Surprisingly, when I opened my eyes again, a whole day had passed.
I thought I had only fallen asleep for a moment, but when I saw it was already the next day’s afternoon, I was stunned.
At that moment, Ena came rushing at me in tears.
“Young lady!”
Waaah!
She shouted that she was so glad I was safe that my ears hurt.
Hearing the commotion, the whole family rushed into my room.
“Lovey!”
“Daughter!”
Everyone had teary eyes, looking at me as if they had just witnessed my resurrection.
‘Did I fall ill while I was unconscious or something?’
I felt refreshed, having slept deeply, so I couldn’t understand why.
When I asked, they only told me I had slept soundly.
“Then why is everyone making such a fuss?”
I asked why everyone was overreacting when I hadn’t even been hurt.
Everyone’s demeanor changed.
They all clammed up and exchanged suspicious glances with one another.
Just before I narrowed my eyes and demanded they tell me everything—
“Of course, it’s because you went through that incident yesterday! An assassin in broad daylight!”
It was my second brother shouting.
The rest of the family nodded vigorously in agreement.
Only then did I understand, and I had nothing more to say.
It wasn’t my fault that I was attacked by assassins, but it was still something worth worrying about.
But I felt like I’d forgotten something.
A glittering, beautiful face flashed through my mind.
“Ah!”
“Huh? What, what’s wrong?”
“That child! Where’s Ray? Is he okay?”
I remembered that I wasn’t the only one attacked.
I jumped up from my seat and asked, but everyone exchanged awkward glances again.
What is it?
What are you trying to hide? Don’t tell me…
“Was he badly hurt? Don’t tell me—”
He didn’t seem injured at the time, but who knew?
Maybe he had hidden his wounds.
Thinking that must be what the family was hiding from me, I quickly got out of bed.
“Dear!”
“Lovey! Lie down!”
“Where is he? Huh? How badly is he hurt?”
I asked out of concern, but only received awkward silence in return.
Everyone’s silence made me think something really bad had happened.
“Where is he!”
“Well, ahem! He went home.”
“Lies!”
“It’s true. Ahem. His family came to pick him up last night after we contacted them.”
The family nodded again with conviction.
It didn’t seem like a lie, so I calmed down.
Once I sat back on the bed, everyone sighed in relief.
I felt an odd sense of disappointment.
‘He could’ve at least said goodbye before leaving.’
I scolded myself internally, thinking it was childish to feel that way.
After all, going home to his family after such a terrible incident was only natural.
I would’ve done the same, so I felt ashamed of my silent complaint.
‘Did he even say which family he belonged to?’
He barely even told me his name…
Well, considering how he wouldn’t even touch me in my previous life, maybe it made sense.
Just as I was starting to feel a bit disappointed about that, I noticed my family giving me odd looks again.
‘What’s with them?’
Are they hiding something from me too?
Ray and the family both being secretive made my eyes narrow.
“Uh, well… he didn’t say, but he’s from a family we know. So we just contacted them.”
“A family you know?”
“Uh… yeah. His… commander?”
My second brother stammered.
The commander of his knight order?
So the kid is possibly the child of the commander?
Without giving it much thought, I accepted it.
Then, my family quickly tried to put me back in bed.
“Why are you doing this? I’m not sleepy.”
“Still, just rest in your room today. Yesterday was rough.”
I wanted to get up, but everyone was so insistent that I had no choice.
Once I lay down again, they tucked the blanket up to my neck and patted me before leaving.
I thought if I got up right away, they’d just make me lie down again, so I decided to rest a bit before getting up—but strangely, even though I felt refreshed, lying down made me drowsy again.
‘I want to go out…’
That was my last thought before I fell asleep again.
***
As soon as they left her room with smiling faces after laying Seiana down, their expressions hardened.
They all seemed like they had a lot to say, but it wasn’t something to discuss in front of her room.
So they all moved to the farthest drawing room from Seiana’s bedroom.
“This morning, we searched the place where those men were yesterday and found this badge.”
The eldest brother took out a bronze badge from his pocket.
It was a badge familiar to anyone who had access to the imperial palace.
“An imperial palace access pass.”
“And the swords they carried were standard issue for the palace knights.
They’re probably the bodyguards of that prince.”
“As a loyal subject, I feel ashamed, but I’m relieved that the attack wasn’t aimed specifically at Seiana.”
That meant that as long as she didn’t get further involved with the Fourth Prince, she would be safe.
But even as Shin Sier spoke those words, he wondered if that would truly be possible.
The same went for the second brother, Hale.
“Do you think that’s possible? Yesterday, he looked completely obsessed with our Lovey.”
It was as if they hadn’t stopped him, he would’ve taken the unconscious Seiana straight to the palace.
Everyone agreed with a sigh.
“We’d love for them to be far apart, but…”
That was their wish, but was it really possible?
It was an empire with strong imperial power.
Not only did the prince have status, but he also possessed supernatural abilities.
If he harbored ill intentions, Seiana’s future could be crushed just like that—Regardless of her own will.
He seemed like someone who wouldn’t act out like that, having returned alone…
But who knows with people?
No one could guarantee today’s whims wouldn’t change tomorrow.
Since Seiana was involved in this matter, the family had no choice but to think carefully.
‘What should we do?’
If the worst were to happen, could they stop him?
The count bit his lip.
Those with special powers were like urban legends.
Everyone knew they existed, but no one had actually seen one.
Even though the Count of Estarote’s family had long held a central position, they had never encountered a gifted individual.
One reason was their small number, but mainly because they never left the depths of the imperial palace except when carrying out imperial orders.
In fact, the count had thought—at least until he met the 4th prince yesterday—that the emperor treasured them and hid them away.
But now, after seeing him, his thoughts had changed.
‘His Majesty hides them deep inside the palace not because he cherishes them, but to protect others from them.’
The prince had a beautiful appearance like the empress, but the count felt immense repulsion the moment he saw him.
He should not have been there.
No, not just there—he shouldn’t have existed in this world at all.
With the surge of disgust came fear.
Even though he was a child, it felt like facing a hulking murderer.
‘I didn’t think my will was that weak…’
All he could do was tremble.
The only small relief was that he hadn’t gone half-mad like Viscount Sachsen and made a fool of himself.
But even that didn’t offer much comfort, since he couldn’t stop the prince from being near his sleeping daughter.
His mind screamed to pull that monster away from his daughter, but his body was frozen in fear.
Until the people from the palace came to take him back.
“That monster—no, that person—was treated like it was nothing by our Ruby?”
“That’s what I saw,” said Sincere cautiously in response to the count’s question.
Sincere couldn’t even meet his eyes or look directly at his appearance—it was torture just to glance at the edge of his vision.
“She even smiled and spoke to him, saying it was okay.”
“Haah…”
“I mean, we know our Ruby is like an angel incarnate, but there’s no need for her to be that kind.”
The second child sighed, placing a hand on his forehead in frustration.
It was because she was so kind and lovely that something so horrible had attached itself to her.
Everyone fell into a grim silence.
“So… what should we do now?”
“Should we return home for now?”
After the attack, no one felt like continuing the trip, and the countess suggested going back out of fear that the 4th prince might come looking for Seiana again.
She thought maybe they should hole up in the territory using the attack as an excuse, until Raymund forgot about Seiana.
The other family members nodded at her words, but the count was skeptical.
‘Would the 4th prince really not come looking for Ruby even if we went to our territory?’
Thinking of the way his eyes had gleamed when looking at Seiana, it seemed impossible.