The Crown Prince didn’t say anything.

He had a thoughtful face.

“It costs so much money for trade sent as a trial, but it will cost a lot more money to start a business in earnest in the future.”

“You think I don’t know that?”

The Crown Prince raised his head.

Seeing his cold expression, Baron Cheston stiffened automatically.

Now, facing the cold eyes, he remembered the miserable appearance of the maid he saw last time, his heart beating fast.

Baron Cheston managed to calm down and open his mouth.

“The best way is to persuade the Princess to start sponsoring again. It was because of the Princess that the duke family started sponsoring Your Highness, and in my opinion, the Princess has a great influence on stopping the sponsorship.”

“Therefore?”

The Crown Prince raised his eyebrows.

“Anyway, unlike the Duke’s appearance, he cares for his daughter greatly, so the Duke will listen to the Princess to sponsor again.”

He (Cheston) felt sorry for using the Princess too much, but the Duke was the Crown Prince’s power.

If the Crown Prince wins the fight, they will toast together; if the Crown Prince fails, they will fall together.

Since they were on the same boat, it was natural to help.

“Any other alternative?”

Baron Cheston suggested the easiest and fastest way, but for some reason the Crown Prince didn’t seem to want to accept it.

It was incomprehensible, but if the Crown Prince disagreed, he had to find another way.

“If we can’t get the duke’s sponsorship again, we have to find a new one.”

Baron Cheston did not mention Princess Lillian any further in order not to offend the Crown Prince.

Still, the Crown Prince’s hard expression did not go away.

It seemed that the relationship with the princess these days was worse than before.

The prestige of the duke was higher than ever because of the achievements he made, but even so, the attitude of the duke was too different from before.

He (the Duke) was obviously dissatisfied with the Crown Prince’s love affair with Lady Dana, but wasn’t he overly disrespectful to the Crown Prince of the country?

It was the duke who risked his life and made a contribution on the battlefield, but the Crown Prince who did nothing but benefited the most.

Recalling the cold and arrogant princess he had seen in the banquet hall, Baron Cheston frowned.

“Anyway, this work focused on cause rather than profit, so I’ll talk to the vice minister.”

“I am amazed by the wisdom of Your Highness. Obviously, if we use government funds, we can get more attention and we don’t have to worry about the financial problems.”

Baron Cheston nodded his head thoughtfully.

But there was one problem.

“But if we get government funding to support it, it will be more difficult. In addition, if things go wrong, we should hear the people’s grievances. Isn’t the risk too high?”

To Baron Cheston’s concerns, the Crown Prince answered firmly.

“It doesn’t matter. I’ll have to make it work.”

“Alright. Oh, by the way, Your Highness… I have something to tell you.”

Baron Cheston hesitated, unable to get his words out easily.

“What is it?”

When the Crown Prince showed his dissatisfaction, Baron Cheston spoke up with difficulty.

“The Princess Lillian was at the Imperial Palace earlier. I found out that she had been to the Imperial Palace a few days ago.”

“Roxana? I didn’t hear anything from my mother.”

“She must have come to see the Emperor.”

The Crown Prince had a puzzled face.

“What did Roxana do with my father?”

“Maybe it is possible that it was the Princess, not the Second Prince, who uncovered the case of Viscountess Willis last time.”

“It can’t be.”

The Crown Prince firmly denied it with a stern face.

“If you knew, you would have told me.

It was a reaction the Baron couldn’t understand.

Baron Cheston made a frustrated face.

“Your Highness, I understand your desire to believe in the Princess, but you must not believe too much. There is a possibility that the Princess may have held a grudge against your affection for Lady Dana and confessed it to His Majesty.”

“….”

“If the princess knows the truth about the Viscountess’s death, you should be prepared. In the future, it is safer to observe the princess more carefully and prepare in advance…”

The Crown Prince put down the teacup he was holding in his hand with a loud crack.

Surprised by the sound, Baron Cheston flinched.

“Allright, get out.”

The Crown Prince ordered coldly.

Upon receiving an ice-cold shout from his boss, Baron Cheston realized he had been talking too much.

He felt bad that the Crown Prince did not know his loyalty, but he was more worried than that.

There was an old saying, if a woman bears a grudge, there will also be frost on May and New Year’s Eve.

Besides, wasn’t the princess so fierce of jealousy?

How would she react if she knew the Crown Prince killed her nanny to get Lady Dana out of prison?

They should not ignore the possibility that the princess had already known the truth and that she harbored a grudge.

But the Crown Prince seemed to want to trust her, so it was really frustrating for Baron Cheston.

“All right.Your Highness, what you just said about the princess… I made a mistake. I’m just saying this out of concern, so I hope you don’t get too angry.”

Baron Cheston stood up.

However, as if he was still uncomfortable, the Crown Prince did not even look at him once.

