The hut seen after crossing the fence looked even worse than from afar.

It looked eerie as if ghosts might pop out at any moment, and the worn-out, rotten roof seemed unable to withstand even raindrops.

As Valentin said, it looked as if it had been abandoned for hundreds of years.

“It seems someone lived here for a very long time.”

Adelheit grabbed Valentin’s sleeve and pointed here and there. As she said, there were traces of long-term living everywhere.

From a storage shed for food, to an old chicken coop, to herbs dried and hung abundantly.

The strange thing was that despite being covered in dust, everything was neatly organized in its place.

It seemed as if the owner had sensed they would leave forever and cleaned up meticulously beforehand.

Valentin gently removed her hand from his sleeve.

“I’ll take a look around for a moment.”

“I’ll stay here.”

“Don’t go far. Stay… here.”

Where could he be going in such a suspicious place? Valentin slipped into the hut, leaving her behind.

It seemed he had business there from the beginning.

“…”

She carefully crossed the vegetable garden where ripe tomatoes hung.

Though curiosity had led her to enter, her original purpose was to read the inscription on the tombstone. She had planned to leave this strange place without regrets once she read it.

But the engraving on the tombstone was in a language she couldn’t identify from any era.

Despite being fluent in Ancient Arian and Dirte, she had never seen anything similar.

“Excuse me, Valentin. Do you know what’s written on this tombstone?”

Adelheit beckoned to Valentin, who had already made a round inside the hut.

“…”

Valentin slowly crossed the garden and looked down at the tombstone.

In an instant, his eyes became cold, almost seething with anger, which he tried to conceal as he lowered his eyelids languidly.

Hiding what couldn’t be concealed by a single layer of eyelid, he answered in a leisurely voice.

“May they rest in peace.”

Adelheit pressed her chest where her heart had started racing rapidly in surprise. She wasn’t sure what exactly had startled her.

Was it the fact that he could actually read it? Or was it that inexplicable hostility as he looked at the grave?

She hesitantly looked at the tombstone again. It still looked small and precarious, as if it might disappear at any moment.

“… Is that all that’s written?”

“Yes. That’s all.”

Adelheit instinctively realized he was lying. Valentin firmly grasped her wrist.

“There’s nothing more to… see here now.”

He looked coldly at the tombstone as he somewhat hastily pulled Adelheit towards him.

As if a hand might suddenly spring from the tombstone and hold her there forever.

“Let’s go now.”

Valentin hurriedly grabbed Adelheit’s hand and slipped out beyond the fence.

As soon as they completely crossed the boundary, the fence’s latch locked itself again.

“That’s.”

“Ma…gic. Very old and… dying now.”

“Is it still waiting for its owner?”

“Who… knows.”

It seemed like the kind of old witch’s hut that appears in fairy tales.

As Adelheit took one last look at the hut, she noticed Valentin holding a thin leather book and a gold bracelet.

He definitely seemed to have come empty-handed.

Noticing Adelheit’s gaze, Valentin continued nonchalantly.

“They were… mine originally. Just… reclaiming them.”

“Were they things you lent to the hut’s owner?”

“That’s… right.”

Somehow. If it’s related to Valentin, it might really be a ‘witch’s’ hut.

Adelheit, feeling as if she had entered a fairy tale, asked in an unusually excited mood.

“Was that person human?”

“…Yes.”

“Really? How fascinating. Were they your friend?”

“Ask… something else, Adelheit. Please.”

He looked a bit tired.

The eyes that always curved prettily when he looked at her were gone, and his expression was almost blank.

Had she asked too many questions? Suddenly feeling anxious, Adelheit tightly gripped his sleeve.

“I’m sorry. I was too presumptuous, wasn’t I…”

Valentin, who had been quietly looking down at her, sighed and gently pulled her into his arms.

Adelheit barely breathed with her nose buried in his chest.

She knew it wasn’t normal to be this anxious, but even the thought of losing the warmth and goodwill she had barely gained was terrifying.

“I’m… sorry. I didn’t mean to… be so unkind.”

As always, his embrace smelled of cold winter. She felt embarrassed being held like a child.

Adelheit gently pushed him away and slipped out of his arms.

“Come to think of it, your pronunciation has become much more accurate.”

It seemed best to move away from the uncomfortable situation. He smiled crookedly, as if he had noticed her intention.

“Does it… seem that way?”

“Sometimes you don’t stutter or trail off at the end. Everyone knows Your Highness is recovering rapidly, so if you’re doing it on purpose, I think you don’t need to anymore.”

“But then, Adelheit won’t… worry about me. If I don’t pretend… to be lacking like this.”

“You don’t appear lacking no matter what you do.”

“But you… pity me, don’t you?”

When Adelheit looked up at him, speechless at his insistence, Valentin twisted his lips as if to say ‘See?’

