“Abihel?”

“Yes, Alberto.”

Because Priest Daniel’s answer was so unexpected, the Emperor of Fable stared at him in silence, as if demanding an explanation.

“If we can’t extract her soul with a holy relic, I thought it might be better to draw her to our side first. If she becomes one of us, we won’t have to struggle to pull out her soul in the first place.”

“And the means is Abihel?”

“When I looked into it, I found that the Young Lady of Sorpel once showed a great deal of interest in Prince Abihel.”

“Hm.”

The Emperor of Fable’s reaction was lukewarm.

Could they really bring Camilla—her—to their side with something like that?

“It may work better than you’d expect.”

“Do you have any basis for that?”

“After learning about her, I realized she’s unexpectedly weak when it comes to people she considers her own.”

“Her own?”

“I mean she can’t be cruel to someone who shows her affection.”

Was it because she’d grown up without properly receiving her family’s love?

If someone treated her kindly, if someone offered even a small amount of affection, she quickly showed fondness.

That had been true with Prince Abihel as well.

He smiled at her out of courtesy and showed her a small kindness, and she clung to it to an excessive degree.

Of course, Prince Abihel had then coldly pushed her away, and even that insignificant relationship had ended.

But after that, her behavior didn’t change.

After Prince Abihel, her heart was stolen just as quickly by another kindness.

Petro of Jevillan.

“They say her personality has changed a great deal now, but you can’t change the foundation. She still seems starved for affection.” 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝚠𝚎𝚋𝗻𝗼𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝚘𝐦

Camilla looked as though she cared quite a lot about her family and the people around her.

Wasn’t everything from making donations under her house name to doing one good deed after another ultimately behavior driven by a desire to be loved?

“I expect she’ll come over more easily than you think.”

“I’m not so sure.”

“Prince Abihel should be enough. He was someone she liked in the first place.”

His looks were beyond question, and his temperament was mild enough.

Among young noblewomen, he was popular—no less than Crown Prince Edsen.

Some even said they preferred Prince Abihel to Crown Prince Edsen, whose thoughts were impossible to read.

“If he gives her the affection she’s never received...”

Things might be resolved far more simply than expected.

“Maybe.”

In the end, the Emperor of Fable nodded, agreeing.

“Humans are always weak to those kinds of feelings.”

He had lived an enormous span of years and watched more human lives than anyone.

Among them were many like Camilla—people starved for warmth.

And he knew it well.

How desperately those people thirsted for affection and craved it. What they could do just to gain interest and love.

“There’s no downside.”

Even if it failed, there was nothing to lose.

And if it succeeded, it would be an outcome too good to ask for.

“Proceed.”

“Understood.”

*****

“Is it good?”

“Yes!”

For Rio, who had come to visit the café, Camilla brought out every item on the menu and spread them out in front of him.

“Ah.”

With his mouth wide open, Rio happily munched on cake, and a faint smile rose at the corner of Camilla’s lips.

“What about King?”

“At home.”

“Can I come see him next time?”

“Yeah.”

At the thought of Rio visiting, she found herself wondering how many Video Stones were left at the house.

Maybe she should buy a few more.

“But when is my brother coming?”

“He’ll be here soon.”

Arsian had come with them, but he had paperwork to write up about the Mana Stone they’d discovered this time, so he was currently in the office with Chris.

Camilla couldn’t leave Rio there the whole time, so she brought only the child to the café first.

“He can’t come late... It keeps shrinking...”

“So you saved some?”

Camilla burst into laughter.

She’d wondered why he kept leaving half behind even while eating so eagerly. It looked like he was saving it for Arsian.

“When Arsian gets here, I’ll give him a fresh one, so eat more of this.”

“Ah.”

When she gave him a bite of the watermelon smoothie that had sold so well in the summer, his eyes sparkled even more.

If I had a straw with a wider hole, he’d be able to drink it better.

But the way he ate it with a spoon was so cute.

She might have to postpone developing the straw after all.

“It’s delicious!”

“Yeah. Eat a lot.”

Camilla lightly patted the child’s head.

Rio grinned, then suddenly clapped as if something occurred to him.

“I have something to give you too, Sis!”

“Something to give me?”

From the small bag slung diagonally across his body, he pulled something out.

“I made it!”

It was a small cushion.

And on it was Camilla’s face.

Of course, the stitching wasn’t even and the colors weren’t consistent, so if there hadn’t been an outline drawn in as a guide, she wouldn’t have been able to tell what it was.

But at that age, finishing something like this on his own was incredible.

Rio was a genius.

“Did you really do this yourself?”

“Yeah! My fingers even bled!”

...This was kind of moving.

