Our talk was cut short by the voice of a man. Ravina's brothers spoke, dressed in their traditional attire. "Laverna!" they exclaimed, looking very happy to see their sister.

Nero glanced at me in shock. "Is this Princess Carmina?" he asked, and I smiled in agreement. Amor shouted loudly, "Oh my, I'm so happy to see you! You've changed a lot." Then, slightly puzzled, he deduced the change. "You seem more... uh, fragile?" It was a painful observation. I knew that I had lost my youthful vigor and that glory and its days were gone, but I didn't realize it was so apparent. Liverna struck her brother, which deepened my sadness. She also sensed it; she didn't disagree.

The twins continued talking eagerly, as it had been a long time since they had seen their sister and their old friend. Laverna felt uncomfortable with the presence of the courtiers beside us, and I sensed it, but it seems that the Twins never sensed that. Laverna took my hand, and we walked away from the courtiers, while the twins kept walking with us. I looked back; all the princes had gone except the crown prince.

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We stopped by a distant tree, but at the same time, a spot where the emperor could see us. We weren't sure about the empire's idea of friendship, and we didn't want to test that idea on our heads.

The emperor appeared bored as he looked at the attendees from his high seat, but he was drawn to these foreigners in a distant place.

I stood beside Laverna, while Amor and Nero stood in front of us. Laverna continued to scold her brothers harshly, to the point where I doubted she was still the same Laverna. My question interrupted her scolding; there was no room for postponement. "Why doesn't the crown prince go hunting?"