When Duke Ludwig had asked when he sent Kasallin to the Khan Kingdom.

Was he really sure about it?

It must have been because he knew Parnes’s temperament better than anyone – once he decided to possess something, he would never release it back into the world again.

But Parnes had never said he would let Kasallin go.

He had only told her to show them that she was alive, take revenge if she wanted, do whatever she wished to do, and then return.

“It’s natural to respect the wishes of one’s future wife.”

“…….”

“But that only applies when ‘nothing happens to you.’ If Shallen Riche makes you cry again, I will immediately bring you to my side by any means necessary.”

Parnes knew that Kasallin would be hurt once more.

Because he firmly believed that the human called Shallen Riche would never repent of his wrongdoings and reform.

So Parnes had placed his people within the Khan royal palace.

So that whenever she seemed in danger of collapsing, he could bring her to his side at any time.

Whether something happened or not, he had sent messenger birds telling them to communicate first, and as expected, his predictions were not far off.

Despite boasting confidently that he would thoroughly use her for his own selfish desires, she must have been suffering alone again this time too, not wanting to cause worry.

So this time, when he met Kasallin, he intended to tell her clearly.

That the opportunity to end everything peacefully was over, his patience was wearing thin, and she should no longer think of escaping from his embrace.

That she only needed to nestle in his arms, speak her desires, command, and enjoy.

With such firm determination, he focused on the small figure entering through the old inn’s door.

“……What.”

A body so frail it seemed ready to collapse at any moment.

A heart that, though invisible to the eyes, had been mercilessly torn apart until there was no corner left to wound.

Two eyes wet with moisture, struggling to maintain composure.

As all of this came into his view one by one, all the words Parnes had planned to say to her were cleanly erased from his mind.

When he came to his senses, Parnes found himself frantically touching Kasallin’s cheek with urgent hands, examining her condition.

He couldn’t understand why he was acting this way.

Nothing made sense logically.

Himself, who had abandoned even busy state affairs and rushed here for her sake alone.

Himself, who was seriously contemplating whether to go find and tear apart the man who had wounded her heart, even knowing he was an important figure to the Renel Empire both politically and diplomatically.

Even in this situation, himself thinking it would be good to light the fireplace lest she catch cold – Parnes found this version of himself utterly foreign.

“What on earth happened?”

Kasallin widened her eyes with an expression that suggested she never expected to meet Parnes in such a place.

Then, as always, she tilted her head with her usual composed smile.

As if to say everything was fine and not to worry.

Though in reality, nothing was fine at all.

“Your Majesty. I am perfectly……”

“Kasallin.”

Rather than getting excited, Parnes maintained an eerily cold composure that surprised even himself, gently grasping Kasallin’s slender shoulders so as not to hurt her.

Then he lowered his waist to meet her eye level.

“We promised to marry. That means we will become husband and wife. A relationship where we prioritize each other above all else, cooperate and coexist.”

“……”

“I have the right to know in detail about the situation you’re in, and you also have the right to depend on me completely. At least that’s what I think. Your thoughts might be different. So I hope you’ll tell me. What has happened all this time.”

The shower that seemed like it would drop a few drops and stop had somehow turned into a torrential downpour accompanied by a storm, beginning to paint the forest in darkness.

Unlike the raindrops fiercely pounding the earth, silent teardrops were quietly falling from Kasallin’s eyes.

At that moment, a throb.

Parnes felt his heart ache painfully and, without thinking of anything else, pulled her into his arms.

“It’s okay. Kasallin. You have me. You can cry as much as you want.”

“Your Majesty.”

“Yes.”

It was when Kasallin was about to honestly confess everything she had seen and heard in the Khan Kingdom.

With a tremendous roar, lightning struck from the sky, and something sharp flew at fierce speed through the slightly open window crack.

“Danger!”

Parnes was one step faster.

Sensing some threat with instinctive awareness, he wrapped Kasallin completely in his body and rolled to the side.

A sinister arrow, shot by who knows whom at whom, embedded itself in the wall with a thud.

Everything happened in the blink of an eye.

Only after the lightning subsided and the surroundings were filled with dark blackness again did Kasallin finally catch her held breath.

“Kasallin. Are you okay?”

“I, I’m fine.”

“Oh my. You were quite startled.”

Parnes pulled Kasallin even deeper into his embrace while gently stroking her back.

The fear that had covered her entire body in that brief moment gradually melted away under his warm touch.

Meanwhile, Sir Vincent and Sir Antonio rushed up from downstairs.

“Your Majesty. Reporting. We discovered suspicious movements in the western forest. It seems we’ve been tracked, and we judge this to be a surprise attack.”

“……I see. I understand. Kasallin. Come here.”

Parnes took Kasallin to the innermost room without windows.

After blocking every crack so that not even an ant could enter, he ordered Antonio to stay by Kasallin’s side and protect her.

Kasallin urgently grabbed the hem of Parnes’s clothes as he picked up his sword engraved with the imperial crest and tried to leave the room.

