“Ah! You’re awake, Your Grace.”

“…?”

As she opened the door, a sturdy knight standing guard in front greeted her.

‘What is this now?’

“My name is Gilford. From today, I have been assigned to guard Your Grace.”

“My guard?”

As Karina’s eyes met his, Gilford spoke.

“His Grace has ordered us to take turns guarding Your Grace’s room from now on.”

Karina’s brow furrowed.

It seemed Jeremiah had assigned a guard knight because of yesterday’s incident.

‘Without even asking for my opinion…’

Karina was displeased.

In the past before her regression, there was a time when knights were assigned to guard her like this.

But the claim that knights were assigned as guards out of concern for her safety turned out to be a lie in the end.

The pretext was protection, but the reality was surveillance.

The knights who firmly believed they were guards betrayed her when the situation truly called for it.

‘Let’s stop this. If you act up any more, we will subdue you.’

‘Stop. If you do not back down, we will restrain you by force.’

The knights he assigned as guards were in fact watchmen to monitor her and shackles to suppress her actions.

How many bitter tears she shed when she later learned the truth.

“I didn’t know the Grand Duke was interested enough in me to send a personal guard. Aren’t the northern knights all busy? There was an explosion just yesterday.”

Though it was a complaint about the Grand Duke who hadn’t asked for her opinion, the knight seemed to interpret Karina’s words differently.

“Regarding yesterday’s explosion, the culprit has been caught and it will be wrapped up soon.”

“What? The real culprit has been caught?”

‘This quickly?’

Karina couldn’t hide her surprise at the unexpected news.

She had thought that with Jeremiah and the northern knights on the case, catching the real culprit would be no big deal.

But she hadn’t expected them to find the culprit in just one day.

“How did you find them in just one night?”

“We didn’t find them.”

“Then?”

“At dawn, a magician in his early 40s came to the Grand Duke’s residence. He claimed to be the mastermind behind this incident.”

“You’re saying the magician who helped with the prison break turned himself in?”

It was hard to believe.

“We also found it strange, but the details he confessed about the crime matched our investigation, so it seems he’s definitely the real culprit.”

The magician’s reason for turning himself in was unclear. But Karina became more interested in something else.

“It’s good that the real culprit was caught. Then, what about the person wrongfully imprisoned?”

“A basic investigation will be needed, but since the suspicions have been cleared, he should have been released by now.”

“Is that so?”

After hearing the knight’s answer, Karina went into her room and changed into simple attire.

Then she grabbed the pouch she had prepared last night and immediately headed out.

The knight followed her as if it was only natural, but she tried not to pay him any attention.

[This is the timeline separator]

When Karina arrived at the underground prison, Mikhail was just leaving his cell.

“Have you been released now?”

Mikhail’s face brightened at Karina’s voice as he received the amnesty.

“You really came?”

“I didn’t come to see you. I just came because I heard the real culprit was caught and was curious who it was.”

Mikhail smiled gently.

“Oh my, that’s a bit disappointing.”

“I don’t know what’s disappointing, but more importantly, take this.”

She handed the man a heavy pouch.

“What is this?”

“It’s a token of gratitude for yesterday. It’s not a large sum, but you won’t have to worry about being homeless for a while.”

“…”

“I’ll say it again, it’s not a large sum. So it would be good to find a job before the money runs out.”

Watching Mikhail stare intently at the money pouch, Karina continued with a final greeting to wrap up the conversation.

“This is all I can do for you. Thank you for saving me that day. Take care.”

“Wait a moment.”

Mikhail’s voice held back Karina as she was about to turn away without lingering.

“I can’t accept this. I’ll return it to you.”

Mikhail handed the pouch back to Karina.

“…?”

Karina frowned as she looked back and forth between Mikhail and the pouch he returned.

‘This person. What is he thinking?’

Yesterday he refused to escape, and today he’s rejecting a money pouch while saying he has nowhere to go.

