Looking at their tightly intertwined fingers, Letia realized she couldn’t escape recklessly.

Even though she didn’t want to exchange a single word with him, to the point of not wanting to know anything at all.

She had to know why he was so unwilling to back down.

‘I might as well know the reason and calmly cut ties.’

Unlike before, Letia relaxed her hand held by Kallion and opened her mouth composedly.

“What is your reason for doing this?”

Kallion stared intently at her changed attitude.

“Your Grace and I have met for the first time just now. Moreover, don’t you know who I was? Yet you’re proposing to me?”

At her words about meeting for the first time, Kallion’s grip on her hand tightened.

He thought it wouldn’t matter if Letia had lost her memories, but seeing her truly forget his existence completely made him uncomfortable.

“It’s not our first meeting.”

“Of course, we were together in the Red Forest, but…”

“I’m not talking about then.”

“Pardon?”

Letia’s eyes widened in bewilderment.

‘If not then, when?’

Seeing the pure doubt in her eyes, Kallion finally gave up.

There was no time to argue about this issue now.

“I don’t care who you were in the past. That day, didn’t you say with your own mouth that you were no longer the Crown Prince’s fiancée, and that you would break off the engagement yourself?”

“…”

“Then you are now just Letia.”

“Yes, just Letia. That’s what I want too.”

Letia quickly twisted her hand free in a moment when Kallion was slightly off guard. Then she showed her empty hand in front of his eyes.

“I don’t want to be shackled again on my ring finger.”

She repeated his words and exhaled dejectedly.

“I don’t know what Your Grace wants, but I have nothing to give you.”

Letia clutched her short hair.

“I’m already covered in ashes, yet you call me a shining jewel…”

Her fingers trembled as she gripped her hair.

Kallion wanted to take her hand again, but he restrained himself and spoke in a cool tone.

“You said with your own mouth that you’d run away. From your current position, wouldn’t House Harenclord be the best option?”

“That escape definitely doesn’t mean to Harenclord. The escape I want is to completely break free from everything. Especially the Imperial family.”

Letia’s complexion turned pale as she mentioned the Imperial family.

“Someone like Your Grace wanting to marry me, isn’t it just to use me in the end? Of course, I don’t know what you intend to use me for. No, perhaps because I’ve been abandoned by both the Imperial family and my house. You might think I can be easily manipulated.”

For a moment, she suppressed her rising emotions, then let out an empty sigh as if drained.

“Hah… I’m so sick of it. Words like usefulness. And necessity.”

Seeing him listening silently to her words without any emotional reaction, her raw true feelings burst out uncontrollably.

“Not long after I was born, they said I should shine gloriously as the Crown Prince’s jewel. I was raised holding only that duty in my hands. Regardless of my own will, that was my reason for existence.”

Born to an indifferent couple, Letia received coldness and indifference from her father, Viscount Rogard Crystallos, but affection from her mother, Viscountess Rimia Crystallos.

The day she entered the Imperial Palace at the age of 7, after the deal between the Imperial family and House Crystallos was made.

While everyone told Letia she must become a necessary existence for the Imperial family, Rimia was different.

“Letia, don’t be discouraged. You are the most precious jewel in the world. Don’t let them manipulate you at will, make them beg to want you.”

Her mother said she was a special being, but it wasn’t true at all.

“I failed, and so that duty became a punishment engraved in my chest that I had to live with. Now that I’m finally trying to pull it out, you speak of becoming a Grand Duchess. To be entangled with the Imperial family again. What kind of escape is that? It’s just being caught again.”

Letia put strength back into her wavering voice.

“From the beginning, our relationship was only about safely escaping the Red Forest together, so I’d like us to part ways here.”

Kallion, who had wanted to hear her story, finally opened his mouth.

But his voice too was completely different from before.

“I was wrong. Instead of talking about a proposal, I should have gone straight to a deal.”

He continued in a much colder tone.

“As you’ve guessed, what I want is not an ordinary marriage. Of course it’s about using you.”

“…”

“This time I received an imperial order to attend the Crown Prince’s engagement ceremony, but the real order is marriage. A marriage absolutely necessary to perfectly succeed the Grand Duchy of Harenclord.”

Letia felt as if the puzzle pieces were falling into place.

