“If it’s her seduction, I’m willing to fall for it once.”

“What did you say…?”

A vein bulged on Shalen’s forehead.

Would he really be able to say that if he knew that Casalin had been pregnant with his child before marriage and miscarried?

No. He would undoubtedly think she was an ominous woman and be disappointed.

“I really wasn’t going to say this much─.”

Just as Shalen was about to open her mouth,

“Your Majesty! So this is where you were. We’ve been looking for you for quite a while!”

As the sound of several horses’ hooves heavily echoed on the ground, the urgent voice of Antonio, the captain of the imperial guard, was heard through the dense trees.

Farnes lightly furrowed his brow and turned to look at him.

“Why did you come all the way here? Didn’t I say I would return soon?”

“No. Now, now that’s not the issue. Something terrible has happened.”

Antonio swallowed hard with his dry throat and continued to speak, trying to remain calm.

“Currently, Lady Casalin’s whereabouts are unknown.”

A little while ago.

As the sun that had been dyeing the sky red hid behind the mountain ridge, the forest was quickly darkening.

Seeing the dark clouds gathering in the distance, it seemed like it might rain soon.

The couple of mountain lodges built across a deep valley were houses prepared for the nobles to rest during the hunting competition that lasted for several days.

Casalin, who had reached the front of the lodge where the ladies were staying under the escort of knights, noticed Rose lingering at the entrance of the forest and approached her.

“Your Majesty the Queen. Why are you out here?”

“You look radiant. Did you enjoy your outing with His Majesty the Emperor?”

Rose glanced at Casalin with a displeased look and forcibly took her hand.

“Just follow me quietly.”

“Wait. Where are we…”

“It’s all because of you, elder sister. Today, His Majesty couldn’t catch even a single bird, let alone a deer, because of you. Do you know how upset he was? While other gentlemen and even noble ladies returned with at least one game, how hurt must his pride as a king have been?”

“How is it my fault that he didn’t catch even a single bird in the hunting competition?”

When Casalin asked as if she didn’t understand, Rose raised her voice with a face dripping with venom.

“Are you really asking because you don’t know? It’s because you’re acting so frivolously, like you’re the Emperor Farnes’s mistress!”

“What did you just say?”

As Casalin’s face hardened fiercely, Rose reflexively flinched.

However, soon remembering that she had no reason to yield to a mere maid, she began pushing Casalin towards the inner forest.

“Anyway, it’s your responsibility, so go and catch even a small animal. You need to give something to His Majesty to cheer him up, don’t you? Hurry up and go, I said!”

“Rose, don’t do this. It’s dangerous.”

In fact, Rose had long understood in her head that this wasn’t an issue that could be resolved by confronting Casalin.

However, she became anxious when she realized that Shalen had been having different thoughts lately.

Subtly following Casalin’s back with his eyes when no one was looking, mentioning Casalin’s name at the end of every sentence.

She wondered if the reason might be stemming from lingering feelings.

So she even had extreme thoughts.

‘If only elder sister Casalin would quietly disappear, everything would be perfect.’

The thought that Shalen might be hoping for more than a maid-master relationship with Casalin.

The fear that he might develop old feelings, revive past memories, and eventually change his mind burst forth, and Rose unknowingly put too much strength into the hand that was pushing Casalin.

Coincidentally, next to Casalin was a steep slope that stretched endlessly down the mountainside.

Normally, she would have easily regained her balance even if she stumbled.

But unfortunately, Casalin, who was not in good physical condition, happened to step on a pile of wet fallen leaves and slipped.

“El, elder sister!”

Rose reached out in surprise, but there was nothing but cool air at her fingertips.

The shrill screams of the two women, sounding as if from one person, echoed through the forest simultaneously, and the body that had gained momentum was gradually pulled down towards the deep, dark hillside.

Casalin, who had rolled down to an unknown place, clutched her aching head and shouted if anyone was there.

But the only response to her cry was the shrill caw of crows and the desolate sound of the wind.

The place where Casalin had fallen was down a very steep hill, not a terrain that a person could climb up.

She had to find a safe way to go around.

However, in a mountain at night where darkness had deeply settled, it was nearly impossible for someone unfamiliar with the geography to find their way completely.

Casalin walked endlessly searching for a path through the mercilessly pouring rain, but no matter how far she went, she only encountered the same scenery with no sign of people.

Due to the cloudy weather, even the moon was not visible, so she couldn’t gauge what time it was.

Casalin’s initially quick pace gradually slowed as the rain intensified.

Her body, which hadn’t been well for several days, was drenched in rain again before fully recovering, causing her head to ache as if it would split and her mind to become foggy.

‘This is really bad.’

Muddy water pooled from the rain splashed up over her shoes, and damp leaves tickled her legs.

Casalin could no longer walk and staggered before sitting down.

「You must come to the hunting competition. Stop pretending to be sick with that pathetic act.」

Why would Shalen’s words cross her mind at a time like this?