Karina couldn’t understand Mikhail’s actions at all.

“Why are you refusing?”

“If I accept this money, it feels like I saved Your Grace expecting something in return. If you really want to do something for me, just grant me one favor later.”

‘He’s really a strange person.’

Karina sighed, openly expressing her frustration.

“Later… I’m not sure. I don’t think we’ll meet again.”

Mikhail shrugged at Karina’s firm response.

“I plan to stay in the North for a while. Unless Your Grace stays in the mansion all year round, wouldn’t we run into each other at least once by chance?”

“…”

His tone was confident that they would meet again.

“What do you mean by…”

Just as Karina was about to ask the reason, Karina’s guard knight, who had been silently listening to the conversation, abruptly interjected.

“If you’re done talking, let’s return to your room now.”

“…”

Karina frowned at the guard knight’s rude interruption.

‘Come to think of it, this person was here.’

The guard assigned by Jeremiah.

As expected, he was an annoying presence.

He was probably trying to protect her in his own way, but from her perspective, it was nothing but a nuisance.

She sighed involuntarily at the thought of having to carry this burden around from now on.

At that moment, a thought crossed her mind.

‘Wait… a guard?’

It occurred to her that she might be able to get rid of the annoying surveillance Jeremiah had assigned.

Karina asked Mikhail again.

“Hey. You said you’ll be staying in the North for a while, right?”

“Yes.”

“Then you’ll need to find a job in the North too?”

“I can’t just play around forever.”

“That’s perfect. How about becoming my guard then?”

Mikhail tilted his head with a question mark above it at Karina’s sudden proposal.

“A guard?”

“I was just looking for a capable guard. You said you need a stable job too. What do you think? Being my guard until you find a place to go.”

Mikhail’s eyes lit up.

“Hmm, an interesting proposal.”

The corners of Mikhail’s mouth curved upwards as he replied.

Thinking his reaction wasn’t bad, Karina pondered how to persuade him further.

“I’ll pay you much more than other places. Even though it’s a guard position, you don’t need to do anything fancy. Just stay by my side. There won’t be any particularly difficult tasks.”

“Alright. Sounds good.”

“I know it’s a sudden proposal so it might be hard to accept. But… What?”

Karina looked at Mikhail with surprised eyes.

“I accept Your Grace’s proposal.”

“Ah, th-thank you.”

Karina stumbled over her words, taken aback by his ready acceptance.

Still, she felt good thinking she could now escape the knights’ surveillance.

Karina responded with a bright smile to his straightforward acceptance.

At that moment.

“What are you two doing here?”

A low, quiet voice cut between the two of them.

Karina turned her head in shock.

When had he arrived?

Jeremiah was glaring at her and Mikhail with piercing eyes.

‘Why is Jeremiah here…?’

Karina couldn’t hide her confusion at his sudden appearance.

This was the time when Jeremiah should have been in the middle of a meeting with his aides.

At the same time.

‘At least I won’t have to go through the trouble of finding him myself.’

She had been planning to seek him out about Mikhail’s matter anyway.

“I asked what you two are doing here.”

Jeremiah approached the two of them more closely with his quiet voice.

Karina composed herself and calmly replied.

“You came at a good time.”

“You speak as if you were waiting for me.”

“I didn’t expect to meet you here. But I’m rather glad since I have something to discuss with you.”

“Something to discuss…”

Jeremiah, who had been looking down at Karina with an indifferent expression, turned to Mikhail.

“Don’t tell me it has anything to do with this fellow?”

His gaze towards Mikhail was so cold it sent a chill.

“It is related. I’ve decided to hire this person as my personal guard.”

“Guard?”

Jeremiah’s straight eyebrows twitched into an uncomfortable angle.

“Are you saying that you, the Grand Duchess, personally came to the prison early in the morning for such a trivial matter?”

His tone implied that she had forgotten her dignity as the Grand Duchess.

“It wasn’t my intention, but that’s how it turned out.”

