Floyd lit a fire in the empty kitchen and rummaged through the pantry to find some jerky and dried fish. He also grabbed a chunk of cheese for the elderly Jenail. He was about to drink beer, but noticing a bottle of cooking wine, he took that and left the kitchen.

Jenail was waiting for Floyd at the top of the tower, and hurried over when he saw him bringing snacks and alcohol.

“I should have prepared those for you.”

“It’s fine. If the Marquis took care of it, it would become a big deal. You’d surely wake up the chefs and order them to make a bunch of healthy snacks.”

As that was exactly what he was about to do, Jenail was at a loss for words.

“Let’s just have a simple drink and snack, then go to bed.”

A small drinking table was set up in the corner. Floyd poured wine into Jenail’s glass and drank straight from the bottle himself.

Jenail merely moistened his lips with the wine before setting down his glass.

“You seem troubled, Your Highness.”

“I am troubled. Because I’ve come to be in love.”

“I see.”

“You’re not surprised?”

“Surprised? This old man has served Your Highness for how many years now? How could I not know? The knights still prattle on about friendship and goodwill, but I know.”

Floyd turned his gaze from the sea to stare at Jenail.

Jenail had been a knight guarding Floyd’s mother, Eliensa Ratean, since she was young.

When Eliensa became a lady-in-waiting to Queen Christine, when Joseph V forcibly committed a terrible act against Eliensa, when Eliensa became pregnant, when the jealous queen struck a blow against the Ratean family and Eliensa Ratean. Jenail was a knight of the Ratean family and Eliensa Ratean’s bodyguard.

But as a mere bodyguard, there was little he could do for his lord’s family. He could only watch helplessly, his heart bleeding, and when the Ratean family was exterminated due to the queen’s false accusations, he was forced out of the castle.

After being tossed about like a fallen leaf in the wind stirred up by those in power for many years, Jenail found Floyd wandering aimlessly after escaping from Gania.

From then until now, Jenail has stood by Floyd’s side like a friend, a knight, and family.

Feeling Floyd’s gaze, Jenail smiled and said.

“My eyes can’t be deceived, Your Highness.”

“I wasn’t particularly trying to deceive you.”

Floyd tilted his head to the side.

“I didn’t know either. I only realized today. So it was love. I see. I’ve been in love. Me. I’m capable of such a thing. Even I am.”

“Of course you’re capable. Isn’t it something anyone can do?”

“That’s right, it’s something anyone can do. So even someone like me must be able to.”

“Is there something troubling you?”

“Everything troubles me. Everything.”

Floyd took a sip of wine from the bottle and sighed. His uncombed hair fell messily, covering his eyes. Floyd irritably brushed his hair back and took another sip of wine.

During this time, Jenail silently watched his lord. He quietly gazed at the face and ashen eyes so similar to the one he had tried to protect with his life but failed.

Floyd drained the remaining wine from the bottle, then slammed the empty bottle down on the table and stood up. He went to stand in front of the railing, clasped his hands behind his back, and looked down at the city of Selchar spread out below as he spoke.

“I’m happy, Jenail. I live each day joyfully. But you know. Occasionally, memories of the past completely darken an otherwise entirely pleasant day. Can you believe it? I still haven’t fully escaped from the past.”

“……”

“There are countless good things, and now I’m surrounded only by people who follow me, believe in me, and like me. Everything is perfect, lacking nothing, and yet. I can still hear that woman’s voice.”

−”Watch carefully, Floyd. See what happens to your mother when you have bad thoughts. The fingernails being pulled out now are because of your rude behavior at the party today. Do you understand?”

Floyd closed his eyes tightly and took a deep breath.

“Then my perfect day, my week and my month, my year, my decade! It all falls apart. Everything I’ve barely managed to build up crumbles, and only that woman’s disgusting voice remains, echoing throughout my world.”

Floyd opened his eyes wide and glared at Jenail.

“Do you understand, Jenail? This is the kind of man who’s in love. Even though the princess doesn’t resemble that woman at all, I almost vomited thinking of her while with the princess. That’s the kind of man I am!”

“……”

“I’m a twisted man, and the love of such a man would completely ruin the other person. I’d grab their ankle and drag them into the darkness. In that hell-like darkness, we’d lick each other’s wounds, getting pricked by each other’s thorns and bleeding from our tongues and hands. Because the princess is also covered in wounds and thorns just like me.”

