He grabbed the handkerchief on the side table and headed straight out of the tent, passing by Ayla.

As the leather cloth flipped over, the outside scenery was revealed.

Children playing, women cooking rice, and soldiers in training were scattered across the hill, each going about their own business.

The land they stood on was located on a high hill, with sparse rocks jutting out beyond the autumn-colored yellow grass, and beyond that, the endless vast ocean stretched out.

A geographic fortress surrounded by the sea on all sides.

It was an island.

A woman who was cooking rice dropped her ladle in surprise at his appearance.

“Oh my! Oh my goodness!”

The radiance emanating from his face and the aura enveloping his imposing physique made a woman’s heart flutter for the first time in more than a decade.

She quickly sent a signal to the other women around her, as if she would miss this rare sight.

A handsome man has appeared! You’ll regret it for life if you don’t see him!

The woman who was drawing water, the woman who was slicing vegetables, everyone quickly turned their heads without exception.

The daughter of the woman doing laundry was no exception either. Everyone’s gazes were focused on one spot.

Every time he narrowed his eyes and turned his head, his perfect features exposed under the sunlight changed shape.

The shadow lengthened and then shortened again under his high nose, and from any angle, it was perfection itself.

The women froze, unable to even breathe at the appearance of the charming handsome man, whose attractiveness was enough to clear their vision.

So handsome…

Of course, there were also those who were not pleased with this situation.

“Sharing a tent together, what kind of relationship is that?”

A soldier leaning against a tree grumbled with slanted eyes, and the man standing next to him bit his lip tightly and scolded.

“Medical treatment! It’s medical treatment, you fool!”

“Medical treatment, my ass! Wait until you get a hole that big in your stomach. The captain doesn’t share the same bed!”

Speak of the devil and he shall appear, a woman who didn’t match the rough word ‘captain’ at all came running out of the tent with puffed cheeks like a squirrel.

Her face, without a single speck of makeup, was as clean as glass, and her densely packed features on her small face were so breathtakingly beautiful even with the most terrible expression in the world.

As her red lips twisted and her white teeth were revealed, the soldiers clutched their hearts and squeezed their eyes shut.

“I want to confess!”

“Where’s the dirty talk coming from! Does it make sense for a twisted potato to be next to a goddess?”

“I don’t mind being despised, I just want to make eye contact with her.”

“Idiot.”

Ayla, aware of people’s gazes, relaxed her expression and approached behind Raoul’s back.

The man who actually shared a bed with her didn’t even spare her a glance and was heading towards the beach.

Away from the crowd, he rolled a pebble under the sole of his military boots and thought.

If he returned to the duchy, he would be able to meet Diana. But it would be fortunate if she wasn’t accused of being a double agent and reduced to a slave again.

The duke had no intention of sending Diana to Raoul at all.

Even if he returned, he would only be treated like a dog again without gaining any titles or estates.

Then there was only one option left.

Emperor Alber de Eshtein. Raoul had injured the empress, and the emperor had promised a reward commensurate with that.

Of course, whether that promise was still valid was also uncertain.

Giving the right to have a private army to a knight of a different race rescued by the rebels, in addition to wealth and honor? It was too dangerous of a thought.

He needed a justification to return without being suspected.

“What are you so dissatisfied about?”

An even more irritating voice was heard, already annoyed by the musty sea breeze. Raoul slowly turned his body and looked down at Ayla.

Her thin neck, looking like it would snap, was visible under her brazen face.

“If it’s the tent, I’ll move you. I already explained it’s for medical treatment. Looking at me like I’m a pervert… what? Why are you looking at me like that?”

Ayla, startled by the blatant gaze, asked in surprise.

As the silence lengthened, the face that was being stared at honestly turned red. The gaze looking at her neck was persistent.

Overwhelmed by the strangely flowing atmosphere, she moved her lips. It felt like she had become a trapped beast.

Raoul was contemplating whether to make the plan to behead her and escape the best or second-best option, but to Ayla, that intense gaze was conveyed in a different meaning.

Even though you pretended not to, in the end, you’re also a man.

She knew men well. After joining the rebels, her beautiful appearance had served as a powerful weapon.

How many men had she beheaded who were enchanted by her before her face appeared in the newspapers?

The severed necks and the lifeless eyes drooping like boiled fish were still etched in her mind and wouldn’t go away.

Men who courted her like this were abundant enough to be kicked at her feet. And they all begged her for love, without exception.

It was ridiculous.

The very fact that they were begging for love.

She had never been attracted to a man who begged for love.

