“Killing you wouldn’t be difficult at all.”

The man idly flicked the dagger in his hand toward Selina, as if it were a toy.

“But no matter how I think about it, simply killing you feels… unsatisfying.”

Gripping the dagger, he strode towards her.

His wildly dilated pupils rested on Selina’s chest.

Although she was quite slender compared to other noblewomen, her delicate frame still had soft curves that caught his gaze.

“Yes. The Empire mocked us first, didn’t it? So it’s only right that we return the favor.”

His eyes gleamed with n*ked greed as he moved closer and bent one knee beside her.

As soon as he got near, a foul stench wafted towards her. Selina held her breath and turned her head away.

Smack!

Enraged by her reaction, the man raised his dagger-wielding hand and struck her across the face.

A vivid red handprint bloomed on her pale, delicate cheek and a shallow cut appeared beside it where the blade had grazed her skin.

“So even with death staring you in the face, you’re still the Marquis’s daughter, is that it? Only highborn men are good enough for you?”

Spitting vulgar insults, he slashed at Selina’s blouse. He had meant to tear it open entirely, but when she twisted away, the fabric ripped only halfway, exposing her collarbone.

“D-don’t come any closer!”

Summoning all her strength, Selina pushed him away and ran towards the glass window at the heart of the hut. She picked up a fallen deer antler and smashed it against the glass.

However, she lacked the strength to break it entirely. The window shattered enough to fit a hand through.

“Hahaha! Don’t tell me you think you can escape from here?”

The man burst into laughter, watching her struggle with obvious amusement.

“Go on, try. Even if you manage to escape, there will be starving wild dogs waiting for you. And if you somehow manage to run past them, you’ll find nothing but thorny brambles surrounding you on all sides.”

There was no escape, no matter which way she went.

Then there was only one option left to her.

Selina snatched up the sharpest shard of glass from the floor and pointed it at him.

“Don’t come any closer. If you do, I’ll kill you first.”

Faced with an armed man, Selina could only brandish a shard of glass and issue such a feeble threat that it nearly brought her to tears.

Even worse, the man was not at all fazed. He merely watched her with blatant amusement, relishing every moment.

“Really? Then go on — try it. A woman who made such a scene over a broken ankle — do you honestly think you can stab someone properly?”

Like a hyena toying with its prey before the kill, the man threw his head back in laughter. Then he raised his bulging eyes and slowly dragged his gaze over Selina from head to toe.

“Now that I look at you, I can almost understand why His Grace bothered to shield you.”

“…What?”

“A calculating man like the Grand Duke wouldn’t humiliate me in front of everyone and take your side without a reason. I thought it strange—but now I see.”

He grinned as he looked at her face.

“It might be because of your eyes.”

Muttering with a look that suggested he wanted to crush them outright, the man sneered,

“There’s something about that gaze—it oddly provokes men. Even His Grace falling for you…”

“…Shut your mouth.”

Unable to endure his vile ramblings any longer, Selina interrupted him. Her hands trembled violently. She had never imagined that she would be forced to listen to someone defile Calix’s name right in front of her.

“Don’t you dare speak Calix’s name with that mouth.”

Although he wore the uniform of the Knights’ Order, he lacked all the qualities a knight should possess.

Rather than serving the Grand Duke with absolute loyalty, he displayed his grotesque inferiority and resentment towards Calix without restraint.

“His Grace is far more rational than a piece of trash like you—”

“Urgh.”

“Looks like you’ve deluded yourself just because His Grace treated you decently a few times.”

The man lunged forward and clamped his hand around Selina’s throat.

“Did you really think His Grace had feelings for you? Sorry to disappoint you, but that was all in your imagination. His Grace would never be so foolish as to love a woman. If he was ever kind to you, it was only because he wanted something from you. You stupid b*tch.”

Consumed by rage, he spat his venomous words at her, his eyes gleaming with malice.

“Did it feel good having His Grace take your side in front of the people of Thalia? Maybe you don’t even know what he wants from you. Has it never occurred to you that, every time he does that, he gains countless new enemies? Because of someone as insignificant as you, His Grace has gained countless new enemies!”

