Hera was awakened by a soft touch on her forehead, followed by the placement of a damp towel on her forehead, which caused the girl to tremble before slowly opening her eyes.

“Why are you so reckless with yourself? If you become sick, it is normal to seek medical treatment. You can't just sleep your sickness away, can you?” Ruth caressed Hera's cheek with a troubled expression on her face.

Ruth's hand stiffened on Hera's cheek as a dreadful thought crossed her mind. “What did they do to you when you became sick there, Hera? Hmm?” Her voice cracked slightly as she tried to mask her emotions.

Hera grabbed Ruth's hand and held it tightly. Her eyelids closed again. She didn't want to show her emotions through her gaze. “It doesn't matter anymore, grandma.”

Ruth's gaze dimmed. “It's for your own good, Hera. I'm still upset about your food intake, which I learned from Freya and by observing you while we ate together. And now, when you're sick, you're refusing to allow people to contact a doctor for you? Hera, you do not live with them now. You are no longer alone. You have people who are concerned about you right now.”

Hera turned around, put her arms around Ruth's waist, and laid her head on her grandmother's lap. “It's because I usually get a fever every upcoming winter, and I'll be fine after resting. Sorry for causing concern for you... and the others.”

“Hm... Just don't do it again. I'll tell Mrs. Oz to prepare our breakfast here.” Ruth lightly ran her fingers through Hera's hair.

“I had a dream…” Hera murmured quietly. “Every peaceful dream I have indicates that she is still with me... I'm glad she's still with me. She means a lot to me. How could I possibly forget about her?” Her voice was so soft.

Ruth couldn't hear everything Hera was mumbling about, so she kept caressing Hera's hair as they waited for their breakfast to be served.

Hera has felt as if something has been missing in her life ever since she awoke on that fateful day, again. But once Zane told her about her sealed memories, she no longer questioned anything.

Nonetheless, the hollow feeling in her heart kept reminding her that the memories were not as important as they seemed and that she had forgotten the most important person in her life.

Hera didn't give it much thought at first. But she unexpectedly heard her again yesterday, and for the first time in a long time, she felt her presence with her. Despite the fact that it all paid off with her reliving her trauma again.

It's been a week since that day. Hera's daily life was back to normal with Ruth.

As the weather became colder, they spent less time in Ruth's garden and more time in the living room, in front of the fireplace, with a glass of hot chocolate in hand.

Hera's knitting skills are also improving. She even handed Freya her first knit, which was still a little messy for no apparent reason, and the girl happily took it.

Seeing how happy Freya was after receiving the small gift made Hera think about spending more time with her, so when Ruth couldn't accompany her due to mansion affairs, Hera persuaded Freya to teach her how to bake cookies.

Hera also continued to write responses to Emma, while the other letters that had somehow made it to her after the Sixon family event were ignored.

They didn't even write her name; instead, they addressed their letter to the new lady of Greene family. What a ridiculous rumour they believe in, ck...

Ruth, who had been the first to go through all of the incoming letters, could only shake her head. But she couldn't do anything about it and could only pass the letter to Hera, letting her choose whether or not to enter the world of high-society with just one reply to any of the letters.

But Hera had never considered returning to that world of high-society, and they were just interested in her as a topic for their latest gossip, so she disregarded the letters.

Hera seemed to be happier than normal. She no longer spends most of her time in the library, preferring to stroll around the Greene mansion and even going outside to enjoy the snow.

Hera's change of attitude surprised the people around the mansion, as well as Ruth and Lyonnel, but they didn't think too much of it and saw it as Hera starting to open up to them.

But just because Hera had a change of attitude doesn't mean she displayed it to everyone.

Hera still avoided Lyonnel, and the only time they met was when they ate together with Ruth.

Lyonnel, on the other hand, did not learn what he needed to know about Hera during that week. Shie was also unable to monitor Hera for most of the time due to Zane's barrier around her when Hera became aware that she was being watched.

The only things he learned up to this point were the two papers Shie found and Aria's whereabouts from Zane.

He remembered their brief encounter from a week ago.

The two men exchanged looks in the dim hallway, which was only illuminated by the moonlight shining through the large windows on the side of the hall behind Lyonnel.

“You... Hera's guardian?” Lyonnel's attention was drawn to the arrogant-looking man, his ears buzzing with Shie's voice, which was constantly cursing someone who had trapped him in Lyonnel's room. “You are Zane?”

The man called Zane just nodded slowly before turning his head to the right. A maid with an oil lamp in her hand approached them in a hurry.

Of course, Lyonnel recognized the maid as the sole eastern servant who had left the Silverna mansion and accompanied Hera here.

But Freya didn't see him. As she glanced at Zane, her expression became tense. “I heard Hera scream. What happened?” She asked in a low voice.

It turned out that it was not only Lyonnel who heard Hera's screams. Freya, who was about to return to her room after ensuring Hera wasn't strolling in the garden tonight, also heard the scream and rushed to Hera's room.

