I must leave this place.

That was all Ludmila thought after hearing Benjamin’s words.

Even if Crown Prince Jeffrey hadn’t yet fully realized her position, there was no telling what he might do next.

He had been such an unpleasant man even before being named Crown Prince.

Jeffrey was the typical royal who looked down on and dismissed people behind his smooth smile and expressions.

Moreover, he was greedy and wanted to concentrate the divided power… He was the very image of an outdated monarch that one might imagine.

During the time Ludmila lived in the abandoned imperial palace, she had many unpleasant memories entangled with him.

The prime example was her marriage to Kedilen. It was a political marriage with the Erdi Marquis family.

Because of the marriage he orchestrated, Ludmila had expected her life to fall into ruin.

In fact, she had met her death, proving her prediction to be true.

If such a man were to find her whereabouts, it would be a sign of the end.

Just as he had destroyed her life, it was clear he would eventually find her and cause great harm to Habartz.

And that was not the outcome Ludmila wanted.

That’s why Ludmila was trying to leave this place.

She wanted to erase her traces and hurry away so that they would not know she had stayed in Habartz.

It was a feeling that betrayed her wish to stay here a little longer, but still, she did not want this peaceful place to be destroyed by Jeffrey.

‘I’ll consider it.’

Looking down at the white plum tree, Ludmila recalled what Aden had said at dinner last night.

The man who had replied briefly with a somewhat complicated expression continued the conversation peacefully afterwards.

It wasn’t an unusual conversation, but she wasn’t mistaken in feeling that his reaction was different from usual.

It wasn’t difficult to guess that the reason for this misunderstanding was due to what had happened with Aden the day before.

It had already been two months since she started staying here. When she came to her senses, quite a lot of time had passed.

Unlike when she had worried about how to endure here, feeling that four months would be an incredibly long time, time had flowed mercilessly and only half remained.

Surely, if it had been when she first came here, she would have lamented that two months left was still half the time, but now that time caused sighs for a different reason.

Ludmila had no intention of denying that the underlying feeling was regret, and that what awakened that regret was Aden.

That man stirred her heart. Small yet all-encompassing reasons made her stay here welcome.

And that was precisely why she had to leave this place.

Because she didn’t want to destroy this place that man cherished like his own life.

Like flower seeds that stay briefly and disappear, she wished for her existence to be scattered in the wind and forgotten by them.

“I must hurry.”

One month.

The fact that the remaining time had been cut in half also meant that the time to fulfill her contract with Aden had been halved.

Ludmila, who had let out a short breath, turned and closed the window.

The scent of white plum blossoms no longer rushed in, but quietly scattered in the wind.

It was just as the early morning began.

Ludmila, who had been giving various instructions to Barhan until last night, sought out Aden even before breakfast began.

The place was the private training ground. It was one of the few private spaces Aden had within the castle.

Ludmila, after giving a brief bow to the young soldier guarding the door, calmly came to a stop.

Now she waited for the soldier to announce her visit.

But instead of such a series of actions, the soldier made her feel bewildered by staring at her blankly.

When Ludmila furrowed her brow, the soldier smiled faintly and stepped aside.

“You may enter directly.”

There was no further explanation to the brief words thrown out.

The soldier left with a short bow and turned away.

Ludmila, who had been following the soldier’s retreating back with her eyes, let out a small laugh of bewilderment, but quietly pressed her lips together, thinking this too was very like Aden… like Habartz.

Ludmila, who had put on white gloves after a while, calmly stood before the door.

She lightly knocked on the massive door, closed tightly in amber-brown, with the back of her bare hand.

Knock knock. The response to two brief knocking sounds was silence.

But soon, as footsteps were heard approaching, the closed door opened with a click.

The unoiled door let out a screeching scream.

The closed gap widened and Aden appeared in that space.

His body, not wearing a top as if he had been doing personal training until just now, was as solid as a huge statue.

Scars that made one imagine his life were embedded here and there. Perhaps because of that.

The man before her eyes was more majestic and fierce than the noble relics filling museums or exhibition halls.

“What brings you here?”

Ludmila, who had been staring at that appearance, raised her head at the voice falling from right above.

When his golden eyes entered her field of vision, she realized that until just now, she had been fixating her gaze on that body without even greeting.