But strangely, Raoul, who had saved her life twice, couldn’t be forgotten.

And Raoul, whom she met again, still grasped and shook her heart.

Love is a touch of hearts with each other.

Just like now.

She slowly lowered her eyes.

I’m fine with you too. It’s a bit nerve-wracking, but you’re the first man I’ve ever liked.

You don’t seem to be able to acknowledge your feelings yet, but you’ll soon realize it… You can’t even hide your expression now.

Ayla also knew this type of man well.

A stubborn man who was slow to realize his own feelings and would ignore his emotions until he regretted it if the other person didn’t peel off his tough shell.

She pursed her lips with the feeling of throwing a stone into a lake.

But even after an awkward moment passed, Raoul showed no reaction.

What’s going on?

She opened her eyes and raised her gaze.

In the place where Raoul’s face should have been, only cold air was rippling.

Her bewildered gaze quickly turned to follow the sound of footsteps on the sand.

There, Raoul’s back was already visible, climbing the mountain along the ridge.

Ayla, frowning at the embarrassing misunderstanding, quickly chased after him and shouted.

“What’s with you all of a sudden? Making me nervous and then…!”

Raoul replied with an indifferent expression to the voice that caught up with him again.

“There’s nothing to be nervous about. I’m still thinking about it.”

Not knowing what the cold man was thinking, Ayla nodded her head slightly in a misunderstanding.

“Yeah, you’ll need time to look into your heart carefully…”

She looked up at Raoul walking beside her and fiddled with the forget-me-not handkerchief on her arm.

Then, her long-held affection for Raoul exhaled hot breaths.

It was because her heart was full of anticipation.

Diana put down the newspaper she was reading and stared at the darkening scenery outside the window.

It was winter.

It had already been three months since he had risen to stardom and graced the front page of newspapers.

She was just grateful that he was alive like this.

Diana packed her evening lunch box and headed to the forest.

At the entrance of the forest, where two large trees faced each other with their arms open, there were maids unusually sweeping up fallen leaves.

They clicked their tongues in disappointment after reading the newspaper, and also let out screams mixed with admiration.

“Ah! Lien! You fool! You should have seduced him earlier.”

“Stop it already. I told you we weren’t in any kind of relationship.”

As Lien scratched her cheek and shook her head, her colleagues hit their chests as if frustrated.

“Ha, it’s really too bad. I heard that even famous nobles in the capital are buying yellow paper because of Raoul.”

The maid who casually mentioned his name stamped her feet in regret, recalling the man who had become everyone’s lover.

“I should have at least gotten a handprint, no, even just one autograph from him.”

“When did you ever ignore him?”

“I didn’t know he would become such a wonderful man back then!”

As the loud-voiced maid shouted excitedly, some objected, recalling the past Raoul.

“He was handsome back then too. It’s just that now he’s in the heavenly realm.”

That’s true. Diana smiled bitterly and was about to pass by when a maid spoke sarcastically, mentioning Diana.

“He was really handsome indeed. Too good-looking to waste his life just being by the young lady’s side.”

“I agree with that. They don’t match at all.”

Diana, who had been moving quietly without any footsteps, abruptly stopped.

Her heart was beating so loudly that she couldn’t say a word.

The gossip she had brushed off until now pierced her like a dagger today.

It felt like everyone was pointing fingers at the excitement and anticipation she had felt.

Diana’s face turned bright red, and she quickly left the spot. She was embarrassed.

She was so embarrassed that she couldn’t bear the thought of having imagined a happy future even for a moment.

Her eyes turned red with shame.

She cried loudly for the first time since returning, wiping away her tears that fell like rain with her sleeve.

“Hic, sob.”

She hated Raoul so much for making her harbor false hopes. She hated herself even more for falling for that deception.

Why did she take a heart that would be abandoned without a single contact seriously?

She was nothing. The original work did not allow Diana to have Raoul’s heart.

‘I just wanted to lift the curse for you. Not because I wanted anything in return, but because I wanted to be of even a little help to you…’

But Ayla, who had become a saint earlier than in the original work, had healed Raoul. All the hardships Diana had endured until now were unnecessary meddling.

She walked out slowly with her shoulders drooping.

Her head bowed with sorrow whenever she passed a place filled with memories.

“This unhappiness is of my own making…”

The lake where the two of them had danced together once came into view.

The cherry blossoms that had been lined up like a folding screen had long disappeared, and the trees that had withered and dried up barely had bare branches left.

Pink excitement no longer bloomed in Diana’s heart either.

There were only wounds.