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CHAPTER 02
The train bound for Schwerin pulled into the station right on time. The last traces of dawn had faded, and morning was beginning to spread across the sky.
Standing as rigid as a statue, Erna walked toward the nearest carriage. The small country station was still quiet, disturbed only by the arrival of the day’s first train. A handful of passengers hurried aboard, and soon she was the only person left on the platform.
“Miss? Aren’t you getting on?”
The stationmaster’s gruff voice startled Erna out of her thoughts.
“Ah… yes.”
She tore her anxious gaze away from the empty station and looked at him. The hand gripping her worn trunk tightened until it began to tremble.
Grandmother must have found the letter by now.
The thought weighed heavily on her heart.
She hadn’t been able to tell her grandmother she was going to find her father. Baroness Baden was far too proud—she would rather lose everything than seek help from the son-in-law she considered an enemy. After agonizing over it for days, Erna had finally left behind a letter explaining everything and slipped away before dawn.
Father.
The unfamiliar word echoed strangely in her mind, making her heartbeat quicken.
The last time she had seen him was at her mother’s funeral.
Eleven years had passed since then.
To her, he was little more than a stranger—perhaps even less than one. But now he was her only remaining hope.
Perhaps he’d slam the door in her face.
Perhaps he wouldn’t even recognize her.
Clutching her trunk tighter, Erna drew a long, steady breath and looked up at the train waiting before her. Its massive black iron body gleamed beneath the morning sun, imposing and almost threatening.
“If you’re not boarding—”
“Oh, no!”
She shook her head so quickly that the ribbons beneath her chin fluttered.
“I’m sorry. I’m getting on. I really am.”
Love your fate.
The words her mother had always repeated resurfaced in her mind.
The world had no sympathy for anyone’s misfortune. A person had to carry their own life forward. Since no amount of self-pity could change fate, it was better to embrace whatever destiny had been given. If you accepted it, you would find the strength to keep moving. And trying your hardest was always better than giving up.
If fate demanded that she cling to this final sliver of hope, then she would embrace that fate as well.
After all, Viscount Hardy was her father.
He had a duty to care for his daughter—a duty he had ignored for years.
But whether he wanted to or not, that responsibility was still his.
Leaving the bewildered stationmaster behind, Erna hurried onto the train. The skirt of her delicate floral muslin dress fluttered with every hurried step.
Fourteen years after leaving her hometown hand in hand with her mother, Erna was finally returning.
It was the beginning of a very long journey.
* * *
Biern slowly set down his teacup.
With effortless elegance, he leaned back in his chair and crossed his long legs, every movement graceful enough to seem almost rehearsed.
“Are you listening to me at all?”
A woman’s frustrated voice shattered the peaceful silence of the sunlit parlor.
“Why won’t you answer? Is that article true? Tell me—is it?”
Her voice rose with every question.
Without a word, Biern lazily brushed a hand through his still-damp hair and picked up his teacup again. The tea had cooled to the perfect temperature. As he took another sip, the lingering haze of sleep slowly lifted.
“Biern!”
Unable to contain herself any longer, the woman sprang to her feet.
A shaft of sunlight streamed through the tall window, illuminating her like a performer beneath a spotlight. She was impeccably dressed despite having rushed all the way from the capital to Schwerin.
Biern finally lifted his eyes to meet hers.
His gray irises shimmered softly, catching the light like polished opal.
He had returned home shortly before dawn, taken a quick bath after sunrise, and collapsed into bed. As far as he was concerned, it was still the middle of the night.
Being dragged out of bed for this was hardly his idea of a pleasant morning.
Outside the river-facing windows came the distant cheers of rowers practicing on the water.
Good fucking morning.
Suppressing a sigh that almost became a laugh, Biern reached for the newspaper the woman had thrown onto the table.
The front page was dominated by a familiar headline.
Former Crown Prince and Former Princess Rumored to Be Rekindling Their Romance.
Beneath it were several remarkably flattering photographs of himself.
He skimmed the article.
Anonymous insiders claimed there was an unusual atmosphere between the former couple. Although forgiving an unfaithful ex was hardly advisable, Princess Gladys was supposedly soft-hearted enough to be wavering. If the rumors proved true, Lechen’s social circles would have plenty to gossip about this summer.
Utter nonsense.
Still, he had to admit the paper had excellent taste in photographs.
