Winfred, Crown Prince of the Peles Empire, opened a drawer that was tightly locked with a key and took out his treasure.
It was none other than a portrait of Aila that he had drawn himself.
It was a sketch that was far too small compared to the large frame that had been given to Aila's parents, and it was only for practice purposes, so it wasn't even colored.
It was an extremely precious thing to him.
It was a treasure that rivaled the first and second place among his most prized possessions, along with the handkerchief he had laid out for Aila on the roof the other day.
Winfred smiled pleasantly as he remembered the handkerchief he always carried in his pocket, washed and ironed cleanly.
Every time he looked at that handkerchief, the dreamlike moments he had with Aila came back to him vividly.
The stars that decorated the night sky seemed to pour down upon him. The soft moonlight.
The sweet air of an early autumn moonlit night, the cool night breeze.
And Aila's silver hair, which sparkled as if dusted with jewels, and even her smile, which seemed somehow lonely. All those sensations seemed to come back to him.
Winfred put the precious painting back where it belonged, locked the drawer, and rummaged through his pockets.
It was to take out a handkerchief.
But.
"Uh?"
The handkerchief was not where it should have been.
He turned his pockets inside out and looked around here and there, wondering if he had put it in the wrong pocket.
Winfred's precious handkerchief was nowhere to be found.
For a moment, he felt a chill run down his spine.
He searched the entire office to see if it had fallen nearby, but unfortunately, he couldn't find the handkerchief.
Where on earth did I drop it?
Winfred bit his fingernails nervously, trying to recall his whereabouts.
Until this morning, the handkerchief was clearly in his hand.
Because he clearly remembers changing his clothes and putting a clean handkerchief in his pocket.
After that...
As Winfred was slowly recollecting his memories, the memory of the chaos that had unfolded during lunchtime that day suddenly came to mind.
Today's lunch was with Marquis Caenis, who serves as the Imperial Treasurer.
Marquis Caenis was one of the few people whom Winfred, who was not picky about people, rarely disliked.
It was because his attitude was arrogant and strangely cocky, and he felt bad every time he met him.
Of course, since Winfred was the Crown Prince of a country, he did not commit any blatant rudeness.
It subtly crosses the line without making you feel bad, you know?
It was the same today.
‘...I’m not a child anymore.’
Winfred pouted.
It was Marquis Caenis who had been irritating Winfred by treating him like a child.
It was a dangerous level to the point where if he showed any signs of being offended, only Winfred would become a sensitive person.
How much trouble he had trying to hide his upset throughout the meal.
The climax came after dinner. As he was leaving the restaurant, he collided head-on with the Marquis and fell.
The situation arose because Crown Prince Winfred, being superior to the Marquis, wanted to go out first, but he did not yield.
Naturally, Winfred, who was smaller than an adult male, had no choice but to fall on his butt.
Since the precious body that was to become the next Emperor had fallen, it was only natural that chaos broke out.
The servants rushed to wake him up, calling out, "Your Highness, Your Highness!" and the maids brushed the dust off his clothes.
Even the Marquis, who caused this accident, was embarrassed and lowered his head, which caused chaos.
It seemed like he had no intention of overthrowing the Crown Prince.
'The Marquis is being arrogant, it's not something that happened just once or twice, so let's just ignore it.'
Perhaps the handkerchief had fallen during that moment of confusion? It was entirely possible.
'I should go to a restaurant sometime.'
Winfred thought about that and tapped his desk impatiently.
He wanted to go right away, but he couldn't because he still had work to do.
No matter how precious the handkerchief was, it was impossible to abandon the Crown Prince's duties and go find it.
So Winfred efficiently accomplished the tasks he had to do, using twice the amount of concentration.
His aides were so surprised by his unusual appearance that they were shocked.
“Your Highness, you are falling! Be careful!”
And after finishing his work like that, Winfred started running to the restaurant.
“Oh, you must be that hungry.”
His hasty appearance led to this slight misunderstanding, but what was important now was the whereabouts of the handkerchief.
Arriving at the restaurant, Winfred quickly began to thoroughly search the floor, not only where he had fallen, but also the area nearby.
But the handkerchief was nowhere to be seen.
“Your Highness, why are you doing this?”
The chamberlain asked with a puzzled look, looking at Winfred, who was about to clean the dining room floor.
He thought he was hungry because he was running so fast, but he guessed not since he didn't even glance at the table.
