At the foot of the hill, Cassian was facing off against assassins. He had suddenly been attacked during the hunting competition.

Seeing them surround and charge at him without hesitation, their purpose was clear. Attempting an assassination during a hunting competition hosted by the Emperor himself – they were truly audacious.

He may have managed to take down two of them, but his arm was cut by the attack of another. With five opponents, it wasn’t easy.

Pushing the trembling servant behind him, Cassian remained on guard.

Cassian caught his breath. He needed to stay calm. Especially in a situation like this.

Right now, the image of a woman wandering somewhere in the forest came to his mind.

He didn’t believe she would obediently stay put. Wasn’t she the type of woman whose actions were unpredictable?

If she had encountered these men before him, it would have been a major incident.

Knowing about Duke Hardness, they probably wouldn’t carelessly harm her, but one couldn’t be sure. There were those who might think killing her would suffice.

He parried the sword of an assassin who rushed at him next. Although he blocked the attack, another one ran past him towards the servant. Cassian pushed away his current opponent and dashed in that direction.

He quickly ran over and deflected the sword swung at the servant. While the following attack succeeded, he couldn’t block the attack from the opponent who had followed him.

At that moment, a familiar figure cut in front of him. Cassian’s eyes widened. Light brown hair fluttered before his eyes.

“Veronica Hardness!”

Veronica fell with a scream. Cassian caught her as she fell. The two of them toppled to the ground.

“Miss Hardness, Miss Hardness!”

Cassian immediately got up and examined Veronica. Her face, with strands of hair sticking to it, was contorted in pain. He could see her biting her lip, trying to hold back her groans.

Unfortunately, there were still assassins remaining.

Cassian held his sword while embracing her. The assassins seemed flustered at Veronica’s sudden appearance.

They looked at those who had fallen around them and at each other, then suddenly turned around. It seemed they were trying to flee, but there was no strength left to catch them.

“Your Highness! I’ll go call for help!”

As the servant hurriedly left, Cassian checked Veronica’s condition again. Looking closely, her clothes were dirty as if she had rolled on the ground somewhere.

Fortunately, it seemed the blade had lost its direction at the last moment and cut her left leg, as blood was flowing from her leg area.

“The wound doesn’t seem too deep.”

As he tried to raise himself to examine the leg wound more closely, Veronica burrowed into Cassian’s arms.

“…It hurts.”

Her delicate body was trembling.

“It shouldn’t be life-threatening, so you’ll probably be alright.”

“It hurts, it hurts so much…”

“The servant has gone to call for help. You’ll be able to receive treatment if you endure just a little longer.”

Cassian whispered calmly as he held Veronica close. Although he explained that the frightening situation was over, the trembling in Veronica’s body did not stop.

Cassian stroked her shoulder as if understanding. His touch was quite affectionate, as if he had momentarily forgotten that the person in his arms was Veronica.

A faint smile spread across the face nestled in Cassian’s arms.

Hadn’t someone said to start with small things first?

As she wrote dozens of letters that received no reply, Veronica thought that she couldn’t stay like this.

Veronica wanted Cassian’s heart. She wanted to make him fall head over heels for her, to the point where he couldn’t think straight. She wanted him to forsake even his precious older brother for her.

To do that, she needed to improve her relationship with him, but his hostility upon meeting her again was beyond imagination.

Cassian might now despise the fact that Veronica had not only rejected Asher’s proposal but also forcibly engaged herself to him, but he had been the same even when she had accepted Asher’s proposal.

He had always disliked her, despised her, abhorred her. Hadn’t he shown hostility towards her even before she had decided on her feelings for Cassian?

Their relationship hadn’t even ‘begun’. She had already failed many times in trying to improve their relationship. It was difficult with just one-sided effort.

She needed an opportunity. An opportunity to open his heart.

Veronica already knew that Cassian would face an assassination attempt during this hunting competition.

Originally, she would have met with Asher, who hadn’t attended the hunting competition due to health issues, and heard the news of Cassian’s injury.

She remembered Asher hurriedly leaving his seat upon hearing about the assassination attempt. Veronica decided to use that.

The conditions were sufficient. An unsatisfactory engagement, hostility towards the other party, yet an fiancée who tried to improve the relationship, and that fiancée nearly dying in his place. Isn’t it a very good story?

