‘It seems I’ve been found out far earlier than I thought.’

Following the marquis’s orders, Iden had been trailing Calix when he sensed that something was going wrong. The marquis had instructed him to keep watch on Calix and do whatever he could to delay his return.

For the past two hours, Iden had put the hunt aside and focused entirely on tailing Calix’s group. But they began heading into terrain so rough that even Iden found it hard to keep up. By then, even someone as slow to notice as him realized they were trying to shake him off.

‘Should I just suggest we travel together now?’

If they stayed together, he could hinder Calix more effectively—but it would make his real purpose painfully obvious. Even so, in the current situation, it seemed like the most effective option.

It was while Iden was gauging the right moment to approach Calix that it happened.

Tap, tap, tap!

All of a sudden, Calix urged his horse into a gallop.

‘That bastard’s really trying to lose me!’

Growing uneasy, Eden spurred his own horse with all his strength, racing after him. Calix veered into a forested mountain path, weaving between densely packed trees. He was so fast that just when Iden thought he’d caught up, all he could see was the man’s distant back.

By the time they rounded a massive tree, Calix’s figure had vanished entirely.

“Where the hell did he disappear to?”

Feeling as though he’d been toyed with, Iden jumped down from his horse and scanned the surroundings. It wasn’t as if they had made a full circle around the tree—so how could he have disappeared so suddenly?

‘He must be hiding somewhere.’

Given the tree’s enormous size, there were plenty of spots where a person could conceal themselves. Iden was certain Calix had come up with this scheme just to mock him.

‘Fine. In that case, I’ll find you and wipe that smug look off your face.’

His eyes glinted dangerously as he searched for any sign of the man.

That was when he noticed an area of ground where the fallen leaves were far more scattered than elsewhere. Beside it was a large hollow in the tree—big enough for a person to hide inside.

‘He must be in there.’

His only task was to make sure Calix didn’t return on time. If that meant making an unsightly scene to stall him here, it wasn’t necessarily a bad choice.

Holding his breath, Iden crept forward with careful, deliberate steps.

And just as he was about to peer into the hollow—

Snap.

The leaf-covered ground beneath him suddenly gave way. Iden let out a scream as he tumbled down.

“Ahhh! D*mn it!”

He landed hard at the bottom of a pit at least three meters deep, writhing in pain.

“Told you to be careful.”

A handsome face appeared above the pit. Calix—who had vanished without a trace only to reappear now—looked down at him with an easy, unruffled smile that only made Iden’s blood boil.

“Never seen a human fall into a trap meant for monsters before. If the hunters find out they’ve caught something strange instead, they’ll be disappointed.”

There was no doubt this was one of Calix’s tricks. Grinding his teeth, Iden glared at that smooth, insufferable face.

But a standoff here would do him no good.

“I admit, I shouldn’t have followed Your Grace in secret. But isn’t this going a bit too far? Let’s just call it even and pull me up.”

“Hmm. Sorry to disappoint, but I don’t know how to haul someone out of a pit.”

It was clear Calix had no intention of rescuing him.

“Once the hunters realize the trap’s been sprung, they’ll come. Until then, just rest.”

“What? Wh-what are you saying? This place is crawling with monsters! You’re just going to leave me here?”

“I never said I was leaving you.”

Calix gave a brief, amused smile and waved.

“I said you should rest.”

True to his word, he walked away without a backward glance.

From the bottom of the pit, Iden ground his teeth and shouted,

“Just you wait! When I get out of here, you’ll see what happens!”

…Hearing Iden’s furious shouting in the distance, Alter turned to him with a serious expression.

“Should I just kill him?”

He was always mild-mannered and optimistic, but when it came to cursing Calix, he could never hold back.

“Don’t. He’s the marquis’s son, not just some stranger. Do you want to start another war?”

Zenfri shook his head, as if the very idea of answering was a waste of effort, then turned to Calix.

“You’ve almost used up the mark anyway. Let’s just head back.”

He pointed toward the sky.

“The clouds are thickening—this weather’s turning strange. Looks like it’s going to pour any moment now.”

Calix glanced upwards and nodded slightly. Just moments ago, the sky had been perfectly clear. Had it really turned so overcast so suddenly?

