Casus lowered his head and narrowed his eyes.

It seemed her exclusive patent was to disconcert people with unexpected actions.

So, he also had an ominous hunch that something could go wrong with her if he let his guard down for even a moment.

“Sigh.”

He had stepped out to clear his mind, but somehow, after his trip to the night market, his head felt more cluttered.

(This is a time divider.)

Zen stared blankly at the swordmark on his waist.

Lately, he felt his lord, whom he served, had become strange.

Casus Wellington.

A person he had grown up with since childhood.

Because he had always watched over him, Zen knew what Casus wanted just by the look in his eyes.

However.

Lately, Casus would often stare into space, and his atmosphere was not the same as before.

Though his body was engaged in sorting documents or frequenting the training ground, his mind seemed to be elsewhere.

Quickwitted Zen realized immediately that it was separate from Casus wanting to clear his head due to the complicated matters of the duchy.

If that had truly been the case, he would have casually chatted or consulted with him as usual.

‘Has he really fallen in love?’

Zen smirked and sheathed his sword back into its scabbard.

Love and Casus.

Quite the mismatched pair.

Even though Zen had always been by his side, sharing everything.

Lately, Casus kept insisting on being alone.

As if he wanted to keep a secret all to himself.

“……”

Zen was also confused.

Due to the abrupt change in the demeanor of someone who had been steady for years.

As a knight responsible for guarding his lord, Zen started wandering around the training ground when left alone.

The knights were training as usual.

But the difference between when Atia was there and when she wasn’t was clear.

‘The morale is different.’

Neither their voices nor their eyes matched.

Nothing was the same.

When Atia was present, everyone tried to train a bit more, but now that wasn’t the case.

In any case, Zen was comfortable because he had less work to do thanks to Casus, but it was also bittersweet.

.

.

.

“What did that woman do yesterday?”

The day for thirteenyearold, adolescent boy Leo started with asking his servant about Atia’s day.

He sat in his room, crossing his legs on a chair covered with navy velvet.

“Yes, as far as I know, she stayed in her room after dinner last night.”
The servant bowed as he reported on Atia’s activities.

Leo narrowed his brows, as if wanting to hear more.

“Again?”

“She rarely leaves her room these days.”

“Why hasn’t she been going to the training ground recently?”

“…We’re not sure about that.”

“Who has she been in contact with?”

“She was seen talking to two maids and a knight. I wasn’t observing her all day, so I can’t say for sure.”

“A knight? Which knight?”

“I don’t know his name, but he had a beard stretching from his temples to his chin and yellowish hair. I couldn’t hear what they were talking about.”

Leo stroked his chin with his left hand as if in thought.

“Alright, go on.”

“Ah, there’s one more thing I’ve observed over the past few days.”

The servant looked around as if something had occurred to him.

“?”

“When she coughs, she always moves to another location.”

“What? Where to?”

“I didn’t follow her to see.”

The servant ended his sentence ambiguously.

Leo furrowed his brows and frowned.

“Really? I should follow her sometime, then. When did this happen?”

Leo raised his voice slightly, sounding somewhat angry.

“It seemed to happen yesterday, and that’s based on my observations over the past few days. I didn’t dare follow her to where the Duchess was…”

The servant bowed, indicating he was merely reporting what he saw and heard.

Sighing, Leo tapped his forehead with one hand and gestured dismissively with the other.

“Fine, you can leave.”

“Yes.”

As the servant retreated, Leo fell into deep thought once again.

Sitting on the velvet chair, he uncrossed his legs only to cross them again.

Lately, Leo’s main focus had been entirely on Atia.

Leo didn’t want others to know how much attention he was paying to Atia.

However, it seemed like he was the only one who thought so.

After all, anyone could see that Leo was the one most curious about Atia’s every move.

Leo wanted to command the servant to monitor everything about Atia, but his pride stopped him from going that far.

‘Just asking about her daily activities in the morning should suffice.’

Thinking this, Leo smacked the chair with the palm of his hand.

Ever since their eyes met while he was hanging around Atia, Leo had been avoiding her.

‘I heard she went to the night market with my brother.’

Just a few days ago.

Leo had gathered some secretive information that Atia and his brother Casus had gone to the night market.

‘What did they do there?’

Frankly, Leo was dying to know what the two had done there.

Especially since she went without her usual escort knight.

‘Did they go there using the festival as an excuse?’

Although he heard they returned from the night market quite soon, he found it strange.

‘Or did she just go out because she was feeling stifled?’

It wasn’t impossible.

But why did she go with his brother of all people?

And just the two of them.

Even though they were married, his brother was not someone easily swayed by trivial emotions.

Especially for a woman he had shown no interest in.

If it was just for some fresh air, Leo could have shown Atia around himself.

Their ducal estate was vast, after all.

Of course, it wouldn’t be just the two of them.

Leo furrowed his brows.

Did his brother know that she was sick?

‘She seems to be trying to hide her illness.’

The image of Atia coughing up vivid blood resurfaced in his mind.

Her frail shoulders under the lonely moonlight, burdened with illness.

Her face, which was vibrant outside but dying like a fading ember inside, was unsettling to Leo.

It was a complete contrast to her usual self.

‘She irritates me in so many ways.’

Leaning on his palm, Leo uncrossed his legs and stood up.