‘Huh, uh, ugh!’

The blanket covered his entire body, suffocating him. Between the gaps, a pungent liquid splattered into his eyes. Pain followed behind his reddening vision.

It hurts, it hurts.

Though it hurt terribly, the boy couldn’t move. Likewise, he couldn’t cry out in pain. He barely held back his groans by biting his lips fiercely.

Long after the knights had left. When his mind was hazy from thirst and hunger, the boy burst out of the wardrobe.

To a seven-year-old boy, death was too abstract a concept. Even if he knew the dictionary definition, he had no way of knowing its true form.

The boy, as if denying the unfolding situation, kept grabbing his family members’ bodies and talking to them.

‘Mother, Father. Elder brother, elder sister. Please, answer me…’

Only when he saw disgusting insects crawling past their eyes, only when he smelled the foul stench, did the boy realize that what he was holding were not his family, but corpses.

The boy finally understood the true meaning of death.

After jumping back from the corpses in shock, he ran and ran through the mansion. Usually, the servants would stop the young master from running, saying it wasn’t proper, but as he passed through the long corridors, not a single person stopped him.

Instinctively, he realized it was dangerous outside the main gate. The boy turned back and ran and ran through the forest. Though his feet sank deep into the snow, he pressed on without caring.

Where should I go? Where can I go to survive?

The boy agonized and agonized as he ran through the quiet snowy field. When he could no longer feel his cold feet, he came down to a village. The place he reached was a nearby port.

People around the port were reading newspapers. An old man who was reading intently exclaimed regretfully.

‘What could such a great family lack that they would commit treason! It’s truly a lamentable situation.’

He clicked his tongue and threw the finished newspaper into the trash can.

Hearing the familiar name, the boy dug through the trash to read the newspaper. The front page of the kingdom’s most famous newspaper was reporting the family’s downfall—under the name of treason.

‘Treason? That’s impossible.’

The small hand holding the newspaper trembled violently. A cracked voice cried out in denial.

Treason is bad. He had learned from his history tutor that betraying the ruler was no different from defying God. There’s no way his family would have committed such a wicked and blasphemous act.

There must have been some mistake. Or rather, it must be a false accusation.

The boy headed towards a ship with a familiar emblem among several docked vessels. He secretly entered a large wooden box and was carried into the cargo hold. For three days until reaching the destination, he solved his hunger and thirst by eating the rotten food scattered around the hold.

Three days later, the place he arrived at was the great Letius Empire.

Upon arriving at the imperial palace, he shook off the knights blocking his way and entered through the main gate. He ran busily to avoid being caught by the knights chasing after him.

The boy, who was looking for the audience chamber, was soon stopped by knights blocking his way. The knights surrounding him were so large in stature that they seemed like an iron fortress. The boy was still too small and weak to evade them.

The captured boy was, surprisingly, brought before the Emperor. As he knelt like a criminal, he could hear the conversation between a knight and the Emperor.

‘This boy recklessly intruded into the imperial palace. How should we deal with him? He won’t reveal his identity, so we can’t confirm who he is. Shall we throw him in the dungeon? Or since he’s a child, should we just give him a moderate beating and send him back?’

It was a critical moment when the boy’s crime was being decided. Pressed down by the knights, the boy suffered pain as if his lungs would burst. Huk, huk. The boy who was sobbing in pain looked up with a frown.

The Emperor was looking down at him with cold eyes. Through those chilling eyes, the boy encountered the future he had foreseen. That ‘thing’ he had learned from his family was waiting for him.

‘Please spare me, Your Imperial Majesty! I, I need Your Imperial Majesty’s help.’

The boy cried out desperately. He couldn’t die. He had to survive and clear his family’s grief. He had to prove that they were not wrong, that they were undoubtedly innocent.

Even if he had to become the Emperor’s dog, he had to do it.

Mmm…

Natasha, who had been lightly ill, soon tossed and turned. Perhaps because the object supporting her head was hard, her neck and back ached.

Was the pillow provided by the Belliache Marquis family this hard? She clearly remembered it being soft and fluffy.

But what she was resting her head on now was not just hard, but solid. In some ways, it was even pointy.

As she turned her head this way and that, she had a strange feeling.

