The time when diligent birds have already left their nests in search of food.

Charlen opened his eyes in a refreshing mood as usual in the luxurious bedroom where sunlight was streaming in intensely.

He liked the peaceful morning when the soft and cozy blanket wrapped around his body.

He glanced at Rose, who was sound asleep next to him, and got up.

A light glass of water.

Stretching, he thinks about what today’s schedule is.

‘Should I buy something for Katharine.’

Yesterday, I was too excited because of Rose and irritated Katharine’s nerves excessively.

That high-nosed woman who has lived her whole life without envy will not bat an eye at any expensive gift.

Let’s give her a treasure far more beautiful and precious than that dull lapis lazuli hair ornament, and gently coax her by saying I think I was a bit harsh yesterday.

She will surely glare at me with those pretty and fierce green eyes, but in the end she will forgive me generously before long.

“Excuse me, Your Majesty. It seems Miss Katharine left something in the study.”

At this moment, a servant came in and said.

“What is she sending to me?”

“Well. You’d better come and see for yourself first.”

He rushed out wearing only a robe hastily thrown over his pajamas and hurried to the study.

There was a box placed on the desk.

Charlen’s expression, which had been filled with subtle anticipation, hardened as if cold water had been poured on him as soon as he opened the box.

He hadn’t expected her to cutely open her heart first in the first place.

After confirming the contents of the box, Charlen revealed a hollow laugh and stood leaning on the desk with both hands.

A sapphire ring, its original shape hardly recognizable due to dried dark red bloodstains, was intact inside.

[ It doesn’t seem to be something I should keep, so I’m returning it. ]

Who is deciding the owner of the ring now?

This is a ring that is one, no, now only two of its kind in the world, which he had specially commissioned to be made by a craftsman he had known well for a long time.

‘But what is this bloodstain?’

Was she trying to express her rebelliousness even through such a childish act?

As he was scrutinizing the ring anew, Charlen suddenly felt like he was forgetting something small but important.

But that didn’t matter at all.

Charlen went straight to Katharine’s room.

If you reject me over and over again, I will also put the ring on your finger over and over again.

So that it can be proven to everyone that you are the possession of King Charlen wherever and whenever.

Thus, Charlen flung open Katharine’s door, possessed by violent selfishness.

“Katharine, come here right now…!”

Charlen’s shout, which was determined to make sure the ring found its place even if it meant breaking her fingers, was cut off.

Katharine’s room was colder than ever.

As if this palace had been abandoned without an owner from the beginning, even traces of someone having stayed were completely gone.

Neatly folded bedding and tightly closed curtains.

Only various dresses and jewels that had clearly not been touched at all, still in their packaging, were lonely sparkling.

“Katharine. I know you’re hiding from my eyes. Stop this childish prank and come out here.”

Charlen’s suppressed voice filled the empty room.

Standing alone in a place without even a hint of wind, let alone an answer, he somehow felt a chill come over him.

He even began to doubt whether Katharine had really returned to him.

Was all of this actually his delusion?

Had she already died falling off the cliff, and he was gradually going mad believing she was alive due to the shock?

“Ah, I understand, Katharine. I was a bit harsh yesterday. I seem to have gotten excited without realizing it because Rose got hurt. I’ll apologize formally, so stop playing around and come here.”

I already miss your face.

Charlen added in a small voice.

Making such words of apology meaningless, only small dust floated aimlessly in the air before him.

As a beam of light seeping through the curtain gap fell on his face, Charlen finally began to realize the seriousness of the situation.

‘She’s gone.’

This is neither delusion nor anything else. It’s a terrible reality.

Without time to think of anything else, he immediately turned and rushed out.

Is anyone there, he was about to shout.

At that moment.

The man called Aster or something, who had been newly appointed as Rose’s servant, was walking from the opposite corridor.

He had left a deep impression in a bad way because his expression was hard to read and his eyes were eerie.

“I greet Your Majesty the King.”

“You’re the queen’s servant. Was it Lord Aster?”

“Yes. It is an unparalleled honor that you remember the name of this humble one. But why are you in such a hurry?”

“That’s none of your business.”

Charlen stopped abruptly as he was about to hurry past.

Then he stared at him with an unfamiliar look.

“Do you have something to say?”

“Come to think of it, I hear you’re so capable that the queen trusts you to handle tasks every time, and your reputation has been spreading among the subordinates lately.”

“No. I simply devote myself to the queen.”

“…I think I need to check if that reputation of yours is really true. How about it? Would you like to seize the glorious opportunity to work for me?”

[This is the timeline separator]

A few hours earlier, when the bluish chill unique to dawn had not yet faded.

Katharine set out secretly to send Duke Calman, who had been banished from the capital, to the Renel Empire where Charlen’s hand could not reach.

She quietly placed a box containing the sapphire ring along with a note sealed in Charlen’s study.

And then headed straight for the maids’ quarters.

Except for a few who had gone on dawn duty, everyone was sound asleep there, and she quickly changed into a spare maid’s outfit.

Now there was only one gate left.

“Stop right there.”

