Her heart dropped.

Winterd Libehi seemed to answer something, but his voice was too quiet to hear clearly.

‘What did he say?’

She wanted to run away.

But her legs would not move, as if they had sunk into a swamp.

All her senses focused on the conversation coming from inside the audience chamber.

“I heard that you recently enjoyed a secret rendezvous.”

“I don’t know who that woman was, but I’m sure I’d be better. Duke, I’ll give you a truly intoxicating night.”

“If I had known the Duke enjoyed women, I would have arranged a banquet suited to your tastes.”

She didn’t feel any pain at all from her fiancé’s vulgar behaviour.

However, when she imagined Duke Winter holding another woman, she felt a dreadful pain in her heart as if it had been pierced by an arrow.

This unpleasant sensation spread through her veins and throughout her entire body.

“Lady Larinne. His Majesty commands that you enter.”

At some point, someone must have announced her arrival.

A court attendant bearing the imperial order opened the doors of the audience chamber.

“Mmph—mm! Mmmph—ugh, mmm!”

The moment the door opened, her eyes met those of a woman whose hands and feet were bound, and who was gagged.

Judging by her clothes, she appeared to be a maid from the South Palace.

Clearly, she had been brought along as a threat in case Larinne refused the imperial command.

Her fiancé knew her weaknesses all too well.

Once again, she had no choice.

“Send this girl back to the South Palace.”

“That is not something His Majesty has permitted…”

“I will personally request it. Untie her.”

After giving firm orders to the hesitant attendant, Larinne stepped into the audience chamber, which extended along the long corridor beyond.

The thick incense smoke dispersed as she walked, only to reform behind her.

As she walked through the hazy smoke, she finally came face to face with the scene inside the chamber.

“You’ve arrived.”

Seidon, seated at the head of the table, welcomed her.

Beneath the table, a woman who was nearly n*ked had crawled between his legs.

“….”

According to imperial etiquette, she should have greeted them immediately.

Instead, she froze where she stood.

This was because there were unfamiliar women seated beside Libehi Winterd, who was sitting opposite her.

They were openly trying to seduce him.

“Duke, what do you think of me?”

“Why not spend the night with me instead?”

Libehi Winterd showed no reaction.

Nevertheless, the women continued to throw him flirtatious glances.

With his back to the entrance, he could not see the expression on her face.

This made her feel as though her heart had been plunged into ice water.

“I wonder whether you like the gift I prepared.”

Seidon emptied the wine in his glass and casually asked Libehi.

‘Is this all some scheme to test my reaction?’

She forced her expression under control.

Falling for tricks like this would only place Larinne at a disadvantage.

“It seems I’ve interrupted your time together. I’ll return another time.”

“No. Come closer.”

Seidon tilted his chin toward the empty seat beside him.

“I don’t think this is a place for me.”

“Do you intend to make me repeat myself?”

It wasn’t an invitation.

It was an order.

And yet, even in that moment, she found herself thinking about the man sitting opposite her. She must have been going mad.

Larinne forced herself to sit next to Seidon.

‘This is to protect my people. If I leave after ignoring him, he’ll take revenge on them.’

Yes. That was all it was.

From directly across the table, she felt a gaze resting on her.

Larinne stubbornly kept her head lowered, but the persistent stare did not withdraw.

“If you wish, I could even send them to your bedchamber.”

Offering women like this, as though granting a favor.

It was truly the thinking of a ruler of the Eastern Empire.

When Libehi Winterd did not answer, Seidon lit a cigarette.

“If choosing a woman to your taste is difficult, you may take them all.”

“I understand that you meant it as a kindness, but I must decline.”

“Is it that none of the women please you?”

“Unfortunately, I have rather high standards.”

Libehi Winterd brushed away the women clinging to him, almost coldly.

Ironically, Larinne felt as though she could breathe a little easier.

“You may all leave.”

Seidon noticed that the envoy from a foreign land had little interest in the gift he had prepared.

After dismissing the women, he poured wine into Libehi Winterd’s glass.

“It seems the rumor that the one you were with in the reed field was a man isn’t false after all.”

How on earth had the story twisted into him enjoying men?

Unlike Larinne, who was shocked, he made no effort to correct the rumors surrounding him.

“My, I didn’t realize rumors in the Eastern Empire spread this quickly.”

“I heard you stayed together until dawn. He must have suited your tastes.

If you describe what he looked like, I’ll have him captured and sent to you as a gift.”

“A gift… Would that truly be possible?”

“Surely you don’t think there is anywhere in the Eastern Empire where my authority does not reach?”

“Of course not. I know well that the Emperor of the Eastern Empire holds enough power to willingly hand over even someone who already belongs to another.”

