Letia moved her lips as if possessed, unable to know what she was thinking or saying.

“When we first met……”

Kallion’s anticipation grew, not missing even the slightest breath from her.

“Your Grace!”

But Kiyan’s voice shattered the tense atmosphere, and Letia also came to her senses and closed her mouth.

‘What did I just do?’

“Your Grace! You were here!”

Kiyan ran up to Letia and Kallion, and Kallion glared at him with murderous eyes.

But Kiyan, completely oblivious to the atmosphere, smiled innocently.

“Are you returning to the Grand Duke’s residence now? Shall I prepare? Why are you staring like that? Is there anything else you need? Perhaps!”

Kiyan moved closer to Kallion’s side and lowered his voice.

“Something you secretly prepared for your wife……”

“Kiyan.”

Kallion gritted his teeth so hard his jaw tensed, feeling harsh words about to burst out.

But Kiyan was still smiling brightly as he finally turned towards Letia.

Letia’s eyes widened in surprise at the unexpected situation, then recalled that he was the person Kallion had called in the great temple.

Kallion finally introduced Kiyan formally.

“Kiyan Kisten. My advisor.”

Kiyan bowed gracefully towards Letia.

“I look forward to working with you, Your Grace the Grand Duchess.”

The introduction ended there, but Letia could get a sense of what kind of person he was from Kiyan’s non-stop talking.

“Honestly, I never imagined His Grace would find a lady to marry at this engagement ceremony. To not just find but marry right away! As expected of our Grand Duke. So different from others! I was really worried. It was the first imperial order, and it would have been really hard to fix if this was violated.”

Kiyan, who had been smiling brightly, suddenly stared at Letia.

“What kind of deal did you make?”

“Pardon?”

Letia hesitated at the suddenly sharp question, but Kiyan kept smiling.

“There’s no way His Grace would marry sincerely. So relax.”

Reading the implied meaning that he already knew it was a contract marriage, Letia became even more tense.

‘Indeed, he’s the one called the Ghost of the Battlefield. He doesn’t keep just anyone by his side.’

“But personally, I’m curious about you, Your Grace. His Grace called your name right away. I thought something was off since then……”

“He called my name? When?”

“No, it was at the military camp……”

“Kiyan!”

Kallion cut off Kiyan’s words in an angry tone, and Kiyan cleared his throat and quickly averted his gaze.

Seeing this, Letia looked at Kallion with a puzzled expression.

‘Something’s been strange since earlier.’

“Stop talking nonsense and prepare the carriage. We’re going to the Grand Duke’s residence right away.”

At Kallion’s fierce gaze, Kiyan nodded vigorously.

“Hahaha. The Grand Duke’s residence will be in an uproar. It’s been empty for so long, everyone must be on edge in various ways. And now you’re returning with the Grand Duchess.”

Kallion was silent for a moment at those words, then spoke softly to Letia.

“……Please understand if it’s chaotic. I’ll have the mansion organized as quickly as possible.”

“You don’t need to worry. It’s not a real marriage anyway.”

“I care. Because it’s where my wife will stay.”

Letia froze at the sudden intrusion of those words, and a slight wrinkle formed between Kallion’s brows.

“Wait here for a moment. I’ll go pay my respects to His Majesty and return.”

“Understood.”

As Kallion turned away, Letia withdrew her gaze from him and gripped her frock coat a little tighter.

It was certainly very cold earlier, but somehow it felt a bit hot now.

***

Kallion escaped from the great temple, using the newlywed excuse to handle Kalua’s petty congratulations.

Even a simple wedding like this was so tiring; if he had to go through a full-fledged ceremony, he would rather go back to the battlefield.

Especially listening to each and every one of Kalua’s detestable words was uncomfortable.

‘The empress who openly shows hostility is better.’

In fact, the most questionable thing this time was the behavior of Duke Crescent.

‘He was even more active in this marriage. I wonder what his true intentions are……’

At that moment, Asiz approached Kallion.

Kallion knew from Asiz’s hardened expression that this was not the atmosphere for a light farewell.

“Do you have something to say?”

“How could you do this to me?”

“I don’t know what the problem is.”

“I waited for your return, and I was so happy to be together again.”

“Then you can continue to be happy. I have no intention of leaving here again as if being chased away.”

“Why, why did you marry Letia!”

“Is that something I should apologize to you for?”

His tone, which had been maintaining politeness dryly, suddenly turned cold, and the atmosphere became tense.

“Asiz. You saw how I was stripped of my title and driven out of the imperial capital. But it had nothing to do with you. Even though you’re connected to the imperial family by blood that can’t be severed, I never resented you, nor asked for an apology. There was no reason to receive an apology.”

“Don’t tell me. Is it revenge? Did you approach Letia for revenge?”

“Revenge?”

The corner of his mouth twisted coldly as chilling words spilled out.

