“What on earth is going on, Duke Harlan?”

“You say you won’t kill that woman. Furthermore, you say you will move together as we are now.”

Despite the barrage of questions from others, Harlan maintained his composure alone. In fact, he too couldn’t understand the situation. Why had Shuher, of all people who should be killed first, decided to leave Evenel as she was?

That’s why he came to the palace as soon as the day broke to properly question him about this matter.

‘Did he not mention this at the meeting for that reason?’

Harlan felt suspicious even about his delaying the decision on Evenel. He couldn’t know for sure if he never intended to kill her in the first place.

“Go ask His Majesty in detail.”

Just as he was about to hurriedly step towards meeting Shuher, he spotted Evenel in training attire from afar.

It was clear that she had something to do with Shuher’s change of mind.

‘What kind of trick did she use?’

In the end, Harlan turned his steps towards Evenel, and the nobles reluctantly followed him.

Seeing Harlan blocking her path, Evenel stiffened her expression and stopped walking.

‘Why do I keep running into this kind of person in this vast palace?’

She intended to avoid conversation by just exchanging greetings and walking away. It wasn’t fear; she just felt that spending time on him was a waste.

“We meet again, Duke Harlan. I’m on my way to the training ground.”

Despite her intention to avoid conversation, Harlan stubbornly blocked her way. Suppressing her rising irritation, Evenel asked,

“Do you have something to say to me?”

“What trick did you use to survive?”

“A trick, you say?”

Confronted by his rude question, a chill began to form in her eyes. Why was he picking a fight at this hour? She wanted to ask him what he had eaten wrong.

“It seems too late to act innocent.”

“Just get to the point. I don’t particularly enjoy listening.”

“What trick did you use for His Majesty to decide not to kill you?”

‘Ah, so that’s why he hurried to the palace like this.’

She hadn’t expected the news to spread so quickly. By the looks on the faces of those with him, the outcome seemed quite displeasing.

Finding it ridiculous to explain her agreement with him in detail, Evenel wrapped it up with a plausible answer.

“Maybe His Majesty judged that using me is better than killing me? Quite logically, I presume.”
“Once someone with the same abilities appeared, the value of exploiting Young-ae essentially vanished. That’s hard to accept. Did you actually beg His Majesty? Or did you use some other method?”

“To survive, what can’t one do?”

Upon hearing a few eyes scanning her up and down, Evenel Istella felt more than uncomfortable—she was downright disgusted. And then she heard words that abruptly severed her rationality.

“With nothing but your body to offer, if it holds any value, you should exploit it. Did you perhaps visit His Majesty’s chamber at night?”

‘What madness.’

Every curse she knew was spilling out in her mind. Trashy comments kept coming, whether they were aware of her condition or not.

“Just as the Duke said, it’s obvious, isn’t it?”

“Since you’re staying in the same palace as His Majesty, the opportunities are plenty.”

“To think that someone from Aodin has no pride.”

She could take no more, even if she was nobility. There was absolutely no reason to listen to such talk.

“Are you done speaking?”

“How rude is this.”

“Rude? Who committed rudeness here that you dare question me? Listening to what you’re saying makes me regret being a noble. You people are less fitting for the noble status than the pebbles on the road.”

Despite Evenel’s vehement reaction, Harlan continued to demean her with his gaze.

“Seeing you get this worked up, it seems we’ve struck a nerve. At least you know you’re shameful, so that’s something.”

The moment she took a step closer, trying to uphold at least a minimal sense of decorum, a calm voice interrupted the heated atmosphere.

“The one who should know shame seems to be Duke Harlan.”

Upon hearing the voice, as if it were her savior, Evenel turned her head and found a man observing the confrontation.

‘Who is he?’

She had never seen him before. With ash-colored hair reaching just past his shoulders neatly tied back, his sky-blue eyes were focused on Evenel.

The moment their eyes met, his gaze softened. Evenel flinched for a moment.

The mysterious man approached the scene with a relaxed stride. Up close, he was shorter than Shuher but nearly the same height.

His overall soft impression emitted an atmosphere entirely opposite to that of Shuher.

The man who was looking at Evenel now stared at Harlan. The tender atmosphere that surrounded him vanished in an instant. But a smile still remained on his lips.

“Duke Felin Gaer.”
“Good to see you after so long, Duke Harlan Jeizen.”

‘Felden Gaer?’

Evenel didn’t recognize the face of the man named Felden, but she knew of the Gaer ducal family. Just like Shuher and Hibru, they were one of the families blessed with power.