Without exception, we all froze stiffly in place. Soon, only the sound of Reus’ footsteps quietly echoed through the eerie silence.

In an atmosphere where it felt like something was about to happen, I abruptly stood up, but Reus, who had come close, grabbed Theron by the scruff of his neck without paying any attention to me.

“Hey! Wait a moment. Just listen to me for a second. Really, just a moment. I didn’t come here because I wanted to—”

But Theron, who couldn’t even finish his sentence, disappeared from sight in an instant.

“Uh…”

As I blinked in surprise, Reus wrapped his hand around my shoulder and gently pushed down. Thanks to that, my tense shoulders lowered, and I naturally ended up sitting on the edge of the table.

Because the table was lower than the sofa, I naturally looked up at Reus.

This isn’t a place to sit… I tried to open my mouth, but perhaps due to nervousness, the words I wanted to say briefly lingered inside my mouth before disappearing without a trace.

Before I knew it, I found myself trapped between Reus’ legs.

“Were you trying to run away?”

“…No?”

Since Reus was the one who broke the contract, no one had the right to say anything to me even if I acted confident.

But instinctively, I could feel it. That right now, it was correct to deny it no matter what, even if I got hit.

At that moment, Reus fiddled with the inside of my wrist.

“But the bracelet has disappeared.”

“…Th-that’s, well, by mistake—”

“Mistake.”

Reus, who had been repeating my words with a somewhat ominous expression, soon smiled gently as usual.

“I understand, Roel. I’ll believe you.”

“Really…?”

He’s not the type to let things go this easily, so what’s he up to now? As I glanced at him, Reus narrowed his eyes as if asking what the problem was.

“You’re not going to ask more…?”

“Even though I believe you.”

Saying that, Reus lightly stroked the wrist he had been fiddling with. Soon, a slightly cool sensation settled on my skin. Looking at my wrist, I saw the bracelet I had seen in the festival street before.

“Now that you don’t have the protective bracelet.”

“Ah… Is this one also enchanted?”

“Yes. It’s a bit different from the previous bracelet though.”

A bit different?

“What, if I break the bracelet, will I be transported to where Reus is or something…?”

Reus slightly raised his eyebrows as if wondering how I knew.

‘He put a spell that’s just like his personality.’

…I guess I just shouldn’t break it.

“By the way, Reus, I heard from Theron—”

“Theron again?”

I was about to bring up the topic of the Emperor, but thanks to Reus fixating on Theron, I had to quickly close my mouth. Soon, I heard a voice that sounded genuinely perplexed.

“Why do you trust Theron so much?”

“Well, that’s because…”

At least he doesn’t lie like you do?

I wanted to speak honestly, just as it was. But if I did that, I felt he might take out his anger on Theron rather than getting angry at me, so I decided to make up an excuse.

“Maybe it’s because I’ve known his face for a while, so he feels familiar… And he also takes care of me quite well—”

“If that’s the case, shouldn’t I be more familiar? And it’s me who hasn’t left your side for even a moment.”

“No…”

I don’t understand why he’s complaining and refuting everything when he’s the one who asked about Theron.

‘Is this… something like jealousy?’

So, regardless of how it happened, he’s saying that I should trust and feel closer to him than Theron because he knew me first and took care of me more by my side?

What childish nonsense is this? Seeing this uncharacteristic behavior from Reus, I couldn’t help but blurt out a question without filtering.

“You’re not actually jealous or anything, are you?”

“Yes, I am jealous.”

But the response was more direct than I expected, which surprised me even more.

“I’m just asking in case, but… Your behavior towards Theron until now, it wasn’t because of… jealousy, was it?”

This time, Reus didn’t answer precisely. But judging by how his brow furrowed mercilessly as soon as Theron’s name was mentioned, there seemed to be no need to hear the answer.

My mind went blank for a moment at this unexpected fact, but I quickly regained my senses.

I don’t know why he’s jealous over something like this, but if that’s what he’s upset about, I just need to soothe him and get through this, right?

“What is there to be jealous about? I’m just saying I’m close with Theron, not that I’m closer to him than you.”

“…Roel, you don’t know anything.”

Fortunately, it wasn’t completely ineffective. Unlike the slightly sharp atmosphere from just before, Reus grumbled quietly in a somewhat softened tone.

“Really. I think I’m much closer to you than Theron—”

“Then if you have no intention of running away, and you’re closer to me, why did you secretly call Theron?”

“…”

“It sounds like at least one of those must be a lie.”

“N-no. Of course, neither of them is.”