“Your Majesty, surely you’re not planning to go outside now? You mustn’t.”

“It’s okay.”

“I don’t like it. I won’t let go. I absolutely won’t let you go.”

Her intuition was screaming.

That if she let him go here, something terrible would happen.

Kasallin tightly closed her eyes stubbornly and hugged him tightly from behind.

Even though he could easily shake her off and leave, Parnes stood quietly still, unable to cross the threshold.

In such a serious situation, an incomprehensible laugh flowed from between his teeth.

Even Sir Antonio and Sir Vincent were looking at him with expressions wondering ‘why is he acting like that?’

“Hearing you say such things doesn’t feel too bad.”

“Are you joking at a time like this?”

“Since you seem to have forgotten, I’ll specially teach you once more. Kasallin.”

He gently clasped Kasallin’s hands and slowly turned toward her.

His face was infinitely gentle and softened, with an affectionate smile settling at the corners of his mouth.

“You will soon become my one and only companion. How could I go anywhere leaving you behind?”

“Your Majesty.”

“I couldn’t possibly go somewhere leaving behind you, who falls and stumbles and causes accidents if I take my eyes off you for even a moment. I’ll be back soon.”

Kasallin obediently lowered her head.

“……Really? You promised.”

“Yes. I promise. From now on, whatever happens to me, I will definitely come to get you.”

It was probably not a mistake that his voice sounded meaningful.

Parnes sent a brief glance to Antonio, instructing him to protect Kasallin well.

Then, as if his steps were reluctant to leave, he hesitated for a long while before finally shaking off Kasallin’s hand.

Watching his retreating figure disappearing to the lower floor shrouded in bleak darkness, Kasallin felt an indescribable ominous feeling.

Parnes briefly held his breath and looked around the forest shrouded in fog so thick he couldn’t see an inch ahead.

Assassins who had received such high-level training that their presence couldn’t be felt unless one concentrated considerably had infiltrated throughout the forest.

Vincent approached from the side.

“We seem to be completely surrounded already. Judging by their attire, they’re either remnants of the rebels or……”

“Or Shallen Riche’s secretly employed assassins might be disguised as rebel remnants.”

“If that assumption is true, this is no ordinary matter. I will handle them here, Your Majesty.”

“Stand down. You can’t handle them.”

Vincent narrowed his eyes as he put back the sword he was about to draw from his chest.

Though he had been serving as a guard knight for several years, he truly couldn’t predict his master’s inner thoughts even an inch ahead.

Normally, if one is human, emotions inevitably show on one’s face.

But this man – how should one put it – one never knows what he’s thinking.

“But Your Majesty.”

“Since the war ended and the era of peace arrived, I’ve been frustratingly stuck sitting at a desk doing nothing but rolling pens around, so this works out well. This is a good opportunity to loosen my stiff body and play with Shallen Riche’s dogs – it’s not so bad.”

Having grown accustomed to his mysteriously gentle demeanor since the woman named Kasallin appeared, he had momentarily forgotten.

That this man inherently enjoys bloody battlefields.

That sitting at a desk playing the role of a refined gentleman never suited his constitution in the first place.

“You go back to the cabin now. Stay by that child Kasallin’s side. Right about now she’s probably stomping those small feet worrying needlessly about me.”

“That won’t do. Your Majesty, I cannot!”

“It’s an imperial command.”

Parnes turned his back on Vincent and headed deep into the forest.

As expected, those presumed to be Shallen Riche’s spies began gradually tightening their encirclement.

With a rustling sound, figures dressed in black revealed themselves from behind trees.

Parnes carefully surveyed the group that had formed a circle around him.

“Roughly forty people…… no, more than that.”

Though visibility was dark due to the storm, it was a perfectly adequate number to regain his wartime senses.

Parnes raised the corners of his mouth and drew his blade that flashed with deep blue light.

Already, a metallic smell seemed to be stimulating his nostrils.

“This won’t do after all.”

“Please stop. It will be useless.”

It was Antonio who firmly blocked Kasallin’s feet stretching toward the outside.

“Please step aside, Sir Antonio.”

“No matter what happens, His Majesty must see with his own eyes to be satisfied. At times like this, no one can stop him.”

“He’ll listen to me.”

“That may be so, but honestly, I think it’s needless worry.”

“That doesn’t seem like something someone who’s supposed to be the emperor’s guard knight should say.”

“I apologize, but if you had seen His Majesty truly fighting someone even once, you would have said the same thing as me.”

Worrying itself would be disrespectful to His Majesty.

Antonio muttered with a voice filled with certainty.

“……Then I’ll wait just five more minutes.”

If only Kasallin and Antonio had not been talking at this time but had remained silent.

“You’ve made a wise decision. Please trust His Majesty and wait.”

If only the relentless rain and storm pouring from the sky had been just a little less fierce.

The two might have been able to notice in advance the presence of someone else coming up from the corridor downstairs.