As she approached the north gate with her hair let down as long as possible to cover her face and a prepared hat pulled low, a guard called out to stop her.

Usually maids are not stopped when leaving the palace except in special cases, but the problem was that it was now the middle of the night.

“Where are you going at this hour?”

“I need to urgently visit my family home. Here’s my exit pass.”

“It’s dangerous for a woman to travel alone at night. Unless it’s extremely urgent, wouldn’t it be better to go after daybreak?”

“Thank you for your concern, but it’s a personal matter. If you have nothing more to ask, please step aside.”

“Huh?”

The guard tilted his head to one side with a slightly puzzled look.

It was then that Katharine realized she had made a small mistake.

She should have used the common speech of civilians as befitting a maid, but her usual habit came out unconsciously.

“That’s strange. That voice and way of speaking, it’s like I’ve heard it somewhere before. I’m sorry, but could you lift your face for a moment?”

If this continues, I’ll be caught.

As she was racking her brain to find a way out of this situation while tightly clutching her bag with both hands, it was then.

“Hey. I know that person well. I’ll take care of it, so you go ahead and change shifts.”

Another soldier who had been standing on the watchtower slid down the ladder and approached Katharine’s side.

Of course, it was a completely unfamiliar person.

But why was he helping her, she wondered quietly.

Meanwhile.

The first guard easily dismissed his suspicion after hearing his colleague’s words, and suddenly broke into a mischievous grin.

“What? This maid was yours? You should have said so earlier.”

“Shut up. This person is from a fallen noble family, so her speech is different. Don’t misunderstand.”

“So you’re sharing such intimate details. A love affair while on duty is praiseworthy, but since you’re off duty tomorrow anyway, I’ll let it slide this time. Come back before dawn. Haha!”

The guard chuckled as he went into the tower, and the soldier who had helped Katharine gestured for her to follow.

Katharine was momentarily dumbfounded and unconsciously about to move, when she became suspicious that this could also be a trap set by Charlen or someone else.

At that point, Katharine couldn’t help but ask a question.

“Who are you to help me?”

“…”

“I won’t follow until you tell me. I’m not reckless enough to readily accept help from someone I don’t even know.”

“I have no choice then.”

The soldier sighed and took off his hat.

Ah, it wasn’t a face she could recognize immediately, but it wasn’t a completely unfamiliar face either.

He looked exactly like what Duke Ludwig might look like if he became young again.

His deep blue eyes were filled with pride, and his bright golden hair was grown long to the nape of his neck.

With slightly upturned lips and faint freckles on the bridge of his nose, he had a friendly impression, as if he might have been the valedictorian with high support from his classmates at the military academy.

“Are you perhaps…”

“Please forgive me for not being able to reveal my identity recklessly as I’m on a mission. I have merely received the august command of His Majesty the Emperor. Of course, Duke Calman will be protected separately by our side, so don’t worry.”

“His Majesty’s command?”

“I’ll tell you the details later. For now, let’s get in the carriage.”

[This is the timeline separator]

The carriage driven by the unnamed knight nimbly and quietly left the capital and soon entered a quiet rural road.

The scenery changed several times during that time.

Buildings and private houses that had occasionally passed by outside the window were no longer visible.

“We have to go a bit further. Get some sleep.”

The man, who was obviously presumed to be Duke Ludwig’s grandson despite saying he couldn’t reveal his identity, said in a tone that couldn’t hide his characteristically altruistic and kind nature.

Katharine replied that she was fine, and took out a birdcage hidden in her luggage bag.

A pigeon with jet-black eyes was tilting its head as if it didn’t know where it was or who it was.

It was given by Farnese when she left the Renel Empire.

“Take it. I won’t stop you since you say you’re going to the Khan Kingdom yourself to settle things, but still keep in touch.”

When she couldn’t bring herself to ask out loud why he was letting her go to the Khan Kingdom so readily and just stared at him, Farnese continued.

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

She had promised to write letters, but because Charlen took her uncle hostage, the plan went awry and she ended up not being able to send even one message.

She knew she should write something and send news, but his expression upon receiving a letter with unpleasant content was so vividly imagined that she couldn’t bring herself to move the pen.

The pigeon, which had probably followed for its own important mission, had just been eating feed in the cage and getting plump.

But Katharine realized the real reason Farnese had given her the carrier pigeon only after meeting Duke Ludwig’s grandson.

“Even after several days, there was no sign of the carrier pigeon flying away.”

The man sitting in the driver’s seat said after hearing the cooing sound of the pigeon.

“This pigeon wasn’t meant for communication in the first place, was it?”

“Yes. If that carrier pigeon didn’t leave Lady Katharine’s room, I, who had infiltrated the Khan royal court, was supposed to move. His Majesty the Emperor said that the pigeon not flying away meant something bad had happened to Lady Katharine.”

As soon as he finished speaking, the carriage slowly came to a stop on the side of the road, and Katharine looked around.

In the middle of a cypress forest that felt eerie with no sign of human presence, there was a single dilapidated inn without even a sign.

He said.

“Please go inside. They should be waiting by now.”