It was a mystery why the Crown Prince was wiping the tiles with his expensive clothes.
“Handkerchief. I don’t have a handkerchief.”
As Winfred spoke with a sullen expression, the chamberlain finally understood the reason for his strange behavior.
“Ah, that... that handkerchief that Your Highness cherishes so much.”
The chamberlain nodded with an expression that seemed to have resolved his doubts, and Winfred was slightly shocked by those words.
He'd thought he'd kept it well hidden from everyone, but he was surprised to learn that the chamberlain knew he had a particularly precious handkerchief.
“Oh, how did you know?”
And the attendant was slightly taken aback by that question.
‘...Was that something you wanted to hide?’
He didn't even realize that it was so obvious that he wanted to keep it a secret.
Winfred had a transparent personality, with his emotions showing right on his face, but he seemed unaware of it.
"Is there anything I don't know about Your Highness the Crown Prince? I am your closest assistant."
The chief of staff, who had quickly assessed the situation, answered with a sly smile, hiding his true feelings.
It was to protect the Crown Prince's innocence.
“Oh, I see.”
Winfred nodded, as if he accepted the excuse, and then his lips and the corners of his eyes drooped again.
“The handkerchief... where did it go? I thought I dropped it here.”
The restaurant was his last hope. If it wasn't there, he had no idea where it had ended up.
“...Please have dinner first, Your Highness. I will look for it in the meantime.”
The chamberlain sat Winfred down at the dining table, saying that he would inquire about it, as someone might have picked it up.
"Please. I absolutely must find it. It's so precious to me."
Winfred asked in a still listless voice.
Seeing that pitiful sight, the chamberlain resolved to find the handkerchief no matter what.
However, despite that resolution, no one came forward to say that they had picked up the handkerchief in the restaurant during the day.
“You couldn’t find it?”
“...I’m sorry, Your Highness.”
The chief of staff bowed his head and apologized as if he were ashamed.
Winfred looked as if the world was ending.
Will I never be able to find it again like this?
He lost it in the Crown Prince's Palace, not anywhere else, and he can't find it.
Winfred was so upset. He wanted to throw away everything, including his pride as a Crown Prince, and just cry under the covers.
“I will look into it further.”
"...Yes."
Seeing Winfred's sullen appearance, the chamberlain, who had done nothing wrong, felt a sense of guilt and had to step aside.
Two days passed like that.
Winfred was still depressed. It was only natural, after all, that the handkerchief containing his precious memories of Aila had disappeared.
He was barely eating, so his face had become very thin, and he always had a gloomy expression, so the Emperor and Empress were very worried.
And Winfred was still poking bite-sized pieces of steak with his fork, his expression still indifferent.
He knew his parents were worried, so he had to eat, but his appetite just wouldn't come back.
“Your Highness, if it doesn’t suit your taste, shall I ask you to serve something else?”
The attendant asked with a worried look on his face.
“Um... No, it’s okay. I’m eating. I’ll finish it. Just give me another glass of juice.”
Actually, he didn't want to eat any other food or anything, but Winfred shook his head and said.
If he leaves food behind, won't his mother's health deteriorate from worrying about him?
She was already feeling unwell, so he didn't want to add to her worry.
At Winfred's request for more juice, the chamberlain called over a maid holding a bottle full of orange juice and ordered her to fill his glass.
And then.
The maid's hand slipped and she spilled some juice on the table.
“Oh, I’m sorry...!”
She fumbled and took a handkerchief out of her bosom and tried to wipe the table.
And then.
“Ah! This handkerchief!”
Winfred screamed and snatched the handkerchief away.
“My handkerchief...!”
In an instant, his face lit up with joy. He thought he'd never see it again, but now it's back.
It must have been embarrassing enough to have made the mistake of spilling juice in front of the Crown Prince, but the maid who suddenly had her handkerchief snatched away was so surprised that she could only blink her eyes wide.
“...When I looked for it like that, it didn’t come out.”
The attendant muttered with a blank expression.
For the past two days, he's been asking every servant in the Crown Prince's Palace if they've picked up a handkerchief, and his throat is sore.
He couldn't figure out where the hell this maid came from.
He stared blankly at the maid's face.
Plain brown hair and brown eyes. Her face was quite pretty, but perhaps because of her timid personality, she was the type that didn't stand out or stand out.
She was a maid who had recently moved to the Crown Prince's Palace, and he remembered that she had been on leave for the past two days.
