Before dawn broke, Fernbach Alto was already moving. He couldn't get the rain at the pavilion out of his head. The image of Solvaredo Emilia standing there soaked through. Her trembling hands. That night when she'd started to say "……You'll catch a cold too" and her voice had simply stopped. 5 AM. He pulled medicinal herbs from the back of the kitchen shelves, wrapped crushed ice from the ice room in cloth, and set a thin broth on the fire himself. He'd asked to use the kitchen before Grimm Otto came in. The cooking method was well within what he'd learned at the academy. Broth made from chicken bones, a pinch of salt. Nothing unnecessary. (As a butler, managing the master's health is the top priority.) He told himself this while loading everything onto a tray and heading toward Emilia's bedroom. He knocked on the door. A weak voice came from inside. "……Come in." The room was dim. Curtains drawn, morning light from the Grao River filtering in thin lines. Deep crimson curled hair spread across the pillow, golden eyes slightly glazed with fever. The mole on her right cheek stood out against her unusually pale face. He checked the thermometer tucked between the blankets—38.2 degrees. "[serious]Ice pack. On your forehead" He set the tray on the small table by the pillow. A cup of medicinal herbs, thin broth, ice pack. He also placed fever-reducing powder on the chair beside her as backup. He added an extra blanket borrowed from the servants' quarters. Emilia slowly looked around the room. By the pillow: broth and herbs. By the window: extra blankets. By the door: a washbowl and clean towels stacked high. On the floor: even a bucket, just in case. "[surprised]……This is my room, isn't it?" Alto didn't move a single eyebrow. "[serious]Indeed it is. Is there a problem?" "Not a problem exactly……it just looks like a temporary infirmary" "[serious]I've simply gathered what's necessary. There's nothing unsuitable for a young lady's room" She couldn't argue back. Everything he said was right. Emilia gave up a little and placed the ice pack on her forehead. The cold felt good. "……You haven't slept, have you?" She asked, but she already knew the answer. Under his silver short hair, thin shadows showed beneath his eyes. His butler's uniform was buttoned perfectly, but his hair was unusually disheveled for morning. "[cold]As a butler, managing the master's health is the top priority. My sleep is only a secondary concern" His voice was just slightly lower. The same quality it had when he'd stood in the rain at the pavilion last night. Emilia gripped the sheets and spoke quietly. "……Thank you" Alto's hand paused for just one beat as he adjusted the ice pack on her forehead. "[serious]……It's merely my duty" He said only that, then turned toward the window. The Grao River lighthouse faintly bled orange through the morning mist. Neither of them said anything more. But the rain from last night hung in the air between them anyway. ──── 10 AM. Footsteps approached down the corridor. When Alto stood silently before the door, something white appeared at the end of the hallway. A flower. A single white rose, held with its long stem intact. It was Reihert Sebastian. Long hair with black streaked through with red, mismatched eyes—one black, one red. The mask hung at his chest, a gentle smile on his face. He walked down the corridor with composure that didn't match his seventeen years, and stopped before the door. "[gentle]I came to visit. Just a quick look——" "[cold]The young lady currently requires complete rest. We cannot accept visitors from outside" Not a flicker of expression. Standing firm, his back to the door. Sebastian stopped. His smile shifted, just slightly. His eyes remained smiling, but something different flickered in their depths. "……An outsider, then" He repeated it quietly, as if confirming the word. A young maid carrying documents appeared from down the corridor, saw the two of them, and her footsteps stopped. She sensed something, turned silently, and went back the way she came. Sebastian was quiet for a while. Alto didn't move. Then Sebastian looked down at the white rose in his hand and slowly approached Alto. Before Alto could brace himself, the rose's stem was silently pressed into his chest pocket. "[gentle]For the young lady" He said only that, then turned back down the corridor. He didn't look back. The mask swayed faintly at his back. Alto looked at the white rose pressed into his chest pocket. Then he raised his eyes and watched Sebastian's back disappear around the corner. His ears were red. He didn't notice. (I should throw it away. That's what this is.) He thought that, but his hand wouldn't move to take the white rose from his pocket. ──── Just past noon, a smell drifted down the corridor. Emilia had been dozing in her low fever when the smell woke her. It wasn't quite a smell—it was something she'd never encountered before. Spices, something sour, something like cheese, and one more thing she couldn't describe, all mixed together. Alto caught the smell and silently took a step back. The door opened. Grimm Otto came in carrying a tray with both hands. White-streaked short hair, warm brown eyes, 178 centimeters tall. Still wearing his chef's apron, he had a single bowl on the tray. The contents of that bowl were——purple. The surface was finely bubbled, and the steam rising from it was pale violet. Otto set the tray before Emilia with his chest thrust out. "I made this for the young lady. A secret recipe from my collection. I thought now was the time" Alto quickly stepped in front of the tray and checked the smell of the bowl. "[serious]……Chef, what ingredients are used in this?" Otto thrust his chest out even further. "[excited]Purple cabbage and tomato, goat cheese, secret spices, and——love!" "[sarcastic]Love is not listed in the ingredient composition" "It is listed!" "It is not" The two of