“Damn it… Damn it all!”
Leo ran through the deserted corridor at full speed. His entire body was filled with adrenaline from the anger of having his gold coin stolen, his face flushed red, and his eyes bloodshot.
In the back of his mind, he thought he must look as fierce as the “Namahage” monster that Bruno had once described, but to any passerby, he only looked like an innocent girl, blushing and tearful, rushing away.
“That damned prince! He was looking for an excuse to capture me, wasn’t he!”
Of course, Leo interpreted the recent exchange this way. He thought the prince had taken the gold coin through a puppet artist to provoke him into attacking. To Leo, Gebhardt was the real villain for taking Lady Ka, but with strict orders not to speak of the gold coin, nobody would believe it belonged to him in the first place.
“What cunning! What malice!”
Leo was convinced: Prince Albert was determined to separate him from Lady Ka, making him an evil prince, Evilbert.
“But I won’t let him!”
Knowing the prince’s true intentions, Leo couldn’t stay at the academy and get captured. He had to escape with Lady Ka, without waiting for his magical power to recover.
With regret, Leo dashed back to his room, leaving behind the delicious free meals, the fragrant free tea, the interesting free classes, the fluffy free feather bed, and the profitable side jobs.
“Bam!”
Bursting through the door, Leo immediately locked it three times and dragged the closet in front of it as a barricade. Thanks to the Marquis couple’s insistence on their granddaughter’s safety upon returning to the academy, Leo’s room had much stronger security compared to other rooms.
Unbeknownst to him, this security had thwarted Lena and Bruno’s many attempts to rescue him.
“Alright, barricade secured! Next, check the copper coin collection!”
Leo moved briskly around the room, ensuring he didn’t overlook any necessary steps. He wouldn’t leave without the savings he’d accumulated. He quickly retrieved the sachet under his pillow and confirmed, with a godlike speed, that last night’s counted amount was still there, before shoving it into his sleeve.
Fortunately, he had sent the high-value items regularly to the Hannah Orphanage, so there was little of value left in the room. Praising his own skill in decluttering, Leo headed towards the window. He couldn’t leave through the door; Evilbert would surely catch him. Instead, he would escape through the window, cross the backyard, and head to the carriage stop.
“And then… ambush Gebhardt when he leaves the academy!”
People could only come to the academy by carriage. If he waited there, Gebhardt would surely come.
Leo’s room was on the second floor, but this height was manageable. As he prepared to step onto the window sill, a shout and a quick knock on the door made him shiver.
“Leonora!”
In the confusion, the small copper coins he had stuffed into his sleeve spilled onto the floor. Spilling his precious savings was, by Leo’s standards, a catastrophe and an emergency.
“Alaida…! Barbara…!”
Leo couldn’t leave behind the small copper coins he had named and cherished. Casting anxious glances at the door, he hastily gathered the coins, but in his panic, more coins slipped out of his sleeve as he picked them up.
“Oh no!”
Feeling like a mother dealing with unruly children before a trip, Leo panicked. Meanwhile, he could hear the prince and Kai desperately talking to him through the thick door.
“Leonora…! Please open this door. Let me apologize to you…!”
“Lady Leonora! I beg of you, please open the door!”
The prince seemed to be trying to take a humble approach to get closer to him. Leo wanted to say goodbye to Kai, but prioritizing his own safety, he reluctantly gave up on that.
“Leonora…! I’m sorry. Without understanding the situation—or even trying to—I wronged you one-sidedly…!”
“Prince Albert never scolded you, Lady Leonora!”
Leo had a memory of almost being captured, but not of being scolded. He almost tilted his head in confusion but quickly refocused on gathering the copper coins.
The two outside the door wore desperate expressions. Their concern wasn’t just due to guilt; considering her past behavior, they feared the distressed girl might harm herself.
She had always accepted malice with a smile. They feared she might offer her hair or even her life if reprimanded by someone she cared for.
“Leonora! It was all my fault!”
“Lady Leonora…! Prince Albert cares for you deeply. Please believe him!”
Finally, Leo finished gathering the copper coins. Ignoring the prince’s odd earnestness, he put his foot on the window sill once more.