"Was your name Binka? You were on vacation until yesterday."
It was none other than a portrait of Aila that he had drawn himself.
It was a sketch that was far too small compared to the large frame that had been given to Aila's parents, and it was only for practice purposes, so it wasn't even colored.
It was an extremely precious thing to him.
It was a treasure that rivaled the first and second place among his most prized possessions, along with the handkerchief he had laid out for Aila on the roof the other day.
Winfred smiled pleasantly as he remembered the handkerchief he always carried in his pocket, washed and ironed cleanly.
Every time he looked at that handkerchief, the dreamlike moments he had with Aila came back to him vividly.
The stars that decorated the night sky seemed to pour down upon him. The soft moonlight.
The sweet air of an early autumn moonlit night, the cool night breeze.
And Aila's silver hair, which sparkled as if dusted with jewels, and even her smile, which seemed somehow lonely. All those sensations seemed to come back to him.
Winfred put the precious painting back where it belonged, locked the drawer, and rummaged through his pockets.
It was to take out a handkerchief.
But.
"Uh?"
The handkerchief was not where it should have been.
He turned his pockets inside out and looked around here and there, wondering if he had put it in the wrong pocket.
Winfred's precious handkerchief was nowhere to be found.
For a moment, he felt a chill run down his spine.
He searched the entire office to see if it had fallen nearby, but unfortunately, he couldn't find the handkerchief.
Where on earth did I drop it?
Winfred bit his fingernails nervously, trying to recall his whereabouts.
Until this morning, the handkerchief was clearly in his hand.
Because he clearly remembers changing his clothes and putting a clean handkerchief in his pocket.
After that...
As Winfred was slowly recollecting his memories, the memory of the chaos that had unfolded during lunchtime that day suddenly came to mind.
Today's lunch was with Marquis Caenis, who serves as the Imperial Treasurer.
Marquis Caenis was one of the few people whom Winfred, who was not picky about people, rarely disliked.
It was because his attitude was arrogant and strangely cocky, and he felt bad every time he met him.
Of course, since Winfred was the Crown Prince of a country, he did not commit any blatant rudeness.
It subtly crosses the line without making you feel bad, you know?
It was the same today.
‘...I’m not a child anymore.’
Winfred pouted.
It was Marquis Caenis who had been irritating Winfred by treating him like a child.
It was a dangerous level to the point where if he showed any signs of being offended, only Winfred would become a sensitive person.
How much trouble he had trying to hide his upset throughout the meal.
The climax came after dinner. As he was leaving the restaurant, he collided head-on with the Marquis and fell.
The situation arose because Crown Prince Winfred, being superior to the Marquis, wanted to go out first, but he did not yield.
Naturally, Winfred, who was smaller than an adult male, had no choice but to fall on his butt.
Since the precious body that was to become the next Emperor had fallen, it was only natural that chaos broke out.
The servants rushed to wake him up, calling out, "Your Highness, Your Highness!" and the maids brushed the dust off his clothes.
Even the Marquis, who caused this accident, was embarrassed and lowered his head, which caused chaos.
It seemed like he had no intention of overthrowing the Crown Prince.
'The Marquis is being arrogant, it's not something that happened just once or twice, so let's just ignore it.'
Perhaps the handkerchief had fallen during that moment of confusion? It was entirely possible.
'I should go to a restaurant sometime.'
Winfred thought about that and tapped his desk impatiently.
He wanted to go right away, but he couldn't because he still had work to do.
No matter how precious the handkerchief was, it was impossible to abandon the Crown Prince's duties and go find it.
So Winfred efficiently accomplished the tasks he had to do, using twice the amount of concentration.
His aides were so surprised by his unusual appearance that they were shocked.
“Your Highness, you are falling! Be careful!”
And after finishing his work like that, Winfred started running to the restaurant.
“Oh, you must be that hungry.”
His hasty appearance led to this slight misunderstanding, but what was important now was the whereabouts of the handkerchief.
Arriving at the restaurant, Winfred quickly began to thoroughly search the floor, not only where he had fallen, but also the area nearby.
But the handkerchief was nowhere to be seen.
“Your Highness, why are you doing this?”
The chamberlain asked with a puzzled look, looking at Winfred, who was about to clean the dining room floor.
He thought he was hungry because he was running so fast, but he guessed not since he didn't even glance at the table.
It was a mystery why the Crown Prince was wiping the tiles with his expensive clothes.