As she unknowingly let out a hollow laugh and slowly let go of the fading thread of consciousness, that’s when it happened.

As the sound of horse hooves striking the soggy ground grew closer, someone’s voice pierced through her muffled ears.

“Casalin. Wake up. Can you recognize who I am?”

The voice, mixed with rough breathing, was urgent and agitated, but seemed to be trying hard to remain calm.

The large hand shaking her shoulder was damp as if it had been wandering in the rain for a long time like her, and was trembling uncontrollably.

“It’s alright now. I’m here.”

Casalin saw the face of the person who had come to find her beyond her darkening vision.

A pair of golden eyes resembling the beautiful sunset glow were gazing at her with a strong aura.

.

.

.

A unique, dense fragrance that she had smelled once before tickled her nose.

When she briefly closed her eyes and opened them again, like a flickering lamp nearing the end of its life, Casalin was on a horse, completely nestled in Farnes’s arms, covered in his fur cloak.

The gently swaying body and the occasional soft sighs from above her head explained the entire situation.

“…Damn it. Even though the child’s body has become like this.”

Who was that curse directed at?

Casalin languidly opened and closed her eyes within his cloak, shivering from the cold.

“Are you conscious?”

“…What happened?”

“That’s what I want to ask. How did someone who was supposed to be heading to the lodge end up collapsed with a corpse-like face in a mountain valley far from the hunting grounds?”

The dull headache at her temples made it difficult to understand his words.

However, she could tell that his embrace was warmer than ever before.

Overwhelmed by a sense of relief, Casalin sniffled uncharacteristically, as if sobbing.

Farnes stopped the horse abruptly with a startled breath, then awkwardly stroked Casalin’s head.

“Don’t cry. Where does it hurt?”

“I’m not crying. It’s rainwater.”

“Trying to act tough, are we? You troublemaker. I must have lost ten years of my life because of you today.”

“…I’m freezing to death.”

Casalin coughed, *cough*.

Farnes felt her forehead with his hand, then clicked his tongue as if things had become bothersome.

“Your whole body is burning up! Why didn’t you say anything!”

Realizing that her condition was far from normal, Farnes hurriedly entered a nearby cave.

The rain didn’t seem like it would stop soon, and it was too dark to ride quickly. If they forcibly tried to cross the mountain now, Casalin might really die.

Farnes sat her down on one side and gathered dry twigs and discarded cloth scraps from inside the cave to start a fire with flint.

Having been on countless battlefields with his father since his days as the crown prince, he was familiar with such emergency situations.

Therefore, he knew exactly what to do next.

“Casalin. You can’t keep wearing wet clothes.”

“Th-then.”

Casalin muttered, her teeth chattering.

Farnes knelt on one knee and carefully wrapped her thin shoulders.

Well past midnight.

The one running breathlessly alone through the pitch-black forest was none other than Shalen.

‘How did things end up like this?’

Shalen searched every corner of the forest, gasping violently with breath rising to the top of his throat, his face turned pale, looking for something.

However, not even a shadow of the person he was searching for could be found.

“Casalin! Come out while I’m asking nicely! You’re hiding from me right now, aren’t you? Right!”

As he threw his head back, his Adam’s apple protruding, and shouted towards the sky, a few crows flapped their wings and scattered.

The forest that had seemed so lush with greenery and clear energy during the day now appeared as eerie as if possessed by a witch’s curse at night.

“Damn it. Damn it all.”

Shalen irritably rubbed his two cheeks that were growing cold, recalling the events from a little while ago when he received the report from Renel’s guard captain that Casalin’s whereabouts were unknown.

Even when Farnes rode off on horseback and the soldiers scattered in all directions to search for the missing person, he had thought it wouldn’t be such a big deal.

Until just a moment ago, Shalen’s complacent thought was that she was inherently a healthy woman, and not someone who would lose her way due to a little illness, unable to pay attention to her surroundings.

But as night fell completely and voices calling Casalin’s name continued to echo from all over the mountainside, he began to think that something had gone terribly wrong.

「Do you think I’m feigning illness right now?」

So those words were true back then.

Not knowing that, he had pushed her out into the rain to look for a ring that wasn’t even lost, and not only refused to grant her sick leave but also forcibly dragged her to the hunting competition.

Shalen was overcome by an unfamiliar feeling of discomfort throbbing in a corner of his heart.

He thought it might be okay to show a little.

Just a tiny bit of apology to Casalin.

But that was as far as it went.

Feelings like needing to formally apologize to Casalin or being troubled by regret were emotions that ‘current’ Shalen couldn’t comprehend.

‘She must be collapsed somewhere in the mountains, just waiting for me to find her.’

He had to find her before Farnes, even if it meant searching the forest all night.

Then he would become the savior who saved Casalin’s life, and the way she looked at him might change a little.

So Shalen pressed on with this foolish belief.