Diana left her child with Angela that afternoon and hurriedly headed to the library.

“I need to find out more about the fox bead.”

The family wrecker, known as both a fox spirit and a monster.

Even a prodigal who enjoys life more than anyone else has a clear weakness.

Diana’s long, delicate fingers read the text line by line, suddenly stopping at the fourth paragraph.

It was a passage describing the vessel that possessed the fox bead.

The bead is like a lifeline to the nine-tailed fox. They absorb human energy to extend their lives, and if they place the bead, the source of their life, into a human body, they can maintain a youthful and beautiful appearance without contact with others.

A human who swallows the bead is called a vessel, and the nine-tailed fox cherishes the vessel and never wants to be apart from them for even a moment.

The affection for the bead is proportional to the affection for the other person, and the greater the obsession with a beautiful body, the greater the obsession with the other person.

If you become the vessel of a nine-tailed fox, you have fallen into an inescapable quagmire.

Diana stopped her finger and bit her lip.

Of course, she had no intention of willingly falling into the quagmire. No matter what, she planned to make a deal with Arthur without swallowing the bead.

If what Arthur wanted was the bead, there was no need for Diana to become a vessel. But the duke clearly intended to make Diana a vessel.

After all, Arthur would have to have deep feelings for her in order to negotiate from an advantageous position.

Diana held her throbbing temples and pondered deeply.

If I can steal the bead when my father tries to make me a vessel, I can negotiate with Arthur from an advantageous position…

He would be much better off getting the bead back and finding freedom than a future where he is at the mercy of his father-in-law because of a loveless marriage anyway.

But to receive the bead from my father…

“I’ll have to go through with the marriage, even if it’s just a contract…”

Diana thought of Raoul, who had sided with the emperor. He knew nothing about Diana’s plan.

Diana planned to quietly go into hiding as Trian had done once everything was over.

She was also working hard to figure out a way to distract the rebels’ eyes and disappear from the world, in case they just sucked out the sweet nectar and threw her away.

To cross the sea by boat, she needed Arthur’s sailboat, and to live without being tracked, she needed a new identity…

Now there were too few travelers to disguise herself as one.

For that reason, Arthur’s help was inevitable. Diana wanted to establish a cooperative relationship with Arthur through the bead.

Even if Raoul didn’t agree, there was no choice but to proceed like this.

“Hah… If only I could tell you the fact that I returned… That you changed because I acted differently from the past… And that the original work became a mess because of that…”

The library, which had been bustling with conversation, was deathly quiet without Raoul.

Diana pulled down the lace that had come up around her neck and caressed the scar-like mark left behind.

Even now, thinking of the man who would be stained with blood to stand proudly before her father…

Diana left the castle under the pretext of volunteering at the monastery and headed to the alley where the medicinal herb shop was located.

The scenery of the shopping street, which she had not entered for a long time, was incomparably desolate compared to the spring of the year before last.

There were no people passed out drunk next to the drum cans, no employees who had come out to rest after working, only a few leaves that had flown in from the forest bustling.

In front of a store that had closed long ago, a closed sign that looked like it was out of business was attached.

Diana, dressed in a black robe from head to toe, held her breath and opened the door of the medicinal herb shop.

Creak-.

As the door opened, a hand suddenly popped out of the darkness and pulled her slender waist deep inside.

As her body was sucked into the store, the door she was holding closed on its own.

Thud.

The door closed and a tightly sealed silence came. The man held Diana in his arms and strode towards the counter.

As he approached the candlestick on the counter, the face hidden in the darkness was gradually revealed.

Diana smiled softly and gently stroked his rough cheek.

“Long time no see.”

“It took longer than I thought.”

Raoul untied the cumbersome robe string and hugged Diana tightly.

It was already the next spring since they had last said goodbye in the Duchy of Homeron. He caressed her waist with a yearning touch and poured out a thirsty kiss.

The lips that were not properly aimed touched her face all over the place.

Diana slowly stroked his large back as she received a barrage of kisses.

“…Hmm… Isn’t that enough of a greeting?”

“Hah…”

Raoul finally pulled away, rubbing his lips on her cheek for a long time.

Diana, who was sitting on the counter looking up at his cloudy eyes, blinked finely as she touched his heated cheek.

“Why are you so excited…”

“…”

“Were you upset… because of the engagement knight?”

Raoul clenched his fists on the hand wrapped around her back and bit his cheek hard. It seemed that just thinking about it made his eyes turn red.

The man who was jealous of even the monastery child remained silent about Arthur.

Perhaps he felt such an enormous sense of competition that it was difficult and unpleasant for him to even mention it.

Raoul muttered, pressing his forehead against hers.

“I’ll be with you.”

“…”

“No matter what happens.”

The moment the low baritone voice flowed through her ear, Diana stopped breathing for a moment, feeling a tingling sensation in her fingertips.

The cold of the remaining winter was still chilly, but in contrast, the hot body temperature touched her desperately, and her brain melted softly.

Diana slowly rubbed her flushed eyes with her fingers and spoke.

“I… want to be with you too.”

“That’s how it will be.”

“Yes. That’s definitely how it will be when everything is over.”

The desperately touching breaths searched for each other several times. The receipts scattered messily on the counter flowed to the floor, and the sound of the candlestick shaking could be heard.

Diana pushed the approaching body away a little, worried that the store might catch fire, but Raoul didn’t allow it.

“Wait, wait… No matter what… This is someone else’s store.”

“I know.”

Are you sure you know? Their lips met again in an instant.

Diana had no choice but to hold the candlestick tightly in one hand and accept Raoul. With her head held up stiffly until her neck was broken.

After the desperate reunion ended, Diana held her flushed cheeks and glanced at Raoul.

“…Raoul?”

“Yes.”

“You heard from Dilaia… That I’m a saint, right?”

“…I heard.”

On the day Diana left the castle, Dilaia belatedly revealed everything to Raoul.

Raoul, who had only known Diana as a guide, could not hide his anger when he learned that a revelation had been given, even spitting out words that insulted God without hesitation.

“Even if you get on the boat, I will protect you. I won’t let anyone lay a hand on you. So…”

“Yes. I’m not worried about that… The problem is how to get on.”

Diana gently stroked Raoul’s cheek and spoke.

In fact, Diana was more anxious than anyone in her heart.

To keep Raoul in the rebel army for the liberation of slaves, she would have to reveal the fact of her return someday.

She would eventually have to reveal that she knew the future that even Dilaia did not know.

But she couldn’t bring herself to open her mouth.

To reveal the fact of my return, I have to reveal that I cast a forced imprinting spell on Raoul in the past… I could lie, but… I don’t want to.

Since Raoul also promised to speak to me without hiding anything, I too…

Diana suppressed a rising sigh and buried her head in his shoulder.