“Claudel!”

Kaian knelt down and tried to lift Claudel up.

At that moment.

Seeing Claudel collapsed, he felt a strange sensation as if everything suddenly fell into place perfectly.

Her red hair spread vividly over the white Margaret flower bed surrounded by small yellow buds.

Her snow-white, pale face and golden eyes, once bright and lustrous like amber, were now unfocused and blurry.

Her body, thin and wasted away.

The white flower petals, escaping from her hand that had helplessly dropped even the small bouquet he had given her, scattered, holding red bloodstains as vivid as her hair.

Click, as if the last piece of the puzzle had been fitted.

The way she would shiver and cough lightly even after spending nights consumed by heat.

The way she withered away, unable to properly fill her stomach no matter how much she was urged, like someone experiencing famine alone in a castle where food was rotting in abundance.

The times when, while talking quietly, she would suddenly stop speaking and gaze into the distance as if everything was meaningless.

It all fit perfectly into place at the moment Claudel collapsed, like well-oiled gears turning.

He embraced the woman who was beautifully breathing her last, like a scene from a painting depicting a tragedy.

And then Kaian felt as if he was trampling and destroying some kind of art with muddy feet.

Though he couldn’t understand why she had collapsed.

He could understand why she had been like that all this time.

“Butler! Butler!”

Kaian shouted roughly as he carried Claudel and ran towards the castle.

The Valmond territory, ruled by Duke Vermonte, was located in the northernmost part of the continent.

The fact that Valmond Castle was built in the coldest place not only in the Oberon Kingdom but in the entire continent had symbolic meaning.

Now it was just bitter cold that made life difficult for the inhabitants, but for those who had lived here for generations, it was simply a part of life.

The deeper you dug under the frozen ground, the hotter it became due to geothermal heat, to the point where you’d have to take off your clothes.

The things mined from these sweltering deep tunnels were all rare and expensive ores.

A distant ancestor with immense wealth built Valmond Castle in a place that was difficult to access and survive in.

He believed it demonstrated the power of the Vermonte family.

On the other hand, they also monopolized the sea route across the North Sea, dominating trade between the Ita continent, where the Oberon Kingdom was located, and the Sol continent. It wasn’t for nothing that Vermonte became a diplomatic powerhouse.

The castle, frozen for half the year, was now displaying its majesty on the green tundra landscape, as it was still midsummer.

The mosses, looking short and soft like the wet hair of a baby who had fallen asleep while begging for its mother’s milk, boasted the green of the north as they received the setting sun.

As the head of the Vermonte family returned after a month-long journey, the knights in the castle instantly lined up to greet him.

“You may all go back to your duties.”

“Yes, Your Grace. We are glad you have returned safely.”

As Duke Vermonte dismounted and entered the castle, a servant quickly ran out and draped a thick cloak lined with reindeer fur over his shoulders.

Even in midsummer, it was a bit chilly inside Valmond Castle.

Hearing the news of her husband’s return, Duchess Vermonte walked out alone briskly.

“You’ve returned.”

“Mm.”

Duke Vermonte instructed his adjutant who had accompanied him on the long journey.

“There are thirty wagons. Check if anything was damaged on the way and send the knights to distribute the food today.”

“Yes, I will follow your orders.”

Everyone seemed to look up to the lord who had brought back so much grain and finally resolved the problem facing the territory, after long suffering from food shortages due to the prolonged drought and power struggle with Temnes.

“How was Claudel?”

At his wife’s question, Duke Vermonte frowned.

“She was progressing steadily.”

“Ah.”

Lowering her voice, the Duchess wore a pained expression.

“I feel like we’ve done something terrible to her.”

“Shh. What nonsense. If Claudel hadn’t made up her mind, our people would have starved to death next year.”

“Still. She probably wanted to be buried in Valmond.”

In the underground crypt of Valmond Castle lay Evan’s coffin and an empty coffin for Claudel’s mother, whose body couldn’t be found in the fire.

“If only we could have found some medicine.”

“No one has died from Herzol for three hundred years.”

It wasn’t that there was no way to cure Herzol.

However, the intricate medicine for a disease that no longer affected people had disappeared into history long ago.

“It was unavoidable.”

Duke Vermonte had a partnership-like relationship with his wife, so he often discussed important matters with her, whether it was about governing the territory or anything else.

The Duchess also knew about Claudel’s illness, but the Duke didn’t tell her that he planned to attack Temnes with the biased support of King Valkyther.

He knew that his wife, who had raised their only daughter and sympathized with the orphaned Claudel, would be disappointed and furious if she knew he had gone that far.

There were rumors that Duchess Vermonte had received an enormous jewel for registering Claudel as her adopted daughter, but this wasn’t true.

Duchess Vermonte had unconditionally registered Claudel as her adopted daughter.

“If only you hadn’t tied Evan’s feet.”

“Ugh. Can we stop talking about that? I’m tired of it too.”

Having heard this every night for a month when entering the marital bedroom after hastily arranging Claudel’s marriage, Duke Vermonte felt like dying.

I’d rather die coughing up blood than hear this again!

The Duchess, who had been placing this burden on her husband’s heart with such a gentle tone, changed the subject.

“How is Rowen Castle?”

“The extravagance of those Temnes bastards is through the roof. They have gold trim everywhere…”

Duke Vermonte, who was about to say they had gold trim, suddenly mumbled his words. After all, Valmond Castle itself was adorned with jewels and gold decorations everywhere. He mentally justified this by thinking that since this was the place of origin, it wasn’t extravagance here.

