Looking in the direction the child was pointing, a crowd of people was gathered and murmuring at the entrance of the alley.

“Don’t just stand there, please… do something to help!”

Amidst the murmuring, another child’s voice could be heard.

When two security guards ran over, they saw a girl who had turned pale and collapsed with a pained expression, while another girl was holding her and crying.

A boy who had run over said,

“She was eating the rice cake we bought from over there, and suddenly she looked in pain and collapsed!”

The two guards were at a loss and could only stare at the child.

“It’s not like there’s poison in the food everyone eats.”

“What on earth is going on?”

“Poison? That’s nonsense.”

“Yeah. Maybe it’s stuck in her throat? You know, those rice cakes…”

Everyone was just talking, but no one stepped forward.

Sera sat there blankly, then suddenly snapped to her senses and ran towards the child.

The child, who had turned from pale to ghostly white, was now unconscious.

Sera hugged the collapsed child’s chest from behind and lifted her up. The child was limp and drooped.

As Sera applied pressure to the child’s chest and pulled her towards herself several times, a pink rice cake popped out of the child’s mouth.

“Hooh…”

Sera let out a deep sigh, carefully laid the child down, and checked her complexion.

The child, who had been pale, gradually regained color and consciousness as she gasped for breath.

“Waaah!”

The awakened child, startled by her own experience, burst into tears as soon as she regained consciousness.

The three children hugged each other and cried.

“You fool~! Why did you suddenly collapse~? Waaah!”

The onlookers applauded Sera.

Clap, clap, clap.

“That was amazing, miss! How did you do that?”

Wiping away the sweat, Sera dusted off her clothes and stood up.

When she was a child, there was a time at the orphanage when rice cakes were served as snacks, and she had eaten them and collapsed just like this.

At that time, Kyle went to call the teacher, and Yuni lifted the collapsed Sera from behind and dragged her to the teacher, during which her chest was compressed, causing her to vomit the rice cake.

‘It was a cute chick-shaped rice cake. It was so cute that I swallowed it without chewing, and that happened…’

Sera chuckled softly as she looked at the children.

The child, trying to stop crying, said,

“But… hic. The rabbit is pitiful… sob.”

It seemed the collapsed child had also swallowed the rabbit-shaped rice cake without chewing.

Sera looked at the fallen rice cake, which was adorably shaped like a rabbit.

The three children approached Sera, repeatedly thanking her and sharing their rice cakes.

“Miss! Thank you so much for saving our sister!”

“Thank you, big sister! This… we’ve eaten some, but…”

Sera received a plate with two shiny, honey-glazed, cute rabbit-shaped rice cakes.

The girl who had been holding the collapsed child came up last to express her gratitude.

“Um… thank you for saving my sister.”

In the hand of the shyly approaching child, Sera saw her own familiar wallet.

“You, you!! Where did you get this?!”

Dropping the rice cakes, Sera knelt down and grabbed the child’s hand holding the wallet.

The child, suddenly on guard, said,

“Th-this is mine!!”

Sera, growing suspicious due to the child’s sudden defensiveness, approached the child.

“What?! No way. I’m sure this is the wallet I lost… Let me just check for a moment!”

When Sera grabbed the wallet, the child struggled desperately not to let it go.

“Ugh!! Let go!! I said let go!”

Sera and the child were tussling over the wallet.

The commotion caught the attention of the captain of the knights, who came up behind Sera and swiftly snatched the wallet, saying,

“Enough.”

Sera quickly turned around.

A dazzling gold epaulet draped over the shoulder of a deep green uniform. At the end of the sleeve, embroidered in red, was Sera’s wallet.

The knight captain, with smooth, bright green hair and dark eyes, was looking down at Sera from right behind her.

Sera stood up, staring in a daze.

‘It’s him…! The one who appeared in my dreams so many times…’

Sera had to tilt her head quite a bit to look up at the tall, well-built man.

“Uh… ahem. Ahem… This wallet. It’s mine. Please return it.”

The child behind shouted at the man.

“That’s mine! I didn’t steal it!”

The man looked at Sera and the child in turn and instructed the knights.

“Disperse the crowd. I’ll handle this.”

The onlookers dispersed, and the alley became relatively quiet.

“I am Duke Dante Andres, captain of the Imperial Knights. Is there a way to verify this wallet is yours?”

After briefly introducing himself, Dante spoke to Sera in a very polite and low voice.

‘It’s the complete opposite of the image from my dreams…’

With a deep and powerful voice, Dante’s courteous demeanor prompted Sera to clear her throat and say,

“Ahem. It’s the same as the wallet I lost. Crucially, my name is engraved inside the wallet.”

Kneeling down to look at the child, Dante asked in a slightly gentler tone.

“Is there a way to confirm if this wallet is yours?”

Dante’s tone, softer than when he spoke to Sera, made the child become compliant.

“I-I’m the same. My name is engraved inside the wallet.”

Dante thought for a moment, then whispered to Sera and the child separately, asking for the engraved name.

Sera quietly whispered into Dante’s ear, who had bent down to her eye level.

“It’s Sera. It should be engraved as Sera.”

The child also whispered into Dante’s ear, who was kneeling.

“It says Sera.”

Dante looked at the scruffy child, smiled kindly, and stood up with a short sigh.

“Hmm…”

‘He must have opened the wallet and checked the name.’

After a brief thought, Dante looked around the festival stalls.

“Could you please wait a moment?”

