Now that all the guests were gathered, it was time to separate into groups of adults and children.

The Empress barely managed to compose her voice.

“The weather is nice, so we’ve prepared a place for the children in the garden. Callen, take the children.”

I stood up obediently first.

I felt sorry for the Empress, who must have already exhausted her energy for the day.

Besides, I wasn’t so foolish as to not recognize the Empress’s intention to separate Duke Sisana and me as far as possible.

“This way…”

Callen, who seemed more approachable than his mother, spoke up.

Once again, I immediately started walking, following him. Eciel quickly came to my side.

And then, the other two children followed.

The intersecting light and carefree steps, along with the reluctant steps, formed a pattern of mismatched grids.

Eciel carefully whispered in a small voice, hiding it in the discord.

“… hey, Claire.”

“Yeah.”

“Why did Duke Sisana…”

At that moment, I gently shook my head and quietly held my sister’s hand.

Did she understand I meant not to say more? My twin sister swallowed her words with effort.

‘… if even Eciel asks, Duke Sisana must have been really conspicuous.’

She must have had many questions like stars in the night sky, yet the first thing she asked was that.

I had a slightly bitter smile.

Duke Sisana was a person indifferent to even her own daughter.

She didn’t understand people’s feelings well, was indifferent to her close relatives, and had never cherished anything emotionally.

Was there anything good about getting her attention?

Just as various thoughts were about to fill my mind with frustration, the open garden appeared before us.

A sunny day, well-groomed flowers, and delicate sculptures harmonized beautifully.

In the middle of it, a paved promenade twisted and led to a gazebo.

It was like a picturesque scene.

“Whoa.”

My sister’s innocent admiration spread softly beside me. It wasn’t loud, but enough for all the children to hear.

Perhaps because of that, the Crown Prince’s face regained some color.

“I’ll be leaving now.”

… he stiffened again as soon as he spoke.

I finally turned my gaze to observe Marquess Levantas’s son for the first time.

The boy who had uttered such childish words had his lips pressed together.

His somewhat disheveled appearance and messy hair could be attributed to his scuffle with his father…

‘… at the very least, he doesn’t seem to have an ordinary personality.’

His face was delicate and smooth enough to leave a good impression.

But the boy stubbornly kept his gaze down, refusing to make eye contact, with a rebellious expression more pronounced than his outstanding looks.

And from my experience, children who wore such expressions always caused trouble.

‘Better not get involved.’

I quietly kept my mouth shut. My sister followed suit, blinking her eyes.

As for Lady Sisana…

Callen, knowing well that there was no one to help in such a situation, spoke up first.

“Well, Lord Levantas, just sit down, and if you really don’t want to, then next time…”

Perhaps finding it too difficult, his voice trailed off.

Artair didn’t wait long.

“There’s no need for next time. Eventually, I won’t come.”

It was a sharp point.

For now, we could sit together, but it was just a fleeting illusion.

When the time came for me, Lady Sisana, and the Crown Prince to sit at the conference table, this boy wouldn’t be there.

The harsh reality, uncomfortable to hear in the immature voice of a young boy, was perfectly summarized in two sentences.

Because it wasn’t wrong, even Callen couldn’t deny it.

A sharp, blue silence seemed to overflow into the chasm that had formed between Artair and the other children.

The atmosphere felt precarious, as if it might flood with just the weight of a shallow sigh.

Lady Sisana then spoke.

“Do as you wish.”

Eciel took a small breath.

Callen’s face turned completely white, but the young Astariol, with her golden eyes, continued without hesitation.

“He knows it well himself. There’s no reason for four people to stand around wasting time because of one person who’s the most meaningless here.”

Lady Sisana’s expressionless golden eyes were fixed on Callen.

She didn’t even glance at the child who was the subject of her words, only at Callen, who held the decision-making power.

It was an astounding level of social skill.

‘Why does she talk like that?’

I blinked for a moment and then looked at Artair.

He… was miserably pale.

A deep, dark despair spread across his delicate face. The sheer depth and intense red of his shame overshadowed everything.

And those eyes.

Those wounded eyes.

Countless layers of pain, layered, layered, and crumbling, were vividly revealed in his deep blue eyes.

I was frozen in place.

‘What is that…’

The finely shattered heart sparkled under the bright sunlight.

Transparent and dazzling.

Knowing that the fragments were undoubtedly the remains of overwhelming wounds and despair… the sight was unbearably beautiful.

So beautiful it was hard to believe, even as I saw it with my own eyes.

In the moment I was frozen in place, my gaze caught with the deep blue eyes.

‘Oh, no.’

I made a mistake.

Realizing this, the boy’s eyes suddenly flared.

Artair, without giving me any chance to stop or explain, turned and ran off somewhere into the inner courtyard.