Selina struggled desperately against his grip, clawing for air, but it was useless.

“Your existence will bring nothing but misfortune to Thalia.”

Her vision was fading, darkness creeping in—but strangely, every word he spoke carved itself clearly into her mind.

“So before you become a true calamity, I’m going to kill you myself.”

‘My existence brings misfortune to Thalia.’

In truth, Thalia was not the only place where her existence had been deemed a curse. Selina remembered clearly what the Marquis had once said to her mother and herself when she was a child.

After hiding them away in a place no one could find, he had muttered to himself,

“I’ve brought back a troublesome burden—what else can I do? For now, we’ll have to stay hidden from the public eye.”

Her mother had said it too.

That because of Selina, she was trapped in that narrow, suffocating place for the rest of her life.

“A troublesome burden.”
“A useless child who brought her mother misery.”

Those words had followed Selina like a shadow.

She had tried endlessly not to become such a burden to Calix.

‘But maybe… I was born with a fate that brings misfortune to those around me.’

From the outset, Calix had never wanted this marriage. In fact, Selina herself had held a knife to his throat and begged him to marry her.

If he had refused that plea, he might have chosen a far better path—for himself.

‘He wouldn’t have been injured by monsters while protecting me.’

The man in front of her was vile beyond words. And yet, the idea that she might herself be responsible for Calix’s misfortune felt terrifyingly plausible.

Even if she survived this ordeal, she would still be forced by the Marquis’s orders to feign loyalty, seek out Calix’s vulnerabilities and deceive him once more.

Selina closed her eyes.

Just as tears gathered at her lashes and spilled down her cheeks—

BOOM!

There was a thunderous crash, and the hut shook.

Her eyes flew open.

The sturdy glass window had shattered completely. She had never imagined that glass could break with such a deafening roar.

Blinding sunlight poured through the shattered frame.

The source of the noise stepped inside, planting a foot on the windowsill. Shards of glass clung to the edges and cut into his cheek as he entered without hesitation.

He did not spare them a single glance.

For a moment, his face was obscured by the backlight, but as he moved forward, his features gradually became visible.

“Y-Your Grace…?!”

Only then did the man finally recognize who it was. Pushing Selina aside, he dropped to his knees, bowing until his forehead touched the floor. His whole body shook.

“I—I will explain everything. I’ll explain it all, so please—”

“AAARGH!”

His desperate pleas were ignored. But not by the man who had brought a chillingly crimson light into this darkened hut.

Calix looked down at the man with utterly emotionless eyes, then drove his sword straight through the arm that had moments ago been wrapped around Selina’s throat.

Blood streamed freely from the hand pinned by the blade.

“S-spare me! Please, spare my life! I have a sick mother—please, I beg you…!”

The man thrashed around, desperately trying to free himself from the sword. Once he had finally pulled it out, he began to crawl across the floor, blood pouring from his hand.

“Aaaargh!”

But Calix did not relent. He stepped forward and plunged his sword into the fleeing man’s leg.

Now covered in blood, escape was impossible.

The man trembled violently and begged for his life, but it was all in vain.

Calix watched him with cold, unfeeling eyes, then reached down and picked up the dagger the man had been holding.

Slowly, he moved his hand towards the man’s throat.

“H-hik! Y-Your Grace, please—!”

Just as Calix was about to slit the man’s neck—

“P-please… stop…!”

Small, fragile hands seized Calix’s arm.

For the first time, the crimson eyes that had not so much as flickered began to move.

“P-please don’t kill him… Your Grace…”

Selina stood in front of him, tears streaming down her face as she blocked his path.

He could have brushed off hands as thin and delicate as twigs with ease.

And yet—

“I’m sorry… I’m so sorry…”

Pushing away Selina as she clung to him and sobbed was impossible.

“I—I caused all of this… I’m truly, truly sorry…”

What was she apologizing for?

Swallowing the words he could not bring himself to say, Calix released the dagger and dropped it to the floor.

Then he took off his overcoat and gently draped it over Selina’s shoulders.