“This shining gold coin is proof of that…!”
Kai’s desperate shout—specifically the word “gold coin”—resonated sharply in his ears.
“Huh…?”
Kai had said, “this gold coin,” as if he was holding it right now. Leo froze, staring at the door.
“You’re always treasuring this gold coin. It surely holds your mother’s soul as well. Please, look at this gold coin. Please, don’t do anything rash!”
This gold coin. Here. Look at it closely.
(Kai… has the gold coin…?)
It hadn’t been taken by Gebhardt—?
If it were Prince Albert, Leo might have doubted it, but Kai had no reason to deceive him. Knowing Kai’s nature, it seemed unlikely.
If Kai said he had the gold coin, he must really have it.
(Is this… the prince’s trap…?)
Could it be that even Kai had been bought off? Leo was conflicted. After deliberating, he decided:
“Really…?”
He dragged the closet back, unlocked the three locks, and opened the door. You can’t catch a tiger cub without entering the tiger’s den. Even if it was a trap, he wouldn’t get the gold coin without opening the door.
“Leonora…!”
“Lady Leonora!”
The moment the girl cautiously opened the door, the two men sighed in relief. But seeing the closet near the door and the wide-open window, their faces quickly hardened.
Was she planning to jump out the window—?
The thought crossed their minds simultaneously. Kai, still holding the gold coin, grasped the girl’s arm, and the prince knelt before her.
“Lady Leonora… What were you thinking…?”
“It’s my fault. Leonora, I’m truly sorry.”
The girl’s grief-stricken expression suggested she couldn’t immediately accept their apologies. She avoided the prince’s gaze, staring at Kai’s hand, and sighed softly.
“Ka- Sama…”
After a quiet murmur, she carefully took the gold coin and hugged it to her chest. Seeing her clinging to the memory of her mother, Albert felt a deep sense of regret.
Earlier, the girl had muttered, “After all, the prince is the enemy.”
She had initially seemed ready to forgive Albert, her cousin and once enemy, but deep down, she couldn’t fully accept him. Understandably so. But she still kept the gold coin.
Gaining a sliver of courage from her not returning the dragon token, Albert spoke earnestly.
“I knew how much you cherished your mother, yet I failed to recognize Gebhardt’s true identity and blamed you. I’m truly sorry. Your anger towards him is justified. I apologize for unknowingly bringing him to you.”
Seeing the prince kneel and beg for forgiveness, Leo was puzzled. It seemed that the gold coin, thought to have been taken by Gebhardt, was actually with Kai. Embarrassingly, Leo had misunderstood the situation.
The prince hadn’t intended to take the gold coin or capture him.
(What’s this about Gebhardt’s true identity?)
He couldn’t grasp the context about his mother or the artist-turned-thief Gebhardt’s identity.
The confused Leo was startled by the prince’s next words.
“It’s shameful. You immediately saw through him, recognizing him as Prince August, yet I didn’t realize it until he confessed.”
“Wh-what…!?”
(August… Prince August!?)
Leo almost screamed but stopped himself, shivering. A prince was a big deal, and he vaguely recalled a fallen prince named August from an earlier conversation. Since then, no boy in the Weitz Empire had been named August.
(Why? Why was a prince a painter? When did this happen? And does a prince look like that?)
Unable to comprehend, Leo didn’t know where to begin his questions.
And if it was true—
(I grabbed his collar and called him a robber!)
And accused him of being a criminal.
Assault and defamation against a former royal. Although not as bad as the crimes against Albert, he still faced severe punishment.
Leo almost collapsed on the spot.
(This must be a joke… It can’t be true… Kai isn’t denying it, so it must be real? Why…?)
Why did he always end up rushing toward the guillotine?
Why did royals always appear before him disguised as commoners? They should wear name tags.
As Leo stood, pale and bewildered, Albert spoke thoughtfully.
“I don’t think it’s the kind of situation where I’d feel great. For today, we’ll have him leave as well—”
“Lord Albert. And Leonora.”
But at that moment, a voice called out from behind the three of them.
It was Natalia. No, she was accompanied by another person beside her.
