“W-what is all this…?”

Unable to comprehend the situation, Selina took the letter. When the lantern was lit, the hidden contents of the letter came into view. It was a letter left behind by Hollein, Karen’s father.

As Selina read it, her expression turned to shock.

“It looks like it was meant to be sent to Waldemar.”

Calix spoke as though trying to remain composed. But the moment Waldemar’s name left his lips, Selina felt as though a bucket of boiling water had been poured over her chest.

She shook her head violently.

“I—I never wrote a letter like this. I swear.”

She looked genuinely innocent, as though she were seeing such a letter for the first time and were completely lost.

Calix, who had been quietly observing her, let out a short laugh.

“Now that I think about it, I was fooled by that expression quite often.”

“I-I’m not deceiving you. I truly never wrote this, never even saw it. And the handwriting is different from mine. Your Highness, you know that too—!”

“Yes. Of course I do.”

Calix took the letter from Selina and scanned it quickly.

He knew her handwriting well. He had read the letters she had given him so many times that they were etched into his mind.

So he knew immediately that this handwriting was not hers.

“But I need to be certain about you.”

Reading the letter with a cold gaze, Calix tore the section bearing Waldemar’s name straight down the middle.

“You never know. Perhaps even your handwriting was an imitation—when you were with me.”

At that moment, Selina’s legs gave way, causing her to fall to the floor, feeling weak and helpless.

She could sense nothing but hostility from the man standing before her: cold, unrelenting and directed solely at her.

She had never expected their reunion to be warm. The rift between them was already far too deep. Even so, she had hoped that they might be able to resolve their misunderstandings through conversation.

After all, he was Calix, the man she had once promised to spend her life with.

She believed that someone like him would at least give her the opportunity to explain.

‘…I was thinking only from my own point of view.’

But Calix’s anger was far greater and more deeply rooted than Selina had expected. Seeing him refuse to believe his own eyes, Selina realized that no matter what she said, it wouldn’t get through to him.

“How can I….”

Selina, who had been hanging her head helplessly, slowly lifted her gaze.

“How can I make you believe me?”

Resolve flared in her violet eyes.

Calix, who had not expected Selina to try to prove herself, was left speechless for a moment. She had undoubtedly become a completely different person. He could not tell if she had always been this way or if time had changed her.

But the fact that she was different from the Selina he knew unsettled him.

This meant that there were many sides to her that he did not know, and that Waldemar must have been watching her all along.

‘D*mn it.’

Calix was startled by the thought that had entered his mind. He pushed it aside and cursed under his breath. His feelings towards Waldemar had to remain pure hatred. If any other emotion crept in, his resolve might waver.

If they had anything to do with Selina, he had to stamp them out completely.

Grinding his teeth, Calix forced his wandering thoughts back into order and spoke to her.

“Just do what you were going to do. Rescue Alter.”

“But you won’t trust me.”

“The fact that you’re participating at all still has meaning.”

He then revealed something he had not told Selina.

“Only if you take the lead in rescuing Alter can the rest focus entirely on retaking the grand ducal castle.”

“The grand ducal castle…”

Selina’s expression hardened.

When she first arrived, she was surprised by how big the place was; it was much larger than she had anticipated. The gathering of soldiers in the vast village suggested that an army was being raised to oppose the Empire.

As it turned out, Calix had indeed been planning exactly that.

“Retaking the grand ducal castle will be dangerous. Commander Waldemar has his eye on that place.”

Tension stiffened her fingertips. She had only just confirmed that Calix was alive, yet she was already having to watch him put in danger. Wanting to persuade him, Selina added.

“There are a great many soldiers stationed there by Waldemar. I concede that the number of troops gathered in this fortress is considerable, but that alone won’t be enough to fight a full-scale battle.”

“It’s not impossible—if their attention is drawn elsewhere.”

Draw their attention elsewhere.

The moment she grasped the meaning of those words, Selina inhaled sharply.

“…You want me to act as bait.”

One group attempted to retake the Grand Ducal Castle, while another infiltrated Holchester Island in an attempt to rescue Alter. Due to its proximity to the castle, Holchester Island was the perfect place to draw Waldemar’s forces’ attention.

However, acting as bait would mean fighting openly and practically begging to be attacked.

