제논 noticed something a bit odd.

Duke Heron had been standing in front of Viola’s Room for quite a long time.

“Duke, you’ve returned.”

The Duke’s gaze turned toward Zeno.

Zeno smiled broadly and bowed his head in greeting to the Duke.

“Is there something you wish to convey to Princess Viola?”

“Yes.”

“Shall I pass it along?”

“If I needed to, I wouldn’t have come in person.”

“That’s true.”

Zeno felt a bit perplexed.

If he had come in person, it must be important, so why was he loitering around for so long?

“What time do children usually go to bed and wake up?”

Heron could hardly remember ever sleeping deeply as a child.

Instead, he pushed himself to the limit during training.

When he was young, he felt it was a waste to sleep.

“Princess Viola usually falls asleep between 11 and midnight and wakes up around 7 or 8.”

“What time is it now?”

“It’s 10:52 PM.”

“I see.”

Zeno smiled again and asked, “Were you worried she might wake up?”

So that’s why he was loitering!

He could have checked if she was asleep or awake by spreading his senses, but it seemed he hadn’t done that.

Usually, one spreads their senses to gauge the presence of an enemy.

It appeared he hadn’t picked up on the presence that could disturb his daughter’s sleep.

“She probably hasn’t drifted off yet.”

“I understand.”

Heron felt an inexplicable sense of disappointment.

Zeno recalled the intriguing report he had given to Isabella.

‘And so, she fell into a very comfortable slumber, chewing on her purple hair. Perhaps she is dreaming of eating egg tarts.’

If she had fallen deeply asleep, she would have been chewing on that purple hair.

He could have witnessed the hidden aspect of the Iron-Blooded Princess.

Had he come too early?

Thoughts like these passed through Heron’s mind without him realizing it.

“Let’s go in.”

“Understood.”

Zeno knocked.

“Princess, the Duke has arrived.”

Viola was sitting up in bed, deeply contemplating the dessert she’d eat tomorrow.

She decided she wanted to have pancakes for a snack tomorrow.

A souffle pancake topped with whipped cream and maple syrup sounded delicious.

Hmm, that sounds tasty; she hoped tomorrow would come soon. Her thoughts were interrupted when her eyes widened.

‘Father?’

It seemed Heron had returned from the Place Where the Eye Shines.

Still much smaller in stature than her peers, Viola hopped down from her high bed.

“I’m so glad you returned safely. Did you defeat the Great Monster this time too?”

“Indeed.”

Viola’s eyes were fixed on Heron.

‘He really is handsome.’

Though he was intimidating, he surely showed off that main character beauty.

Admiring Heron’s looks, her mind quickly raced.

‘But why did he come here?’

There wasn’t much reason for him to show up.

Wait, but why does he smell so good?

‘Ah, no, that’s not it. Get a grip.’

Having become quite accustomed to this world, Heron didn’t seem as frightening as before.

To be precise, her affection and admiration for the main character were overcoming her fear.

Heron frowned slightly.

‘What’s going on?’

Viola’s nostrils flared—was it because she smelled the blood of the Rainbow Mealworm?

Being a child with murderous intent, she must be sensitive to blood smells.

Viola’s voice broke through, “What brings you here?”

“Aren’t you the White Bellatu?”

If she really was the White Bellatu, shouldn’t she have been able to figure out why he was here?

Viola stepped out of her fandom world.

Her breath caught in her throat!

There was a significant difference between fantasizing about a text and fangirling over a real live person.

When indulging in text, one could revel in their imagination, but now she had to put her life on the line.

Creating fanfiction in real life was filled with visceral sensations and a sense of urgency.

‘Is it because of the Grass Sword?’

It was highly probable, but not certain.

‘Rather than making assumptions about the uncertain… it’s better to say I don’t know.’

Heron was such a character.

He was the kind of person who would acknowledge it as courageous to admit ignorance.

‘If I say I don’t know everything, my head might roll…’

Today wasn’t a day of some critical mission, nor was there anything particularly significant in the competition for succession.

So, today, he decided to choose honesty.

“I don’t know.”

“You don’t know?”

“I can’t find a reason for my father to come looking for me.”

At that moment, Heron felt inexplicably annoyed.

The White Bellatu doesn’t know anything.

That she would say “I don’t know” so easily.

His thoughts unavoidably drifted to Hixson’s face.

“Hixson often visits this room, doesn’t he?”

“Yes.”

