Lianna could not fathom why Calix was there.

Had he simply come across her while returning to the capital and found her in danger?

But he wasn’t accompanied by an army.

The only person with him was a knight with reddish-brown hair.

Lianna stared at Calix as though he were nothing more than an illusion — a mirage that could vanish at any moment.

After silently watching her for a moment, Calix moved.

The only thing she managed to see was the dazzling flash of his sword cutting through the air.

A scream erupted.

Blood sprayed violently as one of the bandits’ heads was cleanly severed from his body.

Lianna could not follow Calix’s movements with her eyes.

Wherever his blade swept, flesh and blood burst into the air.

The battlefield quickly filled with agonized screams and the thick, metallic stench of blood.

Calix effortlessly deflected a bandit’s attack before driving his sword straight through the man’s abdomen.

However, at that exact moment, another enemy lunged at him from behind as he was still pulling his blade free.

Lianna cried out in alarm.

“Your Grace, behind you—!”

However, Calix reacted faster than she could warn him.

He had already sensed the enemy approaching.

He turned sharply to avoid the descending axe, drawing a dagger from his coat at the same time.

“GAAAH!”

Blood gushed from the bandit’s severed wrist.

The axe, now ownerless, slipped from his grasp and fell uselessly into the mud.

Calix seized the man by the throat.

Crack!

The sickening sound of bones snapping echoed through the rainstorm.

Lianna’s eyes widened in shock.

She had heard the rumors before — that he could kill without hesitation, even when disarmed.

But hearing stories and witnessing it first-hand were completely different experiences.

BOOM!

Lightning split the dark sky.

The clash of steel and the screams of dying men tore through the storm.

Calix cut down his attackers one by one without pause.

The remaining bandits quickly surrounded him and attacked all at once.

One blade grazed Calix’s cheek.

Lianna’s heart lurched violently.

Thunder crashed repeatedly, as though the heavens themselves were being torn apart.

Her ears rang.

Her vision flashed white.

Amid the chaos, Calix’s figure appeared and disappeared like a phantom.

How much time had passed?

At some point, the thunder finally subsided.

The screams and frantic shouting that had once filled the battlefield slowly faded, too.

Only the sound of rain remained.

Lianna slowly lifted her head.

The ground was covered in corpses and blood as far as the eye could see.

Among the countless bodies strewn across the ground, Calix was the only one left standing.

He was the only one left standing.

Despite facing so many enemies alone, he did not appear to have sustained a single injury.

Stepping over pools of blood, he slowly approached Lianna.

Lianna tried to rise to her feet, but her body swayed unsteadily.

Perhaps the shock of everything that had happened had finally caught up with her.

Suddenly, her legs gave way beneath her.

“Are you unharmed?”

A large, solid arm wrapped around her waist and steadied her.

Before she knew it, she had fallen into the shelter of his broad chest.

Her heart began to pound uncontrollably.

Even in a situation like this.

Or perhaps because the danger had finally passed.

“Yes… I’m alright.”

Lianna looked up at Calix and offered him a faint smile.

Perhaps because of the rain, her violet eyes shimmered softly with moisture.

Calix stared silently down at the woman trembling weakly in his arms.

She felt absurdly light.

She seemed so fragile that he had the strange feeling that she might shatter if he held her too tightly.

Her long silver hair was completely drenched, with strands clinging to her deathly pale cheeks.

Even her lips had turned blue from the freezing rain.

She looked utterly pitiful, but fortunately, she did not appear to be seriously injured.

Following her before it was too late had clearly been the right decision.

He was relieved she was still alive.

If she had died, breaking this cursed affliction would have become impossible.

That was all.

There was no other reason why he had rushed here without stopping to rest.

Calix pushed aside unnecessary thoughts and lifted his head.

Guildford was approaching, supporting a frail-looking boy.

“Joel!”

Lianna pulled away from Calix’s embrace and ran towards her younger brother.

She hugged him so tightly that he almost lost his breath, only letting go when he started to cough violently.

This was the younger brother she had treasured so much.

Lianna repeatedly checked him over, anxiously making sure he hadn’t been hurt anywhere.

Nearby, Calix stood with his arms crossed, silently watching the scene unfold.

Several hours earlier, he had summoned Count Chester to help track down the woman who had suddenly vanished.

When asked if he knew where she might have gone, the Count revealed everything he knew.

In the process, Calix learned something rather interesting.

“Lianna has a younger brother who has suffered from a lung disease for years. She most likely left to bring him to a physician in the capital.”

“You’re certain?”

“Y-Yes, absolutely. Lianna treasures that boy more than anything. She even did something like that just to save him.”

“Something like that?”

“Ah…?”

“You’ve piqued my interest. Explain.”

“Ah… w-well…”

Count Chester had broken out into cold sweat while darting his eyes around nervously.

But unable to defy the Grand Duke’s command, he eventually confessed the entire story without hiding anything.

“Ha. So that’s how it was.”

The price of that bargain had been her younger brother’s life.

It had been her younger brother’s life.

