When sending Katharine to the Khan Kingdom, Duke Ludwig had asked.

If it would really be alright.

Perhaps because he knew better than anyone that once Farnese decided to possess something, he would never release it back into the world again.

But Farnese had never said he would let Katharine go.

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

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

“……”

“But that only applies ‘if nothing happens to you’. If Charlen Riche makes you cry again, I will immediately use every means to bring you back to my side.”

Farnese knew that Katharine would be hurt once again.

Because he firmly believed that a person like Charlen Riche would never repent and change for the better.

So Farnese had planted his own people inside the Khan royal palace.

So that he could bring her back to his side anytime she seemed about to fall perilously.

He had even sent a messenger pigeon telling them to report first no matter what happened or didn’t happen, but as expected, his prediction was not far off.

Despite boasting confidently that he would thoroughly use her for his own selfish desires, this time too she was surely suffering alone, not wanting to worry anyone.

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

That the chance to end everything peacefully was over, his patience was at its limit, and she should no longer think of leaving his embrace.

That she only needed to be held by him, speak her desires, give orders, and enjoy herself.

With the intention of firmly nailing that down, it was when he focused on the small figure entering through the old inn’s door.

“…What’s this.”

A body so thin it seemed about to collapse at any moment.

A heart, though not visible to the eye, so mercilessly slashed that there was no place left to be wounded.

Two eyes wet with moisture, struggling to maintain composure.

As all of that entered his view in succession, all the words Farnese had intended to say to her were cleanly erased from his mind.

When he came to his senses, Farnese found himself examining Katharine’s condition with an impatient touch, caressing her cheeks – a strange version of himself.

He didn’t know why he was doing it himself.

Nothing made sense rationally.

That he had rushed here, neglecting urgent state affairs, because of her alone.

That he was seriously considering immediately going to tear apart and kill the man who had wounded her heart, despite knowing he was an important figure politically and diplomatically for the Renel Empire.

That even in this situation, he was thinking it would be good to light the fireplace lest she catch a cold – Farnese found all of this so unfamiliar about himself.

“What on earth happened?”

Katharine opened her eyes wide with an expression that said she never expected to meet Farnese in a place like this.

Then without fail, as always, she nodded with a composed smile.

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

When in fact, nothing was fine at all.

“Your Majesty. I am perfectly…”

“Katharine.”

Farnese, far from being excited, maintained a keen calmness that surprised even himself as he gently grasped Katharine’s thin shoulders.

Then he lowered his waist to match her eye level.

“We are 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 rely on me completely. At least that’s what I think. Your thoughts may be different. So I’d like you to tell me. What has happened all this time.”

The light shower that seemed like it would stop after a few drops had turned into a downpour with a storm, beginning to dye the forest in darkness.

Unlike the raindrops fiercely pounding the earth, tears were falling silently and calmly from Katharine’s eyes, drop by drop.

At that moment, a throb.

Feeling his heart ache painfully, Farnese pulled her into an embrace without time to think of anything else.

“It’s alright, Katharine. You have me. You can cry as much as you want.”

“Your Majesty.”

“Yes.”

Just as Katharine was about to honestly confide in him everything she had seen and heard in the Khan Kingdom, it happened.

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

“Danger!”

Farnese was one step faster.

As if sensing some threat by instinct, he wrapped his entire body around Katharine and rolled to the side.

An ominous arrow, unclear who had aimed it at whom, stuck into the wall with a thud.

Everything happened in the blink of an eye.

Only after the lightning retreated and the surroundings were filled with pitch darkness again did Katharine finally let out the breath she had been holding.

“Katharine. Are you alright?”

“I-I’m fine.”

“Oh dear. You must have been very startled.”

Farnese pulled Katharine in even closer while gently stroking her back.

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

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

“Your Majesty. I report. We’ve detected suspicious movements in the western forest. It seems we’ve been pursued, judged to be a surprise attack.”

“…I see. I know. Katharine. Come here.”

Farnese took Katharine to the innermost room without windows.

After blocking every gap so that not even an ant could enter, he ordered Antonio to stay by Katharine’s side.

