“…I was actually going to bring you one myself.”

Calix said, holding a potato in his hand.

Selina’s face flushed bright red at the sight. Of all people, she didn’t want to look ridiculous in front of Calix—yet here she was, caught obsessing over a single potato. She scrambled to save face.

“I-it’s all right. Please, give it to Sir Zenfri.”

She stammered, embarrassed by the fact that she’d snatched the last one right out from under him.

“Me? Oh, that’s really not necessary. You should have it, my lady. You seemed quite hungry.”

Now there was truly no way out—she was stuck in the potato fiasco no matter what she did. Flustered, Selina could only wring her fingers in her lap.

At that moment, Calix reached out, gently took her hand, and pulled her closer to him. Before she could react, he pressed the warm potato to her lips.

“Open up.”

Startled, Selina automatically opened her mouth, and he popped the potato in. She took a big bite without thinking. Whatever he had put on it, the potato tasted sweet and a little salty—it was so delicious, she couldn’t stop herself from chewing until not a single crumb was left.

“Th-thank you.”

She mumbled shyly, bowing her head after she swallowed the last bite.

When she finally glanced up again, she noticed Calix and the rest of the Thalia men were all staring at her.

‘Was it that obvious how much I wanted the potato?’

She’d tried so hard to make a good impression, and yet she felt she’d done the exact opposite. Her chest twisted with embarrassment.

“I—I think I’ll head back inside.”

Selina mumbled something, lowered her head, hid her face behind her hair and retreated towards the carriage.

She was so embarrassed that she wished she could disappear. The only place to hide was inside the carriage, but even that felt pathetic. Still, she managed to say an awkward goodbye to the group, rubbed her eyes as if she were tired, and hurried into the carriage.

The moment her back was inside, Rochester finally let out the laugh he’d been holding in.

“Pfft.”

His laughter triggered a wave of chuckles among the soldiers gathered around the fire.

“She’s nothing like the Marquis. If not for her face, I never would’ve guessed she was his daughter.”

The Thalia soldiers had never been fond of Selina. To them, this marriage was just another chain around their lord’s neck.

“Who is Bryson, really? The man never once set foot on the battlefield, yet he’s tried every dirty trick in the book to assassinate the Grand Duke!”

“Yeah.”

Zenfri muttered, scowling at the memory.

“The first time I met him, I wanted to wipe that smug grin right off his face.”

For years, Marquis Bryson had plotted to take Calix’s life. The fact that his daughter had become Thalia’s new mistress was hard for him to accept. And yet, the Selina they had just seen seemed somehow different — almost human, in fact.

As the laughter died down, one of the soldiers who had once mocked Selina spoke up awkwardly.

“…By the way, do you think milady would like sweet potatoes too?”

He nodded at the steaming, golden sweet potatoes roasting over the fire, then glanced at Rochester for an answer.

Rochester just snorted, then turned to Calix.

“What do you think, Your Grace?”

With his arms crossed, Calix studied the perfectly roasted sweet potato.

“If you’re so curious, try offering her one yourself tomorrow.”

“Do you think that would really be okay?”

When they heard Calix’s words, the soldiers started to speculate among themselves about which other foods might please their new lady. Rochester, finding it all rather entertaining, just laughed. Zenfri, however, looked thoroughly unamused; his frown deepened as the night at the border outpost slowly drew to a close.

Selina, who had fallen asleep in the carriage, was woken by the cold wind blowing through the darkness.

‘…He’s gone.’

She blinked awake and realised that Calix was no longer sitting opposite her. Glancing out of the carriage window, she saw the soldiers slumped and dozing by the dying embers of the campfire.

She moved quietly, careful not to make a sound, and stepped outside. She tossed a few logs onto the dying fire and watched the sparks float upwards. Then she slowly wandered away from the circle of light.

‘Where would he go at this hour?’

The forest around her was silent and heavy with shadow. For a moment, she considered simply returning to the carriage and waiting for him to come back.

Just then—

Flick.

“Ari?”

In the darkness overhead, Ari appeared—a small, luminous creature whose visits had always been at her whim. Still, it had never been this long since Selina had last seen her, and she was flooded with relief and joy.

“Ari, where have you been? It’s been so long!”

Delighted to see Selina, Ari danced around her in little shimmering circles. Selina reached out a hand, hoping that Ari would land on her palm. However, the little being floated backwards, just out of reach.

