“Kyaak!”

Under the darkened sky, the screams of young ladies filled the hunting grounds.

“Blood, a lump of blood!”

With Hertian’s appearance, the hunting grounds instantly turned into chaos. Knights covered in blood, led by Hertian. And what he was dragging along shocked everyone.

“I didn’t know the Empress was worried about me.”

Hertian took off his blood-stained gloves and placed them on the table. Only then did the Empress, seeing Hertian appear unscathed, force a smile.

“It seems the dragon hunt went well.”

“Thanks to someone, I fought risking my life.”

“I’m glad.”

On the other hand, the Empress calmly looked down at what was at her feet.

“It seemed the Empress desperately wanted this, so I prepared it myself.”

“The smell is awful.”

A huge spherical lump of blood. It was difficult to make out its shape properly. Until the Empress stood up and kicked it lightly.

“An eye, it’s an eyeball!”

A blue pupil was staring at the sky.

Then this is…

“It’s a dragon’s eye.”

“What? A dragon’s eye?”

At his words, the Empress’s composed demeanor disappeared completely. I was surprised too. I thought Hertian had escaped safely from the cave, but he even brought back a dragon’s eyeball.

“Don’t frown. Your already numerous wrinkles will increase further.”

“Are you saying you dared to kill a dragon? You killed a sacred dragon?”

“It seems you don’t like the gift. And here I thought this eyeball might have an effect on reducing skin wrinkles, so I worked hard to pluck it out.”

Hertian said mockingly.

“What!”

“You once asked me about skincare methods. That just came to mind, so I gave it my all.”

The Empress hesitated at his relentless words. I stared at him intently. He seemed somewhat different from before.

“Wow. Did Your Grace the Grand Duke go dragon hunting?”

“And you went on an extermination mission with just a few knights?”

Before I knew it, noblemen had gathered around, having heard the dragon story. The Empress, unable to get angry in front of them, left the place, swishing her blood-stained dress.

Hertian handed the eyeball to the noblemen looking at him with shining eyes and said,

“Since the Empress says she doesn’t need it, you can have it.”

Then he finally turned to look at me.

Blood dripping from his hair clotted hideously on his white skin. He looked thinner than when I last saw him, and he really did smell of foul blood.

Yet, I didn’t dislike it.

I was just glad Hertian had returned.

“Are you hurt anywhere? What’s all this blood on you?”

I wiped away the tears that were forcing their way out and examined his body.

Sadly, his hands were trembling slightly. Even so, he was smiling, not wanting me to worry.

“I should be the one apologizing for ruining your plan. Let’s go back and…”

“Is this the time to worry about me? When you’re not even in good shape yourself.”

“I’m always only worried about you, my lady.”

“What am I to you…”

I almost felt touched for a moment.

There were still many people watching us around.

‘Hertian is so professional even in this situation.’

This was always the reason why he worried about me.

Normally, I would have thought it natural, but today I felt a little sad.

[This is the timeline separator]

Hertian and I decided to stay at the townhouse instead of returning to the imperial palace.

The townhouse, located in the middle of the capital, was quite spacious and nice. There were resident servants to manage it, and there was also a place for knights to stay.

Hertian, who had washed off the blood on his body first, handed something to me.

“This. You sent it, didn’t you?”

A white cloth.

It was the item I had sent along with Eleanor yesterday.

Through her, I had left a message saying I would change my wish.

Hertian and the knights were all in a state of disappearance, and there were traces leading to a place connected to the hunting grounds. I guessed he would be in the Flavo Cave.

I asked for people to be sent to help Hertian escape from his confinement. Along with the herb powder I had researched myself. I returned Turan’s treasure and instead got the chance to send people.

Now that Serdis had withdrawn the order to participate in the war, thinking Hertian would die, having Turan’s treasure didn’t hold much meaning anymore.

“Yes, that’s right. I’m not sure if it would work on a dragon, but if it inhales a large amount of the powder at once, it would lose consciousness immediately. Even if the imperial knights were sent, it would be difficult to face a dragon, so I thought this method was the best.”

Thanks to the emperor sending knights as promised, it was safely delivered to Hertian.

“Was it effective?”

“Yes. We almost lost consciousness too, though.”

Hertian chuckled, looking at the cloth. He didn’t look like someone who had just faced a dragon.

“Then why did you pluck out its eyeball instead of just leaving it asleep!”

I shouted angrily. Why did you provoke the dragon dangerously? What if you got hurt?

“I wanted to leave it sleeping, but it kept attacking with its eyes closed, so somehow…”

“So did you really kill the dragon?”

When I asked in shock, Hertian quickly explained.

“No, I didn’t kill it. After plucking out one eye, it collapsed, and we escaped from the cave.”

“How many people were injured?”

“Five knights who were fighting a swarm of small creatures at the cave entrance were injured. Not seriously though.”

“That’s such a relief. I’ll help treat the knights too.”

“If it weren’t for you, we would probably have become the dragon’s meal.”

I was just glad to have been of help. I sighed in relief and told him what had happened while he was gone.

“The order to participate in the war has been withdrawn. Serdis readily asked the Emperor to withdraw the order, saying he would take responsibility. He probably asked willingly, thinking you wouldn’t return safely.”

Even if he wasn’t certain of Hertian’s death, there must have been ways to take advantage of Hertian’s absence for several days. But he probably didn’t expect him to return so quickly.

“It seems he’s decided to kill me in earnest now.”

“Don’t worry.”

If Hertian dies, it’s as good as me dying too. Neither of us can disappear until we thoroughly use each other.

“You won’t die by their hands.”

I held Hertian’s hand tightly and comforted him. Then, feeling a bit awkward, I let go.