“If you pity me so much, maybe you’ll… look back once when you want to abandon me someday.”

If a man with looks beautiful enough for anyone to turn and look, and a strong, elastic body appeared pitiful, one would have to shed tears at the sight of common men on the street.

No one was as outstanding as that man, so everyone would look pitiful in comparison.

Adelheit swallowed a hollow laugh and shook her head.

“You don’t need to do that. How could I ever abandon Valentin? I don’t even have that ability.”

“If you had the ability? Would you abandon me?”

He growled, grabbing her cheeks with both hands. A slanted look entered his golden eyes.

“Let me… ask one thing too, Adelheit. Why do humans say they love, but think about abandoning behind their backs?”

“…”

“And why do they hide… away forever? Even after saying they… liked someone?”

Adelheit’s eyes widened, unable to grasp the intention behind the questions.

Valentin, who had been quietly looking down at her, raised the corner of his mouth crookedly.

“Go ahead, an…swer.”

“I don’t understand what you mean. I’m even more unsure what situation you’re thinking of when asking.”

“Just. Try to… think about it. Why they do that.”

Adelheit met his hurt gaze. She had long felt that he was seeing someone else through her.

Did that woman resemble her a lot? Enough to occasionally mistake her like this, seeking answers as if she were that person?

“…”

Adelheit bit the soft flesh inside her mouth. Every time a situation like this arose, she had always pretended not to know, not to hear.

Afraid that if she mentioned it directly, she might realize she was nothing more than a substitute.

If he really said that, it felt like nothing would be bearable.

“Ah.”

In the midst of anxiously pondering, Adelheit was startled to feel something cold touch her wrist.

At some point, Valentin had lifted her wrist and was fastening the gold bracelet.

Clearly, the one he had brought from the hut earlier…

“Going there was… for this from the start. I wanted to… give you this.”

Valentin seemed to have quickly calmed his emotions.

As if he didn’t need to hear the answer to the questions he had poured out. It felt like a kind of resignation.

Adelheit quietly examined the bracelet with a somewhat uneasy heart.

The bracelet looked valuable and precious at first glance. It was made of gold, with intricate craftsmanship.

A deep green emerald was set in the center.

“This will help… suppress magic. Wear it usually, and take it off… only when practicing magic.”

“It suppresses magic?”

“When you go to the imperial palace, Morig’s servants will be… annoying. If you wear this, it’ll be… fine.”

She looked at her wrist curiously, turning it this way and that.

It was a welcome item, as she had been worried about Joachim and the high priests staying in Prague.

Adelheit turned the bracelet on her wrist back and forth.

“Is it alright for me to use it?”

“It’s fine. I… made it in the first place anyway.”

“You made it yourself, Valentin?”

She looked at Valentin with fresh eyes.

Though he said he made it and lent it out, it was still something used by someone who died long ago. It must be a lie that he had no reservations.

“But it must have been cherished by someone who’s now resting peacefully…”

“They didn’t rest… peacefully.”

“…”

“If they had, I too would be at peace.”

His voice was so sharp that Adelheit looked at him with startled eyes.

Suddenly, a chilly wind blew. The gust of wind swept up Adelheit’s back and tousled her loosely tied hair.

Adelheit’s hair fluttered like golden threads following the flow of the wind.

She tried to hurriedly fix it, thinking it must look unsightly, but the more she tried, the messier it became.

“Stay still.”

The sound of him approaching was heard on the wind.

“I’ll do it… for you.”

Valentin gently gathered her disheveled hair. The touch brushing her forehead and ears was particularly affectionate. He leaned his upper body to tuck her hair behind her ear.

His cool scent, the breath pouring over her forehead, and the moonlight.

“I don’t believe in affection. But I do believe in compassion.”

Suddenly, he whispered in a calm voice.

“So I’d like you to pity me.”

When they returned to the campsite, strange glances were cast their way, though trying not to be obvious.

It seemed they assumed the Grand Duke couple had spent some passionate time alone.

Margaret glared at Valentin as much as she could while wrapping a thick blanket tightly around Adelheit’s body.

Then she received a bunch of herbs from Donovan and brewed a full pot of steaming herbal tea.

“Here, drink it all up.”

“I’m really fine, Margaret.”

Adelheit desperately insisted, but Margaret stubbornly held out a large cup with steam rising in front of her nose with a determined face.

“You still need to drink it. Drink it all up without leaving a single drop. The weather is so cold, and you’ve been in the forest for hours…”

Because the moon was bright and they had been in a space so detached from reality, they hadn’t realized how much time had passed.

Margaret, who kept glancing sideways at Valentin, was very fierce, unlike her usual calm self.

She seemed to think he had indulged in his own desires in the forest with the already frail mistress.

“Has that much time really passed?”