Though I couldn’t understand what breaking the covenant meant, it was certainly not a favorable situation for Penadel.

The King immediately raised his right hand to face level.

Thump, thump.

In sync with his gesture, the guards protecting the laurel hall struck the floor twice with their spears.

The threat didn’t end there.

Just as the King’s hand was about to fall completely like the blade of a guillotine.

“Your Majesty.”

A gentle voice softly broke the frozen atmosphere.

“Grand Duke Baluasten has not broken the covenant.”

The Crown Prince, who stood before Sir Penadel with his usual gentle stride, looked up at the King with a smile on his face.

“Didn’t you entrust the matter of the engagement between the two families to me? Since things have suddenly turned out this way, I summoned Grand Duke Baluasten to the royal capital to question what happened.”

Summoned.

I could instinctively sense that the King’s mood had eased ever so slightly at those words.

The King’s voice that followed was as affectionate as in Belinda’s memories.

“Mihail, with such a soft heart, how will you manage state affairs?”

“I apologize for causing you concern.”

The Crown Prince picked up the fallen crown from the floor and placed it on my head as casually as hanging clothes on a rack.

“Your Majesty, wouldn’t it be better to conclude the succession ceremony here and prepare for the spring ball this evening?”

The Crown Prince naturally diverted the King’s attention and gestured to the attendants to escort the nobles who had participated in the succession ceremony out.

The nobles, suddenly finding themselves expelled, looked at me as if demanding an explanation after their initial confusion, but I was the one who understood this situation least of all.

However, one thing was certain.

“Grand Duke, Lady Blanche. His Highness the Crown Prince has instructed us to escort you to the guest chamber.”

“Grand… Duke?”

That Sir Penadel had been deceiving me.

I looked up at Sir Penadel standing beside me.

Though he wasn’t wearing his mask, for the first time, I couldn’t read anything from his expression.

“Tell me with your own mouth. Is what they’re saying true?”

Even to my own ears, my voice sounded as dry and rough as parched sand.

“It’s true. But I didn’t intend to deceive you from the beginning. I just…”

“You introduced yourself to me as Penadel. And yet you say you didn’t intend to deceive me?”

“…I’m sorry.”

His expression, which had remained as solid as stone even in the face of the King’s anger, crumbled for the first time.

“You’re sorry…”

I could guess the weight behind those words.

I had known him for some time.

“He is a coward… a pathetic man who knows what’s wrong but fears speaking the truth.”

He was someone who suffered more from his own deception than those he deceived.

“Perhaps when the succession ceremony is over, could you spare me some time?”

He had intended to tell me the truth.

“According to the terms of the contract, I entrust my protection to you while staying in the royal capital. I’m not satisfied with other knights.”

Perhaps the lies he continued to tell stemmed from my own greed when I drafted the contract.

“I consider myself quite a rational person. So I think I understand why you couldn’t tell the truth all this time.”

Yes, I can understand him perfectly.

He’s someone who wouldn’t hesitate to stand before the King to protect me.

So I could overlook his lies.

I untied the white ribbon that secured my hair.

Swish.

As my hair came loose softly, the ribbon wrapped around my hand.

I carefully wiped the blood from the wound on Sir Penadel’s cheek with the clean inner side of the ribbon as I continued speaking.

“But it’s strange. I understand, yet I can’t forgive.”

I clearly thought I could understand and forgive him.

But something like anger without a destination was clawing at my insides.

At my words, Sir Penadel’s eyes trembled unstably.

The white ribbon, stained with his blood, fluttered to the floor.

Looking down at it, I said in a dry voice.

“I need time to think. Until then, Sir… no, Your Grace, you don’t need to protect me.”

***

Concerned that Belinda would have to bear the King’s anger alone at the succession ceremony, Mihail had asked Cesar to attend the ceremony to disperse the King’s displeasure.

He thought that if the responsibility for the broken engagement was shared among the Blanche family, the Baluasten family, and Mihail himself, it would reduce the individual burden of the King’s fury.

However, before Mihail could announce that he had summoned the Grand Duke to the royal capital on his own authority, Cesar stepped forward to protect Belinda, causing the Grand Duke to incur the King’s wrath alone.

Thanks to Mihail’s crude lie, Cesar was able to avoid serious trouble, but in the end, the King issued a banishment order prohibiting all northern knights from setting foot in the royal capital for a year.

Cesar, too, had to leave the royal capital.

Faced with this sudden—or perhaps predetermined—parting, Belinda still couldn’t easily define her feelings.

She still couldn’t forgive Cesar, but not because she felt betrayed by him.

Late at night.

To organize her thoughts, Belinda stood on the terrace of her room, looking down at the flowers in the garden that Leo’s magic had brought to bloom.

The night was frighteningly dark and quiet, with even the moon hidden behind pitch-black clouds.

It was so dark that even if Cesar had come out onto his balcony next door, just as Belinda had, they wouldn’t have been able to see each other’s faces.

Belinda, gazing at Cesar’s quiet room with no sign of movement, momentarily parted her lips.

She didn’t even know what to call her knight protector anymore.

Then, without realizing it, she spoke his name.

“Sir Cherry, are you there?”

“Yes, I am.”

Not having expected an actual response, Belinda was startled.

“Why aren’t you sleeping… no, never mind.”

After calming her fluttering heart, Belinda spoke about the royal messenger who had visited the mansion earlier that day.

“I hear a royal messenger visited the mansion. You’ll be leaving the royal capital soon, I suppose.”

Cesar gave no answer, but Belinda continued regardless.

“I’ve heard that traditionally, the master of the North never leaves the northern territory. Once you leave the royal capital this time, you’ll likely do the same.”

In “Hirome,” the Northern Grand Duke had never shown himself in the royal capital.

‘He probably left the royal capital after being rejected for a contract marriage by the real Belinda, before Ophelia arrived.’

So after this time, he would never set foot in the royal capital again.

Somehow not in the mood to continue the conversation with Cesar, Belinda was about to return to her room when.

“May I… come over there?”

Had she unconsciously nodded at Cesar’s voice coming from the darkness?

She must have, because the next moment, she could make out a dim figure standing two steps away from her.

If Belinda hadn’t given permission, he would never have crossed the balcony railing.

“Lady Blanche.”

“I’m tired, so please keep it brief.”

Belinda responded indifferently, but at his next words, she couldn’t help but turn to face Cesar.

“…If you would permit it, I would like to return to your side next spring.”

“But… is that possible? You’re… the head of the North.”

Is it possible for him, the guardian of the barrier, to leave the North?

Won’t the royal family be wary of his visit?

All these thoughts and concerns soon evaporated with Cesar’s next words.

“If you allow it, I can return. No, I will definitely return.”

Ridiculously, it was only then that Belinda felt she might be able to forgive Cesar.

At the same time, she could also understand the reason for the anger that had been tormenting her.

Belinda was angry not because Cesar had deceived her, but because she realized he was someone she couldn’t keep by her side.

The moment it was revealed that Cesar was the Grand Duke, he was no longer Belinda’s knight protector or Leo’s swordsmanship teacher.

Even though his presence by her side had become so natural.

At that moment, the dark clouds cleared, revealing them both fully in the moonlight.

Instead of answering Cesar’s words, Belinda quietly looked at his bare face without the mask and asked.

“Sir Cherry, why didn’t you honestly tell me your identity sooner?”

Cesar was able to answer immediately because he himself had pondered this question for a very long time.

“Because if I revealed my true identity, I would no longer have been able to remain by your side.”

“I want to ask one more thing.”

“Please do.”

“Why is protecting me important to you?”

At that moment, Cesar’s gaze, which had been steady all along, wavered.