CFCF 21

He attended the dawn service?

Don’t tell me his sour expression was because he was unhappy about that?

“It should be in my room then. Thank you, Lu.”

You should be thanking Helena, not me!

I inwardly lamented the missed opportunity and asked,

“You attended the dawn service?”

Rurik still didn’t look thrilled, but his red eyes were much brighter than before.

“The Abbot Priest insisted… But Lu, to be honest…”

He lowered his voice to a whisper near my ear.

“I’d find it much more comfortable and pleasant to just take a walk with you. If the priest is like this the whole time, I won’t be able to stay here for ten days.”

No, you can’t give up like that!

“Then, shall I attend the service with you?”

Flustered, I asked urgently, and Rurik laughed as if exasperated.

“The dawn service starts right when you’d be fast asleep.”

“I-I can wake up early!”

A large hand patted the top of my head.

“Having you there wouldn’t suddenly make the service fun. This is supposed to be a rare trip for you; you should rest comfortably.”

This isn’t right…?

After Rurik left me sitting dumbfounded in the dining hall and departed, Ren leaned towards me as if he’d been waiting, his purple eyes sparkling.

“See, even His Highness finds it hard to stay here. Sigh, I never thought the day would come when I’d side with the Crown Prince.”

I shot Ren a look and grumbled.

“Brother just found the dawn service difficult. Could the picky-eating Magic Tower Lord, who doesn’t even need to attend a single service, please be quiet?”

“You don’t say a word to His Highness but take it all out on me.”

Ren chuckled and pushed a piece of chocolate into my mouth.

The soft raw chocolate melted the moment it touched my tongue, but the warmth of his fingers that brushed my lips lingered stickily on my skin.

“Cheer up, Lu. At least there’s chocolate today.”

Watching his smile, I suddenly remembered the diary I’d left back at the imperial capital.

‘Since when did Ren become so affectionate?’

I found myself looking forward to the remaining diary entries too…

The thought made my oblivious heart flutter again, but I needed to get a grip.

‘If Rurik decides to shorten his stay at the monastery…’

We only had a week left, maybe even less.

There was more unfortunate news.

The monastery got progressively busier as the Sabbath approached, and the Sabbath was apparently just three days away.

‘I can’t come all this way and go back empty-handed.’

My heart grew increasingly impatient, but the chance encounter between Rurik and Helena still hadn’t happened.

“Evening services are only held the day before the Sabbath. So the monastery’s day usually starts early and ends early,” Helena had explained that morning.

In the afternoon, recalling her words, I moved to the next phase of my plan.

“Phoebe, please tell my brother to meet me at the Caesarea Falls.”

“You’re not going to the waterfall together?”

Phoebe checked diligently, but I nodded.

“I went yesterday, and the waterfall is quite far. Keeping up with my brother’s pace would make my soles burn.”

Phoebe burst out laughing but left the room to go to Rurik .

After that, I called for Helena again.

“Helena, I’m thinking of going to the waterfall again today.”

Helena smiled shyly, seeming pleased.

“I’m glad you liked the waterfall.”

“Yes. I’m going for a walk with my brother, so could you explain things about the hot spring waterfall like you did yesterday?”

Fortunately, Helena proactively asked, even though I hadn’t requested it.

“Then, shall I go ahead and prepare a place for you to sit?”

“That would be wonderful.”

Afterwards, alone in my room, I bundled up warmly.

My morning sickness seemed to be getting worse these days; my stomach churned again as evening approached.

‘My dizziness is so bad it feels like my head is ringing…’

Maybe I should tell Ren?

‘Baby, are you okay?’

I gently stroked my still-flat stomach and took an extra spoonful of anti-nausea medicine.

After all, all of this was to ensure I met the baby safely, so I couldn’t hesitate.

The moment she received Princess Louise’s order, Helena rushed to the kitchen.

She obtained a picnic basket, packed some snacks, and made sure to take plenty of blankets to spread on the ground and cover herself with.

The thought that she might see the infamous Second Prince for the first time made her swallow hard.

‘He’s the brother of the gentle Princess, but he’s called the ‘Emperor’s Sword,’ so he must be terribly stern.’

Thanks to Abbot Didio’s fame, the Caesarea Monastery had a steady stream of visitors year-round.

High-ranking nobles weren’t uncommon among the guests, but this was the first time Helena had been personally assigned to attend to one.

She had been at the monastery for less than three years and had no experience serving nobles up close.

‘They say he’s the commander who led the Three-Year War to victory… he must be frightening, but…’

They said the Prince had come all the way to this remote monastery to heal the mental wounds from the war.

‘Then he can’t be a bad person.’

Helena repeatedly clenched and unclenched her stiff, nervous fingers on the basket handle.

As she left the monastery and hurried towards the waterfall, the red sunset deepened above her head.

If Rurik and Helena were to meet alone at the waterfall and exchange even a single word, my presence nearby was the last thing needed.

‘If I’m there, Rurik will focus entirely on me and probably won’t even notice Helena.’

But I couldn’t just stay in my room alone either.

‘Phoebe would find it suspicious, and Rurik would worry too much.’

Agitating Rurik too much would only backfire.

So, I calculated the timing carefully.

‘They should both have set off by now, right?’

I needed to give them time for a few words, but I couldn’t be so late that Rurik got worried.

“Alright, I’m off, Phoebe.”

“You’re not calling the maid first?”

“Helena said she’d stop by the kitchen, so we agreed to meet downstairs.”

“Ah, I see. You must be careful, Your Highness!”

Phoebe smiled brightly, holding her embroidery hoop faithfully.

“I’m counting on you.”

Ever since she drew the camellia flower design I requested the previous day, she had naturally kept hold of the needle.

While she seemed proud of me just for making a plan, she didn’t press me to do the embroidery myself.

‘I guess my skills aren’t very trustworthy.’

Swallowing a laugh, I quietly slipped out of the women’s quarters.

I was just passing the monastery entrance.

“…Lu?”

Someone called my name.

Startled, I turned to see it was Ren.

“You scared me…”

Ren sighed.

“I’m the one who’s scared. Where are you going alone? Where’s Phoebe?”

“Ahh…”

If I told him I was engineering a situation for the monastery maid and my imperial brother to have some alone time, even the eccentric Magic Tower Lord would be shocked.

I cobbled together an excuse.

“Phoebe is working on something I asked her to do in the room. So… I told her I was going to the waterfall with my brother.”

Ren looked around, puzzled.

“Where is His Highness?”

“I told him I’d go to the waterfall with the monastery maid and meet him there. But then I realized I also told the maid to go ahead and wait for me.”

He asked, incredulous.

“And so?”

“And so what? Now they’re both waiting for me at the waterfall. So I need to hurry.”

“Good heavens, Lu…”

Ren furrowed his brow and pressed his fingers to his forehead.

“It’s getting dark already. Why are you so careless, especially out here in the countryside? What are those guards even doing?”

I pretended to be nonchalant and shrugged.

“I said I didn’t need an escort since I’d be meeting my brother soon.”

“If you keep this up, those ten guards His Highness brought will be utterly useless.”

Ren showered me with a torrent of scolding, and he looked like he had zero intention of letting me go to the waterfall alone.

Seeing the darkening sky, my confidence was already waning, so I thought it was just as well and said,

“What does it matter? I have you with me.”

“You and I just happened to…”

…run into each other.

He clearly meant to say that, but he seemed to finally become aware of our current, alone-together situation.

“Ahem! Well then… shall I… take you there?”