Together they grew flowers in the flower beds, took walks in the forest, and slept in the same bunk on thunderstorm nights.

Since she hated studying, Rishe also spent a lot of time going through her textbooks with her.

And when Myria turned fifteen, the same age as Rishe now, she’d be married in a church and become a happy bride.

But that day…

Rishe stood quietly and gently closed her eyes.

But that day, the Garkhain army attacked the place where Myria’s marriage ceremony was held.

And Rishe died.

Although she was a maidservant, Rishe was permitted to attend Myria’s wedding as if she were her sister, and she was inside the snow covered church when the Garkhain army invaded.

She then escaped with Myria and the others from the church, which was set on fire, and died.

Come to think of it, I wonder if His Highness Arnold was in that church where I died.

Curiosity suddenly pricked her, so she glanced at Arnold beside her.

Arnold was watching Rishe and Myria’s interaction nonchalantly, so their eyes clashed the moment Rishe turned without warning.

You must have been there.

It was then Arnold issued a command.

He set that beautiful temple ablaze and ordered to kill everyone inside it.

“…”

Rishe gently lowered her eyes and took a deep breath so as to escape notice.

She raised her head once more and called out to her fiance.

“Your Highness Arnold.”

“What?”

She moved closer to him and protested in a whisper.

“When I did that magic earlier, you’ve been staring intently at the trick!”

“…”

Arnold then turned away and replied, “It can’t be helped. You guided your right hand to attract people’s attention, but your left hand clearly moved strangely.”

“A normal person should have focused properly on my right hand. Even if you’ve noticed it, you’ll have to let it slide.”

“… Rather than that, I think it was necessary to prepare the sleeves of your dress in advance. I think you’re quite well-prepared.”

“…”

This time, Rishe wanted to turn away, but she looked up confidently so as not to arouse suspicion.

“I was actually going to show it to Your Highness. Perhaps in the carriage during the journey, or when you take a break from your work.”

“Huh? You don’t mean to tell me that you were going to present me with a stuffed bear, do you?”

“… I thought it would be fluffy and soothing.”

“Ha~”

Arnold laughed in amusement.

It was a surprisingly gentle laugh, which made Rishe’s eyes widen.

“Fine. I’ll just leave it at that.”

“…Truth be told, I’ve been practicing so that if there were any kids in the temple, I could show them!”

“Oh, I see. That’s a shame.”

She had no clue what was a shame about it, but she’d better leave it at that. Otherwise, as Arnold implied, it would be too suspicious.

I was planning to meet Myria-sama either at the Grand Shrine or on the way there, you know? I’m sure His Highness wouldn’t think that I was going to meet Myria-sama from the start… The problem lay on the young Myria-sama.

Rishe turned around and looked at the father-daughter exchange, which was calmer than before.

“Listen to me, Myria. It’s not far from here to the Grand Shrine, and a white carriage would be fine.”

“But if you look closely, white is childish!　I was chosen to represent the maiden priestess at the festival, you know?! If so, I’ll be embarrassed if my carriage doesn’t match that!”

Around them, the servants and maids of the Jonal family were watching with wary looks on their faces.

Not a single one of them was someone Rishe knew.

That’s weird.

Rishe somehow felt uneasy.

I’m sure Myria-sama was never this selfish, no matter how much she purports to be. Even if she hates studying or wants to eat something sweet for a snack, she’ll never say something so unreasonable as, “I don’t like the color of the carriage.”

Rishe also turned her attention to the Duke of Jonal.