The morning sun rose over the Imperial Convoy as it began its journey to the third and final destination of the courtship. As expected, the security detail had already moved ahead.
Rin was among them, leading the Advance Squad as they swept the route for any threats. Beside him, Officer Tsutomu kept pace, occasionally glancing at his superior, who had been uncharacteristically silent since dawn.
But Rin's thoughts weren't on the mission.
The weight of last night's conversation with Akane still lingered in his mind.
The burden he had carried alone for so long was no longer his alone.
Now, Akane knew.
The atmosphere inside was tense.
Akane sat rigidly on one side of the carriage, staring out the window, her thoughts racing. Across from her, Emi sat just as stiffly, her fingers lightly gripping the hem of her sleeves.
Neither of them had spoken much since they left.
Finally, Emi broke the silence.
"My Lady..." Her voice was hesitant. "What are you going to do now?"
Akane turned to look at her head maid, her expression unreadable.
"I don't know," she admitted, her voice quieter than usual. "I don't think there's an easy answer to any of this."
Emi bit her lip. "This is… beyond anything I imagined." She took a deep breath before continuing. "Rin… no, His Highness, he truly believes in this fate, doesn't he?"
Akane closed her eyes for a brief moment before nodding.
"Yes. He does."
The truth still felt heavy, even after a full night of thinking it over.
A novel. A predetermined fate.
And Rin… who had given up everything to make that future happen.
"He intends to disappear from history, Emi."
Emi's hands clenched into fists on her lap.
"Even if it means being forgotten by everyone?"
"Even then." Akane's voice wavered slightly. "He believes it's for the best. That Kazuo should be Emperor, and that the four of us—Miharu, Suzuki, Rei, and myself—should stand at his side to support him."
Emi looked down. "That's the world he saw, the one he read about before he was… Rin."
Akane exhaled slowly.
"Yes."
A long silence followed.
The carriage swayed gently as the horses moved along the road, but the weight in Akane's heart was heavier than ever.
"Last night, when he told me everything… he was exhausted, Emi." Akane's hands trembled slightly as she spoke. "He's been holding all of this alone for so long. And yet, despite everything, he still tries to guide things the way he believes they should go. Even if it destroys him."
Emi looked at her mistress carefully.
"You love him," she stated.
Akane let out a soft, bitter laugh. "I do."
"Then what will you do?"
Akane's gaze turned sharp, filled with a quiet resolve.
"I don't know if I can change his mind," she admitted. "But if Rin wants to create a better world, then I'll help him build it."
"Even if it means letting him go?"
Akane hesitated.
Then, her expression softened into something almost melancholic.
"If that's what it takes."
Emi said nothing.
But as she looked at her mistress, she realized—
For once, Akane wasn't thinking about power, survival, or political gain.
She wasn't acting as the manipulative White Princess Consort.
She was simply a woman in love.
Takigawa Rei sat by the window, her amber eyes fixed on the distant horizon. The rhythmic sway of the carriage and the muffled sounds of horses' hooves did little to distract her from the growing frustration simmering within.
The Imperial Courtship was starting to feel more like a formality—an endless procession of rituals and pleasantries that no longer held any real purpose.
Her head ached from it all.
She would rather be with Rin.
Of course, she didn't know he was here, traveling within the very same Imperial Convoy. If she did, she wouldn't be wasting time sitting in this carriage.
"Yori," Rei called out suddenly.
Her head maid, who had been sitting quietly across from her, straightened. "Yes, My Lady?"
"Where is our final destination?" Rei asked, her fingers tapping lightly against the windowsill.
Yori hesitated for a brief moment before answering. "The Northern Province, My Lady. Specifically, the Winter Palace."
Rei frowned. "Tch. Cold weather and an even colder Crown Prince… how fitting." She sighed, leaning back against her seat.
Yori studied her mistress carefully. "Are you that unhappy with the way things are going?"
Rei scoffed. "Unhappy? More like impatient." She turned to Yori with a sharp gaze. "Tell me, do you really think this courtship is going anywhere? Kazuo barely speaks. The consorts barely interact with him. At this point, we're just playing along with what the court expects of us."
Yori remained silent.
Rei sighed again, this time softer.
"If I had known this would be such a waste of time, I would have fought harder against being here." Her voice carried a slight edge of bitterness.
"And what would you have done instead?" Yori asked.
Rei smirked, a glint of mischief in her eyes. "Oh, I don't know… maybe chase after a certain man instead."
Yori suppressed a sigh. "You're still thinking about him."
"Of course, I am," Rei admitted without shame. "He disappeared, and no one seems to know where he is. But you and I both know a man like that doesn't just vanish without a trace."
Yori hesitated for a moment before responding. "If you did find him… what would you do?"
Rei's smirk widened, but there was something almost dangerous in her expression.
