‘Did he hear my conversation with Waldemar?’

Selina looked up at him, her eyes filled with unease.

“Did you hear the conversation just now?”

Perhaps it was because of her unease. Selina asked Callios in a slightly sharp tone.

“I was too far away to hear it. But—”

His expression was obscured by his hair, yet it seemed, just faintly, that the corner of his lips curved upward.

“There was something I happened to witness.”

He lifted his head slightly. For a brief moment, his dark brown eyes swept over Selina’s lips.

The instant she realized the meaning of that gaze, heat rushed to her face.

‘Did he see Waldemar kissing me?’

Of all people, it had to be him—the one person she least wanted to see that moment, the one person she most wished had not.

At a loss for words, she hesitated—

“Excuse me for a moment.”

Suddenly, Callios reached out and touched her face. The movement was so unexpected that she didn’t have time to avoid it, and she was forced to accept his touch.

His fingertips went straight to her lips. One finger roughly traced along their edge. Because she had scrubbed that very spot repeatedly moments earlier in a desperate attempt to erase the lingering disgust, even the lightest touch stung.

A sharp pain flared up and she frowned involuntarily. However, Callios seemed oblivious to her reaction. He continued to rub her lips for a moment longer before finally withdrawing his hand, a deep crease forming between his brows.

“My apologies. I thought there was something on them.”

For a moment, Selina was tempted to snap at him and ask why he was frowning when he was the one who had kissed someone else without permission.

However, he looked so uncharacteristically grim that she swallowed her words and got straight to the point.

“It’s fine. If you have something to say, say it. You look like you were waiting for me.”

“……”

Contrary to her expectations, Callios didn’t say a word. He stood there with his hands clasped behind his back, looking as though he wanted to say something. Instead, he silently blocked her path, sulking.

“If you won’t speak, then I’m leaving.”

She tossed the words out with feigned indifference and turned away.

In truth, there were countless things she wanted to ask him. Deep down, she had also hoped for a moment alone with him. But right now, she didn’t want to talk to him at all.

She wanted to shut herself away in an empty room by herself.

Once, she had hated the dark so much that it terrified her.

Now, strangely enough, it felt comforting.

Just as Selina was about to return to her quarters—

“I know where the Elder is currently staying.”

At last, the lips that had seemed set in stone parted.

“…What did you say?”

“I said that I am the only one who knows where the Elder’s base is.”

For a moment, Selina doubted her own ears. She wondered whether she had misheard or whether the Elder Callios she knew was a different person.

“You mean the one said to be leading the Thalian forces that are now gathering?”

“Yes.”

She asked again to be certain, yet his answer remained the same.

…Unbelievable.

A hollow laugh slipped out before she could stop it.

“And why would you tell me something that important?”

“Because the deputy commander is obsessed with earning merit.”

“And Sir Callios isn’t?”

“I have ambition. But I don’t have time.”

Selina’s eyes narrowed.

Was the man who had monitored her every move really claiming he had no time? She wondered if he was deliberately downplaying the situation.

Then—

“The duke has given his orders. From tomorrow, I am to stop monitoring you and return.”

“…Ah.”

The unexpected turn left her momentarily speechless. After hesitating, she asked him instead.

“Did my father give that order himself?”

“Yes.”

“…Why did he change his mind?”

“Well.”

His curt reply suggested that the reason was irrelevant.

Come to think of it, had her father ever needed a reason to change his mind before? He simply did as he pleased.

If she were to hazard a guess, it might have something to do with the marriage to Waldemar that had been discussed that day. Having another man oversee a woman about to be married was not ideal.

‘Perhaps he thinks there’s no longer any need for surveillance once I marry Waldemar. After all, that would be the most thorough watch of all.’

She had gone to great lengths to evade her father’s surveillance, even creating an antidote. Now, the realization that everything might go wrong at an unexpected turning point left her feeling deeply unsettled.

Yet there was another reason her heart felt uneasy.

“Then I suppose we won’t have any reason to see each other for a while.”

“We may never see each other again.”

Callios replied in a stiff, clipped tone. For no apparent reason, she felt a faint sense of disappointment stir within her. After all, it wasn’t the first time he had spoken to her like this.

