When I left Veronica to be alone with Leonidas, I went to look for Augustus. After wandering around the palace and asking around the staff about the whereabouts of Augustus, I found Rodrick instead.

　　“Prince Augustus has been waiting in the carriage.” He told me, as though he knew who I was looking for. “He told me to look for you, and to say that he wants to leave his manor now.”

　　“But…we just got here.” I muttered but still followed Rodrick as we left the palace. Before walking out of the palace, I noticed Cyril by the grand stairs, watching us leave with a displeased expression.

　　There were so many questions I wanted answers too, but I knew it would be rather insensitive for me to bombard Augustus with questions about his past. Veronica is struggling in her own ways but she still tries her best to be involved in Augustus’ life. Everything was just a jumbled-up mess at this point.

　　When we reached the carriage, all four of us were accounted for. Rodrick helped me into the carriage and closed the door shut behind me. Even though Augustus seemed as though he was his normal self, reading his book quietly, the atmosphere felt tense and there was a peculiar scent lingering in the air. I had a fright, wondering if my heat was arriving early again but Augustus did not seem affected by it. It was probably my imagination.

　　The journey to Augustus’ manor was a short one. It was directly behind the main palace, divided by a portion of the forest. The manor was as extravagant as Gideon had told me about, it was huge and to think that Augustus resided in this place all by himself made my heart ache. Even if he was a rather unapproachable individual, it must be lonely to live here all alone.

　　A small group of staff greeted us upon arrival, and I noticed that they were all older to the point where Rodrick and Anne refused to make them carry our luggage to the manor. Augustus on the other hand had rushed into the manor by himself and I was not surprised at all that he would just leave us behind.

　　After everything was settled with our rooms, Rodrick, Anne, and I were given a quick tour around the manor by Augustus’ childhood butler, Viggo. He was a nice elderly man, spoke fondly of Augustus and even shared some funny tales of when he was a child. From the butler’s stories, it sounded as though Augustus used to be a very outgoing and cheerful child, intelligent as well from the amount of books he used to read. At least the latter remained the same even after he had grown up.

　　“I am truly happy to have heard that His Highness has found a wife as lovely and beautiful as you Princess Cordelia.” Viggo said affectionately. “I hope he has been a good husband to you. He is stubborn and quick to shy away from his true feelings, but he is a very nice boy once he opens up to you.”

　　“He has been a great husband to me, Viggo. I am blessed to have him by my side.”

　　The old butler laughed happily, and I could feel Anne and Rodrick’s judgemental gaze on me. I was not going to bad-mouth Augustus to his butler who truly adores him, besides, Augustus has been nice to me in a sense. He spends most of the time ignoring me, but I suppose that is tolerable.

　　“Oh yes, what would you like to eat for supper, Your Highness?”

　　“Hm. How about all of Augustus’ favourite meals? He has been away for so long; I believe he might appreciate some familiar meals.”

　　“Ah! You are right, princess. I shall inform the head chef immediately. Please make yourselves at home.” He said as he walked away.

　　After that, I made my way back to my room. According to Viggo, Augustus specifically asked them to prepare a room for me and one for Rodrick and Anne as well. The rooms were decorated minimally, hence it was rather spacious. Anne, whose room was opposite mine, kept coming to gush about having her own room and it was truly fun to see her adorable reactions.

　　Since there was still time before supper, Rodrick and I went to train our swordsmanship. I had noticed that since there was only a handful of staff, the entire manor had an eerie feeling to it due to how quiet everything was.

　　“What do you think Augustus is doing right now?” I asked Rodrick as we sparred.

　　“I think you should focus on this match instead of wondering about others, princess.” He said, striking forward. I lifted my weapon to block his attack.

　　“Truthfully, I cannot stop thinking about him.”

　　Rodrick frowned. “I respect you, princess, I truly do but I am not interested in listening to your love life.”

　　I pouted as I charged forward, making Rodrick go on the defensive. “How rude. I was not even talking about that in that sense. I’m just worried about him.”

　　Rodrick then sighed and with one swift motion, he hit my wooden sword from my hand. It went flying backward, the sound of it dropping on the floor echoed through the halls. “You should go to him.”

　　“What?”

　　“I do not see the point in training when your mind is preoccupied.”

　　“F-fine…I won’t talk about—”

　　“Go. If you still insist you want to continue, then I will not hold back.” He glared and I had shivers run down my spine. Whenever he said things like that, I would suffer from an aching body.

　　“Ugh…I understand. Sorry about this.”

　　“I hope the both of you will be able to talk this through,”

　　*

　　I tugged my cap tighter around my neck as I walked down the empty corridors of the manor, not sure where I was going or where Augustus was. But just then, a familiar scent lingered around the air, similar to the smell in the carriage earlier. I involuntarily followed the scent until I reached a large door. Pushing it open. Slowly, I realised that I was a library. And I immediately spotted Augustus seated by the window, immersed in a book.

　　I slowly entered and walked up towards him. If he had noticed my presence, he was doing a great job at completely ignoring me.

　　I then looked around the library, in awe at his collection of books. “This is an amazing library.” I said out loud in hopes that it would start a conversation.

　　“How did you know I was here?”

　　I was not sure if saying I followed his scent would be too strange, so I just shrugged. “Intuition?”

　　“Did someone tell you?”

　　“No.”

　　“Hm.”

　　“Do you want me to leave?”

　　“Only if you came to pity me.” He said, casually flipping the page.

　　I went towards him and leaned against the wall next to the window. “And why would I do that?”

　　“My mother must have said something to you when you were with her. Maybe Cyril said something as well?”

　　“Why do you think that?”

　　“Because you are here. You hardly come looking for me.”

　　“That’s only because you seem to be the type who would want peace and quiet. I did not want to bother you.” I admitted.

　　“And yet, here you are, bothering me.” He sighed, closing the book and setting it aside. He looked at me for the first time since I had entered the library, eyes drifting down to my attire before moving back to meet my eyes. “I know you want to ask me something, so speak before I change my mind.”

　　“How are you feeling?” I asked without missing a beat.

　　He furrowed his brows, the most emotion I have seen him openly show me. “What?”

　　“What?” I mimicked.

　　“I was expecting you to ask me something about my family…”

　　“I believe that you will tell me if you want too. I am in no position to pry.”

　　“Heh. How…admirable of you.”

　　I smiled. “I will try my best.” I joked.

　　Augustus stayed silent for a moment before scooting to the side. He then patted onto the padded seat. “Come and sit.”

　　I was told and the scent from earlier grew stronger. It was Augustus’ scent but strange how I never noticed it prior to today. I sat a good distance away from him, far enough that another person could sit between us. I looked over to the book her was reading.

　　“What were you reading?”

　　“You don’t have to speak.”

　　I blinked. “What?”

　　“Just sit there and listen.” He started but for a prolonged second, he did not say anything. I could hear the harsh winds from outside howling against the window and that alone made me unconsciously shudder. “On that day when you told me about your father, you said that you were aware that our circumstances were not similar. You were right.” He suddenly started.

　　“I know that—” I wanted to correct myself in case he had the wrong idea, but Augustus interjected.

　　“You were right because unlike you, where your father was absent throughout most of your life, my father on the other hand tried to murder me.”