A faint smile touched his lips as he folded the newspaper and set it aside.
Across from him, the woman had gone crimson with barely concealed humiliation.
“So you’re not even going to explain?”
Her hands were trembling now.
Tears glistened in her eyes.
“Let’s end this.”
She spoke with dramatic finality, as though expecting the words to shake him.
With practiced ease, Biern placed a cigar between his lips before answering.
“I don’t see any reason to continue this relationship.”
She lifted her chin proudly.
“I intend to become engaged before spring is over.”
Despite the confidence in her voice, the anxiety in her eyes betrayed her.
Biern regarded her quietly while lighting the cigar.
She had been a pleasant enough lover.
Refined when necessary, delightfully improper when it suited her, and practical enough to understand that their affair had always been temporary. They had both known they would eventually return to their separate lives.
At least…
He had believed so until she stormed into his house because of a cheap tabloid.
“Then allow me to congratulate you, Miss Perez.”
He smiled pleasantly.
“I wish you every happiness.”
“…What?”
She blinked in stunned disbelief.
“You’re heartless. Selfish. Absolutely despicable! How can you treat me like this?”
“You were the one who suggested we end things.”
His fingertip traced the rim of his teacup.
“I simply accepted.”
He tilted his head slightly.
“Isn’t that what you wanted?”
For a long moment she could only stare at him, speechless.
Leaving her standing there, Biern rose from his chair.
The cigar smoldered quietly in the ashtray as a breeze drifted through the open window.
“Wait!”
He paused but didn’t turn around immediately.
“Is that really all you have to say?”
Her voice cracked.
She looked as though she might burst into tears.
Even now, she was undeniably beautiful.
He felt nothing.
At last Biern turned to face her.
With impeccable courtesy, he offered a slight bow—far too dignified for a man dressed only in a loosely tied morning robe.
“I wish you good fortune.”
A faint smile curved his lips.
“And at the very least… a count.”
Leaving the speechless woman behind, he walked out of the parlor.
Mrs. Fitz, who had been waiting outside the door, immediately fell into step beside him.
“I assume you’re not about to sing me a lullaby.”
The corner of Biern’s mouth lifted.
“I would if Your Highness requested it,” Mrs. Fitz replied in her usual no-nonsense tone. “Unfortunately, there’s no time for that.”
Even after decades, the former royal nurse had lost none of her stern composure. Now she oversaw the entire household at Schwerin Palace with the same unwavering discipline.
“You’ll need to leave for the station soon.”
“The station?”
“Her Majesty’s train will be arriving shortly.”
“Ah.”
He remembered.
His mother had come to Schwerin to attend a charity event at the Royal Hospital.
Naturally, it was his duty to receive her.
“Yes, Your Highness.”
Biern gave a small nod.
“I’ll get ready.”
After passing through several cities, the train steadily filled with passengers. The compartment where Erna had once sat alone was now packed.
Seated beside the window, she watched the changing scenery with equal parts curiosity and anxiety.
Broad streets crisscrossed between rows of towering buildings. Carriages rolled endlessly through the crowded roads, while streams of people hurried in every direction.
Everything felt impossibly vast.
Busy.
Brilliant.
It made her head spin.
As long as I have the address, I’ll find it.
She repeated the thought to calm herself.
This was, after all, the city where she’d been born.
She had left before her fifth birthday, so she remembered little of it, but it was still her hometown.
Taking a deep breath, Erna steeled herself once more.
At last, the train pulled into Schwerin Central Station.
She gathered her belongings and followed the flow of passengers out of the compartment.
The ribbons beneath her hat fluttered against her cheeks, and the neat braid down her back swayed with each determined step.
Her confidence lasted only until she reached the platform.
From that moment on, everything became a blur.
She was jostled this way and that by the crowd, carried along before she could even find her footing.
When she finally managed to stop, she realized she was standing amid a sea of strangers.
The noise was deafening.
The sheer number of people overwhelmed her.
She tried to move toward the station exit, but every attempt only pushed her farther away.
“It’s coming!”
Someone shouted.
Instantly, the crowd surged in one direction.
Still clutching the trunk she had nearly dropped, Erna turned her head as well.
Only then did she realize she had somehow been pushed to the very front of the spectators.
At that exact moment, a tall man appeared from the opposite side of the platform, walking calmly toward the waiting crowd.