“Where are you going?”

Selina reached again, but Ari continued to retreat, moving slowly—almost as if she wanted Selina to follow her.

‘Is it safe to leave the carriage?’

For a moment, Selina hesitated. But curiosity, and a longing to see where Ari might lead, quickly won out.

‘Just for a little while…it should be all right.’

More than anything, Selina was curious about what Ari wanted to show her.

“Ari…”

Selina followed Ari, who flitted through the trees like a butterfly, leading her deeper into the woods. The path steadily climbed uphill and the higher Selina went, the more difficult she found it to breathe. The climb wasn’t especially steep, but it was challenging for someone unused to physical exertion.

After around ten minutes, the dense trees suddenly parted to reveal a vast, open sky.

“No way…”

Selina stood at the edge of a sheer cliff, gazing down in stunned silence. Far below, an island lay surrounded by the sea, bathed in moonlight.

“Is…is that where the convent was?”

She couldn’t help but gasp, clapping both hands over her mouth in awe.

A convent, built atop a cliff that seemed to drop straight into the sea. For so long, that place had been her prison. Now, seen from afar under the gentle glow of the moon, it looked almost impossibly beautiful.

“It feels like a completely different place, seeing it from here.”

The last time she was confined there, the world seemed cold and dark, as if she were locked in a dungeon. But from this mountaintop, the view was breathtaking: the island appeared peaceful under the moonlight.

“You wanted to show me this, didn’t you?”

Pyu.

Ari drifted around Selina, brushing her cheek as if to comfort her.

Selina sat down on the grass and stared blankly at the island glowing in the moonlight. As she watched, her thoughts drifted back to the moment she’d first met Calix.

‘At first, I thought he was dead.’

She remembered the boy’s body, washed up by the waves and clinging to the rocks beneath the cliffs. Sometimes the sea would bring in bodies, and Selina had thought this was another tragedy. But then

He moved.

She realized, only then, that the boy was still alive.

Selina had dragged the boy into the convent with all the strength she had left, doing everything in her power to save him. He’d been badly wounded—an arrow buried deep in his shoulder—and his fever had raged so high, he hovered on the brink between life and death.

She remembered feeding him what little oatmeal porridge she’d managed to save for herself, spooning it carefully into his mouth as she whispered every prayer she knew.

‘Please, let him open his eyes again. Please, let him live…’

Even now, Selina couldn’t quite fathom why she had been so desperate and earnest. Perhaps it was simply because he was the first genuine person she had encountered on the island — someone who had truly come from outside.

After seven long days of watching over him and tending to his every need, the boy finally opened his eyes.

‘Was he sent from the heavens?’

Selina had wondered if the beautiful boy before her was a legendary being—a figure from a fairytale, a real angel. He was so dazzling, like the sun itself, that she could hardly look straight at him.

‘Who are you?’

At first, the boy eyed Selina warily and pushed her away, unsure whether he could trust a stranger. Treating his wounds had been challenging, and she’d doubted whether they would ever grow close.

‘But with time… he’d opened his heart to me.’

Would it be like that again? Would her relationship with Calix, so rocky and uncertain now, slowly become something better—just as it had all those years ago?
Selina found herself wishing, despite everything, for something unexpected and joyful to happen once more.

But then—

“Don’t forget your mission.”

The marquis’s parting words cut through her hope like a blade.

‘I have to find Calix’s weakness…’

That was all her father wanted from her as she left for Thalia. She didn’t know who would be assigned to keep watch over her, but she knew one thing: from now on, she’d have to be wary of everyone who’d come from the Empire.

‘To distract the Marquis’s gaze, I’ll need a convincing excuse…’

She would have to look for useful-seeming information — something that wouldn’t harm Calix, but which might satisfy her father’s demands.

If she couldn’t find anything, she would just have to create something plausible herself.

She didn’t want to do anything that could genuinely hurt Calix. To Selina, he was still like a knight from a fairy tale — noble and good, even if the years had changed him. It was the hope of seeing him again that had helped her survive so many difficult days.

No matter how much he’d changed, she didn’t want to betray the precious memories he’d left behind, memories that still lingered in her life like a comforting afterimage.

Just as she was preparing herself — making silent vows about what she would and wouldn’t do —

Grrrrrrr…

A low, menacing growl echoed out of the darkness.

A wild beast was near.