The eastern training ground of the grand duke’s mansion, prepared for the training of knights.

Instead of war cries, shrill screams of knights erupted from there.

“Ugh!”

With a groan, one knight fell down.

“……”

The knights standing outside the sparring area watched the situation, glancing at each other and holding their breath.

Amidst the quiet stillness filling the surroundings.

“Next.”

A low, solemn voice flowed out.

At that single word, the surrounding knights flinched.

One knight, receiving a nod from the captain, stepped onto the training ground with a pale face.

A sharp metallic sound rang out as sword clashed against sword.

In the midst of it, everyone kept their mouths shut like clams, only rolling their eyes.

“Gah!”

With another scream, the knight who had stepped onto the training ground rolled out beyond its edge.

“Next.”

“……!”

The knights who had gathered for training turned pale at the frosty atmosphere flowing through the training ground.

This current situation was all because of Jeremiah.

Jeremiah, who had seemed to be in a very bad mood recently, had been frequenting the eastern training ground lately.

Although the knights trained and conditioned their bodies on the training ground every day, even they struggled to endure the intense aura Jeremiah was emitting.

“Next!”

“……!”

Every time Jeremiah opened his mouth, the knights felt their blood run cold.

It felt like they were fish willingly placing themselves on a cutting board.

Unable to watch any longer, the knights’ captain Ron stepped forward to stop Jeremiah.

“Your Highness. The knights are quite exhausted. Perhaps we should end it here for today……”

At those words, Jeremiah’s brow furrowed.

“It’s still not enough.”

“……”

At Jeremiah’s single statement that it wasn’t enough, Ron’s mouth clamped shut.

“Is this all the skill the knights have?”

“……I apologize.”

Ron bowed his head shamefully at Jeremiah’s blatant display of dissatisfaction.

The knights had already been thoroughly beaten by Jeremiah to the point of becoming rags.

Ron inwardly sighed as he looked at the knights who had lost even the will to hold a sword.

Because of Jeremiah, who had been coming to the training ground continuously these days and roughly handling the knights, proper training had become impossible.

‘If only I knew the reason why he’s acting like this…’

It was even more perplexing not knowing why Jeremiah was behaving so differently from usual.

Ron was at a loss for what to do.

“Your Highness!”

Just then, a soldier standing guard at the main gate of the grand duke’s mansion came running.

“The carriage carrying the Grand Duchess has just arrived.”

Upon hearing the soldier’s report, Jeremiah raised his sword again, then sheathed it.

“As you said, the knights seem tired, so we’ll end it here for today.”

Leaving those words, Jeremiah immediately turned and headed towards the mansion.

“……?”

Ron’s eyes widened in surprise at Jeremiah’s unbelievable behavior.

‘He’s just leaving like this……?’

It seemed like a lie that the situation had been so serious just moments ago.

It was unbelievable that Jeremiah, who had been on the verge of pushing the knights to near death, had left without another word.

‘Could it be that his recent strange behavior was because of the Grand Duchess……?’

But unlike the shocked Ron, the knights’ expressions brightened with relief at having survived.

Karina and Mikhail returned to the grand duke’s mansion late in the evening.

‘Ah, I’m exhausted.’

Karina carelessly brushed back the hair that had fallen forward.

It seems she had been on edge the entire time she was out.

As the tension eased, fatigue rushed in like a tide.

Her body felt as heavy as a waterlogged sponge.

‘I should go to my room and rest for a bit first.’

She needed to think about what to do next while resting.

She also had to review the points that differed from the past, and organize the new information she had learned.

Only then could she determine the direction of her future plans.

As she was climbing the stairs with these thoughts, suddenly she felt dizzy and her vision spun.

“Ah!”

With a short exclamation, Karina lost her balance and her body fell backwards.

‘I’m falling!’

Karina tightly shut her eyes.

At that moment, a strong arm wrapped around Karina’s waist as she fell.

Along with the feeling of being pulled back with a powerful force, a cool and refreshing scent touched her nose.

“Grand Duchess, are you alright?”

“……”

When she opened her eyes, she saw Mikhail’s surprised face.

‘So close.’

His face was so close it seemed like it would touch her at any moment.

Seeing him this close, his features became even clearer.

From his round forehead and neat eyebrows, to his snow-white skin and straight, high nose bridge, to his appropriately plump lips that seemed to hold the vitality of a red rose.

The ruby-like eyes shining clearly under his long eyelashes were beautiful enough to be drawn into.

Karina blankly stared at Mikhail’s face.

“Grand Duchess?”

Karina came to her senses at Mikhail’s call.

“Ah, thank you. Thanks to you, I avoided the spectacle of rolling down.”

“It’s nothing. This is what I’m supposed to do.”

Mikhail’s expression as he smiled with his eyes curved was pleasant to see.

Karina smiled back at that sight.

Just then, a low, fierce voice was heard from the bottom of the stairs.

“What are you two doing? Separate immediately.”

When she turned her head to look down, Jeremiah was glaring at the two of them with a grim expression.

‘Jeremiah……?’

Surprised by his unexpected appearance, Karina asked.

“Why are you here?”

Despite Karina’s question, Jeremiah kept his mouth tightly shut and did not answer.

