She couldn’t quite grasp the full meaning behind the marquis’s words. There was only one thing Selina truly understood in that moment: If this marriage didn’t go through, she would spend the rest of her life locked away in the cellar—just like her mother.

“Y-yes, I understand…”

She found herself agreeing almost automatically, but in truth, she didn’t even know what she was agreeing to.

“If only you were even half as useful as your brother… What a waste.”

With a look of pure irritation, the marquis turned his back on her.

“I might really end up locked in the cellar…”

Selina muttered blankly. She wanted nothing more than to shut her eyes and escape this dreadful reality, but every time she did, childhood nightmares pressed in on her—so she forced herself to keep her eyes wide open.

‘I have to find a way out of this.’

She clenched her fists so tightly that her nails left marks on her palms.

‘If I reveal who I really am, maybe I could get help…’

It was obvious to anyone that Calix despised the marquis. But if she explained her circumstances, maybe he would at least feel some pity for her. After all, he had once promised to come for her. Even if this wasn’t the marriage she wanted, maybe he’d look the other way and take her to Thalia.

Maybe, just maybe…

‘If he realized who I was, wouldn’t he welcome me?’

She caught herself imagining Calix’s face breaking into a warm smile as he recognized her—and, before she knew it, she had sunk down onto the floor.

“…That’s impossible.”

Calix had only ever been kind because she was the only person who had helped him on that remote island.

But to approach him now, asking him to marry her for such a selfish reason? The thought alone made her ache.

‘He’ll hate me for it.’

The mere thought of him looking at her with the same cold contempt with which he had regarded the Marquis caused Selina’s chest to tighten painfully.

She thought she had become immune to harsh stares after enduring them from her father all her life. But when she saw that same look on Calix’s face, she realised that she was completely defenceless against them.

Swallowing a wave of nausea, Selina stared at the firmly closed city gates, behind which Calix had already disappeared.

His heart was as tightly locked as those gates, and reaching out to him would be harder than she’d thought.

‘Still, I have to try.’

This was Selina’s last chance. Having made her decision, she went back to her room to get ready for the Thalian camp.

🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤

Night had fallen, thick and dark.

Selina donned her robe and slipped out of the palace. The guards moved to block her path, but hesitated when they realized she was the marquis’s daughter.

“Are you going out alone, without an escort?”

“…I don’t need an escort. If I go alone, the others won’t see me as a threat.”

They seemed reluctant to let her enter enemy territory unprotected, but Selina was determined and they ultimately had no choice but to step aside.

Beyond the city gates, a line of torches lit the way to the Thalian encampment. There were about half a dozen tents, with several soldiers stationed in front of each one.

“Who goes there? Identify yourself.”

“…I am Selina Ilios Axell, daughter of Marquis Bryson Ilios Axell.”

Selina pulled down her hood, revealing her identity.

The soldiers, briefly stunned by the sight of her luminous silver hair cascading over her shoulders like the Milky Way, soon regained their senses. They leveled their spears at her and questioned her further.

“What brings the marquis’s daughter all the way here, alone, at this hour?”

“I’ve come to see His Grace, Grand Duke Calix Silas.”

Selina bowed her head slightly, addressing them with quiet respect. One of the soldiers let out a short laugh, openly mocking her.

“You should go back. His Grace will only meet the imperial princess.”

“…It’ll only take a moment.”

“I said, go back!”

The roughest-looking of the guards stepped forward, shoving her hard by the shoulder. But Selina braced herself and refused to move, repeating herself firmly.

“I’m not leaving until I meet with the Grand Duke. Please—just tell him I’m here.”

The guard, surprised that she hadn’t budged, glared at her in annoyance, then turned to the soldier beside him.

“She’s just like her father. She doesn’t listen to a word you say.”

The others snickered and jeered in agreement.

Perhaps it was the growing commotion, but more and more soldiers began gathering around the camp. They stared in surprise at the woman who had arrived alone at such a late hour. When they realised that she was the Marquis’s daughter, they started openly mocking her and jeering at Selina.

