They said she was going to be adopted by the prince.

Secretly?

“Well, isn’t it something to be congratulated on? But you’re not in the mood.”

The circumstances of the adoption were not known in detail, but one thing was certain, judging from the following words of Madam Mimosa.

“As you know from experience, the Prince is a very scary person. Annette.”

“..Yes.”

“Never go against him. Good luck.”

‘Annette doesn’t want to, but she’s forced to go.’

Why?

His clever sister would find a way not to be adopted anyway.

Annette didn’t even seem to like the prince.

The image of her cringing when the prince reached out towards her during socialization training was vivid.

She seemed afraid.

“By force..”

To go so forcibly, to leave the very next morning without even a word to him.

She tried to sneak away.

‘You promised to be with me on this birthday..’

Feeling the sense of betrayal embedding in his whole body like a knife, Heinrich closed his eyes tightly.

Suddenly, he remembered the first time he met the girl.

“Hello? You must be Heinrich.”

Hello. It was just a very light greeting.

That one greeting changed his life completely.

The empty life of the boy was filled with the light of Annette.

To lose that light was to lose the temperature of his heart.

Being left alone again.

He hated it enough to die.

If she leaves, Heinrich would not be able to live properly.

He would go crazy and he would spend the rest of his life missing Annette.

‘You must have been thinking about it for a long time.’

Not long ago, at the lake, Annette asked him a question about adoption. She must have already heard about adoption by then.

She must have thought about how not to go because she was also reluctant to be adopted.

‘But it either failed or it didn’t go well.’

In the previous conversation, Madam Mimosa spoke as if the adoption had been ‘decided’ on the spot.

So, between the time the question was asked at the lake and the decision to adopt, that empty period.

During then, Annette must have made an effort on her own.

But in the end, for some reason, she had no choice but to leave secretly.

“....”

The clever boy, who grasped the situation in an instant, whispered while ruffling his wet silver hair.

“You can tell me, Sister.”

Then he would have helped.

―He told her, he would rip whoever that bothered her to shreds.

It didn’t matter who the opponent was.

“I will help you.”

His eyes fluttered like a blizzard in the middle of winter.

“If the man you want to adopt disappears.. You don’t have to go anywhere.”

He touched the magic suppressor with a dangerous gesture.

Tomorrow, Gerard would come to the Forest and return to the Imperial Palace, where he would be brutally killed in an unknown attack.

No one would know why.

The opponent would be a powerful wizard who could handle at least one human as if it was a fly, and he was going to use an ‘invisibility’ magic tool that was not registered in the Magic Tower.

No one would know the truth until the boy got into the carriage and returned to the Forest.

It was time to make a risky plan.

“You can’t do that, Heinrich. That’s bad!”

A girl with lovely green eyes appeared in the mirror and scolded Heinrich.

It was an imaginary Annette.

Heinrich slowly reached out and whispered while stroking the girl’s cold cheek.

“I’m sorry, Annette.”

The beautiful face looking at her twisted sweetly like poisoned chocolate.

“I’ll do the bad things behind your back, as I always do.”

‘You are kind enough to keep loving me.’

–Without knowing anything.

***

“One, two, three, four.. Let’s see. Did I write everything?”

I counted the colorful cards one by one in the warehouse.

It was my letters to my children.

“Whew.”

There were cards that I left for close children individually, and there were cards I left for all the children of the Forest.

‘Because I don’t have time to say goodbye.’

Their sad hearts would be soothed by looking at these cards.

Was it because I foresaw parting someday?

I felt a little sad too, but I was still pretty calm.

‘In the future, we will meet again as a wonderful baker and nobles of the Empire, my babies.’

I left a bubble play set for Sasha and a cookie set for Julien.

‘Shall I pack up now?’

“So.. ah?”

My eyes lit up as I held the treasure bag.

“A strong financial treatment for a sad heart?!”

It’s healing.

I sniffed and rubbed my nose like a drug dealer smelling high-quality drugs.

Whoa, was this the taste of capitalism?

It was good to look at.

I stored the treasure first and started packing.

“Hmm, I have no choice but to throw away all the things in the dormitory.. I should pack my luggage as simply as possible.”

If I packed my belongings in the dormitory where there were children around, anyone would see me as someone going for adoption tomorrow.

I didn’t want to cause any commotion.

‘Besides, if there’s an emergency, I have to run away with just the treasure.’

When escaping, the simpler the luggage, the better.

So all I needed to bring was my body, my treasure, and my treasure.. and another treasure.

Then, suddenly, something caught my eye.

It was a necklace with an empty locket hanging on it.

“Ummm, should I bring this too?”

(Ame: lmao, actually, all these ‘Ummm’ are actually directly translated as ‘Um’, but I added extra letters to differentiate it from that red-haired wolf-like god ‘Um’ XD)

Should I throw it away?

“Still, it’s a necklace my mother gave me.”

Of course, I didn’t know if it was given to me by my real mother.

Even though it was a locket, there was not a single picture hung inside.

‘What’s so difficult about putting a picture of your face so that the daughter you abandoned can find you later?’