Jeremiah, who had climbed the stairs in one breath, grabbed her arm and pulled her away from Mikhail.

“Ah!”

He gripped so tightly that tears pricked at her eyes from the pain in the grasped area.

“It hurts! Let go!”

Karina struggled and tried to pull her arm free, but it was useless.

When Karina showed pain, Mikhail’s expression hardened as he intervened between her and Jeremiah.

“Let go of that hand. Can’t you see the Grand Duchess is in pain?”

Despite Mikhail’s urging, Jeremiah did not release her hand.

Instead, he glared at him with fierce eyes like a beast.

Eventually, a chillingly low voice flowed out.

“Why were you embracing the Grand Duchess? You’d better answer in a way that satisfies me.”

He seemed about to strangle Mikhail at any moment.

But Mikhail also faced Jeremiah directly, not backing down an inch.

A tense atmosphere swirled between the two men.

Karina stepped forward in Mikhail’s place.

“Don’t misunderstand. He just caught me as I was falling, that’s all.”

When Karina answered, Jeremiah’s gaze turned to her.

“He caught you as you were falling? That scene just now?”

Karina was dumbfounded by Jeremiah’s reaction, sharp as a thorn.

Karina frowned and irritably shook off the arm he had grabbed.

Then she asked back in a cold voice.

“It’s the truth. Mikhail only did what he should as a guard, so what exactly is the problem?”

Jeremiah’s expression hardened at the sight of Karina defending Mikhail.

“I told him to be a guard, not to engage in foolishness.”

“Foolishness?”

Karina made an incredulous expression.

“I heard you just went out alone with the guard again. Where did you go? And in such attire?”

Jeremiah pointed out Karina’s shabby clothing.

Ignoring him, Karina asked accusingly.

“Didn’t the sentries report that I said I was going out for a city inspection?”

“You did a city inspection all day like this?”

Jeremiah snorted, clearly showing his displeasure.

“What an absurd lie. Tell me the truth.”

Mikhail’s brow furrowed at Jeremiah’s attitude of distrusting Karina’s words.

As Mikhail was about to step forward, Karina raised her hand to stop him.

Karina swallowed a sneer at Jeremiah’s rebuke.

‘Since when did you care so much about me.’

She was already tired with many things to think about.

Her head was starting to throb with pain as well.

Karina, not wanting to engage in any more pointless bickering, suppressed her rising irritation.

“Let’s stop this. Why are you suddenly acting like this?”

Jeremiah’s expression twisted, thinking Karina was avoiding answering.

“If others had seen, they would have wagged their tongues recklessly. Did you think I would just stand by and watch such a sight?”

He was saying he wouldn’t tolerate the grand ducal family becoming a topic of gossip among the servants or outsiders.

If word spread that the grand duchess was close to a man other than the grand duke, it would lower the prestige of the grand ducal family.

‘Of course. This is about the face of the grand ducal family.’

A sneer escaped Karina’s lips at the thought that it was as expected.

But the face of the grand ducal family had nothing to do with Karina.

‘I’m going to live somewhere where no one knows me after the divorce anyway, so what does the reputation of the grand ducal family have to do with me?’

She was someone who had endured enough of all kinds of scandals and insulting rumors before her regression.

She was confident that she wouldn’t bat an eye at such things during her stay at the grand ducal residence.

“Do as you please. I won’t care at all what others say.”

“You’re acting like it’s someone else’s business.”

Jeremiah made an expression of disbelief at Karina’s attitude.

“Huu.”

Karina let out a long sigh at his blatant reaction before her eyes.

Then she opened her mouth calmly.

“Grand Duke. You don’t need to act like this towards me.”

“What?”

“I don’t intend to continue this life for long.”

“What do you mean by that?”

Karina continued in a calm voice.

“I’m thinking of getting a divorce.”

“Divorce……?”

Jeremiah looked as if he didn’t understand what he had just heard.

“Yes. This relationship is only harmful to both of us anyway. There’s no need to continue such a relationship.”

Towards him, standing dazed in place, Karina finished what she had to say.

“I’d like to do it right away if I could, but considering that this marriage was by imperial order, divorce won’t be easy. Still, I’ll do it for you.”

Karina spoke in an indifferent yet firm voice.

“I will definitely find a way to divorce you, so please don’t concern yourself with me from now on.”

Jeremiah was rendered speechless like a mute who had eaten honey at Karina’s cold declaration.

“……Are you serious?”

The squeezed out question finally reached Karina.

“Of course I’m serious.”

The corners of Karina’s lips curved up in a natural arc.

Her eyes were unwavering and solid as she answered like that.

Jeremiah was shocked by her appearance, speaking as if there wasn’t a shred of falsehood.

“I’m sure the Grand Duke feels the same way, so I hope you won’t interfere.”

Though he must have heard Karina’s words, Jeremiah just stood there as if frozen in place.

Karina didn’t care if she didn’t hear his answer.

Even if she didn’t hear an answer now, he would undoubtedly agree to the divorce.

“I’ll assume you understood and take my leave now.”

With that, Karina gracefully left with Mikhail, passing by Jeremiah.

Even after she had gone, Jeremiah remained unable to move from that spot for a while.