Karina pretended not to understand his implied meaning and went straight to the point.

“Anyway, as I said just now, I want to bring him in as my personal guard. I’d appreciate it if you allowed it.”

Jeremiah flatly rejected Karina’s careful request.

“What nonsense.”

“Why is it nonsense?”

Karina’s voice unintentionally sharpened as she asked back.

But Jeremiah threw an irrelevant question instead of answering.

“…You two. Did you know each other from before?”

“No, we just met yesterday?”

“Then, you’re saying you want to bring in an outsider you met yesterday as your guard? Do you think that makes any sense?”

“What’s the problem?”

“Identity, status, skills, dignity. Everything about that fellow is a problem. No, perhaps your foolishness in suddenly wanting to bring in someone you don’t even know as your guard is the biggest problem.”

“If you’re so displeased, we can verify him starting now, can’t we?”

‘You’ve done such a thorough background check on me, so checking Mikhail’s background should be nothing.’

Karina barely swallowed the bitter afterthought.

It was something that happened in the past before her regression, a future that had not yet occurred.

Jeremiah’s cold voice continued.

“Is there any need to go that far to change your guard? If you’re not satisfied with your current guard, I’ll replace him with another knight.”

“No. I don’t want your knights. If I need a guard, I want that person.”

“Do you think the guard issue is something you can decide on your own like that?”

“Of course not. That’s why I’m talking to you now, right? And it seems like I’m not the one who didn’t discuss things in the first place?”

Karina glanced at Gilford.

She meant that he had decided on the guard knight without discussing it with her.

“Even if I say no, you’ll assign a guard, right? If so, I’d like to be able to decide on that guard. Since it’s someone who will be following me around all day, I’d at least like to choose someone I like.”

That way, she could be a little freer from Jeremiah’s annoying surveillance.

But despite her request, Jeremiah didn’t even raise an eyebrow.

“What an absurd demand. Do you think I’ll allow it?”

“Then I’ll refuse your guard knights too.”

Karina and Jeremiah glared at each other, in sharp confrontation. As the tension between them heightened.

“Excuse me, may I interrupt for a moment?”

A gentle voice was heard.

It was Mikhail.

“Listening to your conversation, it seems the issue is ultimately my background. You’re saying I’m ‘an unreliable wanderer of unknown origin,’ right?”

“It’s not just because of that, but that part is certainly a problem to begin with.”

“Then I think there’s a solution. Although I’m currently a wandering magician, I’m not such a suspicious person.”

“Are you saying you can prove your identity?”

“Yes. If you inquire at the Magic Tower, you should get a clear answer.”

Karina’s eyes widened at Mikhail’s words.

“You, were you affiliated with the Magic Tower?”

‘If you had said that from the beginning, things wouldn’t have gotten this complicated.’

Karina inwardly sighed.

“I had my reasons.”

Mikhail winked at her.

“But I think it’s better to have my whereabouts known to the Magic Tower than to receive unnecessary suspicion.”

Mikhail whispered quietly to Karina, who was looking at him with a surprised expression.

“I’ll explain in detail later.”

Mikhail, who gave a meaningful smile, turned to Jeremiah and asked.

“Then is there no problem with me being Her Grace’s guard now?”

“Not at all. Even if your identity is confirmed, my position doesn’t change. I can’t entrust the Grand Duchess’s guard to someone whose skills haven’t been verified.”

Karina’s brow furrowed at Jeremiah’s consistent opposition.

“You. Going that far to…”

At that moment, Mikhail stepped forward.

Standing as if blocking Karina, he approached Jeremiah.

The two men’s gazes clashed fiercely.

But Mikhail, who had created such a serious atmosphere, soon showed a relaxed smile.

“Come to think of it, you have a point. It wouldn’t do for someone called a guard to have poor skills. Then, I just need to prove my skills, right?”

Mikhail continued with his usual languid smile.

“Let’s do it. A skill verification.”