So Veronica deliberately got hurt while shielding Cassian.

She knew she wouldn’t lose her life to the flying blade.

Cassian would only be injured here, not killed, so she wouldn’t die either. Even if she did die, it didn’t matter.

As he said, the leg wound wasn’t deep. Being a body that had never been injured before, she broke out in a cold sweat, but the pain was somewhat bearable.

However, Veronica pretended to be in great pain. She nestled against him, rubbing her cheek and deliberately let out whimpering sounds.

Was this enough? It was then, as she slightly lifted her eyelids.

Veronica hastily moved her body backward. Her eyes, widened in surprise, narrowed.

“Why…”

Veronica frowned. She was bewildered.

“I’m the one who’s injured, so why are you crying, Your Highness?”

Cassian was crying. The droplets rolling down his cheeks were clearly tears. She didn’t know when he had started crying.

“Ah…”

Only then did Cassian touch his own cheek. He looked surprised, as if he hadn’t realized he was crying. He seemed flustered as well.

But the truly flustered one was Veronica. Could he be hurt somewhere? She unconsciously examined his body condition.

“This, this is because I was surprised, so…”

Cassian explained while covering his face with one hand. His face slightly reddened, as if embarrassed about crying.

“I clearly told you to stay by the servant’s side, so why didn’t you listen?”

“I got a bit lost.”

“You got lost on such a short path?”

“Are you scolding me right now?”

When she retorted, Cassian couldn’t say anything.

He kept wiping away his tears with his hand. As if the tears that had started wouldn’t easily subside, he soon bowed his head deeply.

Veronica looked at his face with a somewhat fresh feeling. Did this man have a habit of crying when surprised? She wasn’t sure.

She didn’t think she had heard about it from Asher, but she wasn’t certain. He wasn’t someone she was interested enough in to remember such things.

The sight of him quietly sniffling made him seem younger than usual. It made her realize that he was 16 years old.

It didn’t seem like the same person who had blocked her and swung his sword without hesitation. She realized that even that man had a time like this.

At the same time, she felt murderous intent.

Veronica coldly looked down at the crying face.

There was a story that Asher had once told her, as if revealing a secret.

That when they were young, Asher had been injured in Cassian’s place and ended up limping on his left leg. That from that day on, Cassian had followed Asher around, becoming an affectionate younger brother.

That even though he had received treatment and now had no problems in daily life except for a slight discomfort when walking, Cassian still harbored guilt.

His teary eyes kept examining her injured leg. What was nestled in them was an old emotion.

Even at a time like this, you’re thinking of Asher. You’re saddened by recalling the pain your precious older brother must have felt.

Her mind rapidly cooled. Her heart was dyed black. His appearance made her nauseous.

They had always acted as if they only had each other. Until the very end.

She dug her nails into the dirt ground. Her fingertips caught on something. It was a knife.

The blade, sticky with blood, was still sharp. Without realizing it, she traced the handle of the knife with her fingertips and grasped it.

Veronica looked back at Cassian.

‘Should I kill him?’

Should she kill him and go back?

Come to think of it, she had never killed this man before. Her revenge had mostly been directed at Asher.

She had killed the traitors who sold out their family, but she had never thought of killing Cassian.

That man had killed her dozens of times. How many times had her head fallen to his blade?

Hatred, surges up. Black murderous intent gathered in her crimson eyes. The guilt of killing someone was like a faded memory.

Crying while looking down at blood-stained hands was a story of the past. Now, there was no hesitation in killing people, killing that man.

It wouldn’t be difficult to clean up afterward now. She could disguise it as an accident. Even if she were caught, she could just go back. Then everything would be as if it never happened.

She would just meet him again in that young, immature era when he couldn’t control his emotions.

Her heart pounded. Her mind was calmer than ever. Murderous intent dominated her entire body.

Veronica gripped the handle of the knife. Then she raised the knife towards the defenseless man.

The blade, glinting in the sunlight, plunged straight towards the neck of the man who was about to look up at her.

Red blood seeped from where the blade had passed. The splattered blood stained Veronica’s face and front. It smelled familiar.

The sharp blade repeatedly made grotesque sounds. Her hand quickly became sticky. The knife kept slipping, making it difficult to keep a grip.

Blue eyes, mixed with pain, choked and died. Watching this sight, Veronica smiled ecstatically.