It was a reasonable doubt.

Hertian’s gaze toward Eleanor was quite different.

While his eyes were closed and unreadable when looking at me, they overflowed with affection mixed with longing and memories when looking at Eleanor.

He had never shown such an expression even to Osen, with whom he had spent a long time together.

If Liri were here, I could have known more accurately.

‘Still, anyone can see that’s the face of a man in love.’

I was filled with certainty.

Even though I’ve been single all my life, I can clearly see others’ love affairs.

The question of ‘Why didn’t Hertian and Eleanor end up together?’ was quickly resolved.

“Knight Eleanor is married, right?”

Eleanor, who had already emptied three glasses of wine in the dining room, widened her eyes in surprise.

“Is it that obvious? Oh my. I must be getting old. I’ve been noticing more wrinkles on my face lately.”

“Your face is getting damaged from rolling around in the dirt all the time.”

Hertian said playfully as he watched her examine her reflection in the tableware.

My guess was right.

He had one-sidedly loved Eleanor, but she was already married.

“If there’s a secret to becoming as beautiful as Your Highness Bi, please let me know. My husband keeps nagging about how lifeless my skin looks.”

“I’m not sure if it will help, but I’ll give you some herbs that are good to put in your washing water.”

“There are such herbs?”

“Many. If you need anything specific for wounds or recovery, let me know. I’ll prepare as much as you need.”

“Your Highness Bi.”

She called me with a dejected expression. Then she asked seriously.

“Will you divorce Hertian and marry me?”

At those words, Hertian choked and coughed.

“If you came to ruin someone else’s life, go back to the imperial palace.”

“If I had known Your Highness Bi was this beautiful and kind-hearted, I would have stolen you away, husband or not.”

I burst out laughing at their exchange of jokes.

Indeed, Eleanor was a woman worthy of love. Her easygoing personality and straightforward honesty without any intention to hide anything.

She had a charm opposite to mine. Quite different from the cute and timid Violet, right?

She was a woman Hertian could easily like. And even I, standing beside her, was disarmed and found myself smiling naturally.

“She’s already mine, though?”

Meanwhile, Hertian was acting his part even in front of the woman he liked.

I shook my head slightly and let out a small sigh.

I can see it clearly now. He couldn’t show his feelings even in front of Eleanor.

“They say people change after marriage. Is this really the person I know?”

That’s not it, Knight Eleanor.

Now that I knew the circumstances, Hertian’s situation seemed quite pitiful.

Poor man.

“How long have you two known each other?”

I interjected as the two exchanged jokes.

“Hmm. I haven’t counted, but it seems like more than ten years.”

“Twelve years.”

“You remember that?”

Eleanor asked with a surprised face.

Hertian took a sip of wine nonchalantly and said.

“I marked it.”

An internal sigh escaped me.

He should have said, ‘I remember everything about you!’

He was good at pretending to be in love, but he was a novice when it came to real romance.

Why can’t the handsome men in this novel date properly? It was just pitiful.

“You and your jokes.”

“It’s not a joke. I’m not interested in how long we’ve known each other.”

“Is there anything you are interested in? You were always just holding a sword with lifeless eyes.”

“There is. Something you don’t know about.”

My heart tightened, and I almost dropped the fork I was using to eat dessert.

‘It’s you, Eleanor, that only you don’t know about!’

So this is why Betty reads romance novels all day.

Actually, after watching , which is the background of this place, I didn’t look at romance for a while.

Compared to the karma Serdis accumulated towards Violet, his fall wasn’t severe enough. Rather, he fell so dramatically that he caused several victims, making me, who had never dated, cringe at the thought of romance.

But who knew watching someone else’s love story unfold before my eyes for the first time would be this interesting?

Without realizing it, I had entered spectator mode.

“Come to think of it, you did have some life in you when you were at the academy.”

At Eleanor’s words, I looked at Hertian again.

“Your Grace attended the academy?”

But he froze at my question. I could clearly see Hertian’s dark eyes shaking. Just as I was about to question it, Eleanor answered.

“Marka……”

“I did. I enrolled briefly but had to quit soon due to circumstances at the castle.”

Hertian cut off Eleanor’s answer before she could finish. She looked at Hertian with puzzled eyes.

They exchanged glances. Soon, Eleanor lowered her gaze and closed her mouth.

After that, a suffocating silence conquered the dining room.

It was when I didn’t know what to do in the suddenly desolate atmosphere.

“Let’s talk for a moment.”

Hertian stood up and gestured to Eleanor. Then he turned to me with another fake smile and said kindly.

“My lady. You must be tired from entertaining guests. Please rest.”

I could only nod my head.

For some reason, there seemed to be no room for me between the two of them.

The training ground of the Grand Duchy of Blandiche.

Hertian led her in that direction, partly to introduce her to the knights he had long trained with in the training ground.

And just before reaching the training ground, he stopped in his tracks.

“The person you had a one-sided love for. It’s Her Highness Bi, right?”

Eleanor was the first to speak.

She noticed as soon as she arrived at the castle and saw Hertian.