“Please, allow Mr. Gebhardt—no, my brother August, to have a chance to apologize.”
“Wha—what!?”
Leo turned to see Gebhardt with blond hair and blue eyes, exclaiming, “His face looks completely different!” As expected, his throat burned from magic.
It made sense. The man who clearly shared a blood connection with Albert seemed to be the former Prince August.
“Natalia, this is…”
Seeing the shaken girl, Albert furrowed his brows. It must be hard enough for her to accept his own apology, let alone the one from the man who took her mother from her. But before Albert could stop him, August knelt on the floor and bowed deeply.
“Leonora von Harkenberg. I know that an apology like this is far from enough, but I am truly sorry.”
His voice was low and trembled slightly. Such a heartfelt apology left everyone speechless. Leo, too, stared in panic at the two men kneeling before him.
(Uh, uh, what’s going on here? Why are they apologizing to me? Why is this guy acting so differently toward me?)
He had never lived a life where adults bowed their heads to him. In fact, if anything, he should be the one apologizing. Leo’s gaze wandered as he thought about it, but August’s precise follow-up allowed him to understand the situation finally.
(I see! This body is supposed to be that of Lena’s mother, who died because of Flora’s curse. In other words, I am the victim’s child right now.)
Meanwhile, August continued his painful apology.
“It is only natural that you feel anger towards me, who brought harm to your mother. Cowardly, I kept my true identity a secret at first. I can only imagine what you must think of me now.”
Leo couldn’t respond with “So you’re apologizing with that princely face, huh?” The atmosphere was too somber. Besides, August kept lamenting how he had killed and robbed Lena’s mother Claudia, but she was alive and well, running a successful bakery today. Moreover, as Lena explained, her mother’s exile from noble society seemed to be of her own volition.
(If anything, it sounds like Lena’s mother used the exile as an opportunity to open her dream bakery in the lower town.)
Leo considered this with a puzzled expression. In that case, the true victim of Flora’s curse wasn’t Claudia, who had achieved her dream, but August, who had been left penniless just for falling in love as a teenager. The same could be said for the sons of the Chancellor and the Knight Commander, who received similar punishments.
(If they had saved up a lot of money only to have it all taken away, I’d lose hope too.)
Leo was starting to grasp the true nature of the Flora Curse Victims’ Association. The representative, Mr. A, looked deeply distressed.
(Well, even if he had a trial and kicked Lena’s mother out of the academy, that doesn’t change the fact that he was still a bad person, right?)
Feeling a bit curious, Leo asked,
“What did you do thirteen years ago?”
To hear a detailed account. August, with a pained expression, confessed that he had taken Claudia’s shoes and made her walk barefoot through the academy streets.
“Barefoot?”
“Yes.”
“A seventeen-year-old woman?”
“Exactly.”
Leo almost sighed in exasperation.
(Is that all? Just for that?)
In the lower town, many people still went barefoot because the roads were unpaved. And Claudia was seventeen at the time. She could have torn her clothes and wrapped her feet if they hurt.
(Geez, it’s not like she was forced to dance in red-hot iron shoes. If her feet hurt, she could’ve wrapped them up.)
Growing up in the lower town, Leo’s thinking was always practical.
Leo became convinced that former Prince August was, indeed, a pitiable person.
While Leo pondered this half in exasperation and half in sympathy, August’s confession reached its climax.
“I don’t believe my life can atone for my sins, but if you wish, I will give you my life…”
“No…”
Leo didn’t have the heart to take the life of a man who had carried such a burden of guilt.
“You too have suffered greatly, haven’t you?”
In fact, if anything, he’d prefer to commiserate with August, who had also been affected by someone else’s self-fulfillment.
However, August seemed to think that his offer of atonement had been rejected and bowed his head even lower.
“But now, aside from this Dragon Sign, all I have left to offer is my life—”
As he self-deprecatingly lifted the object, Leo’s eyes were riveted.
“…!”
Leo’s shoulders shook.
(Whaaat!?)
It was precisely a pen with a gold handle, something that Leo had dreamed of.