“Let’s head ba—”

He cut himself off mid-sentence, his gaze falling to his sword. The crimson ribbon that had dangled from the end of the hilt just moments before was gone.

He turned in the saddle, scanning the path they had ridden, but there was no sign of the ribbon Selina had given him.

“Is something wrong?”

Zefri asked when Calix hesitated.

“No. Let’s just go.”

With a look as if it were nothing worth mentioning, Calix mounted his horse.

Meanwhile, although the drop wasn’t from a sheer cliff, the fall was still enough to cause severe injury. Selina was knocked unconscious for a while.

When she finally managed to open her eyes…

All she could see around her were dense shrubs and trees.

It seemed she had survived only because she’d landed in the undergrowth.

“Ahh…”

The moment she tried to rise, a sharp pain shot through her right ankle—like the bone was shattering.

Every time she tried to move, even the slightest bit, a searing pain made it impossible to stand on her own.

Glancing to the side, she spotted a warning sign: Danger. Restricted Area.

Perhaps this was the place the retainer had mentioned—the “extremely dangerous region where monsters often appeared.”

Ooooo—

From somewhere in the distance came a sound, like monsters howling.

A hollow laugh escaped between her lips.

She remembered what she’d been thinking just before the fall: Would it be so bad if I simply disappeared now?

Maybe God had read her heart and was trying to grant that wish. Since she had wanted to vanish so badly, perhaps He was giving her a chance to disappear without burdening anyone else.

If she were to lose her way and die during the hunting competition, her death would be hers alone to bear. Calix would suffer no consequences from it.

Lying on the ground, Selina gazed up at the sky.

‘Would there be anyone who mourned my death?’

The answer was: Perhaps.

There might not be anyone to grieve for the death of the Selina who had been isolated in the convent. But perhaps one or two people would mourn the Selina who had chosen a political marriage for the sake of the empire’s peace.

Then—

‘Would there be anyone who truly grieved for my death?’

The answer to that was… No.

Calix’s face suddenly flickered through her mind. If she, the woman who had once been his wife, were to die so suddenly, what would he feel?

Would he think it a relief that the thorn in his side had removed itself?

Or… would he, at least for a moment, recall the time they had shared and feel some small measure of sorrow?

Selina buried her face in her hands and whispered,

“…I wish you would grieve for me.”

From the sky, heavy with dark clouds, raindrops began to fall.

As the cold rain struck her face, Selina finally let go of the tears she had been holding back for so long.

“…The truth is, I…”

‘Calix, I loved you.’

‘Maybe… I was hoping you might remember me.’

‘Even if you never saw my face, I wondered if you might recall some trace of me and recognize me.’

‘Every night, I held on to that ridiculous hope.’

‘And if you couldn’t remember me—’

‘Even then, just a little…’

“…I wanted to be someone precious to you.”

The tears falling from Selina’s eyes mingled with the rain, drenching her face completely.

It felt almost laughable, to finally bare her true feelings only now, on the verge of dying alone.

‘Yes. I’ve always been pathetic like this. No matter how fine or beautiful the clothes I put on, it never changes.’

She longed to be with someone, yet when she was, she feared the moment they would part. She wished desperately to be precious to someone, yet fretted endlessly over whether that person would one day leave her.

It had been the same on the day she and Calix parted long ago.

‘I said I would wait, but the truth is that I tried hard not to appear as though I was waiting.’

Deep down, she had believed he wouldn’t come back—because no one had ever kept a promise to her.

But the promise Calix had made, that he would return… that was the one she’d wanted to believe in.

She had wanted it so desperately, so unbearably, that she decided—

‘I won’t believe it.’

After all, once he returned, he would be far too busy. He wouldn’t have the time or leisure to think of her, cloistered away in the convent. So of course, he wouldn’t come back.

That was how she pretended not to believe in his promise.

But in truth—

“Hhk… I waited.”

From the day they parted, she had counted the numbers on the calendar every single day. She had gathered stories—little things she thought might amuse him—so she could tell them when they met again.

She had sealed away all the items she had collected while she was with him inside a glass jar, keeping them as if they were the most precious of treasures.

They had become things she would never tell him about—but still. At some point, her quiet sobs became lost beneath the sound of the rain.

Rustle—

All of a sudden, something moved in the undergrowth.

Something was approaching Selina.