Reus, who didn’t seem to be listening to my denial at all, suddenly asked an out-of-the-blue question.

“Do you have the contract we wrote at the beginning?”

“What? The contract, of course…”

Where did I put it?

I couldn’t remember where the contract, which should be somewhere, was. As I was frantically wracking my brain, I heard a voice that somehow seemed a bit excited.

“It would be a big problem if you lost it.”

“I don’t think I lost it…? Just a moment, let me…”

Ah, I remembered. How could I forget!

“I asked Theron to keep it along with my bankbook when I deposited it.”

But Reus had an expression like he knew it all along. I quickly became uneasy and tried to smile awkwardly.

“It seemed like it would be better for Theron to have it than for me to keep such an important thing…”

“So you entrusted something so important to a stranger, Roel?”

“Why…?”

“Trusting such a guy carelessly, you might end up losing the contract.”

“…What?”

My mind went blank as if someone had thoroughly cleaned every corner, but Reus continued as if it was a good thing.

“Roel, Theron is not a person worthy of trust.”

“That’s a lie. You did something again this time, didn’t you?”

“How could I possibly do such a thing?”

You probably subtly threatened him or made the paper disappear like you did with the ship!

“It’s fortunate though. I lost my copy of the contract too.”

“What…?”

Now I became afraid of what words would come out of that man’s mouth. Soon, Reus spoke in a slightly relieved voice.

“With this, all evidence proving that we were fake spouses has disappeared.”

So what happens to the contract from now on?

‘Does it automatically terminate?’

At that moment, as if answering my inner thoughts, Reus’ words naturally continued.

“Unfortunately, since the only thing that could prove it has disappeared, the contract is now null and void, Roel.”

“If it becomes null and void, we are…”

“Even if the contract has become that way, our marital relationship still continues.”

That’s true, I suppose. Since we held a wedding ceremony and became legally real spouses. That was a fact I knew well too.

If there was anything I didn’t understand, it was Reus’ attitude that seemed to repeatedly remind me that I couldn’t leave.

Why does he keep repeating this fact so much? If he had said it was because of the Emperor, I would have understood and said myself that I wouldn’t attempt to leave the Duke’s castle.

“I heard that it might be dangerous if I leave the Duke’s castle because of His Majesty.”

“Did Theron tell you?”

But as soon as he heard my words, Reus frowned deeply.

“Useless talk…”

“How is it useless talk? Thanks to that, I learned the reason you didn’t tell me.”

Reus, who had been staring at me for a moment, spoke in a slightly relaxed tone.

“If what you say is true, then it means I got rid of the ship to Belliata not because of you, but because of the Emperor.”

“…”

As Reus pointed out, that part didn’t add up. Even if he made it so I couldn’t leave the Duke’s castle, there was no reason anywhere to get rid of the ship heading to Belliata.

‘Then, why…’

After being momentarily frozen in confusion, I soon asked Reus.

“Were you worried about me?”

“Worried? I’m always worried about you, whether you’re in front of my eyes or not.”

But the answer that came back was as good as saying it wasn’t the reason I firmly believed in either.

“Roel. Since you’ve decided not to leave the Duke’s castle for the time being, think it over carefully.”

“…”

“You’ll have plenty of time.”

Although Reus said there was plenty of time, to my ears it sounded like time wasn’t an issue at all.

Of course, I still haven’t found the reason why Reus told me to think it over carefully.

‘No matter what I try to fit in, nothing makes sense.’

It was difficult to find a plausible reason because it didn’t make sense from the start that he had gotten rid of all the ships.

He said it wasn’t out of concern for my health, which I thought was the most plausible reason, nor was it because he was worried about my safety due to the Emperor, which I was sure was true.

‘Then what on earth is it for!’

While I was just frustrated because I couldn’t understand the reason at all, Reus seemed to have become a bit more relaxed since the day Theron visited.

Perhaps because of that, he had an attitude like it didn’t matter whether I knew the reason or not, so even when I tried to ask casually, he skillfully evaded the question.

‘I can’t call Theron again either.’

Who would have known that on the day I decided I needed to call Theron, Reus would come directly with the documents instead of Dwin.

‘Did he already know I was going to call Theron?’

I seriously considered for a moment whether Reus might also be able to read minds.

At that moment, Roteo called me.

“Your Highness.”

“…Ah. Yes, Roteo.”

“The guests have arrived a bit early, so I guided them to the reception room.”

“Ah, they’ve arrived already? Thank you for letting me know. I should go right away.”

I immediately headed towards the place where there might be people who could solve my dilemma.