When she turned sixteen, Clematis was able to enter a higher education institution—the Academy—thanks to a recommendation letter from Duke Hermann.
He enrolled her in a small academy mostly attended by commoners rather than nobles.
The academy dormitory was an old and shabby building, but Prox even sponsored the reconstruction costs for Clematis’s dormitory.
From the moment she entered, rumors spread that she was under the patronage of Duke Prox Hermann.
Because of that, neither the professors nor the students in her class dared to treat her lightly.
“This place will now call you Marty.”
On the day Clematis first went to the academy, Prox suddenly corrected her name.
He personally handled all enrollment procedures and filled in her name on all documents as “Marty” instead of Clematis.
Clematis looked at Prox with confusion, even though he knew her real name.
“Why…?”
“As a symbol that your life is beginning anew. And because it’s easier for me to call you that.”
Prox smiled faintly and patted her head.
Clematis eventually nodded.
Even if he had not changed her name, she had already thought she could not use “Clematis” in the outside world.
But now that he was the one hiding her real name, a faint suspicion began to form.
Does he know I’m from the House of Count Robert?
Is he hiding it on purpose?
He had never once asked whether she was the noble daughter with the special ability.
So Clematis had assumed he did not know.
But the fact that he was so thorough in concealing her name made her doubt grow.
If so… why?
Why would the Duke of Hermann, whose family suffered greatly because of the House of Robert, protect me?
Was it simply because she had saved his life—was that meant to erase everything?
Clematis never asked him directly.
She simply devoted herself fully to life at the academy.
A second chance, as if miraculously granted again.
She understood its value and did not want to waste even a moment.
If her identity was exposed, she might become a fugitive again. Even if not, she wanted to prove her worth so as not to tarnish Prox’s reputation as her benefactor.
Occasionally, teasing academy students would ask about her relationship with Prox, but her outstanding academic performance always silenced them.
Someone this talented would have attracted patronage even without Duke Hermann.
Clematis excelled in all subjects, but she especially loved literature and art.
When reading comedies, she imagined a happy ending for herself. When reading tragedies, she over-immersed herself by projecting her painful past.
In art class, she could express the emotions stirred by literature through her hands.
Even so, her thoughts were always filled with Prox.
She even created fictional stories where she and Prox ended up as lovers with a happy ending, and drew illustrations of those scenes.
Eventually, she completed an entire picture book combining text and drawings.
Sometimes she would secretly take it out and draw Prox again.
Then one day, Prox sent a letter saying he would visit the academy to see how she was adjusting.
Clematis could not sleep the night before, tossing and turning in excitement.
Her steps back to the dorm after class were light.
She planned to tidy herself up and meet him.
But when she opened her door, she sensed that someone had been inside.
“Duke… you’re here?”
Clematis saw Prox standing in the middle of her room.
He was staring intently at something, even after she called him.
Following his gaze, Clematis gasped and rushed forward.
“Y-you can’t look at that!”
What he was holding was her picture book.
A romance story she had written herself, starring him and herself.
Her face flushed as she tried desperately to snatch it back.
But Prox lifted it out of her reach.
Even jumping, Clematis could not retrieve it from his much taller frame.
Realizing how close she had gotten in her frantic attempt, she stepped back in embarrassment.
Prox lowered his arm.
“Did you make this yourself?”
He began turning the pages one by one.
“The writing is quite good, and the illustrations are well placed. I didn’t know you had talent for this.”
His evaluation was calm and approving.
It was obvious he was simply encouraging her rather than offering a strict critique.
Still, Clematis felt embarrassed.
“It’s actually my dream to submit a work to the Raphael Art Festival someday…”
She made up an excuse on the spot.
If she said it was just a hobby, she might reveal that it was actually a fantasy about him.
“So I just… scribbled it for practice.”
Prox closed the book and bent slightly to meet her eye level.
Clematis startled and looked up.
“I didn’t know you had such a goal. I’m sure you’ll succeed.”
Hearing him sincerely encourage her made her feel guilty.
Her gaze drifted to the book in his hands.
Then Prox said,
“Can I keep this picture book?”
Clematis instinctively reached out, assuming he would return it.
But Prox hid it behind his back.
“W-why? It’s just a draft…”
“It’s for a child.”
“A child?”
Clematis lowered her hands.
“Whose child?”
“My fiancée, Princess Rachel. She’s still young. I think she would like it.”
Her heart sank.
She was happy he valued her work, but the recipient was his fiancée.
Clematis lowered her head in silence.
She had vaguely heard rumors that he had a fiancée.
But hearing it directly from him made her chest ache.
“This is a gift for her, so I’d like to keep it. I can pay you for it, of course.”
Clematis lost the will to take it back.
The book contained a love story between her and Prox.
But now she understood it could never be real.
“No… you can take it.”
Prox smiled in satisfaction and flipped through it again.
That day, Clematis should have let go of both the picture book—and Prox in her heart.