“Even if it was, you were the first one from the beginning.”

“What do you……”

“I stepped back once, but not anymore.”

His voice, which had been without inflection, gradually sharpened with different emotions.

“She’s a jewel you failed to recognize. To me, she was a jewel that never stopped shining from beginning to end.”

‘Rather, she was the only light.’

Asiz became confused by Kallion’s words.

“Brother. Since when did you know Letia?”

“That’s not for you to know first.”

“Pardon?”

“Asiz, even if you turn your back on me because of this, it can’t be helped. I’m just going to distance myself from you with this opportunity. So I’m warning you.”

Kallion regretfully but decisively tied up his relationship with Asiz.

“She is no longer your fiancée, but my wife. Don’t speak of the old past anymore. If my wife’s honor becomes tarnished because of that, while you’ve done nothing wrong until now, it won’t be so in the future.”

Kallion stepped closer to Asiz and whispered briefly in his ear.

“The waiting ends today.”

For this moment, it was not revenge, but a purely personal warning.

***

The Gemma clan, who had been silent in one corner like outsiders, pushed aside by the nobles, showed the greatest dissatisfaction with this situation where the engagement ceremony had turned into a wedding.

Even if one was Nebula, two from the Crystallos family were entering the imperial family.

These people flocked to the Malachite family, which once maintained a similar power to the Crystallos family.

“Does this make sense? The balance of power between the clans will completely collapse at this rate.”

“It looks like the Crystallos family’s pride will grow even higher.”

An old gentleman with an air of dignity in his upright posture just silently listened to their complaints.

Below his shiny black hair that reflected light well, stripe-like patterns were engraved on his forehead like a mark – this was the head of the Malachite family, Viscount Royan Malachite.

“How much must they have done to cling to the imperial family, for even a stone that was once thrown away to be able to stick to the Grand Duke who just returned.”

At that moment, a sharp woman’s voice cut through the crowd, and the dignified Viscount Malachite’s brow furrowed.

At the end of their gaze stood a charming middle-aged noblewoman with sparkling green hair.

She was the head of the Peridot family, Viscountess Shamala Peridot.

“No. To use even a stone they pulled out again from head to toe. Amazing. I should learn a bit too.”

“There are many eyes watching, so please refrain.”

Royan politely restrained Shamala’s sarcasm, and other Gemmas also soothed her.

“Let’s watch for now. The engagement is incomplete, and Harencloud Grand Duke and Nebula are mutants that may be beneficial or harmful.”

***

Left alone in the carriage prepared by Kiyan, Letia relaxed her tension and leaned back a little more comfortably.

‘I’ll think about what to do when we arrive at the Grand Duke’s residence later.’

But the carriage door suddenly opened and Kallion entered.

Letia straightened her posture with a startled expression.

“Why are you so surprised?”

“Ah, no. I thought you were going on horseback.”

“It’s troublesome if you’re already like this.”

“Troublesome……”

“We’re a couple, even if fake, so we should pretend to be affectionate. Do you dislike being together this much?”

“I-I don’t dislike it……”

“Then do you like it?”

“Pardon?”

As Letia was at a loss for words in embarrassment, Kallion continued coldly.

“I don’t like it.”

Of course, it was a marriage for a deal, even without having to remind her.

Then, Kallion took Letia’s hand.

“There’s no need to pretend to be affectionate here where there are no eyes watching.”

But Kallion silently applied medicine to the wound on her palm.

A faint smile appeared on Letia’s face at this unfamiliar situation.

He seemed like a truly kind person, not just pretending to be kind.

‘He was like this in the Red Forest too. His words are so cold, but his actions are not like that at all.’

Strangely, among the few good memories she had, her memories with Kallion, whom she had met not long ago, were quite deep.

“Does it itch?”

“No?”

“Then why are you smiling?”

“Somehow, it feels like we have a lot between us in such a short acquaintance.”

“It’s not short.”

Kallion hesitated for a moment, then asked outright.

“Since we’re on the topic, shall we continue? You said it doesn’t seem like we first met in the Red Forest. Then when do you think we first met? I’m very curious about the rest of what you were going to say.”

“That…… I was actually going to ask you. If you’re talking about Selene Palace, I didn’t see Your Grace then, so it wasn’t our first meeting.”

In fact, Letia didn’t know why those words had suddenly come out then.

“Do you really not remember anything?”

He had intended to let it go if she had forgotten, but Kallion finally spoke the memory of that time out loud.

“At the Winter Spire.”

Letia’s eyes widened and she shuddered slightly.

“How do you know about that place, Your Grace?”

“Because I was trapped there too. There, do you really not remember?”

“What……”

“We were together.”

But Letia’s eyes shook in confusion, and seeing this, Kallion paused.

He hadn’t thought about it before.

‘Was it not simply forgotten, but completely erased?’