Delia spat out in frustration with her reddened lips. “It’s juice.”

Once again, the sound of liquid flowing into the glass resonated.

It felt like the conversation in the cabin was coming back to life.

The same repetitive dialogue.

His past hidden deep in a low, deep voice.

And an inexplicable anxiety.

“I tried to reassure you with a big heart. I said it to comfort you. You didn’t even know about that. You just made a frivolous joke.”

As Delia tried to drink the juice again, Aaron grabbed her hand.

“Is it really juice? It seems more like alcohol.”
“Because it’s juice.”

“If it’s not alcohol, there’s no way I’d be this drunk already.”

“I’m not drunk. Why would I be drunk when it’s not even alcohol?”

“Let me check for myself.”

Suddenly, Aaron grabbed Delia’s waist and pulled her towards him. Holding a glass in one hand and a bottle in the other, there was no room for resistance.

Trapped by Aaron, Delia had no choice but to offer her lips to him to confirm whether it was alcohol or juice. Aaron licked Delia’s moist lips thoroughly.

The worries that had kept her awake the previous night, the determination to protect him—everything evaporated with his teasing touch.

After savoring Delia’s spirit, Aaron smiled satisfactorily. “Oh? It’s really juice.”

At Aaron’s frivolous words, Delia frowned as if returning to reality. It only took a moment for her to be swept away by him if she let her guard down even a little.

“I said it was juice.”

The moment Delia exerted force to push Aaron away, the juice she was holding spilled. The liquid poured over her chest, trickling down like blood from her heart.

“What is this? Everything’s soaked.”

“Sorry. I pretended to be drunk, thinking it might be alcohol.”

“So what if it’s alcohol?”

“I just wanted to finish it all.”

Aaron slyly smirked and took out a white handkerchief. He gently wiped the damp upper part of her chest with deliberate movements.

The touch, as if about to touch the heart, made her breath catch, and her chest involuntarily trembled.

Delia, who held onto his slowly descending touch, glared at him. “I’m serious.”

In the moment she exerted force to push Aaron away, they froze, staring at each other.

A foreboding sound, unfitting for the serene Bolleri Gardens, echoed in their hearts.

Even though Delia didn’t resist, Aaron’s hand slowly moved away from her.

Delia also straightened herself up.

In that fleeting moment of mutual gaze, an intense light blended with each other and engraved on their retinas.

“Commander.”

The owner of the footsteps running from afar was Colin.

Treading on the grass with rough steps, Colin hurriedly approached and paid respects to Aaron and Delia.

“Wait a moment.”

Aaron, who stood Colin a considerable distance away, took off his jacket. He draped it over Delia’s shoulders, which were soaked in red juice.

After tightly enveloping Delia without a gap, Aaron looked at Colin.

Aaron’s chilly voice resonated through the trembling leaves. “What’s the matter?”

“Estrella has moved.”

At Colin’s words, the warm lights that had been gently shining around them lost their strength.

A tension, like a snake crawling through Bolleri Gardens, spread.

“Estrella?”

Similar to the long-standing animosity between Iorenti and Pheber, Estrella, the old rival of Strelitz, was always causing trouble on the eastern border.

“What happened?”

Just like the relationship between Iorenti and Pheber, Estrella’s movements were always troublesome.
“When Strelitz sought to conquer the three southern countries and control the sea route, their restraint arrived.”

Recalling the report received from the imperial messenger last time, Aaron asked Colin, “What’s the scale?”

“According to the latest report, an army of 100,000 is gathering at the border.”

“It’s not such a large scale. They wouldn’t just attack us with that number.”

Both countries were the largest military powers on the continent. If they were to engage in a full-fledged battle, it wouldn’t end with just 100,000.

However, the fact that they only mobilized 100,000 meant that Estrella didn’t desire war. Perhaps something didn’t go as planned, and they were trying to secure a favorable negotiating position with the threat.

Aaron concealed the slowly emerging anxiety, gently adjusting the collar of the jacket enveloping Delia.

“What exactly have you been doing all this time, brother? They’re running wild like this.”

“The demands from Estrella were too outrageous.”

“What demands did they make?”

“In exchange for reducing land tariffs by half, they requested permission to freely use the ports we secured this time.”

“Ridiculous.”

Charging high tariffs when using the land route and now asking for unrestricted port usage. Moreover, the southern three countries’ ports fell under Strelitz’s jurisdiction. Now, overlooking that was akin to overlooking the empire’s territory.

Estrella was openly provoking.

A curse flowed from Aaron’s gritted teeth. “Furthermore.”

Aaron raised an eyebrow at Colin’s hesitant demeanor. “Speak.”

Colin took a deep breath and reported, “Empress Carolina has been captured by Estrella.”

“Empress Carolina?”

“She went as the official envoy representative for negotiations, but after rejecting Estrella’s conditions, she was imprisoned by them.”

Upon Colin’s report, even Delia, who had been listening nearby, had a frozen expression.

Empress Carolina was the mother of the commander… Delia looked at Aaron with anxiety that even his jacket couldn’t conceal.

The disappearance of his smile, tightly pressed lips—through these signs, one could feel how serious the situation was.

Delia gently touched Aaron’s hand and cautiously spoke. “Commander, come back. Don’t worry about here.”

“I won’t go.”

“The empire is under threat right now. Your mother, the Empress, has been captured by Estrella.”