‘I wanted him gone.’

He had only hindered her search for Calix. The constant feeling of being watched kept her on edge every day.

Yet why did the thought of the surveillance ending, and of possibly never seeing Calix again, leave her feeling strangely hollow?

‘It’s because he was like a shadow. Anyone would feel unsettled if a shadow that had always followed them suddenly disappeared.’

Once she framed it that way, her heart eased, if only a little.

“Thank you for your efforts.”

Selina gave a brief bow and chose to leave it at that. Callios stared at her in silence for a moment, then held out a single sheet of paper.

_

“I’m truly sorry, my lady. I never meant to tell the Commander!”

When Selina returned to her quarters, she found Lucas kneeling inside. His hands clasped tightly together, he bowed repeatedly and apologized incessantly.

Only after hearing his explanation did she finally understand how Waldemar had found out where she was. Lucas had been waiting in the barracks for Selina to return, but Waldemar had appeared unexpectedly early that morning.

“He said he’d kill me if I didn’t tell him where you went, so I had no choice…!”

“So in the end, your own life mattered more.”

“Of course it did! If I’m alive, that’s better for you too, isn’t it?”

“…Do you truly believe that?”

“Would you really be happy if someone died? I didn’t think you were that cold-blooded, my lady.”

He had an uncanny talent for leaving her with nothing to say.

“That’s enough. What’s done is done, and there’s nothing we can do about it now. More importantly—”

She asked what had become of Alter’s younger brothers.

“I took care of the children, at least. Just in case, I had them escorted somewhere safe.”

“…At least that’s a relief.”

One misfortune followed another, yet at least this much had been spared.

It was a relief to know that Alter’s younger brothers were safe. If anything had happened to them, too, she wouldn’t have been able to face Alter again.

“But I hear rumors that you’re marrying Commander Waldemar. Is that true? It’s not, right? Just idle gossip?”

Had the rumor already spread? Lucas asked her with a face so anxious he looked ready to collapse.

“…It’s not entirely a false rumor.”

“What?! What did you just say?!”

The shock wiped the usual playfulness from Lucas’s face. He jumped to his feet and shouted as if the idea were unthinkable.

“No! That can’t be! You’ve only just been married—how can you remarry already? This makes no sense!”

“Sometimes, I think I understand exactly why you’re disliked by others.”

“Who dislikes me? Do you have any idea how adored I am by noble ladies? Everyone knows it—except you, my lady.”

“I see.”

If she let him carry on, he would inevitably start to praise himself. Instead, Selina tuned him out and turned her thoughts back to Alter’s safety.

‘Waldemar said he’d spare Alter as long as I married him. But I don’t believe him.’

He had killed countless people who had refused to submit to him. The execution grounds, stained with the blood of his victims, were proof enough of that.

She was only pretending to comply with his orders to buy time. Time to save Alter.

‘But how am I supposed to do that?’

The best option would be to get Alter out of prison before the situation escalated any further.

Fortunately, she had managed to find out where he was being held. However, it was a place under strict surveillance, even by Imperial standards. Simply gaining entry would be difficult.

‘And if I go myself, the scrutiny will be even tighter. Waldemar has probably already taken precautions.’

That meant she would have to rely on someone else.

‘Is there anyone I can use?’

Her gaze drifted to Lucas, who was still chattering beside her.

“Well, since we’re on the subject, I’ll be honest: you and the Commander aren’t really suited to each other. You’re carrying too much weight right now, my lady. You need someone who can lighten the mood — someone cheerful. Of course, I’m not saying that person has to be me. Just someone like me, you see.”

No. Lucas was trustworthy enough, but he simply wasn’t sufficient.

She needed someone with enough power to shake even a heavily guarded prison.

‘Power…’

At that moment, only one person came to mind.

Someone who, despite risking his own life, had a good reason to take the risk to save Alter. Someone with enough influence and power to turn a prison upside down.

‘The one they called the Elder.’

If he really was the one rallying Thalia’s remaining forces, he would certainly be prepared to risk his life to save Alter, the former captain of Thalia’s knights.

‘Where was the place Callios mentioned?’

Selina pulled the paper he had given her out of her clothes.

On it was a simple map showing the way to the Elder.