Camilla gently patted his head again.

The adorable little thing only ever did sweet things.

“I finished mine faster than my brother!”

“What?”

Brother?

Why was Arsian coming up here?

DING-!

Right then, the front door opened and Arsian walked into the café.

Rio immediately raised his hand and called out when he recognized him.

“Brother!”

Arsian strode straight over to them.

Then he casually glanced at the table—and his gaze stopped dead on the cushion.

“My brother’s making one too, but he hasn’t finished y—!”

“Rio! Eat this!”

“Ah!”

With quick hands, Arsian cut the cake into a bite-sized piece and put it into the child’s mouth.

Then he furtively checked Camilla’s expression.

...Damn it.

As she looked back and forth between him and the cushion, Arsian slowly dragged a hand over his reddening face.

When her lips started to curl up, he turned away.

“When are you finishing it?”

“Finishing what?”

“This.”

“Rio saw wrong. Like I would make something like th—”

“No, I didn’t. My brother’s was a little bigger cu—”

“Rio! Ah!”

“Ah.”

“......”

“......”

Silence fell for a moment.

Arsian pressed his fingers hard against his brow as if he had a headache.

Because Camilla was very clearly trying to hold back her laughter.

Damn it!

Rio, clueless, just kept shoveling cake into his mouth with an innocent face.

DING-!

Just then, the café door opened again and someone walked in.

Camilla’s eyes widened as she reflexively looked over.

“Why?”

Arsian turned his head as well, and the moment he recognized the other person, his face twisted.

“So you were here after all.”

It was Crown Prince Edsen.

Caught off guard by his sudden appearance, Camilla couldn’t respond right away.

Why was he here?

And what is that awkward outfit?

He looked like he’d tried to dress in ordinary clothes so he wouldn’t stand out.

What was the point?

Because of {N•o•v•e•l•i•g•h•t} the aura of nobility that flowed from head to toe, he stood out even more.

Seeing him walk in dressed like some rich young master who’d snuck out in secret, Camilla lightly shook her head.

“What brings you all the way here?”

And without guards, too?

She knew his swordsmanship was strong, but there was no shortage of people who wanted him dead.

He really had no fear.

“I have something to ask.”

“To ask me?”

Edsen sat down, then instead of answering, he looked at Rio, who was staring at him blankly.

Cream on his lips, blinking his eyes, the child was... oddly interesting to him.

“So this is that child.”

He’d already heard that the Ducal House of Sephra had adopted a child.

Adopting someone not of the bloodline—especially a commoner—was extremely rare among noble houses, so it had caused quite a stir at the time.

And it wasn’t just any house. It was the Ducal House of Sephra.

Everyone had been wildly curious what kind of child could be accepted by the Duke of Sephra and his heir.

“Do you want some?”

“Hm?”

“Ah.”

“.......”

Mistaking that fixed gaze for something else, Rio lifted a piece of cake on his fork and held it out.

Crown Prince Edsen hesitated for a beat, then laughed softly and shook his head.

“You eat.”

“It’s tasty.”

“I like sweets, but I’m not shameless enough to steal a child’s. You eat.”

“Okay. Ah!”

Even after that, Edsen couldn’t take his eyes off Rio as he ate dessert.

Stuffing his cheeks until they looked ready to burst, he resembled a baby squirrel.

“Um, Edsen.”

In the end, Camilla spoke to him again.

He couldn’t have come all this way just to watch a child eat. She couldn’t figure out what he was here to ask.

“I heard you met Abihel.”

“Excuse me?”

Abihel? The Second Prince?

I did meet him.

It was true that she’d met him out of nowhere at Consort Jabiela’s tea party, but did he really come all the way here just to ask that?

“Only briefly, last time.”

“Consort Jabiela submitted a request to His Majesty. She asked whether it might be worth pushing a marriage between you and Abihel.”

“Cough—!”

W-what did he just say?

Who’s pushing what?

Camilla nearly spat out the coffee she’d been drinking. What kind of absurdity was that?

“Looks like you didn’t know.”

“You’re joking, right?”

“Do I look like I came all the way here to joke?”

“Exactly.”

It had felt a little strange that Prince Abihel had appeared at the tea party that day, but she hadn’t expected it to lead to something this ridiculous.

“His Majesty’s reaction was positive, I hear. What do you think?”

“What do I think?”

All she could think was that those people were up to something.

Camilla had a rough idea of what the Emperor of Fable and Consort Jabiela really were, and that made her skin crawl at this latest move.

Why did things keep happening that tied her to them?

She didn’t want to face them. Not at all.

“I’m just asking, that’s all. You used to chase after Abihel quite a lot, you know.”