There was no way his uncle could still be alive. Calix had cut off his head with his own hands.

He had seen it for himself: the head falling limply to the ground, dark red blood pooling beneath it.

“Richardt is dead.”

When the name resurfaced, Calix’s expression twisted as if he had seen an unburied ghost.

A great deal of time had passed since that day. He had believed he would never hear that name again, and he could never have imagined it resurfacing in these circumstances.

“And yet someone dares to impersonate a traitor.”

The commanders studied Calix’s expression warily as he muttered in a lethal, icy voice.

People had long whispered in hushed tones that His Grace, the Grand Duke, was a merciless man who had even killed his own family.

But that judgement was shallow, seeing only one truth while missing two more.

After killing Richardt, Calix reacted violently whenever his uncle’s name was mentioned for a long time. Having dealt personally with the traitors, including members of his own family, he was tormented by relentless nightmares for months and unable to rest properly.

Perhaps that was why he had thrown himself so obsessively into the war with the Empire — to escape the memory of what he had done.

“Did she mention his appearance?”

“He wore a robe, so she couldn’t see his face. She only remembers that he was large in build.”

Rocheste responded quickly to Calix’s follow-up.

Although there wasn’t much to go on, there were still a few notable points.

Firstly, the deliberate use of the name Richardt, the traitor of Thalia.

Secondly, the man was tall.

Choosing that name on purpose suggested a strong possibility of a connection to Richardt. If he was large, he was most likely male.

‘…Don’t tell me.’

A single hypothesis flashed through Calix’s mind.

Long ago, most of Richardt’s family had been executed. But there had been one survivor: Eclipse, Richart’s only son.

Although Eclipse was Calix’s cousin, the two had lived in different regions and had only crossed paths briefly once.

On that day, Calix had ordered the entire household to be arrested. Eclipse, however, had not been there. He later learned that the boy’s nurse had fled with him.

Some insisted that Richardt’s son had to be found and dealt with decisively. If his uncle’s bloodline had survived, it was only natural that the blade of vengeance would one day be turned towards Calix.

Not long after, the body of a boy mauled by beasts was discovered in a nearby forest. An item belonging to the Richardt household was found on his chest. Upon hearing this, people concluded that Eclipse was dead.

However, Calix had never fully believed that Eclipse was dead. The object found on his body was so insignificant that it could easily have been misplaced. In fact, it seemed as though it had been deliberately placed there to prove that the boy was of the Richardt bloodline.

The absence of any trace of the nurse nearby was also suspicious. If she had truly been willing to risk her life to protect the young master, she would never have left his body behind so carelessly.

“Record Eclipse as deceased.”

Ultimately, Calix did not pursue the matter further because of the accursed emotion his uncle had once spoken of. Despite having killed his uncle, Calix still wanted to spare his son.

If Eclipse had survived, Calix had hoped that he would live quietly for the rest of his life, as if he were already dead.

‘But if the one who threatened Selina was Eclipse….’

Strength surged into Calix’s hand. The quill he had been holding broke with a dull crack and fell limp to the floor.

Staring down at it, Calix ground his teeth and spoke.

“Investigate everyone who had even the slightest connection to Richardt. Find information on Eclipse.”

If he had known that sparing his uncle’s son would one day lead to Selina being threatened, he would have overturned the entire city of Thalia to hunt the man down and kill him.

***

—Crash!

“I-I’m sorry, Your Highness!”

Selina’s face drained of color as she stared at the shattered teacup on the floor.

Breaking something so precious was bad enough, but breaking the Grand Duchess’s teacup was an even greater offence. As Selina hurried to pick up the shards, Calliope stopped her quickly.

“It’s fine, really. I have more than ten of these cups. Or we can take this chance to ask Calix to buy me a new one.”

At the mention of Calix’s name, Selina’s face went even paler.

“I-I’ll buy you one myself. Please—just don’t tell His Grace….”

“Haha! Why? Do you think Calix would scold my sister-in-law over a single broken teacup?”

Calliope laughed lightly and gestured towards a maid standing nearby. The maid hurried over with cleaning tools and swept up the scattered glass.

As she watched, Calliope turned to Selina and asked.

“So—you’re asking me to recommend a skilled apothecary?”

Selina fixed her gaze on the back of the maid’s head as she swept up the shards of glass, answering awkwardly,

“Y-yes.”

