The hot air balloon hovered in the air for half an hour before slowly descending into the castle courtyard.

As soon as the gondola touched down, the witches, drawn by the hot air balloon, flocked around it. Compared to the initial presence of only Nightingale, the members of the Witch Union were now almost all present. Scroll, who had just returned from the Town Hall, even jogged over. After clarifying the situation, she had been anxiously watching the sky, fearing that the giant sphere would fall.

As soon as Prince Roland climbed out of the gondola, Scroll and Wendy immediately started lecturing him, advising him not to put himself in danger. After a couple of arguments, the prince wisely diverted the topic with this novel contraption. Nightingale found it amusing and was about to step forward to greet him when she suddenly stiffened and stopped in her tracks.

She saw Anna, carried out of the gondola by Roland, her eyes filled with laughter, her cheeks flushed with a touch of red. Her flaxen bangs were neatly parted to one side, and a delicate clip adorned her hair, emitting a silvery shimmer.

Nightingale recalled the silver ingot that he had casually polished a few days ago while guiding the blacksmiths in the factory to operate those large machines.

Was that a hairpin made by His Highness himself?

Other witches clamored to ride the hot air balloon. Soon, the air sac was inflated again, and this time Anna and Nana were ascending.

Nightingale stood outside the crowd, staring blankly at the hot air balloon as it grew smaller and smaller.

Her mind was filled with Anna's tender smile.

Anna, who usually had a calm and composed expression, rarely revealed such emotions. During her travels with the Mutual Aid Society, Nightingale had seen similar expressions in the streets and alleys of big cities. She knew what it meant. Clearly, His Highness and Anna were not simply sightseeing up there. Even with Lightning and Maisie present, they couldn't have gone that far, but once the thought surfaced, it was hard to suppress. She suddenly felt like a piece was missing from her heart.

Although she had prepared herself long ago, when facing this moment, Nightingale realized that she was far from indifferent.

She walked to a corner, sat down against the wall, watching everyone's bustling appearance, her mind blank.

The hot air balloon descended again. After Nana climbed out of the gondola, Leaf, seizing the opportunity, immediately sat in.

When Nightingale came back to her senses, Roland was no longer in the courtyard. Presumably, after being lectured by Scroll, he had returned to the castle to attend to his work. She should have followed him to the office, guarding the prince's side, as she had done in the past. But as Nightingale stood up, she found herself unable to move. She really didn't know what expression to face Roland with now. Even if he couldn't see her after entering the mist, Nightingale was still clear that his happy appearance would make her even more uncomfortable.

Just as the hot air balloon went up and down, after everyone had probably taken a ride, Wendy walked over, "Why are you staying here? Don't you want to try it? The feeling of overlooking the town from the sky is really great."

If there was anything harder to face than Roland, it was Anna. Nightingale stood up in a fluster, "No, I have to go back to the office." After saying that, she entered the mist, took two steps, and then realized, why use her ability in the courtyard? Glancing back at Wendy, who was looking around with a bewildered expression, she gritted her teeth and quickly left.

...

After dinner, she returned to her bedroom and sprawled out on the bed.

Until the very end of the day, she had not appeared in the office. When His Highness tentatively called out her name, she simply tapped him twice on the back to indicate that she was there. Even the salted grilled fish jerky that he usually fished out of the mahogany desk, which usually made her drool, did not make her compromise.

"What's wrong? Did something happen today?" Wendy walked into the bedroom, closing the door behind her. "I saw everyone riding the hot air balloon, but you were sitting alone on the side."

"Nothing," Nightingale rolled over.

"Clearly, something is wrong," Wendy sat on the edge of the bed, turned her body around, and stared at her for a long while. "I thought you were willing to confide in me about everything."

"..." The latter closed her eyes, and after a long while, she murmured, "Because of Anna."

"Anna?"

Nightingale didn't want to say all these troubling things, because it would only make her feel narrow-minded. After all, the first witch His Highness met was Anna, not her. But if she didn't say it, she felt like something was blocking her heart, making her even more uncomfortable. In the Mutual Aid Society, Wendy had given her a lot of help. Whenever she was confused, the first person she always thought of was Wendy, and the other party had never disappointed her. Thinking of this, she gently grasped Wendy's hand and told her the story in general terms.

After Wendy finished listening, she sighed, "Anna doesn't understand the importance of this matter, don't you understand it either? I reminded you last time, he can't be with a witch. Roland Wimbledon is a king, and he needs offspring to inherit this kingdom. From this point of view, he will never choose a witch as his wife."

"He will."

"What?" Wendy was stunned.

"Prince Roland will marry a witch," Nightingale suddenly opened her eyes and said, word by word, "He said it himself!"

She had wanted to keep this news hidden in her heart, but now she was powerless to bear this feeling of being misunderstood.

Wendy seemed frightened, and after a long while, she frowned and asked, "Are you sure?"

"It's true," Nightingale repeated Scroll's question that day, "When the question of whether you might marry a witch was raised, his answer was, why not? You know my ability, I can judge whether a person is lying. When he said that, he was serious."

Wendy suddenly grabbed Nightingale's arm, "Remember, don't tell this to anyone else, not even the sisters of the Witch Union."

"Wh... why?"

"Because he is destined to become the King of Graycastle. What does a king without offspring mean? Even without the Church, it would be difficult for the local nobles to support such a person as their king! So this matter must be kept strictly secret, and absolutely cannot be said. What you need to do now is to protect his safety. Don't forget, whether he can become the ruler of Graycastle is related to the fate of all the sisters."

Nightingale nodded.

"As for this matter that is bothering you," Wendy pondered for a moment, "Do you want to ascend to the position of queen, or do you just want to stay by His Highness's side?"

"Of course, it's to stay by his side," Nightingale said without hesitation.

"Then aren't you already by his side now?" Wendy smiled, "There is indeed only one queen, but even if he ascends the throne, he will still need your protection. Do you understand what I mean?"

Nightingale blinked, without answering.

"So, being together isn't difficult, what's difficult is accepting the choices you make." Wendy spread her hands, "If you can't do it, you can only retreat, or go a step further... As for this question, only you know the answer."

...

The next morning, Roland yawned as he walked into the office, opened the drawer, and found that the fish jerky had disappeared. (。)"