Hearing that, I smiled bitterly. Of course, I heard him calling me like that often in the past, but unlike in the past when he called it out of pure affection for me, this time he said it for political reasons.

The crown prince, who fixed his gaze on the emperor, turned his eyes to me finally. He spoke while looking at me with his eyes that seemed more hollow for the past several months while I was away at the summer palace.

“Thank you for taking good care of the emperor.”

“You’re welcome, Your Majesty. I just did what I had to do. ”

“Can you take time out for me? I want to express gratitude to you. I might be late, but if you don’t mind, can you wait for me at my palace? ”

“Sure, Your Majesty.”

“Thank you. I’ll see you soon. Please come inside, Your Majesty. As it’s so hot outside, it’s not good for your health if you keep standing here.”

He turned with his father after taking his eyes off me. The palace people who returned from the summer palace and the welcoming party followed them.

After watching Duchess Lars, with her light blue hair let down, lead the noble women to the women’s palace, I made eye contact with my knight colleagues, then headed for the crown prince’s palace.

“Welcome, Lady Monique, let me escort you.”

When I arrived, I was escorted by the chief attendant, who was familiar to me as I visited before several times.

When I opened the massive door, I saw his magnificent study. I hadn’t been inside in a year. Because of the intense sunlight, the inside of the study was very bright despite the white curtains on the front window. A huge collection of books was still there and seemed to have grown.

I thought of waiting for him quietly in a seat, but I changed my mind and approached the endless bookshelves. As he would be telling the emperor what happened while he was away, he’d take some time to come back.

So, I browsed through the books that I wanted to read so much, but couldn’t.

My eyes opened wide at the vast collection.

‘It’s so amazing. How can he collect such a large number of books in his study?’

I was surprised because he could have kept those books he didn’t read in the library of the Imperial Palace.

‘If then, did he read all the books here?’

I slowly examined the bookshelves. Even though I had a quick glance before, I saw several rare books I hadn’t read before. I picked one among them that drew my interest most.

‘I wonder if he will be here by the time I finish reading this.’

But he didn’t appear when I finished reading the book, so I picked another.

‘I expected he would be late, but it is taking him too long.’

I let out a small sigh after closing the second book after reading its last page. My eyes were dry because I was reading for so long. I blinked my dry eyes and put the two books back on the bookshelf.

While I was walking inside the study slowly, looking for something else to read, I suddenly noticed a collection of books covered with black leather and gilded letters. The title of the glittering books caught my eye.

< The Directory of the Empire's Nobles>

Come to think of it, around last year when I was very curious about my mother’s family tree, I tried to read the same book, but failed.

I hesitated for a moment. The emperor said that my mother was not a woman of low birth, but an educated and cheerful noblewoman. I couldn’t take him at face value because I was bothered by what Duke Jena told me before.

‘Can I just quickly browse through it?’

I unconsciously looked around once and approached the bookshelf with the nobles’ directory.

If I wanted to find a clue on my mother’s identity, now was the time.

I chose the fifth directory from the right, which was published about 20 years ago. Then, I opened the back of the directory and looked at the family trees of barons.

‘So, Sona, Sonia! Here it is!’

My heart sank.

‘Yes, the emperor is right.’

Given that her name was in the directory of the nobles, she was clearly a noble woman with a middle name, even if she was a daughter of a mere baron married into a marquis family.

Then, why did Duke Jenna say that? Apparently his claim that he knew my weakness was related to my mother. I put the directory back with a sigh.

‘I think I wasted time. I wish I had chosen another book. ‘

Then I was going to find the first edition of , which I observed carefully a moment ago, but something suddenly came to my mind. I stopped walking in spite of myself. ‘No way.’

This time I pulled out a nobles’ directory published 25 years ago and checked the section on barons.

< Baron Sonia: As the vassal of the Marquis Monique family, he runs a small village on the family-owned estate. The family consists of Baron Sonia and his daughter, Jeremiah lo Sonia.>

Still the same.

I chose the seventh directory from the right, which was published 30 years ago.

< Baron Sonia: As the vassal of the Marquis Monique family, he runs a small village on the family-owned estate. The family consists of Baron Sonia. As he has no close relatives, his title will be retrieved after the baron's death.>

‘What?’

In a hurry, I pulled out the directory published 35 years ago.

It was the same as the previous directory.

“What the heck…”

I am currently 15 years old.

I heard that my weak mother barely gave birth to me seven years into her marriage. If she had survived, she would have been at least in her late thirties. Why didn’t her name exist in the directory published 30 years ago?

Of course, I could put aside the directory published 35 years ago, she would have been about ten years old back then. If Baron Sonia had had no close relatives, she would certainly have succeeded his family as his legitimate daughter. Why was her name missing from the directory that was famous for its thorough recording and description? It was impossible.

I felt so depressed, and my whole body felt frozen as if cold blood was flowing through every corner of my body.

“What are you looking at?”

I was standing blankly at the surprising fact, when I came to my senses when he called me suddenly. He looked at me curiously, then turned his eyes at the book I was holding. I hid the directory from his eyes and quickly put it back on the shelf.

“I’m honored to see you, the Little Sun of the empire. Please forgive me for my belated greetings.”

“That’s fine. Just sit instead of standing like that.”

I quietly followed him to the table in the middle of the study. When I sat across him, carefully adjusting the hem of my skirt, he said with a distinctly cold voice, “I have heard from the emperor that you were on hand to help him a lot.”

“Oh, I didn’t do anything particular. His Majesty gave me a generous credit for my work. ”

‘Anyway it’s important that the emperor was satisfied with your help. I think you must have handled lots of stuff. I would like to express my gratitude to you,” he said calmly.

“You’re welcome, Your Majesty.”

Although I couldn’t pinpoint what it was, I felt somewhat strange about his change in attitude.

When I was looking down at my neatly folded fingers, I heard a small knock on the door.

Shortly afterwards, an attendant came in, gasping for breath.

“Sorry, Your Majesty. I’ve got an urgent message for you.”

“No problem. What is going on? ”

“An urgent message from Rose Palace. As for the details…” The attendant squinted at me and suddenly stopped talking.

‘Can’t he talk in my presence?’