As this thought crossed his mind, Calix let out a quiet, low laugh.

Even if the Count had pressured her, it was still Lianna who had made the decision.

She was a woman willing to offer up her own body for the sake of her younger brother.

Was she foolish?

Or was she simply too devoted for her own good?

Either way, it didn’t matter as long as she remained useful to him.

Calix slowly lifted his dry, golden eyes towards the sky.

At last, the relentless downpour was beginning to ease.

***

Once they had crossed the low hill, the village came into view.

The inn was located close to the village entrance.

The innkeeper welcomed them with overwhelming hospitality.

Food and hot water for bathing were quickly prepared with great care, along with anything else they needed.

All of this was thanks to Calix.

He had paid such an exorbitant sum that the innkeeper’s eyes nearly bulged from their sockets.

Without hesitating for a moment, Calix removed his jeweled cufflinks, crafted by one of the kingdom’s most renowned artisans, and casually tossed them to the innkeeper.

Thanks to this, Lianna found herself enjoying luxuries she could never have imagined experiencing in such a small, rural inn.

As she lowered her cold, rain-soaked body into the steaming bathwater, the tension slowly began to melt away.

Sitting in the warmth of the bath made everything that had happened earlier feel almost unreal.

The man who had saved her life.

He had smelled strongly of blood.

He was powerful and merciless.

And yet, when he held her in his arms…

Lianna closed her eyes slowly and sank deeper into the bath.

Her body felt strangely light, as though she were drifting somewhere far away.

Why had he saved her?

Their business was finished.

By all rights, her usefulness should have ended with it.

Thoughts rose and burst apart in her mind like fragile bubbles.

Eventually, Lianna lifted her face from the water.

Trying to understand what that man was thinking was pointless.

She carefully dried herself with a soft towel.

After returning to the room, she checked on Joel first.

Perhaps because of the terrifying ordeal earlier that day, he had fallen asleep quickly due to exhaustion.

Only after confirming that her younger brother was sleeping peacefully did Lianna quietly leave the room.

The hallway was silent.

With each step she took, the old wooden floorboards creaked softly beneath her feet.

Calix’s room was at the very end of the corridor.

‘Would it be rude to disturb him this late?’

Perhaps he was already asleep.

Lianna hesitated for a moment before raising her hand to knock on the door.

The moment she knocked softly on the door, she heard movement from inside.

Footsteps slowly approached and then the door opened.

A tall man with broad shoulders stood before her.

A cigar rested lazily between his lips as he looked down at her.

“What is it?”

Despite the late hour, there was not the slightest hint of sleepiness in his eyes.

Lianna glanced around the corridor once, instinctively.

At that time of night, there was no one else in sight.

“I know it’s rude to disturb you so late at night… but there’s something I wanted to say.”

Lianna spoke hesitantly.

Calix slowly exhaled a long stream of smoke.

Tilting his head slightly towards the interior of the room, he moved away from the doorway.

For a room prepared in such haste by the innkeeper, it was surprisingly spacious and clean.

A large bed draped in pristine white sheets stood against one wall, and a fairly decent table with several sturdy chairs filled the rest of the space.

Calix gestured for her to sit down.

Being alone with him still made Lianna feel tense, but not quite as much as before.

Perhaps she was slowly beginning to grow accustomed to him.

“You seem to enjoy cigars.”

Lianna sat across from him.

She had seen him smoking before as well.

“I suppose. There isn’t much to enjoy on the battlefield.”

Calix took a deep drag on his cigar.

His voice betrayed little real interest.

Then he frowned slightly beneath his elegant eyebrows.

“Still, this one is absolutely terrible.”

Lianna glanced briefly at the cigar box resting on the table.

‘Was it really that bad?’

“They claimed they brought the finest one they had, yet the quality is pathetic. Perhaps they thought they could lie to me.”

Lianna knew very little about cigars.

However, she had occasionally seen cigar boxes in the Countess’s study when she was frequently entering Chester Castle for work.

The logo on the box looked vaguely familiar.

“If I wished, I could execute the innkeeper immediately for insulting royalty. No one would object.”

If the notoriously refined Countess smoked that brand, it could not be cheap.

Perhaps the standards of a royal prince were simply far higher than she had realized.

“Still… don’t you think the innkeeper probably did his best?”

After all, it was Calix who had arrived without warning.

The innkeeper had undoubtedly scrambled to prepare accommodation fit for a grand duke.

Given the circumstances, it was inevitable that there would be some shortcomings.

Lianna spoke cautiously, gauging his mood, but Calix responded with his usual cantankerous attitude.

“And why should I be expected to care about that?”

“Then I suppose we won’t be able to enjoy the innkeeper’s wonderful cooking tomorrow…”

Perhaps the food did not meet Calix’s standards, but Lianna thought it was extravagant beyond belief.

Maybe Calix wouldn’t care if the innkeeper lost his head — but Lianna certainly did.

The faint disappointment that crossed her face, unnoticed by her, drew an unexpected reaction from Calix.

A subtle smile curved across his lips.