In other words, the team sent to rescue Alter would have to slip in unnoticed, extract him, and then buy as much time as possible by making as much noise as possible until the operation to retake the castle was safely completed.

As Selina’s expression slowly hardened, Calix spoke.

“If you don’t want to, you can stop here.”

“……”

“But I have no intention of sending you back. Now that you know everything, even if you die, you’ll have to die at my side.”

He had revealed his identity and discussed the plan to retake the Grand Ducal Castle, as he had never intended to allow Selina to leave in the first place.

‘So that’s what he meant when he said I wouldn’t be able to walk away once I knew the truth.’

Did Calix trust her—or was he testing her?

She couldn’t tell what his intent was. But there was only one answer Selina could give.

“I’ll do it.”

She had always thought that she would sacrifice her life for Calix. She didn’t want to ruin his plans just because she was afraid of dying.

However, she failed to notice that his expression had hardened.

‘So she insists to the end. Is it because of that damned sense of guilt?’

Calix had driven her to this point, risking the collapse of his entire plan, because he believed that once she understood how dangerous the situation truly was, she would lose her resolve and withdraw of her own accord.

That was what he had expected.

Even now, if she were to kneel and break down in tears, he had planned to pretend not to notice — if only for her own good, even if it was just an act. Yet, for some reason, Selina showed no sign of yielding to his intentions.

Frowning deeply, Calix asked.

“Do you understand what it means to be used as bait?”

“I do. I understand everything.”

Selina nodded slowly before continuing.

“I know Holchester Prison well. It was built in a similar era, with a similar structure, to the place where I was held as a child.”

Holchester Prison was infamous for one reason only: it was located on a remote island, surrounded by sheer cliffs on all sides.

She had heard that it had originally been a monastery. Over time, however, the monks relocated to the place where Selina herself had once been imprisoned. Having lost its original purpose, the abandoned site was eventually converted into a prison.

Like twin islands bearing twin structures, Holchester Prison mirrored the monastery where Selina had once been held exactly.

“If I have to go there, there’s no one who knows it better than I do.”

Her voice was calm and steady.

Ultimately, it was only Calix who felt as though his insides were burning.

He felt a suffocating sensation tighten around him and roughly tugged at his shirt collar. This did nothing to ease the feeling; if anything, the pressure only worsened.

‘Was it a mistake to bring her here?’

He groaned involuntarily.

This place had once been the former Grand Duke and Grand Duchess’s villa. Madly in love, the two of them would often seclude themselves here. This cabin, like the castle, was a symbol of all the time they had spent together.

In order to reveal his true identity to Selina, he needed to prepare himself mentally. That was why he had deliberately chosen this place, believing it would fill his mind with nothing but hatred.

Yet, strangely, it felt as though he, not Selina, was the one caught up in all these schemes.

It was as if he had stepped straight into a trap of his own making. It was a damnable feeling.

“…Fine. Have it your way.”

It was a sentence he forced out after a long stretch of silence.

“If you return having upheld your loyalty to Alter and to Thalia, then I will believe you as well.”

There was a sentence he could not bring himself to say at the end.

‘Please come back safely.’

Unable to voice even that much, Calix suppressed his emotions and turned away.

***

The moment Callios’s true identity was revealed and the two of them were caught up in a maelstrom of emotion, Hollein stayed up late, quietly giving orders to a subordinate.

“You will be entrusted with a grave mission. It will, of course, be extremely dangerous, but if you carry it out well, you will be rewarded handsomely.”

This man was one of those chosen for the operation to rescue Alter. Although he had survived on the streets and his family background was insignificant, his skills were exceptional. However, his unsavory past meant that he could not be employed openly, so he had only ever been used in secret. Now, at last, the perfect opportunity to deploy him had presented itself.

Although Hollein spoke of a generous reward, he had no intention of granting one.

After all, the man was unlikely to return alive.

“Your task is simple. After rescuing Alter, deliberately stir up chaos around you and escape. And before you do—”

Even a man destined to die could be useful.

Although he knew he was alone, Hollein glanced around once more before leaning in close and whispering in the man’s ear.

“Before you escape—make sure you kill Selina. That woman.”

If Selina had survived, she would have posed a serious threat to Thalia and Calix and his household. Although Calix had spoken as though Selina’s death would not matter, Hollein found the idea unsettling for some reason.

As a father who loved his child, he was determined to prevent any potential disasters.