Katharine urgently grasped the hem of Farnese’s clothes as he was about to leave the room, picking up the sword engraved with the imperial crest.

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

“It’s alright.”

“No. I won’t let go. I absolutely won’t let you go.”

Her intuition was screaming.

That if she let him go now, something bad would happen.

Katharine hugged him tightly from behind with her eyes stubbornly shut tight.

Though he could have easily shaken her off and left, Farnese stood quietly at the threshold without crossing it.

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

Even Sir Antonio and Sir Vincent were looking at him with eyes that said ‘Why is he acting like this?’

“I’m not particularly displeased to hear you say such things.”

“How can you joke at a time like this?”

“You seem to have forgotten already, so I’ll specially teach you once more. Katharine.”

He gently enveloped Katharine’s hands and slowly turned to face her.

His expression had softened incomparably, with even an affectionate smile settling on his lips.

“You will soon be my one and only companion. How could I go anywhere without you.”

“Your Majesty.”

“How could I go somewhere without you, who falls and rolls and gets into accidents the moment I take my eyes off you. I’ll be back soon.”

Katharine obediently lowered her head.

“…Is that true? You promised.”

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

It was probably not an illusion that his voice sounded meaningful.

Farnese briefly gestured to Antonio with his eyes to protect Katharine well.

Then, as if reluctant to part, he hesitated for a long while before finally shaking off Katharine’s hand.

Watching his back disappear down to the desolate darkness of the lower floor, Katharine felt an indescribable ominous feeling.

Farnese briefly held his breath as he surveyed the forest shrouded in fog so thick he couldn’t see an inch in front of him.

Assassins who had received such high-level training that their presence could not be sensed without intense concentration had infiltrated various parts of the forest.

Vincent approached from the side.

“It seems we’re already completely surrounded. Judging by their attire, they’re either remnants of the rebel army or…”

“Or they could be assassins secretly employed by Charlen Riche disguised as remnants of the rebel army.”

“If that assumption is true, this is no ordinary matter. I will deal with them here.”

“Stand back. You’re no match for them.”

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

Though he had been serving as a guard knight for several years, he truly could not predict even an inch of his lord’s inner thoughts.

As a human being, one’s emotions should inevitably show on one’s face.

But this man – should he say he had no idea what he was thinking?

“But Your Majesty.”

“I’ve been feeling stuffy sitting at a desk idly wielding only a pen since the war ended and the era of peace arrived, so this works out well. It wouldn’t be bad to play with Charlen Riche’s dogs while also loosening up my stiff body.”

Because he had grown accustomed to the man who had mysteriously softened since the appearance of the woman named Katharine, he had momentarily forgotten.

That this man inherently enjoys bloody scenes.

That as he said, sitting at a desk playing the role of a refined gentleman was never suited to his nature in the first place.

“You go back to the cabin now. Stay by Katharine’s side. She’s probably worrying about me needlessly and pacing back and forth with those small feet of hers.”

“I can’t do that. Your Majesty, I cannot!”

“It’s an imperial order.”

Farnese turned away from Vincent and entered deep into the forest.

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

With a rustling sound, figures clad in black emerged from behind the trees one by one.

Farnese carefully surveyed the group that had now surrounded him in a circle.

“Roughly forty… no, more than that.”

Though visibility was poor due to the storm, it was a perfect number to regain the senses from wartime.

Farnese raised the corners of his mouth as he drew his sword, its blade flashing with a deep blue light.

Already the pungent smell seemed to stimulate his nostrils.

“I really can’t stand this.”

“Please stop. It’s no use.”

It was Antonio who firmly blocked Katharine’s feet stretching towards the outside.

“Please move aside, Sir Antonio.”

“No matter what happens, His Majesty is the type who needs to see things 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 the emperor’s guard knight should say.”

“I beg your pardon, but if you had ever seen His Majesty truly fighting someone even once, you would say the same as me, young lady.”

Worrying itself is disrespectful to him.

Antonio muttered with a voice tinged with certainty.

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

If at this time Katharine and Antonio had not conversed and had kept silent with each other.

“You’ve thought well. Please trust His Majesty and wait.”

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

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