Their eyes met.

He swallowed the wine in one gulp, his expression unreadable.

The lips that had just held the wine were dangerously alluring.

For some reason, they felt like a temptation.

Larinne had to clench her fists tightly to stop herself from giving anything away.

“I will take my leave now.”

“Leaving already? Without enjoying yourself further?”

“There is much to prepare if I am to fulfill the promise made for tomorrow’s rain ritual.”

Rising from his seat, Libehi let his gaze drift toward Larinne as he added,

“As for the gift… I’ll be looking forward to it.”

With a light bow of his head, he turned and headed for the door.

He can’t just leave like this.

It would be difficult to see him for a while.

Tomorrow would be taken up with the rain ritual, after which she would need to concentrate on preparing to escape with Pellet.

Feeling increasingly anxious, Larinne also rose from her seat.

“I’m feeling tired, so I’ll take my leave too.”

“Larinne, you stay.”

The commanding tone seized her just as she was about to hurry out.

“There is something I wish to ask.”

Seidon rose unsteadily, his pupils loosened from the intoxicating scent of incense.

The sound of restless turning filled the dark bedroom.

In the dim moonlight filtering through the window, Larinne, who was still unable to sleep, suddenly pushed herself upright.

“He didn’t follow those women… did he?”

The scene she had witnessed in the East Palace would not fade from her memory.

She could still picture the clothing of the women surrounding Libehi Winterd and the flirtatious smiles they had worn.

She wanted to stop thinking about it, but she could not.

‘What on earth was he doing there?’

She wanted to ask why he had been with Seidon in the first place and why he had remained silent when the rumour about his s*xuality had spread.

But her fiancé detained her, demanding to know.

“Have you discovered anything about the griffin?”

And so she had missed him.

By the time she finally escaped the audience chamber after enduring that interrogation for so long, not even the shadow of the foreign duke remained.

‘He wouldn’t have followed those women. He didn’t look interested at all.’

She knew there was no point in worrying alone, yet the chain of thoughts had slipped beyond her control.

“Ha…”

If she had simply gone to the West Palace later, she wouldn’t be lying here alone and sighing.

She hadn’t expected the Marchioness of Lily to be waiting for her outside the audience chamber.

She was immediately dragged away and given instructions about the rain ritual until late into the night.

Her body was exhausted, yet sleep would not come.

“Is he the kind of man who gives his heart to just any woman like that?”

To be honest, she did not know.

It was difficult to guess what thoughts lay behind those red eyes that always seemed calmly subdued.

‘When we were alone together, I think it was easier to read his expressions.’

His eyes softened slightly as he teased her.

When he kissed her, he made no effort to hide his desire for her.

In bed, he let out those heated breaths without restraint.

These openly revealed desires only made her burn hotter.

“…After saying that crying wouldn’t help.”

The thought of him saying such things to other women left a bitter ache in her chest.

Then again, with a face like his, there was no way people would leave him alone.

Objectively speaking, he looked like a perfectly sculpted statue.

What woman could resist his broad shoulders and unusually well-developed muscles?

‘And on the bed, he’s even more… untamed.’

The moment her thoughts reached that point, her face flushed hot.

“It’s warm.”

Larinne fanned herself with her hand as she reached towards the small drawer beside the bed.

When she opened it, she saw that the gift she had been unable to deliver was lying there by itself.

Sometimes, even a gift could look lonely.

‘Maybe I shouldn’t have bought it.’

In hindsight, it had been meddlesome of her.

After all, he had never asked her for anything, and they weren’t close enough to exchange gifts.

Hadn’t she already paid the price, after all?

After all, hadn’t he clearly said that day that he would accept her gratitude in return?

The warmth they had shared by mutual consent was his gift.

And yet, Larinne could not bring herself to throw away the carefully chosen gift.

Had she not gone to great lengths to hide it from Seidon as well?

She knew it was all meaningless. And yet she could not stop herself from being drawn to it.

After a long moment of hesitation, Larinne finally spoke.

“Horus.”

The desert hawk that had been dozing in the nest Larinne had made with cloth beside her pillow lifted its head.

Chirp?

“Well… you see…”

Larinne hesitated awkwardly. The hawk seemed impatient and hopped quickly over towards her.

Thanks to careful treatment, its broken leg had healed well.

Chirp, chirp.

Although she could not understand the language, it sounded as though the bird were urging her to hurry up and speak.

At last, Larinne began to reveal what was on her mind.

“Could you go to the West Palace for a moment?”

Chirp?

The hawk tilted its head, not understanding.

Larinne quietly held out the gift toward it.

“I’d like you… to deliver this to Duke Winterd.”

The tips of Larinne’s ears were flushed a deeper red than usual.