“By the way, have you completely gotten over your anger towards me?”

I remembered what happened just before Hertian disappeared. The small incident in the wardrobe at the palace that made him avoid me.

“Pardon? Did I get angry at you, my lady?”

“Back then… after you came out of hiding in the wardrobe, you seemed very displeased with me. That’s why you left early in the morning.”

“That wasn’t because I was displeased.”

He answered immediately.

“Then why?”

“That’s…”

His face had turned red, and he rubbed it dry.

“If it’s troublesome, you don’t have to say. I’ll just think Hertian was displeased, whatever.”

I grumbled with a disappointed expression. Then he opened and closed his mouth before finally confessing.

“I was embarrassed. I’ve never been this close before.”

“Embarrassed? But we’ve been sleeping in each other’s arms every night since we got married.”

“We really just slept.”

What is this person saying?

“I even groped you, didn’t I? Because Hertian’s body was so warm.”

We didn’t just sleep. While he was sleeping, my hands were so cold that I burrowed into him.

Yet, it’s surprising that he’s still shy about physical contact with me.

“You touched me freely, but I’ve never touched you, my lady.”

He mumbled, avoiding my gaze. His earlobes had turned red.

“Okay. Let’s consider the misunderstanding cleared up.”

I ended the conversation there. I felt my face heating up too. If we kept talking about this topic, it felt like a red light would go off in my head.

I got up from my seat and came back with a clean cloth.

“Close your eyes.”

Because he washed alone without help, there were still blood scabs on his face.

“What are you going to do?”

“What else would I do with a cloth? I’m going to wipe your face.”

“You can do other things.”

“Tsk.”

At his playful tone, I forcibly pressed down his eyes. Only then did he quiet down.

‘He looks even more handsome today.’

Is it because I see his face almost every day?

Even though we were apart for barely two days, his face felt new to me.

It would be a great loss for the country if Hertian died. A handsome man like this might appear once in a hundred years, if that.

“Fortunately, there are no scars on your face.”

Hertian’s fair skin was now clean.

“When I looked in the mirror earlier, there was some kind of monster standing there.”

“I was surprised too. When you came with blood all over your face, I thought some kind of grim reaper had arrived.”

“…What’s a grim reaper?”

Oops.

Grim reaper isn’t a term used here.

Even though I’ve lived here for almost 10 years, words from my previous life still pop out occasionally.

“It’s nothing.”

“You sometimes say things I can’t understand, my lady.”

Hertian gently opened his eyes. As a result, our eyes met up close. He softly held my hand that was wiping his face and whispered gently.

“I’ve always been curious where those words come from. I couldn’t find them no matter who I asked or which books I searched.”

This is troublesome.

I didn’t know he would remember every single word I say.

I was pondering how to explain it to him.

‘I can’t just say that I’m actually a person from modern times and that’s where we say grim reapers come when you die.’

But then,

“Grand Duke, Grand Duchess.”

Just then, the resident butler of the townhouse came knocking on the bedroom door.

‘Nice timing, butler.’

I put aside the towel I was using and nodded to Hertian, who went to the butler to ask what the matter was.

“Someone has come to see the Grand Duchess.”

“For my lady?”

“They sent a carriage saying they would take her to the evening appointment location.”

The butler’s words reminded me of the contents of the letter.

Cassian’s letter that was in the room after I returned from meeting the Emperor yesterday.

‘He said he would come to see me in the evening.’

I had been too preoccupied to think about it. Even though it was a meeting I had been waiting for so long.

If Hertian hadn’t returned, I would have postponed the date. But there was no need for that now.

“Hertian. I’m going out for a while. I’ll just have a simple dinner and come back.”

“Did you have a separate appointment?”

Hertian asked with a worried face. There had been only ominous events since coming to the imperial palace, so it was understandable that he would be concerned about me going out somewhere.

“Yes. Just a dinner appointment. It’s not far, so I’ll be back right after dinner.”

I smiled brightly to reassure him. I didn’t mention that I was meeting Cassian. There had been too many events in the short time since coming to the capital to share such personal matters.

Hertian didn’t ask me many questions either. Instead, he simply added,

“I’ll assign a knight to accompany you.”

“Thank you.”

[This is the timeline separator]

510 letters.

That was the number of letters exchanged with Cassian so far.

I took out a small hand mirror one last time to check my face.

I wasn’t nervous at all until I arrived, but as the meeting time approached, I couldn’t help my heart from pounding.

The destination was a quiet restaurant in the capital.

When I entered, a waiter naturally guided me to a private room.

He opened the door and bowed his head.

I quickly lowered my gaze as I saw a man’s face through the open door. Not yet. It seems I’m not fully mentally prepared yet.

The man saw me enter and pulled out a chair for me.

“Thank you.”

Ah, should I have used informal speech since it’s Cassian?

Everything felt awkward.

How should I manage my gaze? What words should I say first?

‘Should I introduce myself?’

There was a reason why I was acting so awkwardly despite being the one who requested to meet Cassian first.

Because of what Hertian had said.

I still often recall those words when I look at Cassian’s letters.

‘The person who sent the letter seems to like Lady Anette very much.’

Until then, the wind that had been flowing gently felt like it was blowing fiercely.

“You look gloomy. Are you uncomfortable somewhere?”

At that moment, lost in all sorts of thoughts, Cassian spoke first. He was also using formal speech with me.

“No. No. Rather than uncomfortable, I’m just feeling awkward.”

“What is there to be awkward about between us?”

That’s true. How long have we known each other?

“Don’t be like that, just relax.”

A voice like a spring breeze soothed me.

But, this voice. It feels like I’ve heard it somewhere before?