Ludmila’s face turned a faint red, but she still tried her best to maintain composure.

“I’m sorry for coming suddenly. I have something urgent to tell you.”

She tried to show her confidence by raising her chin, but the more she did so, the more her reddened cheeks stood out.

Seeing this, Aden burst into a small laugh for a moment, but soon that laughter spread into a gentle smile.

“Are you coming in?”

It was a light question as if asking if it was a conversation that needed to be shared quietly. Ludmila, who keenly noticed the meaning, briefly shook her head.

Aden adjusted his posture as if to say then speak.

“I think I need to visit the capital.”

“…What?”

But at that moment, Aden’s eyes distorted slightly at Ludmila’s words.

It meant that the words that came out of her mouth were heavier than expected.

It couldn’t be helped. Ludmila had risked her life to escape from there.

And now, she was saying she would set foot in that place again.

Wondering if she was in her right mind while simultaneously becoming curious about Ludmila’s thoughts, Aden narrowed his eyes and turned his head.

Aden checked the calendar hanging on the wall and bit his lip.

The hunting competition that Jeffrey had recommended was just over a week away.

Whether he liked it or not, he had to participate there.

Although he knew what Jeffrey wanted, there was no need to go along with it, but he couldn’t ignore it either.

Suddenly remembering that Ludmila and Jeffrey were of the same blood, an incredulous smile spread across Aden’s lips.

Although it was said that only half of their blood was mixed, she too certainly inherited something from the dirty imperial family.

Yet somehow Ludmila seemed more like a noble and virtuous royal, while Jeffrey felt like a half-wit screaming evil.

If it meant that the thicker the imperial blood, the more dirty and petty acts were committed without feeling the slightest guilt, then his impression would be correct.

‘The Crown Prince is digging into Lady Ludmila’s background. More precisely, it’s Kedilen.’

Aden recalled those words left by Benjamin as he ran his hand through his hair.

Having heard those words, he could understand why Ludmila was hurrying to leave this place.

It was a choice she could make because she was a woman who had been extremely careful not to cause harm to him.

Although it was displeasing that she had made such a decision without telling him again this time, if he thought of it as one way that had penetrated her life, it wasn’t incomprehensible.

Rather, if he thought that such an attitude meant she valued this place a little more, it even brought a small smile to his face.

“I’m planning to go to the capital next week too. Why don’t you go with me then? What if something happens if you go alone?”

“I’d like to, but I have something to do. I need to meet and talk with Ojenil, the owner of the investment. I wanted to send a substitute, but now it seems a bit short to educate someone and make them a plausible actor.”

Investment talk, is it? When he heard the report from Barhan, Benjamin came to Aden’s mind, but he soon erased it.

It’s true that that fellow would be useful, but there’s no way Jeffrey, who observes his every move, wouldn’t have put people on Benjamin.

In the midst of being careful because of Emma’s situation, he couldn’t entrust him with this kind of task as well.

Aden nodded his head, lamenting the fact that no other faces came to mind.

“I’ll tell them to prepare a carriage. When will you go?”

“I’ll leave right away tomorrow. You don’t need to prepare a carriage.”

“Then?”

“That’s what I wanted to ask about… Could I ride Rubik?”

“…You mean you’ll ride the horse yourself?”

Aden asked carefully, furrowing his brow.

It’s not that he hadn’t seen Ludmila riding a horse herself, but galloping down a mountain path on horseback was a different story.

Moreover, knowing that she had collapsed from poisoning not long ago, he couldn’t help but feel uneasy.

“I’ll hurry back. I have a lot to do.”

“……”

Faced with her resolute attitude, Aden could not continue speaking.

If he refused, Ludmila would accept it, but that wasn’t the way he wanted.

Aden swallowed a short sigh.

“I’ll tell them to prepare. But don’t go alone. No matter how good the public order is, it’s dangerous alone. I’ll assign someone to go with you.”

“I will. And thank you. I knew you would understand.”

Aden closed his mouth tightly at the sight of Ludmila smiling brightly. Could this be called understanding?

Aden followed Ludmila’s retreating back with his eyes as she gave a single bow.

Her figure melting into the sunlight somehow felt like a precarious candle about to be extinguished.

Aden covered his face with his palm and let out a long sigh that he had been holding back.