“……”

“So this love wouldn’t be good for me or for the princess. Yes, it’s not good.”

Floyd paced for a while before speaking.

“But what can I do? I can’t stop my heart from flowing. Even as I say these words, I can’t bear how lovable that woman who has taken over the Lily Palace is, what should I do at times like this.”

“……”

“Isn’t it funny? The emotions I brushed off when I was unaware have become so clear now that they have a name, I can’t ignore them anymore. I’m anxious, uneasy, and worried. Somehow.”

Floyd looked down at his palm.

His hand, which had remained steady even when facing several giant monsters, was now damp with sweat.

“It seems I should do something. What should I do, Jenail?”

Jenail had many things he wanted to say to his confused lord.

That even deeply wounded people can love, and because of their deep wounds, there may be much they can understand about each other. That not all love in the world is perfect, and it’s not only perfect people who can love each other. That there are people who become lacking in other areas when they fall in love even if they’re perfect otherwise, and that sometimes love is what makes people foolish.

But Jenail, being a wise servant, instead of giving clichéd advice, said quietly:

“Let it flow as it will, Your Highness. Like that river, it will flow and flow, and if there’s a blockage, it will go around or stop, won’t it? So, Your Highness, just let it flow as it will.”

+++

The summer night sky in Torkan was exceptionally clear. The starlight filling the blue sky was so unrealistically beautiful that one couldn’t take their eyes off it.

Roxiana had been sitting on the terrace, looking up at the sky for a very long time.

Feeling something gently touch her foot, she looked down to see Lion nudging her foot with his nose. As if telling her it was time to go in and sleep.

Roxiana smiled and gently scratched Lion’s head, then spoke almost impulsively.

“Lion, I’m in love. I’ve been in love with the Grand Duke.”

Was it just her imagination?

Lion seemed to have an expression of shock. Wide eyes, jaw dropped open. But since a wolf couldn’t possibly understand the word ‘love’ and be shocked, Roxiana continued speaking.

“Isn’t it funny? While my family is likely pacing in a cold, dark well, neither dead nor alive, here I am fortunate enough to be in love. What’s wrong with my head? I feel like I’ve lost my mind, it’s pathetic and laughable. Don’t you think? What would my family think if they saw me now?”

Roxiana let out a short sigh, then noticed the Adelia flower inlaid in gold at the edge of the terrace tea table. A faint smile spread across her lips as she stroked the slightly raised engraving.

The days when she had begged just to die, to be discarded without being placed in Adelia’s coffin, felt distant now.

Yes, there were such times. Times when not a shred of hope or will remained, when she only wanted to die. Times when she couldn’t bear to enter God’s embrace alone, so she just wished to wander eternally in limbo, hoping to meet her family at least once.

It was Floyd who gave hope to Roxiana when she was begging to be killed and discarded, saying she would do anything. It was also Floyd who showed her the path to walk after desperately surviving.

“So how could I not love him? A man who smiles so brilliantly. Don’t you think?”

The wolf seemed to disagree, but true to its nature, it said nothing and just licked Roxiana’s hand. Roxiana hugged the wolf, now much larger than herself, tightly and whispered.

“But don’t worry. I haven’t forgotten what I need to do. The foundation has been laid and the path has been made. From now on, it’s time to move forward.”

+++

Imperial Year 1578, September.

The heat of Kanta had subsided and cool breezes began to blow. In the two months since Casar had taken his seat as regent of Kanta, three rebellions had occurred and all were suppressed without major damage.

“It’ll be noisy for at least a year.”

Casar muttered as he came out after finishing a meeting with his ministers.

“It’ll get even noisier next month when we start officially recruiting workers from Gania.”

As more people showed interest in the road construction project in King Terren City that Elise was in charge of, Joseph V decided to officially support it. Next month, over a thousand young men will be taken to King Terren City to help with road construction for low wages.

‘It’s fortunate if they even get paid a small wage. I wonder if they’ll even feed them properly.’

The families of the young men taken away will be filled with resentment, and they’ll likely try to vent their anger by joining the rebel army. In the end, Gania will prosper, but Casar would have to bear all the damage caused by it.

He had anticipated things would turn out this way, but now that it was becoming a reality, he felt newly irritated. Just then, the head servant ran up and respectfully presented Casar with a sealed letter.

“Count. A letter has arrived from Grand Duke Ratean of Torkan.”