“Even if I die, please don’t cut off the food supply to the Valmond territory.”

Claude uttered the words that had tormented her more painfully throughout the night than the illness that had plagued her for months.

“Please. The children are starving.”

She hoped he wouldn’t wage war on the Valmond territory.

However, she couldn’t rashly bring up that topic to a man enraged by a marriage based on deception, so this was her own way of doing her best.

“What a great saint you’ve become.”

The response was a sharp sarcasm.

Claude raised her head to look at the man mocking her.

“How splendid. You came to sell your body to a man from an enemy family because of starving children.”

“……”

He spoke as if he truly found it absurd and interesting. Still with a cold and angry expression.

But now that the words were out, she couldn’t back down.

She had to get some kind of assurance from him no matter what.

If she could just do that, a man who valued honor wouldn’t break his promise.

“The children are so pitiful. At an age when they should be growing, to be starving…”

“Fine. I’ll do it.”

Hearing the unexpected blunt affirmation, Claude blankly looked up at him.

“Re… really?”

“Yes.”

However, she froze at the words that followed.

“Don’t be so pleased. It means I’ll buy you as you wish.”

“What… did you say?”

Kaian reached out and lifted Claude’s chin to meet her eyes.

“It’s ten carriages’ worth at once.”

“……”

“Why? Do you think it’s too little?”

Claude trembled.

She dropped her head low.

It felt like her soul was shattering from the unbearable humiliation.

But when Kaian was about to let go of her chin and move away, she grabbed him with both hands.

“Do it now.”

Claude closed her eyes.

Soon, a familiar heat crept up her body.

[This is the timeline separator]

Kaian carefully dressed Claude, who was sleeping as if dead.

During this, the phrase ‘as if dead’ didn’t sit well with him, causing a surge of hot emotion to well up inside.

‘This wasn’t what I intended.’

He hadn’t meant to treat the sick woman as if he would tear her to shreds.

He had been so confused, so close to madness, that he just wanted to see her, even if only for a moment.

What was different about Claude collapsing?

It wasn’t just armed enemy soldiers who had lost their lives to his sword on the battlefield.

Sometimes, the way to strike at the enemy’s weakness was to shatter what they held dear and tried to protect.

Under the name of tactics, even the weak and young were mercilessly slaughtered.

To bring the glory of victory to the kingdom!

As long as it wasn’t the blood of allies flowing under the fluttering national flag, it was fine.

While it was the kings of both countries who declared war, it was the lives in the innocent border towns that were sacrificed.

But the blood they shed seemed different from the blood Claude had shed.

On the battlefield, everyone moved with the sole thought of protecting the kingdom from invasion, stripped of their humanity.

Like worker ants controlled by a single queen ant.

So there was no remorse or guilt.

The subordinates who had taken countless enemy lives during the war returned to their estates after it ended, smiling happily that their pregnant wives had given birth in the meantime.

That was natural and normal.

But Kaian was confused as to why seeing blood, something he had become so accustomed to, was so shocking now.

He had only wanted to see Claude.

He had wanted to confirm with his own eyes if the woman who had looked so ill yesterday was any better today.

The one who seemed to get smaller every time he saw her, had she become even tinier than yesterday?

Had she been eaten away by the illness day by day like that?

The words he heard when his mood had sunk were unexpected.

‘Even if I die, please don’t cut off the food supply to the Valmond territory.’

His patience, which had been wearing thin as he was caught up in confused emotions, flew away.

Even at a time like this, you only think about other people?

What about me?

Shouldn’t you say something like you’re sorry to me first?

The anger he had been suppressing poured out as verbal abuse towards her.

‘Claude. You make me angry like a brutal tyrant.’

Kaian felt he was being manipulated by her.

‘Do it now.’

Unable to resist that one phrase, unable to push away the woman who was fading as if about to disappear, he held her in his arms and howled like a beast.

“You must not die.”

Kaian looked at Claude, wrapped in serenity.

“I won’t allow it.”

Soon after he left the bed, a small dewdrop formed at the corner of Claude’s eye.

Kaian, who had turned his back, did not see it.

[This is the timeline separator]

The Shen River, which flowed wide alongside the royal palace, was a spectacular sight today.

As dozens of ships with colorful sails docked at the capital’s port, the great river was embroidered in vibrant colors.

The area near the port had a festive atmosphere.

The market alleys were packed with people crowding to see and taste various exotic goods brought in from foreign lands.

The lively atmosphere was no different inside the royal palace.

All sorts of precious and luxurious medicinal herbs, foods, and silks dyed with rare pigments were piled up like mountains in the spacious hall.

This was the third year. The person who proposed the exotic goods fair, which started as a gesture of friendship after the war ended, was King Valquiter of Oberon.

“Ho ho. Everyone’s in an uproar this year too.”

“Indeed, they are.”

The foreign envoys, who had brought abundant goods for the third year in a row, shared wine glasses with greatly satisfied faces.

“It’s because Your Majesty has such a discerning eye.”

At these flattering words, Valquiter, who was raising his glass together, smiled gently.

“It’s thanks to your efforts in bringing in goods that match our standards.”

“You’re too kind.”

