Chilling howls of wild beasts echoed through the night from all directions. Perhaps it was just the darkness, but it felt as if those cries were growing closer to her.

Terrified, she shrank into herself. Even Ari, who had always shone softly above her, seemed to sense her fear. The little spirit’s light flickered and wavered like a reflection on unsteady water, then faded away entirely.

Left alone in the thick, impenetrable darkness, Selina was consumed by fear. She knew she had to get back to the carriage quickly.

Without looking back, she started to run in what she hoped was the direction of safety. But as she plunged into the forest, now robbed of Ari’s guiding light, she found herself surrounded by nothing but shadows.

The tangled branches overhead cast strange, looming shapes everywhere, making the woods seem even more menacing and hostile.

‘Which way was it?’

Desperately trying to recall the path she had taken with Ari, Selina forced her legs to keep moving. The further she ran, however, the more unfamiliar the forest became. She should have reached the carriage by now; instead, all she could see were endless twisted tree trunks.

“Ah—!”

To make matters worse, her foot caught on a protruding tree root and she crashed to the ground. The impact sent her tumbling down the stony path. Her dress caught on something and tore, leaving her knees and legs scraped and bleeding. But, paralysed by fear, Selina couldn’t scream. If the beast had followed her this far, making a sound could mean certain death.

But, miraculously, the forest remained silent. Only when she realised that she might finally be safe did all the fear and anxiety she had held back explode in a wave of tears. Covering her mouth, Selina began to sob, her shoulders shaking.

‘All I did was follow Ari. I just wanted to see the monastery from above… How did it end with me sprawled on the cold ground, lost and alone?’

Maybe she should never have left the carriage.

But it was too late for regrets now. Worse, she didn’t even know which direction to take to find her way back.

“How am I supposed to get back…?”

Just as her worries were threatening to overwhelm her, blurring Selina’s vision, a deep voice—dark as the night sky—lifted her to her feet.

“At the very least, I can tell you’re in no shape to walk back like that.”

Still dazed, Selina blinked up at the man standing in front of her. He was the last person she had expected to find here.

“How did you… How did you find me out here…?”

But instead of answering, he simply scanned her from head to toe, his tone clipped and businesslike.

“We’ll have to get you some new clothes before we arrive.”

His eyes held the same exasperation as someone who’s caught a troublemaker in the act. Instinctively, Selina shrank her shoulders, feeling chastised.

“Here. Put this on.”

Calix shrugged off the coat he’d covered her with earlier and wrapped it around her waist. Her dress had torn badly when she’d tumbled, baring her right thigh, but with his coat draped over her, she could at least cover herself a little.

“Th-thank you.”

Selina mumbled, her cheeks burning. She was grateful for his help, but more than that, she felt a flush of embarrassment—why did she always seem to end up showing him her most awkward sides?

Longing to hurry back to the carriage, she took a step forward, only to hiss as pain shot through her injured knee.

‘Ouch… I must’ve scraped it pretty badly.’

Each step sent a sharp jolt up her leg, but Selina gritted her teeth and pressed on. She didn’t want him to worry or fuss over her.

“Get on.”

She hadn’t meant to show how much she was struggling, but somehow Calix could always tell. Halfway down the mountain path, he stopped and turned his back to her.

“I-I’m fine. I can walk!”

“Just get on.”

Selina tried to refuse, but he was so determined that she felt it would cause tension if she kept pushing him away. Reluctantly, she slipped her arms around his neck and let him lift her onto his back.

It was the first time anyone had given her a piggyback in her life, and she felt impossibly awkward. To make matters worse, the faint, spicy scent that clung to Calix — reminiscent of tobacco, yet uniquely his — seemed to cloud her mind, leaving her feeling light-headed once more.

Calix didn’t say a word on the way down the mountain path. The cold, tense atmosphere made it clear that he was angry about something. Selina was so intimidated that she couldn’t bring herself to break the silence. Standing with her head held stiffly upright, she waited anxiously before finally speaking in a small voice.

“I’m sorry…”

She guessed he must be upset that she’d left the carriage without telling him. Wanting to appease his anger, she apologized first.

“And what exactly are you sorry for?”

“For, um, wandering off and acting on my own without telling you…”

“Acting on your own, is it?”

Suddenly, as they made their way down the forest path, he came to an abrupt stop.