“You really think the Grand Duke will change his mind because of this? If you don’t want nasty rumors spread about you, you’d better run along home, miss!”

“Yeah—if you stay out too late, the scary old marquis will give you a whipping, huh?”

They burst out laughing, taunting her with exaggerated gestures meant to frighten her. Instinctively, Selina shrank back.

“Did the marquis send you here himself? What, told you to threaten us with suicide if the wedding doesn’t happen?”

“No way! He’s a bastard, but I hear he dotes on his daughter.”

“Then why would she come all the way out here alone this late? Oh, wait—don’t tell me!”

One soldier looked her up and down, nodding as if he’d solved the mystery.

“Maybe he told her to sell herself. With looks like that, anyone would be tempted.”

“Haha, you’re not wrong!”

“What about me, miss? I’ve already got a wife in Thalia, so I can’t marry you, but I’d be happy to keep you as my secret lover!”

Suddenly, the air was thick with crude jokes and leering stares. Selina felt as though invisible hands were crawling all over her skin, making her shudder.

She pulled her robe tighter around herself and stepped back, but they only closed in further, hemming her in.

“Come on, just give me a kiss. Then I’ll be sure to deliver your message to His Grace myself.”

A rough hand reached for her—but just then—

“Why not.”

Came a voice, playful but with a chill like thick fog,

“Why don’t you try picking on someone your own size?”

The man caught the soldier’s wrist midair.

Selina flinched as the stranger’s hand brushed her nape, and she spun around in alarm to see who it was.

“There’s no need to pass on a message to the Grand Duke anymore.”

He said, smiling with narrowed, crimson eyes. Even in the darkness, his hair gleamed like spun gold.

It was Calix—the very man Selina had come searching for.

“Y-Your Grace!”

“We’re so sorry!”

The soldiers who had just been making vile jokes instantly dropped to their knees before Calix.

With everyone kneeling, Selina was left standing alone—awkward and out of place, like a single flower blooming in the open. She found herself staring at Calix, unable to look away.

He stood before her in a loosely buttoned shirt, close enough that she could have reached out and touched him. His features had grown sharper since she’d last seen him—he looked every bit a man now—but the glimmer of mischief in his eyes still reminded her of the boy from three years ago.

Her heart pounded stupidly just from facing him.

“Y-yes, that’s right.”

She replied, managing to avert her gaze.

“And what is it you wish to say to me?”

His voice was calm, giving Selina just enough courage to speak.

“I… I’d like you to reconsider marrying me.”

The playful glint in his eyes faded instantly, turning cold.

“I thought I already made myself clear on that subject.”

His response was harsher than she’d expected, but Selina tried once more to persuade him.

“E-everyone wants the war to end. The only way to keep more blood from being spilled is—”

She’d believed, foolishly, that the boy she once knew would choose what was best for everyone.

“I—”

His gaze fixed on her, dark and crimson as blood.

“Why should I?”

The instant their eyes met, all hope Selina had clung to vanished. She was struck by the sudden realisation that everything she had believed about him — about the boy she once knew — might have been an illusion.

“I don’t want an unreliable hostage; I want the perfect one.”

He was a man at the top of the food chain; someone who would never stoop to look down; someone who had no reason to settle for less.

From his position at the very top, Calix gave her a cool, dismissive smile.

“What exactly do you have to offer me, as the marquis’s daughter?”

Selina opened her mouth to answer, but Calix seized her wrist, tugging her closer.

“Why not just admit you’re only here because your father forced you to come?”

His hand moved to the delicate nape of her neck, the warmth of his skin in stark contrast to the icy blade he’d held to her earlier. Selina bit her lip at the sensation.

“You never know.”

He said, his hand stroking her sensitive skin as if nothing else mattered. He lifted her fragile chin, forcing her to meet his gaze.

“Maybe I’ll take you—if only because of how much I hate your father.”