Seeing her husband like this, Duchess Vermonte smiled.

“Lady Elise is a princess, after all. She couldn’t have stayed in a shabby place.”

“Hmph. Temnes, of all things. I’ll burn it all down soon, mark my words.”

Duke Vermonte, who had been troubled by the long drought, had very negative feelings towards Kaian.

People should have some sense of gratitude.

Cutting off food exports for years, making the people of Valmond starve, and then preparing for a territory war.

The fact that he seemed so easy a target to an enemy young enough to be his son severely wounded Duke Vermonte’s pride.

That young pup!

Dares to raise a sword against me?

If it weren’t for King Oberon’s tip that Kaian was preparing for a territory war, he wouldn’t have sent Claudel so far away like this.

It seemed he wasn’t comfortable making such a decision either, as he not only didn’t punish Hannah for barging into the lord’s office and causing a scene, but even gave her separate funds and sent her to Rowen territory.

Hannah still doesn’t know that Claudel has contracted Herzol.

Duke Vermonte briefly thought that if he told Hannah the truth, she might go to the ends of the continent to find a cure.

Keeping it a secret from Hannah was Claudel’s request.

In exchange for marrying into Temnes, she asked that Hannah not be told about her illness.

However, before the bride’s departure, Duke Vermonte called Hannah separately and gave her quite a large sum of money with an earnest request.

‘Why are you giving me this money…’

‘Hannah. If. If something happens to Claudel in Rowen Castle. Retrieve her body and bring her back to Valmond.’

At Duke Vermonte’s words, Hannah’s face hardened.

‘Make sure Claudel is not disgraced. Bring her back whole. We can’t just leave her in enemy territory.’

The maid, with her head lowered and fists clenched, said nothing.

Soon, without saying yes or no, she took the money pouch he had placed on the desk and left the office.

“And the young Duke Temnes?”

“Hmph. A boy whose milk teeth have barely fallen out.”

Duke Vermonte pursed his lips.

“Well, he still looks decent enough, all sleek and polished.”

He had actually seen Kaian, who was the subject of many rumors, on the day he came to Valmond Castle for the wedding.

Arriving just as the wedding was starting and leaving for his own territory alone as soon as it ended, abandoning even his bride, Kaian had stayed at Valmond Castle for less than two hours.

“If only he weren’t our enemy.”

The Duchess, who became a Vermonte through marriage but was not originally from Valmond, tended to be moderately lenient even towards Temnes.

“If only Claudel weren’t sick.”

“If that were the case, even with such a messy marriage, that clever child would have managed somehow.”

As the couple shared their worries in silence for a moment, light footsteps were heard from afar.

“Father!”

At the lively voice of a young lady, Duke Vermonte’s face lit up.

“Irena!”

“Father. I missed you.”

The woman who affectionately embraced Duke Vermonte and exchanged kisses on the cheek had red hair and golden eyes like her father.

Irena, Duke Vermonte’s only blood relative whom he cherished more than his own eyes, was, according to the Duke, God’s masterpiece.

Her appearance resembled the Duchess, who had been quite beautiful in her youth, while her hair and eye color took after him.

“Are you feeling alright? I was worried since you’ve been on such a long journey.”

“Don’t worry. Your father isn’t so weak as to be troubled by just this much.”

“You should rest today. Irena.”

At the Duchess’s words, Irena smiled brightly.

“Yes. You have to tell me about your visit to Rowen tomorrow, okay?”

“Of course. Let’s have lunch together.”

As Irena disappeared waving her hand, Duke Vermonte’s face darkened.

‘If only that Kaian wasn’t from Temnes.’

The Vermonte family had few descendants. In his generation, until he adopted Claudel, Irena was his only child.

In a family with few heirs and no collateral branches, the Duke, who was solely in charge as the head of the family, couldn’t go to war. So his eldest daughter Irena married the second son of a viscount family who had no title.

But her husband died in battle just a month after heading to the battlefield.

Irena suddenly became a widow.

In the current kingdom where suitable sons-in-law to be adopted into the family were rare, it was difficult to find a groom who could match Irena, who was wasting her youth and beauty.

‘They said he was the best groom in the kingdom.’

If only he wasn’t the enemy who tried to put the sword of territory war to my neck.

Duke Vermonte clicked his tongue.

It was a beautiful and good day that would remain in memory.

The fragrant scent of flowers, the chirping of birds, and the sound of flowing water.

The sweet and tangy taste of Margaret flower petals lightly bitten at the tip of the lips.

And Kaian.

Her husband, who handed her the flower he had picked, was the most handsome man holding a flower that Claudel had ever seen in her life.

Her heart might have fluttered a little.

She had only naturally bowed her head to smell the flower’s fragrance.

But even that subtle stimulation was too much for her body to bear.

Claudel’s world sank into darkness.

Tak.

Tak tak.

In the pitch-black darkness where she could neither see nor hear anything, the sound of sparks flying from a fireplace was heard.

Is this Valmond Castle?

There would be no need to light a fireplace in Rowen Castle in summer.

Once awakened, her consciousness stretched, gradually calling forth the sensations of her body one by one.

Tak. Ta tak.

When she opened her eyes, she saw a fireplace with flames blazing.

Thinking it might be a dream, she blinked, but it was the Duchess’s beautifully decorated bedroom.

Claudel slowly raised herself.

Then she finally saw Kaian sitting in the dark spot beside the large pillow that had been blocking her view until just now.

Kaian’s eyes, glaring at her from the darkness, burned bright red.

“You. Did you come here looking for a place to die?”