“Handkerchief. I don’t have a handkerchief.”
As Winfred spoke with a sullen expression, the chamberlain finally understood the reason for his strange behavior.
“Ah, that... that handkerchief that Your Highness cherishes so much.”
The chamberlain nodded with an expression that seemed to have resolved his doubts, and Winfred was slightly shocked by those words.
He'd thought he'd kept it well hidden from everyone, but he was surprised to learn that the chamberlain knew he had a particularly precious handkerchief.
“Oh, how did you know?”
And the attendant was slightly taken aback by that question.
‘...Was that something you wanted to hide?’
He didn't even realize that it was so obvious that he wanted to keep it a secret.
Winfred had a transparent personality, with his emotions showing right on his face, but he seemed unaware of it.
"Is there anything I don't know about Your Highness the Crown Prince? I am your closest assistant."
The chief of staff, who had quickly assessed the situation, answered with a sly smile, hiding his true feelings.
It was to protect the Crown Prince's innocence.
“Oh, I see.”
Winfred nodded, as if he accepted the excuse, and then his lips and the corners of his eyes drooped again.
“The handkerchief... where did it go? I thought I dropped it here.”
The restaurant was his last hope. If it wasn't there, he had no idea where it had ended up.
“...Please have dinner first, Your Highness. I will look for it in the meantime.”
The chamberlain sat Winfred down at the dining table, saying that he would inquire about it, as someone might have picked it up.
"Please. I absolutely must find it. It's so precious to me."
Winfred asked in a still listless voice.
Seeing that pitiful sight, the chamberlain resolved to find the handkerchief no matter what.
However, despite that resolution, no one came forward to say that they had picked up the handkerchief in the restaurant during the day.
“You couldn’t find it?”
“...I’m sorry, Your Highness.”
The chief of staff bowed his head and apologized as if he were ashamed.
Winfred looked as if the world was ending.
Will I never be able to find it again like this?
He lost it in the Crown Prince's Palace, not anywhere else, and he can't find it.
Winfred was so upset. He wanted to throw away everything, including his pride as a Crown Prince, and just cry under the covers.
“I will look into it further.”
"...Yes."
Seeing Winfred's sullen appearance, the chamberlain, who had done nothing wrong, felt a sense of guilt and had to step aside.
Two days passed like that.
Winfred was still depressed. It was only natural, after all, that the handkerchief containing his precious memories of Aila had disappeared.
He was barely eating, so his face had become very thin, and he always had a gloomy expression, so the Emperor and Empress were very worried.
And Winfred was still poking bite-sized pieces of steak with his fork, his expression still indifferent.
He knew his parents were worried, so he had to eat, but his appetite just wouldn't come back.
“Your Highness, if it doesn’t suit your taste, shall I ask you to serve something else?”
The attendant asked with a worried look on his face.
“Um... No, it’s okay. I’m eating. I’ll finish it. Just give me another glass of juice.”
Actually, he didn't want to eat any other food or anything, but Winfred shook his head and said.
If he leaves food behind, won't his mother's health deteriorate from worrying about him?
She was already feeling unwell, so he didn't want to add to her worry.
At Winfred's request for more juice, the chamberlain called over a maid holding a bottle full of orange juice and ordered her to fill his glass.
And then.
The maid's hand slipped and she spilled some juice on the table.
“Oh, I’m sorry...!”
She fumbled and took a handkerchief out of her bosom and tried to wipe the table.
And then.
“Ah! This handkerchief!”
Winfred screamed and snatched the handkerchief away.
“My handkerchief...!”
In an instant, his face lit up with joy. He thought he'd never see it again, but now it's back.
It must have been embarrassing enough to have made the mistake of spilling juice in front of the Crown Prince, but the maid who suddenly had her handkerchief snatched away was so surprised that she could only blink her eyes wide.
“...When I looked for it like that, it didn’t come out.”
The attendant muttered with a blank expression.
For the past two days, he's been asking every servant in the Crown Prince's Palace if they've picked up a handkerchief, and his throat is sore.
He couldn't figure out where the hell this maid came from.
He stared blankly at the maid's face.
Plain brown hair and brown eyes. Her face was quite pretty, but perhaps because of her timid personality, she was the type that didn't stand out or stand out.
She was a maid who had recently moved to the Crown Prince's Palace, and he remembered that she had been on leave for the past two days.
"Was your name Binka? You were on vacation until yesterday."
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