Her skin, accustomed to the warmth inside the carriage, protested the cold, but Ines paid it no mind and drew in a deep breath.

Cold air flooding into her lungs. The cool, clean breath she had missed until the moment of her death.

“……”

Only then did she feel as though she was truly breathing. Only now did she truly feel that she was alive.

Ines steadied her welling eyes and took the steps she had paused.

As she fully descended from the carriage, a tall man approached.

Among the crowd bundled in heavy winter coats, he was the only one wearing light dress clothes, yet he looked more formidable than any of them.

Ines stared at him drawing closer, forgetting to walk, forgetting to breathe.

Jet black hair against the white expanse of snow. Deep blue eyes glinting within dark, heavy-lidded features. A straight, prominent nose. Smooth lips.

Ines could not take her eyes off him. The man possessed a remarkably striking appearance, and beyond that, he carried an atmosphere that surpassed even his looks.

A well-honed ferocity that only the most dominant of the powerful could possess.

That alone was evident from the way the imperial knights, whose pride was not small, watched him with transfixed eyes.

But that was not why Ines could not look away.

Killian Rupert, alive, moving without restraint, watching her with eyes more luminous than any jewel.

‘Killian, come back to me. Open your eyes. Please……’

As though erasing the afterimage of those tightly closed eyelids, Ines kept drawing him onto her retinas and burning him into her mind. Then he stopped about three steps away.

“Welcome to Rupert, Your Highness.”

A deep, low voice that fell pleasantly on the ear.

“I am Killian Rupert.”

That greeting, heard for the second time in her life.

In that moment, Ines had to clench her fist tightly to keep from letting the tears spill out.

* * *

It did not take long for Ines to gather herself.

‘Pull yourself together.’

She gave herself one more silent reprimand, then arranged her face into a natural smile.

“Thank you for receiving me, Grand Duke. I am Ines Delcarion.”

Her voice came out slightly unsteady, but not so badly that it was embarrassing.

Ines felt a small measure of relief. All those hundreds of times she had rehearsed this reunion before today had been worth something.

But the relief lasted only a moment. Killian’s eyes, which had been watching her, creased ever so slightly.

‘Did I do something wrong? That shouldn’t be possible……’

The reason became clear soon enough.

“It would be better to exchange the rest of our greetings inside. You seem quite cold.”

Cold? Her? Ines blinked at him.

“……Me?”

“You’re trembling.”

Killian gave a light shrug and glanced toward her arm.

“Ah……”

Only then did Ines notice that her hands were shaking.

The trembling had nothing to do with the cold, as he had suggested. It was the residue of emotions she had thought she had neatly contained, slipping past her control.

But to someone who did not know better, it would look like shivering from the cold.

Killian was this kind. The trembling hands of a princess the Emperor had forcibly saddled him with were something he could have simply ignored.

Ines curled her fingers into her palm and smiled faintly.

“I suppose I am…… a little cold.”

She murmured softly.

In truth, she was not cold at all. Emotion had gotten ahead of sensation, leaving no room to feel the chill.

“Even so, it should warm up considerably in about a month. The North has its summers too.”

Killian answered her quiet murmur with easy kindness and turned toward the castle. The moment he took a step forward, his broad back came into view. All she had to do was move and fall into step beside him. But in that instant, the image of his blood-soaked back, always one step ahead of her, overlaid itself on the clean, steady figure before her, and her legs locked up without her meaning them to.

‘Ines. Don’t fall behind me.’

‘There’s blood on your back……’

‘I’m fine. You know something like this heals quickly.’

‘……Killian.’

A mage’s regenerative ability was beyond belief, but it had its limits.

Holding back an endless tide of enemies, his back had gradually been dyed red, and at some point the fabric could no longer absorb any more and it began to drip onto the ground.

In a situation like that, all that helpless, useless Ines could do was hold down her bursting heart and keep from falling behind.

No matter how unhappy her childhood had been, she was still a princess raised in comfort, who had never so much as held a sharp blade, let alone done any rough work.