"Simple. I'd make sure he never runs away again."
The dining hall of the Winter Palace was unusually heavy that evening. The grand table, adorned with exquisite dishes, felt more like a battlefield than a place of rest.
Four consorts sat at the table, but only three of them were truly present.
Suzuki, ever detached, was practicing her illusion and psychic magic, effortlessly controlling her utensils with her mind. The silence illusion she had cast ensured that no prying ears would hear what was about to unfold.
Rei, seated across from her, silently observed as Miharu and Akane clashed.
Miharu, who had been simmering with frustration since their arrival, was the first to strike. "You're hiding something," she accused, eyes locked onto Akane. "Something about Rin."
Akane, ever composed, continued eating with an air of indifference. "It's time we stop being a burden to him," she stated simply, not rising to Miharu's bait.
Miharu's fingers tightened around her fork. "What the hell does that mean?"
Akane finally set her utensil down, meeting Miharu's glare with a cool expression. "It means exactly what I said. We've spent all this time chasing him, forcing our feelings onto him, when he clearly doesn't want it. Maybe it's time to grow up and respect his wishes."
Miharu scoffed. "Since when do you care about respecting his wishes? You're just trying to push us away so you can have him for yourself, aren't you?"
The atmosphere turned razor-sharp. Even the headmaids, who stood quietly by their respective mistresses, stiffened.
Suzuki, who had been silent, finally spoke. "She's right, Akane."
Akane turned to her with narrowed eyes.
Suzuki continued, her voice calm but pointed. "You love him too, don't you? Yet here you are, suddenly protecting him, telling us to back off. For someone as calculating as you, this just feels like another one of your strategies. Are you trying to isolate him so you can have him all to yourself?"
Akane's grip on her chopsticks tightened. She hated hearing this from Suzuki of all people—Suzuki, who had spent three days sulking after being rejected.
"You're awfully bold for someone who just got over crying about him," Akane shot back coldly.
Suzuki flinched, but she held her ground. "I'm done chasing him like a fool. But that doesn't mean I'll just sit back and watch you manipulate the situation."
Miharu's frustration boiled over. "Enough!" She slammed her palm onto the table. "Stop avoiding the damn question! What did Rin tell you?"
Akane remained silent.
Rei, who had been quietly watching, finally sighed. "You're different, Akane."
Akane turned to her, but Rei's expression was unreadable.
"You used to protect Rin from us in a way that made it seem like you were still playing the game… but now?" Rei leaned forward slightly. "Now, you're making enemies of all three of us. It's almost like you want to keep us away from him completely."
Akane exhaled softly. They weren't wrong.
She was making enemies.
Just like in the novel.
Just like how Rin had told her it would happen.
But unlike the story Rin had read—unlike the version of herself that had simply fought for power—this time, Akane had a purpose beyond ambition.
She wanted to protect him.
Even if it meant becoming the villain in the eyes of the others.
The tension between the consorts was thick, their words sharp as blades clashing against one another. Yet, amid the battle of emotions and accusations, the head maids remained still—silent observers of a war that was no longer just about affection.
Emi, standing just behind Akane, kept her expression perfectly composed. She knew. She knew more than any of the other maids present.
She had seen the exhaustion in Rin's eyes, had heard the truth that shattered the very foundation of their world. He wasn't just a man desperately trying to push away four stubborn women. He was a prince—a forgotten prince, burdened by fate, walking a path that demanded he be erased.
For that alone, Emi would keep her silence.
But the other head maids were not as passive.
Yori, standing beside Rei, watched Emi with suspicion. She had been observing Akane's unusual behavior since the beginning of dinner, but more than that, she had been watching Emi.
Something had changed.
Yori had always prided herself on her ability to read people. And right now, Emi was acting like a woman with secrets—secrets too heavy to speak.
Across from her, Rina, Suzuki's head maid, was quietly analyzing the situation. Unlike Yori, she wasn't one to pry too deeply into the affairs of her mistress. However, she had a sharp mind and could tell that whatever was happening, Emi was at the center of it.
Her silence was unnatural.
Fumiko, Miharu's head maid, frowned slightly. She knew Miharu well, knew that her mistress would not let this go. If Miharu sensed something was being kept from her, she would chase it to the ends of the earth.
And yet, Emi stood firm, refusing to break under their unspoken scrutiny.
Finally, Yori decided to act. She leaned forward slightly and spoke, her voice calm yet probing. "Emi… you haven't said a word. You're usually the first to rein in your mistress when she picks a fight. But tonight, you're just watching. Why?"
The table fell into silence.
Emi looked at Yori, expression unchanging. "Because there is nothing to say."
Miharu narrowed her eyes. "Nothing to say? After everything Akane just did?"
Emi kept her gaze steady. "I serve my mistress, and I trust her judgment. That is all."
