The journey to the North is long. Even if we ride day and night, it will take nearly a month to reach the Grand Duke’s castle.

As I mounted the horse, I saw dozens of knights, and there were the Grand Duke and Arcadia at the front.

I reached out my hand to Yora.

“Get behind me, Yora.”

“Eh? Bu-but I’m not a knight.”

“What does that matter? You raised this horse. It’s a long way to the North.”

“!”

Hesitatingly, Yora took my hand. I pulled him up to sit behind me.

He cautiously grabbed my shoulder.

“Hold on tight, Yora. Let’s go!”

Hans’s figure, waving at us, grew smaller and smaller.

Until he was a mere speck in the distance, I watched him.

Riding non-stop with the entire knight squadron was no easy task.

After riding for two days, both people and horses needed to rest for half a day.

Throughout the journey to the North, I kept pondering over the words relayed by the red caterpillar, sent by Medea.

Julia Nugent.

All I knew about her was that she hated my fiancé in my past life, Sion Bellapast.

The only and youngest daughter of Count Hern Nugent, the regent of the former Northern Grand Duke.

After the former Grand Duchess passed away, she became the highest-ranking woman in the Northern Grand Duke’s castle.

In my past life, according to a passing remark by Medea, Julia Nugent deeply loved her father, the regent of the Northern Grand Duke.

Thus, she resented the true Grand Duke, Sion Bellapast, in Jeju, who couldn’t protect her father.

But when the Northern Grand Duke regent died, Sion was just fifteen years old, a hostage held by the Emperor’s coercion.

Could resentment alone drive her to hide a fake missive from enemy lands in her fiancé’s bedroom and report it to the royal family?

Probably Medea’s slick tongue had reached Julia Nugent without my knowledge in my past life.

The two met for the first time when Julia set foot on Jeju land as the Grand Duke’s fiancée, years later.

But in this life, Medea is already eyeing Julia Nugent.

It’s to
Is it because of the variable that I represent, or is it the failures that didn’t exist in the previous life that are now pushing Medea to act more hastily?

Either way, this is all I know about Julia Nugent.

Bella, I’ll send a good gift to the North, look forward to it.

The note Medea sent me.

A gift, by its very nature, is meant to be delivered to someone.

Who, how, and to whom will this gift be delivered?

At least one conjecture seemed plausible.

It’s highly likely that the recipient of this gift will be ‘Julia Nugent.’

The mention of her name in Medea’s message implies that the current target of the White Grand Duchess is Julia.

‘I need to know more about Julia. There’s no guarantee we’ll arrive before Medea’s gift.’

Where could I find more information about her?

As of now, the only person who comes to mind is Arcadia Nugent, her second older brother.

I started to hover around Arcadia.

Asking too seriously about her might make him suspicious.

Especially since Medea’s message involved his sister, Arcadia was already on edge.

I had to create a situation naturally where I could bring up Julia’s story.

So, during the half-day rest, I pitched my tent next to Arcadia’s.

I also looked for opportunities to join him for meals.

Every time, I often made eye contact with the Grand Duke, but I deliberately ignored his gaze. If I start paying attention to the Grand Duke, I can’t do anything else.

Your Highness, the Grand Duke.

In this life, I will ensure Julia Nugent is not deceived by lies, and that she does not grow to hate you.

Whether you trust me or not, I want to atone for my actions towards you.

Arcadia was always busy.

Sending forward messengers to the North, conveying and discussing news from Jeju with Emils and Hans – he was rarely in his tent.

On the day when Chef Moby prepared a special meal, I saw him entering his tent.

It had been a week since we left Jeju.

“Chef, I’ll take the food to the Deputy Commander.”

“That would be great!”

Moby, who had been busy preparing and delivering food for over twenty people, seemed to need a hand.

Carrying a steaming soup and quail stew, I energetically approached Arcadia’s tent entrance.

“Deputy Commander!”

“?!”

Arcadia, who had just thrown his clothes onto the bed, hurriedly picked them up to cover his bare upper body.

‘Eek, he was changing.’

An unexpected situation. I quickly turned my head away.

The sound of him hurriedly dressing came from behind. He grumbled,

“You startled me.”

“Sorry, Deputy Commander. Please finish changing. See, I’m not looking.”

“Esdel.”

“Yes?”

“Could you… leave for a bit? I’m not that easy a guy.”

‘Ah… I can’t retreat now when I’ve found an opportunity.’

“Sorry, I’ll reheat the soup since it seems to have cooled down and bring it back.”

“Esdel.”

“Yes?”

“Aren’t you supposed to be a bit shocked in such situations?”

“What?”

Arcadia threw an unexpected comment.

If he had just asked me to leave the food and go, I would have understood.

Honestly, I wasn’t overly shocked.

I was accustomed to seeing men’s bodies from my time training with male assassins.

That’s why, a month ago, seeing the Grand Duke’s unclothed body and being flustered was more perplexing for me.

An unwarranted confusion.

“Sorry. I was a bit shocked, but… I’m your aide, after all. I shouldn’t be so easily startled in the future, right?”

I felt awkward trying to say something so unlike me, so I coughed to cover it up.

“Does that mean you plan to barge in while I’m changing in the future?”

“No, that’s not it!”

Arcadia exhaled a low sigh.

After a while, he approached me from behind.

“Aide.”

“Yes!”
I turned around.

At that moment, he playfully grabbed my nose and gave it a slight wiggle.

“Ouch!?”

“I was embarrassed.”

“Don’t tease me.”

“It’s not teasing. You’re not crying, are you?”

The night before we left for the North, lying on the training ground, it was Arcadia who helped me up.

Although he noticed me crying but said nothing, I was grateful, and now, as expected, he’s bringing it up.

I replied grumpily.

“I’m not crying.”

“Okay, what do you need?”

“I brought some food. I thought it’d be nice to eat with you, Deputy Commander, instead of eating alone all the time.”

“With me? Really?”

“Yes.”

Arcadia looked a bit surprised, his eyes widening. I guess I must have laughed at his expression without realizing.

“You must have really wanted to eat together. Then let’s enjoy it thoroughly.”

Arcadia brought a table from the corner of the tent towards me and then took out a bottle of wine from under the bed.

“This is something I drink very rarely, only on special occasions. It’s good for rejuvenation.”

He smiled gently, like spring sun melting white snow.