Baron Cheston said one last time before leaving the room, looking towards the Crown Prince.

“But, Your Highness, knowing ahead of time and preparing for it are two different things.”

The Crown Prince didn’t say anything until the end.

His gaze at the teacup on the table was deeply subdued.

Well, it was only natural that his heart was complicated.

It would be painful for anyone to think that his fiancée, whom he believed in, had stabbed him with a knife from behind.

Baron Cheston made a sad face.

“Then rest comfortably.”

He looked at the Crown Prince one last time and bowed before closing the door.

***

“Lady, are you still feeling bad?”

Annie asked with a worried face.

Her complexion darkened because she had been awake all night nursing me.

Seeing her looking at my condition first with dark blue shadow under her eyes, I felt sorry.

“I’m feeling a little bit better now.”

I got up slowly.

Then, I roughly put the wet towel on my forehead into the basin next to it.

The day I went to the Imperial Palace at the emperor’s call, I caught a cold.

My body has been shaking since the day before yesterday, but yesterday I suddenly had a fever and was dizzy, so the doctor was called.

From last night to dawn, I had no energy because I had been sick all night.

After taking the medicine and sleeping for a few hours, I felt a little better now, but if I had known that I would suffer like this for a few days, I would have accepted Elvin’s coat then.

Recalling the memories of that day, I regretted it belatedly.

It was raining all day, so the air was cool even in summer.

Annie put more firewood in the fireplace and Joan brought water to wash.

After I finished washing, brushing my teeth, and changing clothes,Tien came into the room with breakfast.

“Lady, I talked to the chef and brought some hot soup and bread, can you eat it?”

The smell of freshly baked bread and savory soup stung my nose.

Until yesterday, I had no appetite, but now I feel hungry by smelling the food.

It seemed that my taste had definitely improved.

Joan lifted me up while Tien put the food on the table.

“Lady, the more sick you are, the more you need to drink. This will give you energy and help your body heal faster.”

A look of tiredness appeared on the faces of the maids because they took care of me while taking shifts.

However, I could see that they were trying to keep bright appearances without showing tiredness in front of me.

I picked up a spoon and scooped out a spoonful of soup.

The food was all delicious and suited my palate very well.

But the more I ate, the more I missed home-cooked food.

I miss the faces of my family.

But now that I thought I couldn’t see them all, my eyes got hot.

“Lady?”

Joan, who was opposite me, looked at me with concern.

Belatedly, I captured my emotions and expression.

“Are you still very sick?”

Joan asked me worriedly.

“It’s not like that…”

“No. I’ll call the doctor right now, so wait a minute.”

She quickly got up from her seat with a serious face.

“I’m really okay, no need to call the doctor.”

“But…”

In an unexpected commotion, Annie and Tien looked at us with puzzled faces.

Just then, the duke knocked on the door from outside.

“Roxana, is it okay if I go in?”

“Yes. Come in.”

The door opened and the duke entered with Stephen.

He looked at my face and paused for a moment.

The Duke was usually so expressionless that it was difficult to read his emotions, but for a moment, worries seemed to pass over his face.

I felt something was strange, so I looked in the mirror and immediately understood why.

My face was pale, my eyes were red, and my lashes were wet.

It was a face that had been crying until now.

I felt embarrassed.

I naturally wiped my eyes with my fingers.

“Are you here? Good morning.”

The Duke seemed to ponder for a long time what to say, and then spoke with difficulty.

“Are you all right?”

“Yes. I think I’m almost all better now.”

“Please refrain from going out for the time being. Don’t overdo it so you don’t get hurt.”

“Okay.”

“I came to see if you’re okay, so I’ll leave now. Rest comfortably.”

“Yes.”

The Duke walked out of the room.

“Lady, take good care of your body and rest well.”

Soon after him, Stephen greeted me and left the room.

‘What the hell did you come here for?’

After the meal, Tien cleared the table.

When I looked out the window, it was raining again.

Annie quickly closed the window to prevent rainwater from entering the room.

Meanwhile, Joan brought a plate of fresh apples.

Then she sat next to me, peeled the skin, and handed it to me with a fork.

“Lady, you are so sick, can you go to the event on the weekend? I think you should just rest at home…”

“I’m going.”

After answering, I took a bite of the apple.

As the cool and sweet fruit juice spread in my mouth, I felt better.

“Lady, that Duke also said earlier that you should not go out for a while and should rest.”

“I have work to do. The sooner I do this, the better.”

Joan made a puzzled face at my words. But instead of explaining more, I looked at the calendar. It’s summer and the rainy season has come, but it will get chilly in a few weeks.

Now that more than half of this year had passed, I felt complicated.

Next year, Roxana was also old enough to have her coming-of-age ceremony, and there was no turning back then.