“So, tell me—did you know you were near the border, and run away on purpose?”

His monotone voice suddenly sharpened, like a blade. Selina had no idea what it meant to be near the border, but she could sense that Calix wasn’t just angry that she’d gone off by herself—something deeper was bothering him.

“N-no, I wasn’t trying to run away! I just…”

She tried to explain how she’d ended up out there, but her words caught in her throat. To tell him she’d climbed up to the cliff, she’d have to talk about the convent she’d been imprisoned in all her life—and she wasn’t ready to reveal that to Calix yet. If she brought it up now, he’d only think she was even stranger.

In the end, Selina chose to lie.

“I got lost while looking around the area…”

Even to her own ears, it sounded unconvincing.

“So you expect me to believe you just wandered off a perfectly good road and got lost in the woods, in the dark? Does that make sense to you?”

Of course, Calix didn’t believe her excuse at all. Selina pressed her lips together, unable to say anything more. Anything she said would just be another lie, and she could feel the guilt sitting heavily on her chest.

Seeing her fall silent, Calix seemed to take it as yet another excuse. With a frosty look, he turned away.

“I really underestimated the Marquis’s daughter.”

He didn’t say another word to her on the way back to the carriage. They rode on in silence and, before she realised it, more than two weeks had passed without them having a proper conversation.

She tried at least once a day to bridge the distance between them by starting a conversation, hoping for a response. But every time she opened her eyes, Calix would already be gone, riding ahead on horseback.

If he needed to rest, he would sleep with the soldiers instead of coming back to the carriage. Whenever Selina summoned the courage to speak to him, he either ignored her completely or walked away as if she didn’t exist.

‘This is just too much…’

Slumping in her seat. It’s hard enough for a person to act like someone’s invisible for a week, let alone more than two.

Tomorrow, they’d finally arrive in Thalia. Was Calix really planning to keep this up until the very end?

“…Haa.”

Leaning against the window of the carriage during a brief stop, Selina let out a long sigh.

“Is something bothering you?”

At that moment, Rochester, who’d been pacing nearby, spoke to her through the window. Though she hadn’t exchanged a single word with Calix, she’d grown surprisingly close to Rochester and the other soldiers of Thalia.

“Oh, it’s nothing. I’m just feeling a little nervous now that we’re almost at Thalia.”

Selina shook her head, forcing a brighter smile. No matter how comfortable she’d become with them, it didn’t feel right to complain about her marriage.

But Rochester seemed to know, even without hearing the details, that this was about Calix. Narrowing his eyes slightly, he asked:

“His Grace can be… rather exhausting, can’t he?”

“He’s not exhausting, exactly… He’s just… sensitive.”

Selina replied quickly, unwilling to badmouth Calix, no matter how strained things were between them. If she was honest, it wasn’t even his fault—he hadn’t really done anything wrong. It was her own fault for the lie she’d told him that night in the forest.

“That’s pretty much the same thing, isn’t it? That sharp temperament of his is enough to wear anyone out.”

Rochester shook his head with a knowing smile, as if he’d already figured everything out. What started as a lighthearted conversation soon took on a more serious tone. After glancing around to make sure no one was listening, he slipped inside the carriage and closed the door behind him.

“This is the sort of gossip about His Grace that really shouldn’t reach anyone else’s ears.”

He whispered, pressing a finger to his lips as if to say their secret was just between the two of them.

Selina, swept up in the mood, mirrored his gesture and nodded solemnly, silently promising to keep whatever he said in confidence.

“There’s a boundary, you see, that His Grace keeps around himself—a kind of secret fortress that only a chosen few are allowed to enter.”

“A boundary?”

“Yes. Only a handful of people are permitted past it, and even I haven’t made it in yet.”

Rochester admitted, sounding both frustrated and resigned. For a moment, Selina wondered if anyone at all had truly crossed that line with Calix.

“So, my lady, I suggest you try to be the one who finally steps across that threshold, If you do, His Grace might even be willing to lay down his life for you—”

But just then, the carriage door swung open with a sharp click. A tall, dark shadow fell across them.

“Y-Your Grace…?”

When he saw Rochester inside, Calix’s face showed a mixture of shock and clear displeasure. He then looked at Selina.

“Get out.”

His first words to her in over two weeks.