The party was a success.
Navia, with a smile on her face, mingled with the guests before discreetly slipping away. Even amidst many people, she felt an unfillable void chilling her heart.
"At least the war is over now."
Navia smiled as she thought of Creed, who had gone off to war, and the Titan Knights.
The Emperor had demanded the deployment of the Titan Knights for a decisive victory when the Kaladis War broke out.
He even subtly pressured to add the forces of Suleiman and Margret.
Navia firmly refused, questioning how she could send two people over sixty back to the battlefield.
But the deployment of the Titan Knights was inevitable.
"Madam."
At the sound of a familiar voice, Navia turned her head.
"Nero!"
Nero, who had visited the Familia Department Store immediately upon arriving in the capital, was looking at Navia with a gentle smile.
"You've become a proper lady now."
"And you, Nero, have become an adult?"
"…I've always been more grown-up than you. Merging another life is a bit of a cheat, though."
Navia burst into laughter as she stepped away from his embrace.
Now thirty, Nero had indeed become someone she could acknowledge as a brother.
Navia's comment about him being an adult wasn't frivolous. There was a newfound maturity and ease about Nero that hadn't been there before.
Matured.
Navia carefully checked Nero for any injuries as they got into the car, intending to go home.
"Is it okay not to visit the Sylas family?"
"…I've cut ties with them long ago. Besides, my surname isn't Sylas anymore."
Nero had been awarded a title for his significant military contributions.
"Ah, now you're Count Saga."
They chatted incessantly on the way home.
"The world seems to have changed beyond recognition while we were at war."
Streets where carriages and cars coexisted, buildings much larger and more splendid.
The world was undergoing a massive transformation.
"You'll adapt quickly."
"…Please don't treat me like an old man."
Before arriving at the ducal mansion, Navia casually asked.
"…Did you see Creed?"
"Yes. I was in his direct unit."
"How is he? No injuries? Did he fare well?"
Nero's expression turned slightly sullen as he tugged lightly on his long silver hair that fell onto the car seat.
"Why do you ask me, when you sent him far more letters than you did to me?"
"I thought I wrote about the same… No?"
"It was at least double."
Navia was astonished.
"That's not true. It wasn't that much."
"Regardless, it's true that I received fewer letters."
Nero looked genuinely upset, pouting in a way that didn't quite match his size.
"Alright. I'll write to you more from now on."
At her words, Nero's expression softened. He almost looked like he was eighteen again.
"…But has your lord not awakened yet?"
Navia nodded with a bittersweet smile, then playfully said,
"Yeah. Beauties love to sleep."
'Father is certainly a beauty.'
Knowing Navia was trying to keep her spirits up, Nero silently stroked her hair.
Just as they arrived at the ducal mansion, someone burst out.
"Sara?"
Sara, still with her striking golden hair and mournful violet eyes, approached Navia with a swagger.
She flung open the car door and declared,
"Let me stay here!"
Startled by her sudden request, Navia calmly stepped out of the car and said,
"If that's what you need, you could go somewhere else."
"I have no other friends but you."
Wasn't that a bit too brazen?
"Let's go inside."
Sara, clinging to Navia's hand, obediently headed towards the main building.
* * *
The high-nosed and haughty Sara had clearly disliked Navia.
She sent invitations and letters at every opportunity, trying to outdo Navia, and visited her relentlessly even when ignored.
If the Lucia family had instructed her to do so, Navia wouldn't have entertained it.
But Sara's obsession, unrelated to her family, had lengthened into a strange friendship. Of course, Sara still harbored a sense of rivalry towards Navia.
"Oh, Miss Sara's here?"
"Lady Margret!"
Sara, with a gloomy face, hurried to Margret.
'She's going to complain again.'
Since Sara's brother, the young Lucia, returned to the capital after completing his studies, these incidents had become frequent.
Navia had variously taken care of Sara, treating her stays in other noble houses as official visits.
'It's like looking after a thoughtless younger sibling.'
Navia and Sara entered her office together.
Before tea and snacks were even served, Sara burst out.
"That damned brother of mine!"
Sara gulped down the cold water handed to her by a servant before the tea.
"He's of no help in my life!"
Sara's brother, Young lord of Lucia, was to put it nicely, a type with strong independence, or more bluntly, a social misfit who cared for nothing but himself.
Sara, who was already at the center of social circles and extrovertedly sweeping around, had a completely different personality.
However, the problem was that Lucia's youngest son was to become the next Duke.
"That kid has no idea what position he's in. It's as if he's trying to ruin our family on purpose!"
And cleaning up the messes caused by Lucia's youngest son always fell to Sara, who had both a wide network and excellent abilities.
"I feel like I'm going to spend my life cleaning up after my brother. Even our parents take it for granted! Nobody thinks about my life……."
Sara gritted her teeth with an expression as if she wanted to kill her brother and go to heaven, if only she could.
Then Navia calmly said,
"Then why don't you become the Duke, Sara?"
"Huh? Me? But……."
Sara wore a bewildered expression.
'Me, as the head of the family.'