In the chaos of war, where every second counted and even a cat’s paw would have been welcome, Ines, who had only ever been sheltered, was nothing but dead weight. No one said it to her face, and that was precisely why she resented herself all the more.

Ines stood there like a fool, watching Killian’s back grow farther and farther away.

“Your Highness?”

A maid who had noticed Ines standing still called out to her. Only then did she come back to herself.

“……Oh.”

“Are you all right? Are you feeling unwell…… I really do think you’ve pushed yourself too hard. The North is so cold too…… Shall I help support you?”

At the maid’s words, Ines sensed Killian turning back to look. She answered quickly.

“No, I’m fine.”

Swept through by the memories and emotions of the past, her refusal came out sharper than she intended.

“Yes……”

At Ines’s reaction, the maid, Lena Orso, pulled back a step with a slightly sullen expression.

Ines briefly considered saying something to smooth it over, but let it go. She could always use exhaustion as an excuse, and beyond all that, she was in no mood right now to deal with that detestable face.

Killian, who had already gotten three steps ahead, turned back to Ines unexpectedly. He looked mildly sheepish as he apologized.

“Forgive me. My pace was too fast. I’m not well-practiced at accompanying ladies.”

“Not at all. I was just lost in thought for a moment……”

Flustered and embarrassed, Ines waved her hand quickly. Killian gave a faint smile at that, and instead of walking ahead again, he extended his hand.

“If you don’t mind, I’ll escort you.”

Ines looked at him with slightly dazed eyes, then slowly lowered her gaze.

A hand that was large and firm, yet gave an impression not of roughness but of something delicate and beautiful.

That hand was always gentle and warm. After his deep blue eyes, it was this large, steady hand that Ines loved most.

“……I’d be glad to.”

Swallowing the shapeless stone rising in her throat, Ines carefully placed her hand over his.

Even with the fierce wind blowing, his hand was remarkably warm. She was deeply grateful for that warmth.

Because Ines had once held a man in her arms after the warmth had left him.

Escorted by Killian through the entrance, a pleasant warmth wrapped around her entire body, erasing the cold air outside. At the same time, a row of servants lined up to welcome Ines.

“We welcome Your Highness.”

Ines looked at the dozens of servants bowing respectfully with a somewhat dumbfounded expression.

This elaborate welcome was also something she had experienced before, yet she had paid it so little attention at the time that she was caught off guard in a rather undignified way.

“Ivan.”

Killian glanced at the flustered Ines and called out to someone. The middle-aged man bowing at the very front straightened up.

Neatly combed salt-and-pepper hair, glasses that suited his clean butler’s uniform well. He was Ivan, the head butler.

“Everyone return to your posts.”

At Ivan’s instruction, carrying out the master’s order, the servants returned to their workplaces in perfect unison, without so much as a lingering curious glance.

Left standing were Ivan and a woman who appeared to be around the same age.

Killian released the hand he had been naturally escorting and introduced the two of them.

“This is Ivan, and beside him is Marisa. They serve as head butler and head maid of this castle.”

“It is a pleasure to meet you, Your Highness. I am Ivan Brodel, head butler of Rupert Castle.”

“I am Marisa Dianin, head maid.”

Ivan and Marisa bowed again in greeting. Even without the introductions, Ines already knew them.

‘Go, quickly! Go now!’

‘But what about you two……!’

‘You need not worry about us. We have lived long enough.’

‘Ivan!’

‘Please take good care of our lord, my lady.’

The two who had chosen to stay behind in Rupert Castle as the crimson flames surged, to buy time. Killian and Ines, who had been forced to flee and leave them there with bleeding hearts.

Ines held the wave of memories inside her chest and smiled as though nothing were wrong.

“I look forward to working with you both.”

She would never let it come to that again. Not in this life.

Never again would anyone lose their life protecting her, and she would make sure this castle never burned either.

That was the best atonement she could offer.

* * *

Killian personally guided Ines to her room.

The man who had apologized moments ago for walking too fast kept his pace deliberately slow all the way up the stairs. Thanks to that, Ines was able to carry herself with the impeccable composure her ingrained etiquette demanded.