A man who had never shown an ounce of interest in others was using the embarrassing title of ‘wife’ to introduce himself, and smiling uncharacteristically while looking at Anette. She realized firsthand that he had changed significantly from before.

Being in a position where she had to notice even the slightest sign of an enemy day and night, Hertian’s change was clearly visible to her.

And a few years after attending Markaba Academy. There was a time when Hertian’s eyes gradually began to show signs of life. At some point, he started to prefer sitting at a desk reading books or writing rather than practicing swordsmanship.

At that time, she didn’t realize that Hertian had developed a one-sided love, but she found out when she saw the pink letter he was reading all night on the battlefield.

“Was Her Highness Bi the one you exchanged letters with every day?”

Eleanor was simply amazed.

Marrying the person he had wanted so much. How uncharacteristically romantic of Hertian.

“I had a secret method.”

The corners of Hertian’s mouth curled up. Eleanor stepped closer to him and asked what the method was.

Then Hertian took off the gloves he was wearing and raised his hand.

“Ah! I got it!”

Eleanor exclaimed as if she had realized something.

“You figured it out quickly, I see.”

As expected of the sharp-witted Eleanor.

Although the balsam dye had all disappeared after cutting his nails, she seemed to have noticed right away.

“The veins on the back of your hand. Women go crazy for that, don’t they?”

Eleanor was also confident.

But that wasn’t the correct answer. Hertian clicked his tongue and gave her a look of disdain.

“Someone like you who only knows how to clean swords wouldn’t know about dyeing nails with flower water.”

“You dye what on your nails?”

“They say if you dye your nails with balsam flowers and endure until the first snow, your first love will come true. I endured that and succeeded in marriage.”

At that moment, Eleanor’s sun-tanned face turned pale.

“You dye what on your nails? You must have misspoken about human blood, right?”

“What a horrific thing to say.”

Hertian looked at his little finger where the now-disappeared balsam dye had been, smiling contentedly. Watching this, Eleanor felt goosebumps all over her body and rubbed herself vigorously.

She felt dizzy. They say a man changes three times in his life: once when he returns from war, once when he inherits the family, and once when he gets married. But Hertian seemed to have skipped the first two changes and changed all at once with the last one.

“Who taught you such a joke… I mean, method?”

“Osen.”

Eleanor briefly resented Osen.

Then she decided to let it go.

‘He looks much better than living like a corpse as he used to.’

“That’s impressive. It doesn’t seem like you married because you grew fond of each other through exchanging letters. Did you send a marriage proposal right away?”

Eleanor had been guessing since Hertian hid the fact that he was from Markaba Academy.

Moreover, seeing Hertian claim he succeeded in marriage through superstition, of all reasons, she was certain.

“You’re really capable, I must say.”

“You’re quick to catch on.”

“Enjoy this moment. I’ve been married for over two years, so we live on affection now.”

At her words of envy, Hertian’s shoulders slumped.

“Eleanor. I have something to ask.”

“What is it? Just say it.”

“I don’t know how to capture my wife’s heart.”

A question crossed Eleanor’s face. If you’re married, isn’t that the end? Why do you need to capture her heart?

“I can’t give you details, but my wife has no feelings for me at all.”

As her face soon filled with shock, Hertian continued bitterly. Both before and after the marriage, he had tried to appeal to Anette in ways she liked, but the results were disastrous.

Until just yesterday, she had talked about looking for another man, not considering him at all.

“I have no idea what to do. I can’t talk about this to anyone else, and I thought you might know since you’re a woman.”

She fell into deep thought, faced with a friend who had fallen into the predicament of love.

Although she was surrounded by men in the knighthood, she hadn’t had any romantic interactions with them.

Her marriage to her husband was political, not true love.

‘But people’s hearts can’t be that different, right?’

After a moment, Eleanor opened her mouth with a determined face.

“Let’s take off our clothes. People trained under Calyx, including me, are rumored to have amazing bodies. I’m sure Her Highness Bi would like it if she saw.”

She said confidently while tapping her own abs. Her clearly defined six-pack abs. She was certain it was a surefire method.

“That’s already…”

But Hertian lowered his pitiful eyes.

“I can’t believe that didn’t work.”

“Is there no other way?”

“How about making her jealous?”

Hertian’s expression hardened immediately.

“Even if I can’t win her heart, I don’t want to confuse her.”

“I was just saying. I didn’t like using such shallow tactics either, being a knight and all. But you’re kind of cool? Her Highness should fall for you if she sees this side of you.”

“This side… You mean I should become even more of a jerk?”

He was somewhat aware of his own merits.

He had never been beaten in looks or position by anyone else.

“But there’s a problem. I don’t have many shortcomings, so there’s nothing to fill.”

Eleanor waved her index finger with both hands.

“I’m sorry, but it seems I’ve brought your shortcomings with me.”

The excitement on her face suddenly faded. Hertian noticed it immediately.

“I thought it was strange that you came back so quietly.”

It must have been Serdis who had returned to the imperial palace and caused trouble.

“The imperial palace has issued an order for you to go to war again.”