He bought a bag of candy from a candy store, knelt down again to the child’s eye level, and showed two pieces of candy.

“These are truth-telling candies. If you eat them, you can only speak the truth. If you tell the truth before eating the candy, you won’t be punished. But if the truth you tell after eating the candy is different, a scary monster might come and take you away.”

Sera rolled her eyes and looked at Dante a bit oddly. Dante felt Sera’s gaze but continued speaking.

The child had a slightly frightened expression.

“You or that sister is lying. I’ll give each of you a candy and ask again.”

Dante smiled brightly and stood up to look at Sera.

‘Ah. This person… he knows the kids are lying.’

Sera took a candy from Dante’s hand, ate it, and said.

“This wallet must be mine. It’s the wallet I lost.”

When Dante handed the candy to the child, the child gulped and grabbed the candy.

“Wh-where did you get such candy?! It’s all lies… This wallet is…”

“Don’t eat it, sister!! Waaah~! I lied. I stole it from that sister’s bag~! I don’t want to be taken by the monster~! Waaah…”

The boy who had been watching with a frightened expression shouted as he cried, retreating with the fallen child.

“You…! You fool…! You said you found it in front of the library!!”

The child with the candy shouted at the boy and then looked at Dante with a terrified expression.

“Th-this is… um… that is…”

Dante patted the child’s head and said.

“Let’s return the wallet to its owner. Your brave brother stopped you from being taken by the monster.”

Dante stood up and called the nearby guards to take the children away.

Sera, who was watching the frightened children walk away, asked worriedly.

“Um, those children… what will happen to them? They won’t be punished, right?”

Sera didn’t want the children to be punished, thinking of her own childhood.

“We’ll investigate their background and hand them over to their guardians. They seem to be children living in the alleys without guardians… If they enter an orphanage or a care center, it would be good for them. We won’t punish young children. Don’t worry.”

Sera’s expression brightened.

“Phew… that’s a relief… But you handle children very well, sir.”

Dante handed the wallet to Sera and said.

“I have a much younger sibling. Here, please take your wallet.”

Sera felt relieved only after receiving her wallet.

‘Haa… That was a close call. Huh? But why does it feel so light?’

Just as Sera was about to open her wallet to check, the square became noisy with shouts from all around.

“Wow!! Look at the sky over there!”

“Wow! It’s Her Majesty the Empress!”

“So beautiful. Who’s that next to her?!”

“Isn’t that a dragon? I’ve only heard about it, but it’s amazing! I never thought I’d see the dragon.”

“Wow! It’s flying in the sky!”

Following the gaze of the people, Sera looked up and saw the Empress of the Empire and Jake floating in the sky.

‘With that red hair, it must be the Empress, so the man next to her is the dragon? I didn’t get to see him at the Marquis’s place… Was he with Her Majesty?’

Hair as red as blood from a fresh wound. It was the proof of the imperial bloodline, and only those with bright red hair could become Empress.

Dante was glaring up at the Empress with her red hair.

“…”

Turning around, Dante gave a brief nod to Sera and hurriedly left.

“Then, enjoy the festival.”

The Empress of the Kailat Empire, Cassia Kailat, appeared in the square while floating in the air.

Next to her, Jake, known as the dragon, stood by her side, supporting the Empress’s hand.

The bright red hair, a symbol of the Empress, was striking even from a distance.

Cassia let her thick, curly hair cascade over the white cloak she wore, making her bright red hair stand out even more vividly.

With a leisurely smile on her lips, she looked at the citizens welcoming her with ruby-like, bright red eyes and greeted them.

‘Wow… She’s truly dazzling and beautiful. Her charisma is no joke. Impressive…’

Sera stared in a daze.

Next to her, Jake, holding Cassia’s hand, also had a striking appearance.

Even from a distance, his golden hair seemed to shimmer and his mysterious amethyst eyes sparkled like jewels.

Jake wore a light yellow blouse and lavender shorts that matched his hair and eye color.

‘I thought dragons would be terrifying and rugged. But he’s quite cute.’

Sera looked at Jake with a sense of wonder.

Jake seemed to sense something and turned his gaze precisely in Sera’s direction.

‘Oh…! Did I just make eye contact with Jake? It seems like he was looking at me!’

“…”

“Wow! I just made eye contact with the dragon!”

“No, he looked at me. He looked directly at me!”

She chuckled at the people around her who were thinking the same thing.

‘People really do think alike..’

Cassia and Jake slowly descended and stopped above the fountain in the square, looking down at the gathered crowd.

Cassia’s voice resonated clearly, even from a distance.

“Now… quiet!!”

The entire square fell silent in an instant. Cassia smiled and continued speaking.

“It is because of the citizens of the empire that today’s Kailat exists. I am merely a figurehead. You are the past, present, and future of Kailat. A new era is about to dawn. Future of Kailat, shine brightly!”

As Cassia shouted, the lights illuminating the square went out all at once, and bright rainbow-colored fireworks began to explode in the distant sky behind her.

“Wow! It’s so beautiful!”

People exclaimed in admiration as they watched the colorful lights burst into the sky.

Jake murmured to Cassia.

“Is that all you could come up with? Pretending to care about the citizens. Ugh. You’re so fake.”

“Sh-shut up. I have to do something like this… so maybe he’ll think better of me…”

“Hmph…”

Starting with a brilliant red, followed by orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and purple… finally, a large white firework exploded, decorating the sky even more splendidly.