‘Two months passed faster than I thought.’

Joshua had spent them regaining his strength, as well as doing his best to convince his mother to move to the safety of Duke Agnus’s mansion. However, Lucia was loath to part from her child—the new environment let her spend time with her son without other people disturbing them. There had been one fight about it, but Lucia had ended up raising the white flag; it seemed that no parent could win against their child. The most likely threat to Lucia while Joshua was in the academy was from the inside, not the outside.

With only a week until he would enter the academy, Joshua was getting nervous. Finally, the person he had been waiting had reached out to him.

***

“Young Master, it’s been a long time since I’ve seen you.”

The Imperial Palace Restaurant sits...