He bowed politely toward us and truly disappeared into the mansion.

Since he’d been keeping his distance from us the entire time, it didn’t even feel like he was gone.

And so the three of us were left standing there.

Ray muttered blankly.

“Voluntarily enduring hardship as atonement? Sounds nice, but really, it just means they’ve drawn a line with the Temple now...”

That was true. It sounded humble, but it was just noble-speak. In the end, it meant they no longer engaged with the Temple.

The Temple didn’t seem to care much either. There was neither benefit nor harm in dealing with them, so no special action was taken.

It was, quite literally, a case of being ignored. The Temple had more than enough outer territories begging on their knees to be sent priests.

“The Sinesse family, who had always been silently loyal to the Temple since ancient times...”

“And the genius who supposedly knows everything didn’t know that? Sounds like it’s been this way for a while?”

“Well, we are far from the capital. And the Sinesse family rarely shows up in politics, so I didn’t know about this kind of thing.”

Even now, Ray and Linna were bickering.

I didn’t say anything and just quietly stared at the large tapestry.

* * *

Guest room of the Imperial Palace.

Calliona was restlessly keeping watch by Julian’s side.

Julian, who had collapsed in the records archive, hadn’t woken up all night. So Calliona hadn’t been able to sleep either.

The royal physician had been called, but all he said was that there was nothing serious and Julian would awaken soon.

“Dawn is almost here—shouldn’t you try to get a little rest...?”

“I’m fine.”

Even when the royal physician suggested resting, Calliona shook her head.

The physician bowed and left the room.

“Julian...”

Once they were alone, a mix of emotions crossed Calliona’s face.

Just as the physician had said—when Julian opened his eyes again, she had no idea which version of him it would be.

And she didn’t know which version she was hoping for either.

How much time passed?

Eventually, dawn began to break, and pale light streamed through the window.

Long lashes quivered faintly, and Julian slowly opened his eyes.

“Julian!”

Calliona instinctively grabbed his hand.

“You’re awake? Huh? Are you okay?”

Julian opened his eyes fully.

He furrowed his brow slightly and let out a slow breath.

His expression was one of confusion as he blinked several times, then quietly pulled his hand free from Calliona’s grip.

“Your Majesty, I apologize.”

Just from hearing his low voice, Calliona instantly understood the situation.

She asked in a trembling voice,

“Julian... did you regain your memory?”

“...I believe so.”

Julian pressed his forehead, as if he had a headache.

“Ha...”

Even so, he couldn’t hide how genuinely disoriented he was.

“I... seem to have caused Your Majesty a great deal of offense. I’m truly sorry.”

“Oh! So you remember what you were like when you lost your memory too!”

“I really acted like an uneducated, ill-mannered bastard, didn’t I.”

“Well, yeah...”

Julian moved his arms and legs a bit, then clicked his tongue with an annoyed expression.

“My physical condition’s a mess too...”

“Mm, I guess from that bastard’s perspective, he probably thought that was doing his best.”

“There’s no need to defend him.”

Julian spoke in a firm tone, drawing a clear line.

“That idiot didn’t even recognize his precious little sister and just made her cry in the end.”

Julian slowly sat up on the bed.

He brushed back his hair once and straightened his clothes. Even the last button that was always left undone was now perfectly fastened.

“Then I’ll go to Rosierosie at once, Your Majesty.”

His tone was polite, but urgency leaked through unmistakably.

“I’m in a ◆ Nоvеlіgһt ◆ (Only on Nоvеlіgһt) bit of a rush—need to get on my knees and apologize to my Rosierosie right away...”

“You’re going to Rosierosie?”

Calliona asked, stunned.

“...Not Arhad?”

Just a few hours ago, she’d been trying to stop Julian from going to Arhad. But now that it came to this, the sudden shift in his demeanor was hard to adjust to.

“Yuta and Zahid are there... you said yourself you’d go and help, now that you had new intel...”

“What’s that got to do with me? They can look after their own lives. They’re both capable people.”

Julian replied flatly.

“But our Rosierosie is far away, and if anything were to happen to her...”

He furrowed his brow, clearly overwhelmed trying to sort through all the information rushing in.

“And I have something I need to ask her. Something feels... off.”

“Huh?”

“I mean... I wasn’t some genius who knew the future or anything...”

“Yeah... you weren’t really like that... you really did have a bad case of glorifying your past self.”

Calliona muttered in distaste, then looked back at Julian and said,

“But Julian, Rosierosie is coming to Arhad soon anyway. That was the plan all along.”

“Still, what if she trips and gets hurt, or loses her appetite and starts picking at her food?”

“Julian, Rosierosie is an adult now...”

Calliona sighed heavily with an exasperated face.

“And you’re the one who sent her with Ray in the first place.”

“I mean, even keeping our precious Rosierosie safe and sound at the count’s estate wouldn’t be enough—but you dressed her in maid clothes and sent her to the Idra Duchy... with that slimy snake of a man tagging along...”

It really did seem like all his memories had returned, but his personality had reverted too.

“But Julian, we don’t know what kind of situation Yuta and Zahid are facing in Arhad. You were the one who insisted on helping—wait, no, I was trying to stop you originally...”

Calliona trailed off, stuck between wanting to cry and laugh.

“Your Majesty!”

The door suddenly burst open without a knock.

One of Calliona’s closest aides rushed in.

“Urgent message for Julian Noart! The sender is the Temple!”

Calliona and Julian’s expressions froze at once.

From the Temple? To Julian?

Calliona accepted the short letter with suspicion.

“Hm. Maybe one of the names is a mistake? The Temple and Julian Noart don’t exactly go together.”

“No, ma’am! High Priest himself said it was for Julian Noart!”

Calliona immediately unfolded the letter in front of Julian.

The contents of the elegant letter, sealed with Aietar’s crest, were brief.

To Julian Noart,

I now know everything.

If you want to save Yuta Orgon, it would be best to come yourself.

* * *

Dawn sunlight slowly began to seep into the dim corridor.

The stiff-faced Marquess of Sinesse—Abraham Sinesse—began his day by washing up and putting on full formal dress.

“Prepare a light breakfast and send it to the study.”

He gave the order while dressing.

“The guests must be quite tired. Don’t make a fuss and wake them. Let them rest as long as they wish.”

In short, let them sleep in as much as they wanted.

He stood tall and walked the stately halls with a straight back.

As befitted the long history of the Sinesse estate, the corridors were lined with ancient paintings.

Most of them shared the same subject: the story of how the Sinesse family secretly escorted the fleeing High Priest Otteron to the Kingdom of Itaa via the Renda River, 500 years ago.

Every morning, Abraham took in each of those paintings again as if seeing them for the first time, making his way to the study.

Handling estate business from the study early in the morning had been his long-standing routine.

And when he arrived at the study—

“Hmm?”

A young woman with silver hair and green eyes was waiting in front of it.

“Good morning, Marquess. Lovely morning, isn’t it?”

It was the gentle-faced woman who had been by Ray and Linna’s side yesterday, introduced as Lady Linna’s maid.