“She is fine... for the time being.” Zane's attention was centered on Freya for a while, ignoring Lyonnel in front of them. “It was my fault for not stopping her to see that painting of her.” At the last word, he cast a sidelong glance at Lyonnel for a moment.

“What does a painting have to do with her screams?” Freya looked confused. She brushed the snow from her coat and halted as she followed the direction of Zane's gaze.

“You go inside in case she wakes up and does something again.”

Freya instantly bowed her head towards Lyonnel after hearing Zane's words. “Please excuse me, my lord.” After that, she walked into Hera's room without even looking back at Lyonnel.

The two men stared at each other in silence again, until finally Lyonnel couldn't hold the silence anymore.

“Why did you choose Hera as your master?”

“Is that what you want to ask me about your sister?” Zane's eyebrows shot up, slightly annoyed by Lyonnel's priority of questions. “No, what's wrong with your sister? Or what made her want to leave that place so unexpectedly?”

Lyons remained quiet. To be honest, he merely asked anything that came to him first.

“But, if that was the first thing you wanted to know... why did I choose Hera? Well, it's because of Aria.”

“Aria? You chose Hera because of... Aria? Does that mean you know where she is now?”

“Of course, I'm aware of her whereabouts. She's been bound to this world for a long time, thanks to you and your father. Despite this, she sent him dreams about Hera. Ahh…” Zane pinched his nose and shook his head in frustration.

“What do you mean by that? Aria gave my father a dream about Hera... just like she gave a dream to Mrs. R? What kind of dream?”

Zane shrugged his shoulders. “No idea. You can just ask her and tell her that she should stop sending people dreams about Hera. She should stop abusing her power if she didn't want to perish before fulfilling Ammely's last wish.”

“Mother's last wish... hasn't been granted?” Lyonnel's eyes widened in astonishment, but soon his eyes narrowed sharply. “What did you know about that?”

“Let's just leave it that way..”. Zane's cold face was tinged with a scornful smirk. “It's not my place to tell you about Lady Ammely's last wish. You have to go see her yourself and see if she wants to tell you. After all, you are Ammely's son, so she may be a little kind to you.”

This time, what Zane said really left him speechless. He swallowed hard before asking another question in a low voice. “Isn't it my mother's last wish for Hera to be born? How come it hasn't been granted yet?”

“This is why you shouldn't believe everything you hear, you know?” Zane irritably clicked his tongue. “Lady Ammely's last wish did not end with the birth of Hera; her wishes were far greater than that.”

“... Could you please tell me?”

“No.” Zane flatly refused. “Only Aria has the right to tell someone about it... ah, right... But, thanks to Michael, you and your father already knew not even half of it. Ck... He doesn't even know everything, yet he's bold enough to tell your father and ruin your family. Yet you blame it on an innocent child? Cckck…” He sneered mockingly.

Lyonnel stammered. He didn't even know what to say to Zane anymore. His brow furrowed deeply. He just realized that Michael would never give a further explanation about his mother's last wish, as if he wasn't sure he wanted to repeat what he had just said.

“So…” Zane flashed Lyonnel a wide, meaningful smile that gave him goosebumps. “How about you go see Aria and ask her what you want to know? I'm sure you're more intrigued by it than you are by Hera.” There was a tone of condemnation in the last sentence.

That was the end of their conversation before Zane disappeared and Shie's loud cheers rang in his ears as he was able to get out of his room.

Their brief encounter raised more questions than answers. But for some reason he couldn't think about, he also got a feeling Zane was trying to get him away from Hera.

Now that Lyonnel was in a dilemma, should he go back and meet with Aria or stay behind and keep an eye on Hera?

But it had been a week and he hadn't noticed anything unusual about Hera, other than the fact that she appeared more joyful and energetic than before, or the truth of the two papers he got.

Lyonnel even subtly tried to ask Ruth without actually saying what was in the paper, but her grandmother looked confused and asked him if he had forgotten that he was there in the first five years of Hera's life.

Ruth even showed Lyonnel a portrait of him and baby Hera, as well as a portrait of the three of them, and there was nothing odd about it.

Lyonnel wondered if Aria had any knowledge about it.

“Are you sure you want to go back? Without Hera?” Shie asked again, ensuring that this was indeed his master's final decision. “However, even if you wanted to see Aria, you wouldn't be able to.”

“But you can…” Lyonnel said as he locked his suitcase and turned to look at Shie, who was sitting leisurely on the sofa. “Those papers. I think Aria was the only one who clearly knew about that, as well as the midwife, who was nowhere to be found now. Of all the things, I really need to know the truth about those papers.”

Hearing the desperation in Lyonnel's voice, Shie couldn't help but fall silent. He understands the nature of his master. He had always pondered why his family was not like any other family out there, and though he would not acknowledge it, he had a soft spot for Hera. If not, he would never make Shie spy on her once a week.

Shie lowered his head, taking a deep breath, and then nodded. “Maybe I can persuade her to come to your dream? What do you think?” He suggested it.