She had lived her life being treated almost as Wood's future wife since she was a child. She had always taken it for granted.
But now, looking at Navia, she realized that a woman could also receive full support as the head of a family.
"Still, I thought it was none of my business..."
"What do you think it would be like if your brother becomes the family head?"
"Then Lucia would be ruined. Definitely."
"What if you do it?"
Sara was still confused when she suddenly felt as if she had been struck hard on the back of her head.
'If I become the family head... I can do better than dad.'
She was already friends with the next head of the Eseled family, who reigned like the emperor of the world economy.
Moreover, she had been sneaking into the house of Prime Minister Bonard, following Navia, and there she also built a friendship with Princess Monica.
In fact, Sara's tendency to speak her mind and disregard etiquette was largely influenced by Monica.
Sara glanced at Navia.
"Because you haven't said anything, I've been quiet until now, but you don't plan to promote Ares to emperor, do you?"
Are you trying to make Monica the emperor?
Sara swallowed the rest of her words and only asked that much.
Navia looked at Sara quietly and pondered for a moment.
'I originally planned to eliminate the Lucia Ducal family.'
She had intended to destroy both the Agnes and Lucia families and elevate Marquis Vladina to a duke. However... if Sara becomes the duke.
"We could handle this more easily without having to make such big sacrifices."
For Monica to be promoted to empress, the support of a distinguished family like Lucia's, which had produced an empress, was extremely important.
Navia spoke firmly.
"Prince Ares is not fit to be emperor."
"Ha... I thought so. Aren't you giving me too difficult a task?"
Sara grumbled, clutching her head, while Navia just smirked.
Navia put down her teacup and said to Sara,
"Instead of spending time here, hurry up and go take care of the mess your brother made and gather your forces. Don't just end it as a mere cleanup like usual."
Sara frowned annoyingly, but her eyes sparkled with vitality, a look characteristic of someone who had found the right answer.
"Then, I'll see you at the victory party tomorrow!"
"Take care on your way."
After Sara left, a maid approached with a silver tray holding an invitation and a paper knife.
"Lady of the Household, an invitation has arrived from the royal palace."
Navia checked the invitation.
It was the invitation to the victory party Sara had mentioned before leaving.
"It starts tomorrow and lasts for a week."
"Should I attend just for a day?"
It was rare for someone who was neither a party enthusiast nor looking to network to attend the banquet every day.
"Still, since Creed will be the star of the banquet, maybe it's best to attend the first and the last day?"
Then I'd have to face people I'd rather not see.
Navia furrowed her brows, thinking of Ares, whom she had diligently avoided until now. Thinking about that man always put her in a bad mood.
"Moreover, he's been too quiet lately."
Until recently, Ares had behaved like a 'normal' prince, nothing particularly outstanding. It was like the calm before a storm.
"He's not the type to be this docile. He's definitely preparing something, but even my spies haven't found out anything."
Navia, feeling a headache coming on, took off her head ornament.
As the maid was collecting the paper knife, she asked,
"Shall I help you change your clothes?"
Navia pondered for a moment.
"I wonder if Creed will come today? If he does, it might be nice to greet him like this, all dressed up."
The letters were exchanged steadily, but it had been over nine years since they had actually seen each other's faces.
Creed was kind and affectionate.
Thus, he might have been unable to ignore her letters, responding dutifully to each one.
Navia, looking at a beautifully adorned dress, said,
"…I guess that's what I should do."
She knew all too well that expecting the other party to feel the same deep bond just because she did was wishful thinking.
'I know. But still…'
She understood that she needed to accept this humbly. She knew it, yet it still hurt.
The possibility that he might not be, my tree. …It felt a little lonely.
"Will you wear this one?"
Navia, glancing at the dress chosen by her maid, nodded absentmindedly without really looking at it. It seemed like she should go to bed early today.
Before entering her room, Navia paused and looked towards her father's bedroom.
Nearly a year beyond the promised day, Lark still hadn't awakened.
Navia entered her bedroom with a somber expression and, picking up her cute rabbit doll, Cesare, she asked it,
"Nyx, when will dad wake up?"
But Cesare only tilted his head in response.
Navia smiled weakly, stroked Cesare, and put him down on the bed.
Click. Navia opened the window wide.
"Will Creed come today, Cesare?"
As if on cue, the wind blew, fluttering a few strands of her hair and bangs. The wind of April felt so tender.
'Today, he arrived at the royal palace, so he must be busy.'
She had heard that Creed crossed the capital and entered the royal palace while she was hosting the party.
Many were waiting for his arrival.
There would be many influential nobles eager to see Creed.
'I can greet him tomorrow anyway, since the victory party is tomorrow.'
Navia brushed her fallen hair behind her ear and turned around.
"I still wanted to see him before that..."
She muttered to herself when a question came.
"Who?"
"…!"
Startled, Navia turned back again.
There, sitting on the windowsill with one knee up, against the sparkling sunset, was a man.
"Aah."
Navia opened her lips feebly, her expression blank.
It was as if a man who seemed to have forcibly dredged up old memories stood before her, momentarily making her feel detached from reality.
"...Creed."
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