In the midst of this warm exchange of courtesies, one of the palace servants approached Valquiter and whispered something quietly. At this, the face of the young and handsome king became slightly serious.

“Is something the matter, Your Majesty?”

Unable to contain his curiosity, the Minister of Foreign Affairs asked, but the king waved his hand.

“Ah, there’s just something I need to confirm personally. I’ll be back shortly. Please don’t neglect the hospitality for the envoys, I entrust it to you.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

Valquiter left the banquet hall, leaving behind the ministers bowing their heads with serious and grave expressions.

“So the news has finally arrived. I can’t resist a message from Rowen.”

If one were to rank importance, Valquiter was more curious about what Kaian was up to than entertaining foreign envoys.

The stern and serious expression he had worn until just moments ago disappeared, and he smiled brightly to himself like a mischievous child.

When he reached his office, there was a black envelope on the desk.

It was sent by someone who regularly reported news from the Rowen territory.

Valquiter, sitting askew in his chair, cut open the thick paper with an envelope knife, making a square sound, and took out the contents.

After checking the news with an intriguing expression, Valquiter laughed out loud.

“Ha. Haha. This is quite a spectacle. To think the duke’s daughter became a cripple due to an accident.”

He had hoped for Kaian to have a terrible and ruinous marriage.

And now this windfall was added on top.

Kaian might appear aggressive and straightforward on the outside, but in reality, he was extremely methodical and principled.

Nevertheless, the fact that his inflexible side wasn’t highlighted was because Kaian was competent and didn’t fail.

Frustratingly, that bastard seemed to have been born with the blessing of the god of victory and success.

Valquiter, who was sick of seeing that, wanted to inflict pain on Kaian somehow, but with an unwanted marriage and the bride now limping, it was obvious without seeing how Kaian, a perfectionist, must be sinking into the abyss of suffering.

“He might end up killing that woman with his own hands soon.”

It was a reasonable suspicion.

Kaian had the nasty personality of imposing his own standards on those around him due to his superiority and perfectionism.

He hated having flawed things lingering around him.

He only felt comfortable when surrounded by whole, perfect, and supreme things.

However, Valquiter, who as the crown prince rightfully deserved to have the best in the kingdom, felt as if something that should have been his had gone to Kaian whenever Kaian obtained or acquired something exceptionally good.

Moreover, Kaian had a strong sense of possession, so even if asked to lend or give something to Valquiter, he never yielded.

On that point, Valquiter thought the mothers were at fault.

Even if they were cousins, they should have clearly established the relationship between sovereign and subject.

By raising them like twin brothers of the same age, even though Kaian obeyed Valquiter’s orders, it was different from the loyalty of dedicating everything to one’s lord.

“I wonder what Duke Beaumont is up to.”

It was Valquiter who had leaked to Duke Beaumont that Kaian was preparing for a territorial war.

Even if they were cousins, how could they let a pillar supporting the kingdom crumble, he had said he would issue a royal order for marriage to reconcile them, to which Duke Beaumont had replied ‘I am deeply moved,’ while his eyes flashed with the desire to take Themnes’s life right then and there.

Beaumont, having suffered a long drought, doesn’t have the strength to attack Themnes.

If he uses the wealth accumulated over long years from the northern mines to hire mercenaries, that money will also flow to Valquiter through the mercenary guilds.

If Beaumont fails to attack Themnes and is annihilated, he could seize the long-coveted northern trade port of Valmond as royal territory.

If by any chance Themnes loses, Kaian’s life would be taken by Duke Beaumont, which would also be a good thing.

“Is it even a fight if neither side loses? How boring.”

This was why being a spectator was disappointing.

“That’s only visible from above.”

He called for Marquis Courtenblanc while burning the letter.

“I’ll be going to Rowen next month, so make preparations.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

Valquiter returned to the hall where the envoys were waiting for him with a satisfied expression.

[This is the timeline separator]

Claude spent her days more peacefully than expected.

Kaian came to see her from time to time, but he didn’t get angry or verbally abusive like before.

Even that sometimes felt like the calm before the storm.

Facing death was remarkable.

It made one completely lose fear.

“Is it possible to change the burial site?”

One day, as soon as she saw Kaian’s face, she asked that, and he immediately frowned.

“I think that spot in the cemetery would be better for the new duchess to be buried.”

“That gravestone seemed to be quite to your liking.”

Although his tone was sarcastic or mocking, he still responded somewhat sincerely.

“Just because you like something doesn’t mean you can have it all.”

Claude could now say anything to Kaian.

The lack of secrets had liberated her tightly sealed lips.

With all the things she had been careful to hide and conceal for fear of being discovered now gone, Claude babbled anything to him.

On one hand, it was because she was hesitant, afraid he might suddenly say he would send her to a monastery or hospital.

On the other hand, after trembling alone in the face of death’s terror, now that there was someone who knew she was going to die, she wanted to pour out all the things she had been suppressing inside.

“There. Where the white flowers bloom. Under that tree. It would be nice to be buried there.”

At this, Kaian, unable to bear it any longer, stood up abruptly and shouted.

“You speak so easily of dying. Do you think I, Kaian of Themnes, can’t obtain a mere medicine?”

Claude’s eyes widened.

“…Medicine?”