Dion hurriedly left the main entrance of Madam Falcon and looked around. The sun had already tilted far to the west, wanting to sleep.

Everything around was tinged red.

Even after leaving the alley and entering the central square, the lemon-colored hair he was desperately searching for was nowhere to be seen. Had she abandoned him and already returned to Aeskis Castle?

Well, she probably wouldn’t walk around in such a conspicuous outfit in a place like this.

Just as Dion was pressing his forehead and about to turn away, a familiar white carriage stopped in front of him.

When the carriage door opened and Dion stepped inside, hot golden eyes were glaring at him.

“About that song the idiot sang earlier.”

Count Sustain’s obsession could end as drinking conversation in a small rural province.

But now that she had become the Duchess of Drasia, dirty rumors would become a delicious feast for those who are eyeing Dion.

Sure enough, Clementina’s face wore an expression as if she had bitten into a rotten potato.

Dion wanted to carefully choose his words for her. It was obvious that no words would be comforting.

The carriage circled the central square and headed in the opposite direction from Dicon Harbor. The festive atmosphere still remained.

Tonight, the lights in the shops would not go out all night. There was still plenty of alcohol and meat provided by Aeskis Castle.

Girls would talk all night in their beds about how princess-like the Duchess was, and boys would run around competing with each other, pretending street dogs were dragons.

Dion turned his head toward the carriage window. He felt he should take a moment to gather his breath before speaking.

Just then, Dion spotted a familiar alley.

“Wait!”

Dion knocked on the carriage wall. As the carriage stopped smoothly, Dion grasped the delicate hand of Clementina, who was sitting with a tired face.

“Let’s go somewhere.”

Dion smiled with his back to the sunset, gently tempting her. But today she didn’t want to fall for this smile.

“I’m tired.”

Dion nodded as if he had expected this answer. A cool breeze blew into the carriage, carrying a sweet scent.

“I know. But we need to go. It’s necessary, Duchess.”

Dion wanted to improve her unpleasant mood. To do that, he needed to coax her out of the carriage, even if he had to use her duties as an excuse.

He didn’t want her to fall asleep feeling this way.

Clementina swallowed a sigh inwardly. Whatever he was planning, she couldn’t neglect her duties as the Duchess of Drasia.

Clementina finally took Dion’s hand. Not wanting to see the smile that weakened her resolve, she walked looking straight ahead.

In truth, she felt frightened at the thought of being consumed by rumors.

Dion felt Clementina’s slender hand trembling. Unlike when she had been thrown into the cold cave, it was warm now, but he felt a sense of emptiness in the way her hand limply held his.

His stomach churned. He felt lost, but couldn’t understand why. He simply feared she might pull her hand away.

So Dion firmly grasped Clementina’s hand, which she had loosely held as if ready to let go at any moment.

As darkness began to fall, the shops in the alley where Dion and Clementina had alighted hurriedly started lighting candles.

When dozens of candles illuminated the alley, everything shimmered in purple.

A path stood between the shops on both sides, marked by an arch covered in wisteria vines.

The arch overflowed with wisteria blossoms. Dion held Clementina’s hand as they walked down the path.

The purple wisteria swayed gently in the wind like wind chimes. It almost seemed as if a clear bell sound could be heard.

People sitting in the shops noticed the ducal couple but no one disturbed them.

Actually, Dion frequently walked around the village, so it wasn’t an unfamiliar sight. But walking with the Duchess created a truly heartwarming feeling.

After walking silently, Dion finally spoke.

“There’s no war here.”

“Who would dare invade a place with dragons, sword in hand?”

“Thanks to that, the people of Drasia lead fairly ordinary lives.”

“I suppose so.”

“So sometimes I forget.”

“Forget what?”

“I sometimes demand what I want, what I desire, without considering that the other person might get hurt.”

“……”

“Until now, it’s been fine. Even if people had complaints about me, they had no one to tell, and even if they did, I didn’t care.”

“And now?”

“But today, I feel awful.”

“Why?”

“Somehow your bad mood makes me feel bad.”

Clementina frowned.

“I’m sorry, but I have emotions too. How I feel belongs to me. If that bothers you, I’m sorry, but.”

Clementina tried to break free from Dion’s grasp by applying force. But Dion didn’t let go and instead moved even closer to her.

Clementina turned her head away, avoiding Dion’s intense gaze, and stepped aside.

“I apologize. I’ll be more careful in the future. I won’t show my feelings in front of others.”

“Don’t do that.”

“What exactly do you want me to do? Whatever I feel doesn’t matter to you, right? You said you don’t care about other people’s feelings.”

Clementina twisted her hand and finally broke free from Dion’s grasp.

Dion didn’t know how to express his feelings. It felt like they were talking but not communicating at all.

Dion scratched his head. He couldn’t move forward, nor could he just stand there.

For a long time, the two stood in silence. Feeling this couldn’t continue, Dion gently took Clementina’s arm.

But Clementina was trembling violently. Dion approached, finding it strange.

Clementina’s face had frozen in terror. She seemed unable to breathe.

“What? What’s wrong? What happened?”

“I-is there……”

Clementina’s pale lips trembled. Her eyes filled with tears, her angry emotions from before vanished, and she looked pitifully toward Dion for help.

“What’s wrong? What is it?”

“Is, is there something on my sh-shoulder?”

Clementina closed her eyes tightly and trembled violently. Dion lowered his gaze to Clementina’s exposed shoulder.

A green caterpillar was very slowly curling its body on Clementina’s right shoulder.

“Ah! A caterpillar fell on you.”

“Wh-what is it? Please, please. It feels strange! Please remove it!”

Clementina begged in a thin, trembling voice. Dion quickly removed the caterpillar that was trying to cross her shoulder.

“Just a small bug.”

Dion held up the caterpillar.

When Clementina raised her head, she saw the caterpillar in Dion’s hand. The strength drained from her body, and she ended up leaning completely against Dion’s chest.

“Ah……”

Dion threw the caterpillar far away.

Tears still pooled in Clementina’s eyes. He stroked her cheek with his hand.

Clementina swallowed her tears, avoiding his gaze. She knew this wasn’t something Dion needed to apologize for. But she couldn’t bear his attitude of dismissing her feelings and had lashed out.

After getting angry, she thought she might have gone too far, but didn’t know how to take it back.

If not for the caterpillar, they might have had to stand there all night.

Dion grabbed Clementina’s shoulders, turned her to face him, and met her eyes.

“I didn’t mean to ignore your feelings. If you feel bad, tell me properly. I feel bad that you’re in a situation where your feelings get hurt. Don’t endure it. You don’t need to endure. I didn’t make you the Duchess to make you endure.”

Clementina’s eyes wavered. Her parted lips tensed as she bit down on her molars.

“I’ll cut out the tongues of those who spread filthy rumors. If you want, I can cut off their heads too.”

“What if that creates more rumors?”

“Hmm. Then shall we create a different rumor? About how much the Duke of Drasia loves his Duchess.”

“Haven’t you already used that? It doesn’t seem very effective.”

“I must not seem scary enough yet.”

Dion cracked his neck forcefully from side to side, making popping sounds. Clementina swallowed a weak laugh.

The shadows of Dion and Clementina walked together. Darkness had already fallen in the alley, but small candles hanging everywhere made their shadows look like multiple couples dancing.

The click-clack of their footsteps mingled with the music flowing from the shops.

“I was six when I came to Drasia.”

Though the atmosphere remained somewhat awkward, Dion spoke with deliberate casualness. The villagers who had stood up with their drinks when they heard the Duchess’s scream had quietly returned to their seats.