“What else could it be? It belongs to the man who abandoned you and fled to his home country.”

Although I don’t know how King Farnese’s broken sword ended up in Charlen’s hands, it was clear that his words were not true.

Farnese had said this while looking straight into her brightly shining eyes.

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

Farnese was a man who always kept his word once he said something.

Moreover, looking at the broken shape of the sword, I couldn’t shake the feeling that Farnese had somehow broken it himself.

There was something unnatural about it that made it hard to believe it had been shattered in a fierce battle with someone.

Above all, hadn’t Farnese boasted of being unscathed after sparring with Sir Antonio, who was known as a genius in swordsmanship?

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

Then there was only one conclusion that could be drawn here.

That His Majesty Farnese had deliberately made Charlen misunderstand and feel at ease.

‘Surely His Majesty has a separate plan.’

If that was the case, we couldn’t just sit here doing nothing.

Katharine calmly thought about how to get out of this tower.

Outside the tower, strong soldiers stand guard day and night.

Three meals a day are brought directly by Charlen or Alonso, so there’s no way to send a message outside.

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

While racking her brain for an answer that must be hidden somewhere, Charlen came in with the meal tray as usual.

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

Katharine quietly watched him approach with a brazen face that showed no trace of guilt.

Yes. She had been in close contact with this vile animal who wasn’t even human for 10 years.

Wasn’t she the one who knew his true nature better than anyone else?

First, it seemed necessary to soften his sharply raised guard.

“No. It’s alright.”

Katharine answered briefly.

With that one answer, Charlen’s eyes widened as if he had heard a ghost’s whisper, and he stopped blankly in the middle of the room.

It was because she hadn’t answered any of his constant words for five days now.

Katharine looked at him calmly.

“I’m hungry.”

“Ah… Yes. Let’s eat quickly.”

Charlen placed the tray on the table.

Katharine took a bite of the golden brown walnut bread topped with butter and fruit jam.

As she started eating after having barely touched food for so long, Charlen watched with an expression of confusion and uncontrollable joy.

“Katharine. Why suddenly…”

Charlen trailed off, fumbling for words.

“You mean why did I suddenly change my attitude?”

“…”

“Well. Being alone in such a quiet place for a long time just made me think a lot.”

Katharine 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 in the end, there’s nowhere else for me to return to in this world except the Khan Palace. I just realized it anew.”

“Is this really the Katharine I know?”

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

As Katharine showed a faint smile, Charlen unconsciously swallowed dry saliva.

Today, she looked particularly precarious.

It seemed that being abandoned by Emperor Farnese had been quite a big shock.

Her downcast eyes were filled with melancholy, and her pale face and slender body aroused a protective instinct.

For some reason, it felt like the current Katharine would obediently listen to anything he said.

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

Just as Charlen was harboring a slight suspicion that Katharine might be planning something in her mind, it happened.

“Your Majesty!”

“Alonso? I told you not to disturb me when I’m here unless it’s absolutely necessary.”

“Well, that is.”

Alonso Raugel, the servant who had hurriedly entered the room, whispered something quietly into Charlen’s ear while glancing at Katharine.

Charlen sighed as if annoyed and stood up from his seat.

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

“Do as you please.”

Charlen hesitated for a moment while putting on his outer garment, then suddenly reached out and slipped something cold onto Katharine’s finger.

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

His touch, with its blatantly suggestive meaning, subtly brushed past Katharine’s wrist.

“From now on, make sure you don’t lose it.”

“I didn’t know there was a place like this in the palace…”

Rose slowly walked along the forest path where faint traces of people passing by remained.

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

Rose had come out of curiosity after hearing Aster’s words, but she had never heard of any buildings here, only a forest-like walking path and a small clearing.

All she could see were thick undergrowth and unnecessarily tall cypress trees.

Her feet sank into the muddy ground, which had become soggy due to the heavy rain that had been falling relentlessly for the past few days.

Just as she was having weak thoughts of giving up and turning back.

“Queen. Why have you come all the way here? This place is dangerous.”

In the distance, she saw Charlen coming out of a tall, dilapidated tower that looked like it might collapse at any moment, along with his servant.

He approached with his arms spread wide as if pleased, and lightly embraced Rose.

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

“Your Majesty. What were you doing here? I was so curious because you haven’t been playing with me lately.”

“I’m sorry. I’ve made our queen lonely. As you can see, it’s quite a decent tower. I was just looking around, thinking of renovating it for other uses.”

“I see. I thought you might have hidden some precious and secret treasure without telling me.”

Instead of answering, Charlen awkwardly lifted the corners of his mouth and hurriedly led Rose out of the clearing where the old tower stood lonely.

As she was being pulled along by Charlen, who seemed somewhat rushed, Rose glanced towards the tower.

She was puzzled.

Why had His Majesty suddenly stopped visiting the Jasmine Palace, which he used to frequent almost daily, and for what reason was elder sister Katharine secluding herself for so long?

‘It’s strange. Elder sister isn’t the type to stay so quiet like this.’

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

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

“Why do you suddenly ask that?”

Charlen asked back in an overly sharp tone, as if a sensitive corner he wanted to hide had been exposed.

“I feel like I haven’t seen elder sister Katharine’s face at all lately. As her younger sister, I was starting to get worried.”

Rose paused there for a moment and observed Charlen’s reaction.

“So I was wondering if I should go visit elder sister Katharine…”

“Katharine is no longer there. I sent her away.”

“Sent her away? Where? So suddenly?”

“You truly don’t understand my heart. Did you really not know that keeping Katharine by my side all this time was for the sake of winning the queen’s love?”

Rose parted her lips as if she couldn’t understand.

“It’s embarrassing to say it myself, but at some point, you started spending a lot of time with Duke Aster. I wanted to become the main focus of your attention again. That’s why I used Katharine. Do you understand now?”

Rose found it strange and hard to believe that he had been jealous of her relationship with Duke Aster and acted out of spite for a while.

Charlen took Rose’s hand, his face slightly flushed.

It was the first time he had made such a shy expression and confessed his true feelings, so Rose was flustered.

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

“I thought Your Majesty had developed special feelings for elder sister Katharine instead of me.”

“How could that be? Do you remember the day we first met? That night, I whispered in your ear. I said it felt like I had finally found true love. Those feelings will never change.”

“Your Majesty.”

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

Unable to contain the joy welling up from deep within her chest, Rose threw herself into Charlen’s arms.

She had already completely forgotten what she had been worried about just moments ago, and what ominous sensation had filled her mind.

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

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

“My foolish little sister. How shocked she would be if she knew that Charlen is betraying her.”

Katharine, sitting on the windowsill, slowly rolled the lonely sparkling sapphire ring in her hand.

She aimed at a point in the air and threw it with all her might, and the ring flew for a while before disappearing into the forest.

The ring that only Rose and Katharine possessed in the world.

With that ring, Katharine decided to test her luck.

If a patrolling soldier happened to find it, the ring would surely end up in Rose’s hands first.

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