How can this happen? I knew that the crown prince cared about her more than I thought, but little did I think he, who was always considered a cold monarch, would act like this.

The reality I wanted to turn a blind eye to turned into a sharp sword, breaking my heart.

So, what should I do from now on? The reason I could overlook his interest in her was because he never expressed it openly, though he harbored it furtively. Now that he officially expressed his affection for her, I had no way of approaching her as a knight who pledged allegiance to the imperial family. Otherwise, I could be regarded as rebellious.

Was it because I was nervous until now? Was I worried because I knew unconsciously that things would work out this way?

Her beautiful silver hair gradually began to fade away in my blurred vision.

The shadow of despair swallowed me.

***

When I returned home several days later, I felt really warm and cozy. After soothing Lina in tearful eyes who said she was so happy to see me safe, adding she had a bad dream about me, I sat down at the desk and opened a book.

However, no matter how long I fixed my eyes on the book, or even if I calmed down while drinking fragrant tea, I could not focus. My first confession to him, his passionate kiss and my delicious meal with the two men I loved kept hovering in my mind.

As I couldn’t stand it anymore, I closed the book with a sigh. Although I felt sorry for the security detainees who were supposed to escort me, I felt like I wanted to get out for some fresh air.

“What’s the matter, my lady?”

“Well, I want to take a walk for a moment. It feels so stuffy inside.”

“Are you talking about a walk?”

“Yes, it won’t take long, so you don’t have to worry.”

“Well…I got it. Please go ahead.”

The young knight, Sir Ex, who paused for a moment, nodded as if he understood. As he was served a stern warning by my father about checking my whereabouts, he seemed very uncomfortable about me going out for a walk at this late hour.

I was sorry for him, but I passed by him silently and headed for the garden.

The garden under the moon was submerged in the dark. Perhaps because of the blurry moonlight, the white flowers that always shined in silver were a dark gray. I stopped under the shade of the night that looked unusually dark tonight. The night air that touched my body was chilly.

The atmosphere around me was a bit spooky, but even before I felt it, I hurriedly looked back to see something like red light at a distance. I thought it might be a fire, but Sir Ex, who followed me, looked composed. What the heck? What happened?

“What’s the matter, my lady?”

“Sir Ex, what is that? Was there a fire in the training field?”

“No, I don’t think so. Probably they have something to burn.”

“Something to burn? Why are they burning it at this time?”

“It’s not something big that you should care about.”

Although he answered calmly, it seemed that he didn’t want to meet my eyes, as if he was hiding something from me.

After looking at him for a moment, I walked toward the place where the red light was rising. As one of the family knights, he would not lie to me. But I wondered why he reacted sensitively if it was nothing to worry about.

“Oh, there is so much stuff to burn.”

“You bet. Come on, let’s finish it quickly. ”

When I entered the training field, I saw several knights pacing up and down around the bonfire. They were in a cheerful mood as if they felt so good about throwing something into the fire.

What are you burning? Considering their look, it seems they are not in a bad mood.

Tilting my head, I approached Sir League, who seemed relatively free. His eyes were opened wide as he involuntarily discovered me approaching him.

“Oh, Lady Monique?”

“Hello, Sir League. What are you all burning? ”

“Oh, it’s nothing special!” I knitted my brows when I saw him waving his hand, embarrassed.

What the heck are Sir Ex and Sir League up to now?

Finding my way through the knights who stopped me, I approached the bonfire.

When I came closer to the fire where the knights were busy throwing something, I could identify what it was. The moment I confirmed it, my eyes popped up.

In the burning flames were various clothes scattered along with a charcoal lump that turned black. All kinds of clothes embroidered with family crests.

“What the hell is going on here?”

“Hmm, well, they are…”

“Why are you burning these formal clothes? Besides, these crests are obviously…”

Amethyst tiara and the black roses surrounding it, white lilies, flat-faced black otters, and red quills and scrolls of parchment. They were the family crests of the noble faction including Duke Jenna.

But why are these clothes embroidered with such crests burning in the training field of my house? Besides, they belonged to the heads or successors of the families, given the shapes of the crests.

No matter how hard I thought, I couldn’t understand it. When I was tilting my head, I heard a familiar voice from the side.

“I ordered them to burn them.”

“Pardon?”

When I looked at the side, I saw my father staring at the bonfire, with his arms folded.

“Really? Did you order them?”

“Yes.”

The father, who nodded silently, was unusually dressed in black.

When I looked at him curiously, he smiled lightly and said, “While you were sick in bed, the emperor gave a ruling on all those suspects except for Marquis Mirwa and Duke Jena. Most of them, except those whose criminal evidence was so obvious, were given generous treatment for lack of evidence.”

“I see. Then, what does it have anything to do with them?”

“Well, I know it’s an inevitable decision, given the situation. But the more I think about it, the more upset I am. Hmm, I think they are going to have a hard time trying to order clothes in two days. No, they’ve got one day now.”

“Pardon?”

I still couldn’t understand what he was talking about. It was a little later that I came to know the situation.

I see. I suddenly broke into laughter. At the grand trial on those charged with treason, there would be no criminal suspects who would appear without wearing formal clothes. How embarrassed they would be when they found all their formal clothes were gone! With their formal suits gone, they could not put on casual dresses for the trial. They must be in great confusion over what to wear. Just imagining their embarrassed expressions had me in stitches.

“Oh, my lady?”

While looking at the embarrassed knights, I could not stop laughing. The more I imagined, the more gratified I felt. The knights, who were watching me laughing heartily, even short of breath, said nervously, “Marquis, please calm her down.”

“Well, doesn’t she look good? I’ve never seen her laughing so brightly before.”

“You bet, but I’m afraid she’s going to evoke a gasp if she keeps laughing like that.”

“Hmm, that’s fair. Hey, Tia? Now, calm down.”

With a smile on his lips, my father lightly patted my back. Thanks to his regular patting, I could finally calm down and wipe the tears around my eyelids.

My father would not have confiscated their clothes normally, so he must have sent family knights to steal their clothes. Little did I think my father, not others, would do it.

“Somehow I felt strange because when I came home, I found there were almost no knights around. I didn’t know you were so good at climbing the walls.”

When I cracked a joke, smiling at them, the knights said, smiling faintly, “Well, these days we don’t do it, but climbing walls is our specialty.”

“To be honest, Marquis Monique is the most skillful climber, right?”

“You bet. When he was an ordinary knight like us, he was really good at climbing walls.”

What are they talking about? His specialty? When he was an ordinary knight?

The moment I looked back at my father curiously, something suddenly came to my mind.

His silver hair shining even in the dark.

Blessed thief?

“No way…Is my father the infamous righteous thief then?”

I overlooked it while laughing so much, but come to think of it, it couldn’t have been easier to steal those clothes. Then, is it true that despite tight security, they broke into the rebellious noble families’ mansions and stole all those clothes?