She had a reasonable suspicion that what was adorning beneath her head might not be a pillow, but an innocent leg. And the owner of that leg might be her husband whom she disliked.

Her spine chilled, and she hurriedly opened her eyes.

The first thing she saw was the wide wall of the cave. Come to think of it, because the carriage broke down, they didn’t return to the Belliache mansion yesterday but spent time in a nearby cave.

By this point, her hypothesis became a fact. Natasha turned her gaze downward, discovered the man’s thick leg, and rose up in surprise.

“I’m sorry, I was so tired that I…”

She had abruptly gotten up, and suddenly an intense gaze was fixed on her. Natasha apologized slowly to the man who was blinking his eyes round in apparent surprise.

“Good morning, Natasha.”

“…Yes, good morning.”

Sieghart, who had put away his surprised eyes, greeted her nonchalantly. Soon after, she too hid her embarrassment and pretended to be calm as she returned the greeting.

After getting roughly ready, the two went down to the village where the coachman would be waiting. The coachman, who had returned in the middle of the night, was waiting with the carriage from early morning.

“Shall I take you to the Belliache Marquis mansion like that day?”

“Yes, what’s the estimated travel time?”

“It’s quite foggy, so it might take a bit longer than usual, but we should arrive in about two hours.”

Sieghart paid the fare, saying he understood, and led Natasha inside.

“It’ll take about two hours, he said. You must be tired from the uncomfortable sleep last night, so it’d be good to get some rest.”

“Ah… Yes, alright.”

She nodded slightly and quickly pressed herself against the window. In truth, even though she wasn’t sleepy, she pretended to sleep by deliberately closing her eyelids.

Suddenly, she recalled the dream she had last night.

In the dream, her family appeared after a long time. Unlike their usual monstrous faces that always tormented her, worse than the last time she encountered them, they greeted Natasha with normal appearances and even happy smiles for some reason.

And like Sir Leon whom she met recently, they comforted Natasha. As if they wouldn’t appear like this again, they forgave her with sad yet warm voices.

Perhaps thanks to the good dream, her body felt light from the morning. It was a good omen for the day.

Two hours later, after arriving at the mansion, the two quickly unpacked and freshened up before heading out. Since it was their last day in the duchy, they decided to exert themselves and move about despite being somewhat tired.

Because today was their wedding anniversary.

The two slowly walked along the flower-filled promenade and then headed to the restaurant they had reserved around lunchtime.

Befitting its title as the most expensive and popular restaurant in the duchy, a parade of excellent dishes followed. The sweet piano performance they listened to while dining was especially nice.

Afterwards, they went to watch an opera that Sieghart had prepared. A famous opera singer from another country was touring neighboring countries to perform operas, and he had luckily secured seats at such a rare and special place. Moreover, it was the best premium seats.

The elegant pronunciation and deep voice touched their heartstrings. It was no exaggeration to call it a heavenly voice. Natasha, who was deeply immersed throughout the performance, gave a standing ovation along with other audience members at the final stage.

When the opera, which easily exceeded three hours, ended, the sun was already setting. The two, lost in the beautiful twilight, naturally headed towards a nearby fountain.

Many people had gathered at the fountain in the square.

Children playing happily with lovely smiles. Amateur bands who fumbled to find their places but transformed as soon as they picked up their instruments. Affectionate couples dancing to the somewhat clumsy but sincerely played waltz.

These scenes were neither more luxurious nor more splendid than anything else. Rather, they were beautiful because they were so ordinary…

It was around the time Natasha was quietly appreciating them. Sieghart, who had been by her side all along, excused himself saying he would be right back.

And some time passed. The children who had been playing tag suddenly ran off somewhere, then surrounded one person and whispered among themselves.

“Wow!”

“What is it?”

“I think he’s going to give it to someone he likes!”

The man who had suddenly become like a zoo monkey was at a loss with the children’s attention and touches. When he finally straightened up, the man’s tall stature and sturdy body were revealed.

“…Sieghart?”

It was Sieghart, who had left saying he had some business to attend to a little while ago.

With the children’s cheers, he walked steadily and stopped in front of Natasha.

For some reason, in his hands was a bouquet of flowers large enough to cover his entire broad chest.