Rina's eyes sharpened. "That's a very careful answer."
"It is the truth," Emi responded evenly.
Fumiko exhaled, looking between them all. "Then tell us, Emi. What did Akane hear from Rin?"
Emi remained silent.
But the look in her eyes said everything.
She wasn't going to betray her mistress.
And she wasn't going to betray him.
The air grew heavier. The head maids were no longer just watching a fight between their mistresses.
They had been drawn into the battlefield themselves.
Akane placed her utensils down with a quiet finality, the faint clink of silver against porcelain cutting through the lingering tension in the dining hall. Her expression was unreadable as she wiped her lips with a cloth napkin, eyes flickering briefly toward the other consorts.
Disdain.
It wasn't hatred, nor anger—it was the look of someone who had decided to step onto a different path entirely.
Emi, standing beside her, watched in silence.
She knew.
She knew that at this very moment, her mistress had made a choice. A choice that would paint her as the villain in this story Rin had desperately tried to control.
Akane was going to play her role.
If Urakawa Miharu was the protagonist, then Akane would become the cruel and calculating White Princess Consort—the one who made things difficult, the one who schemed, the one who stood as an obstacle.
All for Rin's sake.
If her villainy meant one less person chasing after him, one less weight on his already burdened shoulders, then she would embrace it. She would become the woman fate had originally intended her to be.
She stood, smoothing out her robes as she glanced down at Miharu.
"If you're the protagonist, Miharu, then you should be able to break through any obstacle in your way."
Miharu tensed, sensing something had shifted within Akane. But before she could respond, Akane turned to Emi.
"We're leaving."
Emi hesitated, searching her mistress's face for any trace of doubt. She found none.
And so, without another word, she bowed and followed Akane out of the dining hall.
As the doors shut behind them, Emi knew one thing for certain.
Her mistress had chosen a path from which there was no turning back.
Suzuki exhaled sharply, pushing herself away from the table as she stood up.
"I don't want to waste my time here," she muttered, stretching her arms as she glanced at Miharu and Rei. "I have better things to do. If I'm going to win, I'll do it my way."
Without another word, she signaled to Rina, her head maid, and left the dining hall, her determination palpable.
That left Miharu and Rei alone in the room.
The silence between them was thick, charged with unspoken thoughts. Neither wanted to be the first to speak, yet neither could ignore the strange air Akane had left behind.
Rei shifted in her seat before finally breaking the silence.
"Is he really here?"
Miharu, still irritated by her earlier exchange with Akane, sighed before answering.
"It took you long enough to notice."
Rei flinched at the jab but quickly recovered, clicking her tongue.
"I've been busy."
Miharu simply shook her head, but her gaze turned sharp.
"Akane is hiding something," she stated firmly.
Rei straightened at that, nodding in agreement. "I noticed."
Miharu felt a small sense of relief—at least she wasn't the only one who thought so.
"She's always been difficult, but this is different," Miharu continued. "She used to be predictable when it came to Rin. Now… she's acting the opposite while protecting him."
Rei frowned. "Like she's genuinely shielding him."
Miharu met her eyes. "Exactly. And you saw her expression—it wasn't just manipulation this time. She looked… resolved. Almost like she'd already decided her role in all of this."
Rei stayed quiet, mulling over Miharu's words.
Someone like Akane wouldn't change unless she had a reason—a very good one. And whatever it was… it had to be something about Rin.
Something worth sacrificing for.
Rei exhaled, leaning back slightly as she crossed her arms. "Do you want to work together for now?" she asked, her voice carrying an unusual hint of reluctance.
Miharu blinked, slightly surprised by the suggestion.
Rei continued, "Right now, both of us are being left behind."
Miharu frowned but didn't deny it.
Suzuki had already met Rin, fallen, and picked herself back up—reorganizing her entire approach. Akane, on the other hand, had learned something from Rin and was refusing to share it, her entire demeanor shifting as a result.
Both of them had changed.
Meanwhile, Miharu and Rei had been left in the dust.
Rin—the very person they had fallen in love with—had affected the other two, altering their perspectives and resolve. Suzuki, despite her heartbreak, had found a new way forward. Akane, after her mysterious conversation with Rin, had made a decision that neither of them could decipher.
And yet, here Miharu and Rei were—still grasping at the unknown, still chasing Rin without understanding what had changed.
It left a bitter taste in their mouths.
Miharu sighed before nodding. "Fine. We'll cooperate and share information… if we find him."
Rei smirked slightly, extending a hand. "For now, we're allies."
Miharu hesitated but took the offered hand. It was an uneasy alliance, born out of necessity rather than trust.
Regardless, they both knew tomorrow would be another battle—not just for Rin, but for the despairing Crown Prince Kazuo.
Both women sighed simultaneously, as if sharing the same burden.
For now, they would stand together.