“And how did you know I’m interested in medicine?”

Calliope’s eyes curved beautifully as she smiled. In that moment, Selina thought she looked very much like Calix.

“When we were buying supplies to help the domain’s residents endure the summer heat, Your Highness recommended several excellent medicinal ingredients. Given your extensive knowledge of a wide range of herbs, I thought you might be interested in the subject.”

As Selina spoke in a gentle, measured tone, Calliope smiled with evident satisfaction.

“Impressive. You saw through me at once. Calix still doesn’t know, though perhaps that’s because he’s never needed medicine in his life.”

Selina paused at the remark that Calix had never needed medicine since birth. However, this was hardly the moment to question it, so she kept her attention on the conversation.

“That said, my knowledge is limited to medicinal ingredients. Compounding them is an entirely different matter… Still, I’ll look into the apothecary you asked about.”

“Thank you very much!”

Selina bowed her head in gratitude.

“But are you really all right? Other than having trouble sleeping, there’s truly nothing wrong?”

Calliope looked concerned.

Selina brushed it off, explaining that she simply had trouble sleeping at night and wanted something to help her rest. Nevertheless, Calliope was still worried that Selina was consulting an apothecary because of the serious aftereffects of the abduction.

Selina felt a pang of guilt, as though she were deceiving Calliope, but she saw no other option.

“Yes, I’m fine. You really don’t need to worry.”

In an attempt to reassure her, Selina moved her arms around exaggeratedly, but Calliope’s expression did not soften.

“Why don’t you take this chance to travel with me? There’s a lovely port city nearby. If we ate good food and looked at the sea, wouldn’t that lift your spirits?”

Selina had grown up seeing the sea every day, surrounding the monastery. While the vast horizon might have looked magnificent to others, she had always felt imprisoned by it.

Of course, if she went with Calliope, the sea might look a little more beautiful, but still…

“Thank you for the offer. But… my restriction on going out hasn’t been lifted yet….”

Selina shook her head with an awkward smile.

“What do you mean, restriction on going out?”

As expected, Calliope sprang up in protest, bristling at Calix’s decision.

“What kind of twisted mind would say something so absurd? He may be my brother, but honestly, he’s no better than a famine crop rotting in the dirt.”

She launched into a scathing tirade against the Grand Duke of Thalia. Anyone unaware of the situation might have gasped in horror and accused her of lèse-majesté, but the servants at the Grand Ducal Residence were all too familiar with such outbursts.

“It’s really all right. My body hasn’t fully recovered yet, anyway…!”

It took Selina hours to calm Calliope down after she threatened to go straight to Calix and confront him.

After having tea with Calliope and returning to her room, Selina began getting ready for bed. After washing and changing into her nightclothes, she found herself repeatedly glancing towards the door, unaware that she was doing it.

‘…Will he come tonight as well?’

The truth was, she hoped Calix would.

‘N-no, it’s not that I want to do what we did yesterday again, but….’

As the memory of the previous night returned, Selina felt a rush of heat to her face, as though her whole body were on fire. She cupped her flushed cheeks and looked at the bed.

He probably wouldn’t come tonight. According to the Grand Duchess, Calix was busy investigating the Libero incident. She had even remarked that it had been a long time since Calix had personally become involved in an investigation of this scale, and that Selina herself might be the reason why.

‘N-no way. Why would it be because of me? It’s just that His Grace is very responsible. There’s no way he’d take on something so busy just because of me….’

And yet, even as she told herself that, a faint, hopeful flutter began to bloom.

Knock, knock.

At that moment, the sound of knocking echoed at Selina’s door.

“C-come in!”

Thinking it might be Calix, she hurried over and opened the door. However, it wasn’t the person she had been hoping for standing there. It was Yuri.

“Oh my, Madam. Were you perhaps hoping it would be someone else?”

Yuri asked at once, having immediately caught the change in Selina’s expression.

“H-hoping? Of course not! It’s nothing like that. But what brings you here at this hour?”

She waved her hands frantically, but Yuri just smiled, her eyes crinkling as though she could see right through the Grand Duchess’s innocent thoughts.

“Hehe. I’m afraid I’m not the person you were expecting. However, His Grace has sent you a gift.”

Yuri held out the large gift box she had been carrying.

Inside were a beautiful silver dress and a mask.