I was a little lonely.

“I must have not been loved by my mother even in this lifetime.”

If she really wanted me to find her, she would have included a picture.

The former orphanage director gave me one too. The necklace that was in the cradle when I was thrown away.

―My mother was probably a poor person.

The locket was made of wood, and the necklace looked very old as it had a broken leather strap.

But it was a good thing; if it was an expensive necklace, the greedy orphanage director would have never given it to me.

“....”

I looked at the locket for a while and decided.

“Let’s take it.”

I felt rather sad every time I saw it, but I missed my mother whom I had never met.

Still, it’s the only trace of my family.

I put the empty locket in the treasure bag.

And like this, the simple packing was over.

Now all that’s left is–

‘I’ll have to decide how to escape.’

I glanced at the multi-use teleporter on the table.

It was a gift from Marquis Bizet.

Hmmm, I decided on something immediately.

‘Unconditionally, I must run away before arriving at the Imperial Palace!’

Gerard knew of my ability.

Thus, when I entered the palace, it was clear that I wouldn’t be treated like a normal daughter of the imperial family.

Even if he treats me like that on the outside because of public attention, he would try to ‘awaken’ me by doing all sorts of obscene things.

Additionally, it was clear that strict surveillance would be made so that rumors about abuse of the adopted daughter did not leak out.

‘Carriage.. Perhaps it would be easiest to run away from the carriage.’

Gerard and I would ride in separate carriages, right?

Before I was officially enlisted, I was strictly a commoner and he belonged to the imperial family.

Because of their low status, commoners were discriminated against by the imperial court, but.. This was rather good.

Anyway, I thought of two escape routes:

1. Teleport to Winston Street.

2. Use Julius.

One time.. First of all, after sending a letter to the marquis via teleport, teleport to Winston Street from the carriage. Then run away.

‘It’s a multi-use teleport, so it will last at least twice, right?’

‘Using teleport without knowing the Marquis knowing–’

“Impossible.”

I murmured.

This teleport was probably connected inside Winston Street.

Even though I met that innocent aspiring father-in-law only once.. Somehow, it seemed that he would not refuse my earnest request.

Just as small herbivores were sensitive to danger, conversely, they knew how to recognize people who viewed them favorably.

It was the same sense as an injured stray cat recognizing and going to a nice butler like a ghost.

“Hmm.”

‘But even if he says he will help me, if things go wrong..’

Then, Marquis Winston would be in trouble.

“Please accept this flower.”

That cute little chestnut gentleman might get hurt.

I quietly fiddled with the invitation signed by Marquis Winston.

This was the purest favor from an adult I had ever received.

“.....”

That’s why it was precious.

Tears were brought to my eyes when I read the contents of the invitation for the first time.

‘I’m still so grateful, therefore..’

‘I can’t put him in danger.’

Option 1 scrapped.

‘In the end, I couldn’t accept Winston’s invitation.’

I was looking forward to it a lot, so it was sad and heartbreaking.

“I should also leave a message for the Marquis.”

He even sponsored me with a kind heart and invited me, it’s not right if I just disappeared.

I wrote a simple letter.

I had high expectations of meeting, but an ‘urgent and personal situation’ occurred and I had to leave the forest as soon as the morning dawned.

I also wrote that I would not be in the Empire for a while.

I even asked him to not look for me.

This was intended to protect my sponsor, just in case he visited me, as Gerard might look at him suspiciously.

At the end, I wrote the words I wanted to say the most.

「Thank you for being so warm.」

–It was sincere.

Even though it was only for a while, I would never forget it..

I teleported the letter carefully.

Would the letter go straight to Marquis Winston?

‘Now, what’s left is the second plan.’

I fiddled with a ring that could allow me to wield a fairly useful magician.

“If it’s Julius, he’ll be able to get me out well.”

Of course, Gerard would notice, and Julius could be in trouble, but—

“It’s none of my business, is it.”

I thought a little coldly.

‘Ah, surprisingly, I’m the type of master who is cold-hearted to slaves.’

Whoa, my viciousness.

I rubbed my nose and laughed.

In any case, since he was one of the best wizards in the Empire, he would not die helplessly even if he was caught. But I wouldn’t know if he would have to run away like a lizard on fire.

Of course, there were some more points to take into consideration.

‘Like, stealing a good noble etiquette teacher from the kids.’

It would be dangerous to help me escape and remain in the Forest.

But my life was at stake, so I couldn’t help it.

“Good. Then Julius—”

That was when I made up my mind and lifted the ring.

Thud–!

There was a dull noise right behind my back.

“....?!”

The moment I turned around in surprise, what I saw was a mysterious boy dressed like a phantom thief.

A red ‘diamond’ from a poker card was drawn under the left eye of the boy in the white mask, his eyes and mouth curved into a smiling shape.

He was sitting by the window as if he had fallen from the sky at some point.

“Shhhhh.”

As I was about to make a sound, he came right up to my nose and covered my lips with his index finger.

The boy in the mask smiled softly.

“I’m here to make a deal, Annette.”

“....!”