(This gleam! This smooth form that seems to fit perfectly in my hand! How elegant, despite sharing the same color as Master Carr’s!)
It was the same color as a gold coin. Realizing that he had initially mistaken it for a stolen coin, Leo was startled.
(Damn, what an arrogant idiot I am! I thought I could always tell Master Carr apart, but I mistook something just because of its color!)
Leo wanted to punch himself for confusing the gold pen with Master Carr.
But that wasn’t the only problem here. It meant he had wrongfully accused August and almost attacked him based on a misunderstanding.
Leo trembled, wondering how to apologize.
Would August, the former royal, even allow an apology? Would he be executed?
(This is bad! What should I do?)
Leo, cold sweat dripping from his rigid face, saw that August did not seem inclined to blame him. On the contrary, August looked at the gold coin Leo had unconsciously clenched in his hand and spoke sadly.
“You already possess a Dragon Sign. For one person to hold two is too great a burden. I can’t even give you this Dragon Sign as a token of my apology.”
“Uh…”
The small miser within Leo stirred.
(Former Prince August, is he not angry? Rather, he’s so burdened by Flora’s curse that he’s willing to give me the gold pen?)
Leo gulped and pondered.
He wanted the gold pen—or rather, just the handle. But since August’s crime wasn’t that significant, and since he hadn’t harmed Leo directly, Leo had no right to demand compensation. If anything, Leo should be the one apologizing.
But he wanted it.
“Then…”
After a long contemplation, Leo cautiously spoke.
“If you could give me the pen part…”
He wanted just the pen part—the handle—purely as a gold bar, not as a Dragon Sign.
“…!”
Albert and Natalia, who had been watching the exchange with bated breath, widened their eyes at the girl’s words.
Listening to August’s painful confession, she had initially appeared tense but gradually wore a sympathetic expression.
Her words, expressing a willingness to share in his suffering, and her final request, after much thought, to “keep holding the pen.”
(What a…)
Everyone present was struck by the girl’s sublime magnanimity, as if they had been struck by lightning.
“Wha-what did you say…?”
August looked as if he couldn’t believe what he was seeing.
But the girl gently took his trembling hand and repeated her words.
“Please, keep holding the pen.”
With a radiant smile, she seemed like a spirit of light, forgiving all.
A profound silence filled the space.
Eventually,
“A…ah…”
August covered his face with both hands, overcome by a miracle he had never even dreamed of.
“Aaaah!”
Tears quickly streamed down his face, and he collapsed on the spot, sobbing. Natalia gently patted his back.
What compassionate words, what a miraculous sight.
In that moment, filled with the blessing of fate, everyone bowed their heads and prayed to the girl and the spirit.
Albert, too, deeply moved by the girl’s generosity, vowed to earn her trust and to improve his conduct.
Therefore.
(Even if you offer your life, why does giving up gold make you cry!?)
Leo, whose shoulders slumped in resignation, went unnoticed by everyone.
***
Gebhardt Anheuser is a great artist whose name is immortalized in the art history of the continent.
Though his life up to around the age of twenty remains shrouded in mystery, he first gained fame with his painting “A Farmer’s Prayer,” created amidst his financial struggles.
Following this, he produced numerous satirical works, including “Portrait of Mrs. Thommuller” and “Dr. Vogler’s Research,” demonstrating his keen observational skills. His painting “The Advising Klingbeil Couple” even foreshadowed the attempted revolution at the Imperial Academy.
However, his reputation was cemented by a single portrait of a girl—”Leonora Holding the Gold Coin.”
Stored as a treasure in the Imperial Academy’s gallery, the painting was replicated by the Bernstein Trading Company, which promoted Weitz-style artistic culture. These reproductions were eventually displayed in art museums and educational institutions across the continent.
In the painting, nicknamed “The Smile,” the girl smiles at the gold coin in her hand. Curiously, her expression varied depending on the viewer: to young girls, it appeared as a bashful smile for a loved one; to those suffering from poverty, it conveyed a sorrowful compassion; and to those ensnared by greed, it looked like the cunning grin of a thief, prompting viewers to straighten their collars.
Thus, people always felt compelled to compose themselves before the painting.
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