After walking through the city and taking in the sights of houses still dusted with white snow, they arrived at a mansion-like residence that was quite large with a sprawling yard. There was a warehouse next to the main building, separated by high hedges, and the front area was crowded with workers and freight wagons belonging to merchants. Mirea invited everyone inside the mansion.

When they reached the porch, Mirea opened the main door, and a middle-aged maid came running toward the entrance. When the woman saw Mirea, she looked completely shocked, as if she were seeing a ghost, yet simultaneously overjoyed, like someone seeing a person they hadn't seen in forever.

"Miss Mirea? You're home?" the maid asked.

"Yes, Auntie Gina, I'm home," Mirea said as she stepped forward and opened her arms.

Gina the maid immediately hugged Mirea, who returned the embrace, and both of them looked radiant with happiness. After letting go of the hug, Mirea looked around; she saw many staff members, like office employees working for the Scrodinix trading company, which was owned by the family of Jolene, Mirea's mother.

"Is Mama in her office?" Mirea asked.

"Yes, she refuses to rest and insists on keeping at her work," Gina replied.

Then Gina looked behind Mirea; she only just realized that Ard, Eva, and the others had been standing there since Mirea entered and were currently taking in the sights of the house. Gina turned back to Mirea.

"Um... are they your friends from the academy, Miss Mirea?" Gina asked.

"Oh, that's right. Yes, they're my friends," Mirea answered. Suddenly, Mirea pulled Ard forward and cheerfully linked her arm with his. "And he is my future husband," Mirea said brightly.

Gina's face transformed instantly, a whirlwind of expressions crossing her features in a matter of seconds—ranging from shock and confusion to joy, fear, and finally, intense curiosity. She stared at Ard with a serious expression, even squinting her eyes as she scanned him from head to toe, then back up again, carefully observing him.

"He's the third prince of Fredonia," Mirea added.

"Huh... a... a prince?" Gina asked, jolting in surprise.

"Hey, Mirea, we already agreed to keep our identities a secret, didn't we?" Ard scolded gently.

"Oh... sorry, but if I didn't tell her, she'd have a thousand questions. You know? She's like a second mother to me because she's raised me since I was a little girl," Mirea explained in a whisper, clarifying who Gina really was.

"Hmm... he... doesn't look like Prince Nikolai?" Gina asked.

"Oh... he's not Nikolai. His name is Arden... he's from Fredonia," Mirea answered cheerfully.

"Goodness, I thought he was Nikolai. My apologies, Prince of Fredonia," Gina said, bowing her head.

"I-it's quite alright, Ms. Gina," Ard said awkwardly.

The atmosphere suddenly turned silent, becoming so thick and stiff you could cut it with a knife. No one said a word. Mirea, seeing that things had become uncomfortable, immediately clapped her hands.

"That's enough, Auntie Gina. I want to see Mama; I want to see how she's doing," Mirea said, cutting through the tension.

"Alright, she'll be thrilled to see you, Miss. Please, follow me," Gina said, gesturing for them to follow.

Gina led Mirea, Ard, Eva, and the rest toward Jolene's office. Meanwhile, trailing behind Ard and Mirea, Alicia, Milia, Beatrice, Rosalind, Patricia, and Claudia pulled Eva back and immediately began whispering to her.

"Eva, we have to explain everything later, right? We can't let Mirea's mother get the wrong idea; the poor woman is sick," Claudia said.

"True, we need to make things clear from the start," Alicia added.

"If we don't explain it, there's going to be a misunderstanding, and I definitely don't want that to happen," Milia added.

"Exactly, exactly. Please explain it, Eva. I promise I'll stay quiet," Beatrice added.

"Good. Please don't make a sound then, Princess Beatrice... and please, do explain it, Princess Eva," Rosalind added, nodding along.

"We're leaving it all to you, Eva," Patricia added.

"Wait a second... why are you all suddenly dumping this on me? Shouldn't you just talk to Mirea directly?" Eva asked, sounding annoyed.

"How are we supposed to talk to Mirea? She's way up front and that maid is right there," Alicia, Claudia, Milia, Beatrice, Rosalind, and Patricia whispered back in unison.

"Hmm... fine, but we're doing this together. I'm not doing it alone—back up my story," Eva muttered irritably.

"Okay, okay, we're with you," the others whispered back.

Meanwhile, Geoffrey, Ainsley, and Irwin, who were walking behind the girls, could only shake their heads.

"Here they go again," Irwin muttered with a shrug.

"Well... let's just stay in the back, keep our mouths shut, and avoid the drama as much as possible," Ainsley replied, pushing up his glasses.