“What’s his reason for visiting?”

Viola tilted her head.

It was simple why Hixson visited this room.

“He said he has no friends.”

Hixson’s only friends were the cats wandering around the Duke’s Mansion.

Recently, he had even named a brown cat that often appeared in front of Viola’s window ‘Butterfly.’

He would come to chat with Viola and interact with Butterfly.

“Actually, there doesn’t seem to be any grand reason.”

“I see.”

Heron felt an inexplicable displeasure reading through this.

He had always wondered why Hixson asked, “Why are you here?” when he visited too.

But he never asked.

Heron continued to silently gaze at Viola.

In truth, he was complexly troubled inside.

‘Why am I here?’

The question directed at Viola was also one he directed at himself.

Even he didn’t know why he was standing here.

Even now, Viola was looking at him, sending over a torrent of unreasoned affection.

A genuine fondness that seemed entirely incompatible with the Iron-Blooded Princess.

“Viola, aren’t you afraid of me?”

“I am afraid.”

Viola answered frankly.

Heron was the one who had cut off Zelton’s head and displayed it at the gates.

He was also a character who regarded the bloody succession rivalry among brothers as entirely natural.

In this world, a slip-up could cost one their head.

If she said she wasn’t afraid, it would’ve been a lie.

“Yet, you don’t seem particularly fearful.”

While her fear of Heron was indeed genuine, the affection directed at him was also real.

She had liked and admired Heron since her days as Ah-rin, and now that the target was right in front of her, she couldn’t help but have affection.

“Well, that’s because I like you.”

Heron slightly frowned.

He had never once heard that from his other children.

The words expressing fondness were certainly not a facade or a mask.

‘It’s sincere.’

She was speaking from the heart.

And that left Heron confused.

Why was she being so sincere? He had no way of knowing.

“Why is that?”

“At least you haven’t abandoned me.”

Viola locked eyes with Heron.

“You definitely said you would come to get me after a hundred nights had passed.”

Heron silently listened to Viola’s words.

It seemed she was speaking of when she had been abandoned in the slum.

“That was when I was five years old.

I measured everyday with my fingers as I waited.”

She had asked the orphanage teacher when her father would come for her.

Whether it was because she couldn’t count well or not, she had told them she would learn to count correctly.

The hurt from that time had turned like a sharp needle, pricking Viola’s eyes.

She bit her lip, holding back tears that threatened to spill.

“No one came for me.”

Heron continued to look at Viola with an emotionless gaze.

He could see the turmoil in her eyes filled with murderous intent.

That sight made Heron’s chest ache.

“But my father did tell me. Would you like to be my daughter?”

He recalled Viola as she had been back then.

In his memory, that child had been much smaller than the others.

She looked so delicate and would break if only one held her in their hands.

Back then, she had been barefoot.

“My father didn’t abandon me.”

Viola always thought that.

Even if he was a bad father, she’d be fine with a bad mother, as long as they were both by her side.

She wished she had a mother and father.

Heron spoke with a dry expression, not revealing the ache in his heart.

“It is only natural for a father not to abandon his child.”

He paused briefly.

“I will not abandon you in the future either.”

He raised his hand cautiously, then hesitated.

He brought his hand back down, unable to muster the courage to wipe away his daughter’s tears.

“So don’t cry.”

It hurts my heart.

He didn’t speak those words.

Heron comforted Viola in his own way.

“Make sure to find time every now and again. I will be your sparring partner for your new sword techniques.”

*

The escort knights of Mariantu were slaughtered.

Princess Sena went missing, and Reven, who was present as a duel observer, was found dead.

The tragedy occurred eight days after leaving the Winter Castle.

The continent’s news outlets covered the story with great detail.

Mariantu immediately formed search parties to scour the area, and Bellatu cooperated actively.

Even Medea personally led search teams, combing through the points of disappearance, yet they found nothing.

Mariantu’s search teams faced the same outcome.

Princess Sena had vanished from this world as if she had never existed, and they could not identify the instigator of this horrific incident.

This event became the only mission Medea failed to accomplish.

And about a year passed.

Viola took a deep breath and stood before a certain door.

“Zeno, knock.”

When Zeno knocked on the door, Ersa opened it.

“Princess Viola has arrived.”

Ersa looked at Viola with warm eyes, and Viola walked forward confidently, though she hid her trembling legs.

“I have a favor to ask of you, sister.”

She had been waiting for this day for an entire year.