“What else could it be? It belongs to the man who abandoned you and fled to his homeland, pretending not to know anything.”

Though I don’t know how His Majesty Parnes’s sword ended up broken in Shallen’s hands, it was clear that his words weren’t true.

Parnes had said those words while looking straight into her blazing eyes.

“I promise you. No matter what happens to me from now on, I will definitely come to get you.”

Parnes was a man who would keep his word no matter what happened once he had spoken it.

Moreover, looking at the way the sword was broken, she couldn’t shake the feeling that Parnes had broken it himself.

There was something rather unnatural about it to say it had been shattered in a fierce fight with someone.

Most importantly, hadn’t Parnes shown himself to be unharmed even after sparring with Sir Antonio, who was known as a genius when it came to swordsmanship?

But Shallen, judging from various circumstances, seemed to truly believe that he had fled to the Renel Empire.

Then there was only one conclusion to be drawn.

His Majesty Parnes had deliberately made Shallen misunderstand and feel at ease.

‘His Majesty must have a separate plan.’

Then she couldn’t just sit here idly either.

Kasallin thought calmly about how she could get out of this tower.

Outside the tower, sturdy soldiers stood guard day and night.

Since Shallen or Alonzo personally brought her three meals a day, there was no way to send messages outside.

“Then I need to create a situation where I have no choice but to leave here…”

While racking her brains to find the answer hidden somewhere, Shallen came in with a meal tray as usual.

“I’m sorry. I’m a bit late. The meeting ran longer than usual.”

Kasallin quietly watched him approach with a shameless face that showed no trace of guilt.

Yes. She had been intimately involved with this lowly animal who wasn’t even human for a full ten years.

Wasn’t she the one who knew his inner thoughts better than anyone?

First, she needed to ease his sharp vigilance.

“No. It’s fine.”

Kasallin answered briefly.

With that one response, Shallen opened his eyes wide as if he had heard a ghost’s whisper and stopped blankly in the middle of the room.

It had been five days since she had stopped responding to his constant chatter.

Kasallin looked at him calmly.

“I’m hungry.”

“Ah… yes. Let’s eat quickly.”

Shallen placed the tray on the table.

Kasallin took a bite of golden-brown walnut bread topped with butter and fruit jam.

As she, who had barely eaten anything until now, began to eat, Shallen watched with an expression of confusion mixed with rising joy that he couldn’t contain.

“Kasallin. Why are you suddenly…”

Shallen started to speak but trailed off awkwardly.

“Why did my attitude suddenly change?”

“…”

“Well. Being alone in such a quiet place for so long, I’ve had many thoughts.”

Kasallin put down her fork with a clatter and let out a serious sigh.

“Of course, I haven’t forgiven Your Majesty. But looking back, I realized that there’s nowhere else in the world I can return to except Khan Palace. I came to realize this anew.”

“Are you really the Kasallin I know?”

“Why? Are you scared because I seem like a different person?”

When Kasallin showed a slight smile, Shallen unconsciously swallowed his dry saliva.

Today, she looked particularly vulnerable.

Being abandoned by Emperor Parnes seemed to have been quite a shock after all.

Her meekly downcast eyes were filled with melancholy, and her pale face and delicate body stirred protective instincts.

Somehow, it felt like the current Kasallin would obediently listen to whatever he said.

‘There’s no way she would open her heart so smoothly.’

It was the moment when Shallen harbored a slight suspicion that Kasallin might be plotting something in her mind.

“Your Majesty!”

“I told you not to disturb me when I’m here unless it’s urgent. Alonzo?”

“Well, the thing is…”

Attendant Alonzo Laugel, who had hurriedly entered the room, whispered something small in Shallen’s ear while watching Kasallin’s reaction.

Shallen let out an annoyed sigh saying “Oh no” and got up from his seat.

“Kasallin. I’m sorry, but I have to go. Something urgent has come up.”

“Do as you wish.”

Shallen hesitated for a moment while putting on his outer garment, then suddenly reached out and put something cold on Kasallin’s finger.

It was the sapphire ring, one of only two in the world, that she had left in his office before.

His touch, laden with obvious meaning, subtly brushed past Kasallin’s wrist area.

“Make sure not to lose it again from now on.”

“Was there such a place in the palace…?”