them went back and forth while Emilia picked up a spoon. She looked at the soup. Purple. Bubbling. The smell was……unique. But somehow it made her want to eat it. (Otto's cooking, no matter how it looks, always tastes——) The memory of that seven-colored soup from Episode 2 came back. The appearance was catastrophic, but when she'd eaten it, it was shockingly delicious. Emilia tilted the spoon. One sip. Three seconds of silence. "[surprised]……It's delicious" There was a pause. "[gentle]Surprisingly delicious" Otto's face crumbled. "Crumbled" wasn't enough to describe it. It collapsed. Tears fell from his brown eyes. Not one drop—a waterfall. "Thirty years……thirty years……!" He dropped to his knees. He covered his face with his apron. His shoulders shook. "The young lady……the young lady……!!" "[serious]I understand it's moving, but please cry in the kitchen. The bedroom must remain clean" "That's not the point right now!!" Emilia set down her spoon and looked down at Otto on his knees. A man who hadn't been complimented on his cooking in thirty years was now crying. "[gentle]It's not my arm making you cry—it's yours, Otto. It's delicious because you made it" Otto looked up. His apron was soaked with tears. "Young lady……!!" He started sobbing again, twice as hard as before. "[serious]Chef, really, the kitchen, please" Alto gently pushed Otto's shoulder to help him stand. Still crying, Otto said "Young lady……thank you so much……!" as he left for the corridor. The door closed. Sobs could still be heard from the hallway. Emilia took another sip of the soup. It really was delicious. Alto, facing the window, moved only his mouth slightly——just barely, it softened. ──── 2 PM. Otto returned to the kitchen, leaving Alto alone in Emilia's bedroom. The Grao River's surface gleamed white in the afternoon light. The roses in the rose garden were barely visible through the window. The petals wet from last night's rain had dried now, returning to their original color. Emilia gripped the sheets slightly while looking out the window. "……Alto" Her voice was smaller than usual. Alto answered. "Yes." His voice was short too. Emilia kept her gaze on the window as she spoke. "[sad]……I'm sorry" Alto didn't move. "That day in the library. What I said to you——it was terrible. Blaming you was wrong" It wasn't the voice of her perfect lady persona. No etiquette, no pretense. Just a voice. Her fingers gripping the sheets had turned white. Alto was silent for a moment. Still facing the window, he opened his mouth. "[serious]……I was too harsh as well" His voice was hard. Strained, hard. "I was in a position to clean up after every impulsive action you took——but that was no reason to deny your courage" He didn't turn around. Still facing the window. The edge of his ear was turning red. Emilia couldn't say anything for a while. Alto had apologized. That Alto. The sarcastic, sharp-tongued one who'd always managed everything with "a professional judgment." That Alto. It was funny. Funny, and——for some reason, her chest grew warm from the inside. A small laugh escaped her. Alto finally turned to face her. "[sarcastic]If you can laugh, you must be recovering" It was sarcastic. But relief was clearly mixed into his voice. He couldn't hide it. "[gentle]I just felt like laughing. ……I never thought you'd apologize" "If an apology is necessary, I apologize. I don't do unnecessary things, but I do what's necessary" "……That's an indirect way of admitting you apologized" "I admit nothing" "You just admitted it" "No" Emilia laughed again. This time not a small laugh, but a soft exhale of breath. A voice she hadn't made in a while. Even with fever, even after last night's rain, she could laugh. Alto was silent. But he didn't turn back to the window. He just faced Emilia and stood there. Emilia tucked that warmth quietly into her chest. It felt like a wall had become thinner. ──── 5 PM. There was a knock. The one who entered was Gustav Helder. Captain of the Weissring Guard——the head of the Solvaredo Duchy's personal guard unit, who had stood by Emilia's side for eighteen years since childhood. The white silver bracelet (Weissring) gleamed on his left arm. This man, who usually had a face like stone and never moved in any situation, today——held a stack of documents in both hands and stood rigid in the center of the room. "[serious]I've come to report on the investigation" His voice was lower than usual. It was the results of the investigation into Reihert Sebastian. That the Reihert family had repeatedly made contact with multiple families within the Privy Council——that there was a possibility they were extracting information from multiple factions belonging to the Krone Privy Council from both sides. However. "We found no evidence of intentional contact operations targeting the Solvaredo Duchy" He placed the documents on the tray. Then, still standing rigid, he bowed his head. A man who hadn't bowed before Emilia in eighteen years. "[sad]In my desire to protect the young lady, I spread unconfirmed suspicions throughout the mansion. I created a situation where the young lady's words were viewed with doubt——that was my error in judgment. I sincerely apologize" Emilia watched Gustav bow for a while. (Gustav too……was thinking of me.) The text Gustav had circulated to the servants had become "the young lady might be having her mind controlled by a spy" through the telephone game——how far off that was. But it had started from this man's pure concern. "[gentle]……Thank you, Gustav. You were thinking of me too, weren't you?" Gustav looked up. The captain's eyes she'd seen for eighteen years were slightly wet. "Young lady, to thank me……" "[serious]Captain, please also handle emotional processing in the kitchen" Gustav looked at Alto. Alto stood in perfect composure, completely expressionless. "……Damn butler" Still, Gustav's mouth softened slightly. ────