For royalty and nobility, the most important thing is an heir to continue the family’s power.

Especially for House Harenclord, with Kallion as the only survivor, marriage would inevitably become an imperial order.

“So you want me to become the Grand Duchess and bear an heir for you?”

“I said it’s not an ordinary marriage. I’m just trying to keep up appearances and revive the Grand Duchy. What I want right now is not an heir or anything like that.”

For a moment, a deep malice could be felt in his voice, but Letia deliberately ignored it.

‘I don’t need to know his real reasons.’

“Appearances… Then I suppose someone as insignificant as me would be suitable as a fake Grand Duchess.”

“But I’m not the only one using you. You’ll be using me too. I told you, didn’t I? This is a deal. Through me, I’ll let you truly escape. I’ll remove anyone who tries to interfere with that.”

Kallion fixed his blood-red eyes on her without blinking for even a moment.

Letia felt a chill run down her spine, pinned by that gaze.

Especially his next words reeked of blood.

“I’ll let myself be caught in your hand and manipulated. I told you, didn’t I? That I’d dirty myself.”

“What… what are you saying now? Who exactly am I supposed to use Your Grace to…”

“Do you really think you can completely escape this situation without shedding any blood? Who do you think is after your life right now?”

Kallion started pressuring Letia, and she faltered with a confused look in her eyes.

“Even though I was hated by my family and abandoned in the Red Forest. But if I just quietly run away…”

If she could just go far, far away where her uncle and Serina couldn’t find her…

“You’re seriously mistaken.”

Suddenly, a cold laugh pierced her mind.

Letia flinched and raised her gaze, and Kallion finally stepped back from her, clearing the way.

“Well then, see for yourself with your own eyes.”

“What?”

“You’ve escaped the Red Forest and made it to Gaudium. Try running away as you wish.”

His seemingly mocking attitude was strangely irritating.

‘But it seems he’s given up.’

Letia quickly took a step, afraid he might change his mind.

As she was about to brush past Kallion, his voice quietly but intensely pierced her ear.

“Reach out to me whenever you need. I’ll let myself be caught and do whatever you want.”

“…”

“Even if I’m just a husband in name, I’ll be entirely on your side.”

But Letia quickly moved away from him without any reply.

Kallion leisurely murmured as he stared at the empty space where she had disappeared from his sight.

“Given the place, it won’t take long.”

***

Finally escaping from Kallion, Letia’s legs gave out and she stopped in place for a moment.

“Haa, haa…”

What on earth had just happened?

Even though she had just experienced it, she couldn’t believe it.

‘Not only did I meet the Grand Duke of Harenclord, but to receive such a proposal for a contract marriage…’

“He says I should use him too? My ally? No. There’s no such thing. There’s no one who will be on my side and protect me.”

After all, even the people and family she had trusted eventually turned their backs on her.

Letia quickly shook her head, as it was something she didn’t need to think about.

There was no need to deeply consider any of his words.

“I just need to run away. Serina won’t even imagine that I’ve safely escaped from the Red Forest. So if I just escape as planned and hide…”

She could live as just Letia, not Gemma or the Crown Prince’s former fiancée.

Letia looked around, grasping at that thread of hope once again.

“He said this was Gaudium earlier, right? The engagement ceremony will start tonight. Should I aim for when all the nobles gather…”

With more people, it might be easier to hide in the crowd.

First, it was urgent to figure out where she was.

Letia took a step forward.

A long, long corridor stretched out, and suspiciously, there was no one around.

Just as she reached the end of the corridor, still on high alert,

“Lady Letia.”

A familiar voice came from somewhere, and with that one phrase, Letia’s face turned as white as a sheet.

Unable to even turn her head, an expressionless maid walked in front of her.

As Letia remained silent, frozen in terror as if she’d seen a ghost, the maid smiled coldly, raising only the corners of her mouth.

“It’s been a while. It’s only been 5 years, have you forgotten my face?”

“Moila. Why are you here…”

“This is Her Majesty the Empress’s villa.”

“The Empress’s villa?”

Her mind went blank at the unexpected location.

“Her Majesty has specially summoned Lady Letia here.”

As if a guillotine had fallen on her head, Letia’s breath stopped.

“Her Majesty is very eager to see Lady Letia.”