The nostalgia he felt in the gardens in the morning caused the box of memories that he had always kept hidden in the back of his mind to resurface. One by one, he recounted all the happy memories he shared with Leila.

The more he remembered, the more intense his feeling of loneliness became.

He got out of bed, intending to go to Leila’s sealed off room.

Exiting his room with a lit candle in hand, he cautiously made his way to her room, making sure that no one noticed him and that his friends were asleep.

However, unbeknownst to him, his three friends were up and awake, ready to tail him.

“I think this is a bad idea,” August says, frowning. “He’s going to find out.”

“It’s fine. Although it leaves a bad taste in my mouth, I can just use my title as an excuse,” Prince Finn replied.

“If everything goes down the drain, I’m placing all my blame on you, Prince.” Nicholas said, a grin on his face.

“Now shut up. I don’t want him to find us out so soon.”

The prince and the rest casted a few concealment spells. They made their footsteps lighter than feathers, making sure not to make a single sound.

The three trailed him from afar, watching as he turned into a corner and down the stairs.

He made his way to Leila’s room with familiarity.

Frederick stood in front of her door for a long while before finally deciding to enter. He had not entered her room for a very long time. Previously, while she was still alive and he had yet to start attending the academy, he would come here often to accompany her. They would drink tea and eat snacks, and he would read her storybooks. On the days when he had sword practice or magic practice in the backyard, she would watch him through the windows.

He took out the key to her room, solemnly turning the knob. He felt as if she would be there, waiting for him with freshly brewed tea in hand, just as she usually did.

The room was dark.

While it was kept clean by the maids, there were some extra things that did not originally belong in the room being stored there. When Leila passed away, the viscount had ordered anything and everything related to her removed or stored away, and most of those things were kept in Leila’s room. Out of sight, out of mind, he thought.

Over time, they forgot about Leila, moving on with their lives. Though she remained in a section of their hearts, no one in the house ever mentioned her ever again.

A large, rectangular-shaped object took up a large space against the wall on one side. It was covered with a white sheet, hiding whatever underneath it from view.

Frederick slowly and carefully pulled away the sheet, his heart beating irregularly.

It was a family portrait.

It had been drawn 8 years ago, when he was just about to leave for the academy.

His eyes immediately darted towards the startlingly eye-catching white hair that belonged to Leila. The painter did a good job in painting her features perfectly, causing a dull, familiar pain to envelop his chest.

His hand trembled as he reached to touch her image. “Leila…” He lowered his head, a sad smile on his face. He looked as if he was about to cry. “I miss you.”

Leila watched from the side, tilting her head. She had not expected Frederick to show such a reaction due to her death. Since her target had been Julius back then, she did not know that her death might have greatly affected Frederick as well.

Aside from Leila, there was also three other onlookers who were quietly watching the scene.

“…I don’t think we should be here…” whispered Nicholas.

“I wonder who ‘Leila’ is…” From the angle that the three were peaking from, they could not see the portrait, but they were able to catch what he was saying. His eyes glowed as his interest sparked even more.

“Prince…” August’s voice dripped with warning. Any more and they would probably incur the wrath of the slack-faced scion.

“Fine, fine. I know.” The prince also knew that doing this might jeopardise their friendship, so despite his curiosity, he decided to drop the matter. Frederick can tell them when he decides to open up to them, he thought.

Boo~ how boring~

Just like that, the matter was wrapped up without Frederick ever finding out about the snoopers. Years later, when he found out about this matter, Frederick ignored Finn and the rest for a month before finally telling them his story.

Two days later, the crown prince finally went back to the capital.

Leila who had never been there decided to tag along, hoping to see how Julie and Friar turned out.