Rose walked slowly along the forest path where faint traces of human passage remained.

“If you’re really curious, try going along the small path next to the north gate. His Majesty will probably be at the end of it.”

She had come out of curiosity after hearing Aster’s words, but this area only had walking paths designed like a forest and a small clearing; she had never heard of any buildings here.

All that was visible were lushly grown shrubs and unnecessarily tall cypress trees.

Her feet kept sinking into the muddy ground, made soggy by the heavy rain that had poured relentlessly for several days.

Just when she was having weak thoughts about giving up and going back,

“Queen. Why have you come all the way here? It’s dangerous here.”

She could see Shallen walking out from a tall tower in the distance that looked old and ready to collapse at any moment, accompanied by an attendant.

He approached with open arms as if pleased to see her and lightly embraced Rose.

“Come, let’s return to the palace together.”

“Your Majesty. What were you doing here? You haven’t been spending time with me lately, so I was so curious that I came to see.”

“I’m sorry. I made our queen lonely. As you can see, it’s quite a decent tower. I was looking around thinking of repairing it well and using it for other purposes.”

“I see. I wondered if you might have hidden some precious and secret treasure without my knowledge.”

Instead of answering, Shallen pulled up the corners of his mouth awkwardly and hurriedly led Rose away from the clearing where the old tower stood alone.

Rose glanced toward the tower as she was pulled along by Shallen, who seemed somewhat impatient.

It was puzzling.

Why had His Majesty suddenly stopped visiting Jasmine Palace, where he used to go back and forth almost daily, and why was Sister Kasallin secluding herself for so long?

‘It’s strange. She’s not someone who would stay this quietly like a dead mouse.’

It felt unsettling, like unpleasant fog had thickly settled somewhere in her mind.

“Come to think of it, Your Majesty. Has something happened at Jasmine Palace lately?”

“Why do you suddenly ask that?”

Shallen responded with an excessively sharp tone, like someone whose sensitive spot they wanted to hide had been exposed.

“I feel like I haven’t seen Sister Kasallin’s face at all lately. As her younger sister, I’m starting to worry.”

Rose paused there and watched Shallen’s reaction.

“So I was thinking… how about I go visit Sister Kasallin once…”

“Kasallin is no longer there. I sent her far away.”

“Sent her away? Where? So suddenly?”

“You really don’t understand my heart. Did you truly not know that my keeping Kasallin by my side was to win the queen’s love?”

Rose moved her lips as if she didn’t understand.

“Though it embarrasses me to say this with my own mouth, at some point you began spending much time with Lord Aster. I wanted to become the center of your attention again. So I used Kasallin. Do you understand now?”

That he had been temporarily acting petulant out of jealousy over Lord Aster and herself – Rose found it puzzling yet hard to believe.

Shallen took Rose’s hand with a slightly flushed face.

Rose was flustered because this was the first time he had confessed his inner feelings with such a shy expression.

“But I soon realized the method was wrong. I acted too childishly. I’m sorry. I should have just looked you in the face confidently and said I love you.”

“I thought Your Majesty had developed special feelings for Sister Kasallin instead of me.”

“That couldn’t be. Do you remember the day we first met? That night I whispered in your ear. That I felt like I had finally found true love. That feeling will never change.”

“Your Majesty.”

“So don’t look for Kasallin anymore. From now on, let’s focus only on each other.”

Rose couldn’t contain the joy welling up from deep within her chest and threw herself into Shallen’s arms.

She had already completely forgotten what she had been worried about just moments before, what ominous feeling had filled her mind.

Rose sent countless reproaches to her past self who had once doubted and even resented Shallen, and fell into such sweet delusion.

And someone was watching their retreating figures from atop the tower.

“My foolish younger sister. How shocked would you be if you knew that Shallen is betraying you?”

Kasallin, sitting on the window sill, slowly rolled the sapphire ring that sparkled lonely in her hand.

Aiming at some point in the air, she threw it with all her strength, and the ring flew for a while before disappearing into the forest.

The ring that only two people in the world possessed – Rose and Kasallin.

With that ring, Kasallin decided to test her luck.

If a soldier patrolling the forest happened to find it, the ring would surely reach Rose’s hands first.

“So please notice. The fact that I’m trapped here.”