Then Ainsley and Irwin turned to look at Geoffrey, who remained silent and seemed lost in thought, his face looking quite serious.

"What's up, bro?" Ainsley asked.

"Hmm... for some reason, I feel like I've been to this mansion before when I was accompanying my brother, and once I heard the name of Mirea's family trading company, I knew for sure that Mirea's family is connected to the family of Sister Candice, my brother's wife," Geoffrey answered thoughtfully in a low voice.

"Oh? Really? Is Mirea a noble too?" Irwin asked.

"Maybe. Back then, I didn't pay much attention because I didn't actually want to come here. I was forced to tag along because of my family," Geoffrey answered.

"Hmm... interesting. We'll just have to see how it plays out," Ainsley replied.

"Right. Come on, let's not fall behind," Geoffrey replied.

When they reached Jolene's workspace, Gina went inside while everyone else waited out in the hall. Shortly after, Gina stepped back out and opened the doors wide, inviting them all to enter along with Mirea. Once inside the office, Mirea immediately rushed over to a middle-aged woman who was as thin as a skeleton; she was clearly gravely ill and lying in a bed that looked like a total anomaly in a room filled with people working at their respective desks, buried under massive piles of paperwork.

"Mama, I'm home," Mirea said.

"Oh... you're back, Mirea. I'm so happy you've returned. I thought you would go straight to the capital, to your aunt's house," Jolene replied.

"No, I was worried about you, and I wanted to see you, Mama," Mirea said.

"Ah, you silly girl, thank you," Jolene replied, stroking her daughter's head and smiling.

Then Jolene turned to look at Ard, Eva, and the others. She nodded, and everyone nodded back. Her eyes eventually drifted toward Geoffrey, and her expression shifted for a brief moment. She then smiled at Geoffrey, who looked confused but nodded back in response to her smile.

Seeing her mother looking toward her friends, Mirea immediately introduced everyone—especially Ard, whom she introduced as her fiancé. She then went on to introduce Eva, Alicia, Milia, Patricia, Beatrice, Rosalind, and Claudia as also being Ard's fiancées alongside herself, after explaining who Ard really was.

Jolene turned her head slowly to look at Ard, then she smiled. Her face looked incredibly weary, and her illness was clearly wasting her away.

"Thank you for looking after Mirea. I beg you, if I am no longer here, please watch over Mirea and cherish her. Thank you, Your Highness," Jolene said.

"Y-yes, ma'am. I promise," Ard said.

"I never expected that Mirea would end up engaged to the third prince of Fredonia. At first, I thought she would be engaged to the first prince of Durnhill, Nikolai, since he was her childhood friend—or perhaps the third prince of Durnhill, the prince who wasn't raised in the palace," Jolene said slowly, glancing toward Geoffrey.

"Huh?" Ard, Eva, and the others, including Mirea, immediately turned to look at Geoffrey with faces full of questions. Geoffrey looked just as bewildered; his eyes widened and his jaw practically hit the floor as he pointed a finger at his own face. But his confusion only grew as Jolene suddenly bowed her head toward him.

"Greetings, Third Prince of the Kingdom of Durnhill, Geoffrey Neil Bragnister—or rather, Geoffrey Neil Durnhill," Jolene said.

"Huh... me? A prince?" Geoffrey asked, more confused than ever.

Ard, Eva, and the others turned back to Geoffrey. Seeing how utterly lost he looked, a frail Jolene began to explain the story slowly. She had two sisters, and they were a noble family who were also merchants. Jolene's older sister had married Geoffrey's father, then left her own family to join the Bragnister house. However, Jolene's younger sister had been a concubine of King Gregorius of Durnhill and died after giving birth to Geoffrey.

Because the palace was in chaos at the time, the Queen—the mother of Nikolai and Julius—wanted to kill Geoffrey for fear he would take her children's throne. The King then entrusted the newborn Geoffrey to the Bragnister family, who were already related to the royals through the marriage of Geoffrey's father and his mother. Since then, Geoffrey had been raised as a child of the Bragnister family, a lineage of knights and warriors.

Hearing Jolene's words, the color drained from Geoffrey's face. He felt as if he'd been punched in the gut and, without realizing it, he collapsed heavily onto a sofa, his face a mask of confusion.

"Cough... cough!"

Suddenly, Jolene began to cough. Everyone immediately turned to her, and Mirea pulled her into a hug.

"Mama, don't push yourself," Mirea said.

"I'm alright," Jolene replied with a smile.

Ard and Eva, watching Jolene and wanting to hear more about Geoffrey's origins, looked at each other and nodded. They then walked closer to Mirea and Jolene.

"Mirea, let me and Eva examine Mama Jolene," Ard said.

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