“There were times I thought… that maybe, someday, you might come to love me.”

Her lips pressed together at his low voice.

“And then came the day I realized that was impossible.”

“I’m sorry.”

“No… it’s I who should be sorry. Because even knowing that, I still continued to share a bed with you.”

“That was because I—”

“Can’t we just call it what it was? That we both used each other.”

His words came softly, carefully. Reina looked into his eyes for a long moment before nodding. The man gave a faint, bitter smile.

“You know how I feel, don’t you?”

She closed her eyes in place of answering. Nothing had changed. Even after everything Kaelid had done to her, Yuta’s eyes still met hers so openly, so unwaveringly. She had always known that what he felt was love. But back then, knowing it stirred nothing in her. Because to her, love had been something unreal, something distant.

But now she knew. She knew what it meant for her chest to ache, what it meant to realize she could never be truly loved by the one she loved.

And this man—knowing all that—was still saying he loved her.

“I’m sorry.”

Reina reached out, slowly pulling him into her arms. It was the first time she had ever embraced him like this. His eyes widened faintly in surprise, and after a moment’s hesitation, Yuta’s arms came around her.

This time, he gently stroked her back. Beneath the fabric of his clothes, she could feel the uneven ridges—scars, countless and cruel. She didn’t need to see them to know how many there must be.

“I truly loved you.”

His whisper came as he pulled Reina into a crushing embrace. Loved. He had tried to bury it in the past, yet his voice was still thick with unshakable feeling. She knew that no answer she gave could ever bring him comfort.

‘Not I cared for you a little, not thank you, not even I’m sorry.’

As she struggled to choose, she simply kept her lips closed. Both of them knew this would be their final touch. His arms tightened until she could hardly breathe, and Yuta let out a long sigh.

***

Through Yuta, she reached out to the princess once more.

There was no reason to refuse her offer of support, so the princess readily accepted Reina back into her fold. In return—or perhaps as her price—she asked to find Zephion Baltgar.

She added that he bore a deep hatred for the Berend, and that he would be a formidable asset.

Though surprised to learn that the last heir of House Baltgar had been hidden and raised in secret, the princess did not refuse. Reina asked only that her involvement remain known to almost no one. After all, there was nothing to be gained if word spread that the Marquis of Berend’s sister was aiding the princess.

What she had planned when she first laid eyes on Zephion was slowly falling into place. The boy would come to despise the Berend, join the princess, and reclaim the name of the Iron-Blooded Baltgar.

‘He will soon stain his hands with blood.’

The thought pained her. Back when Kaelid had seized him, Zephion hadn’t even been able to drive a blade into anyone. Now, there would be no one left to shield him. He would take his first life—and he would suffer for it.

But perhaps that wasn’t wholly a curse. Once he learned cruelty, he would strike Kaelid down without hesitation.

A bitter smile touched Reina’s lips.

She had lived for nothing but revenge. Yet somehow, she found herself caring more about the blood that would one day soak Zephion’s hands than about the vengeance itself.

With a long sigh, she unfolded the slip of paper Yuta had secretly brought her. Hidden inside the barrel of a pen, the tiny scrap bore only a few short words:

[I’ve found him.]

News came that Zephion had been found—and that he had joined the princess’s faction.

Reina lit the small note and watched as it burned to ash, scattering out the window in a soft drift. She quietly brushed back her hair, tousled by the chill breeze.

It was as if everything had fallen perfectly into place. The princess’s power had grown firm, and she had begun preparations for a counterattack. The emperor, long aware of the threat, had already braced for war after a failed attempt on his life.

A civil war would soon break out. And Zephion, standing on the princess’s side at such a moment—could there be more perfect timing?

Finding him had not been easy, but it had not been impossible either. Kaelid had been relentless in hunting the boy to kill him. Using that to their advantage, the princess had managed to reach Zephion just a step before the Berend.

“What has you thinking so deeply, my lady?”

The voice behind her pulled her from her thoughts. Rose shivered and closed the window.

“It’s nearly winter already.”

“Yes… so it is.”

The once warm air in the room had cooled. Rose draped a shawl over Reina’s shoulders, then skillfully stoked the fire higher in the hearth. Leaning on her cane, Reina slowly moved toward the flames.

She had once said they should move before winter came. The memory drew a bitter smile. She had imagined spending the season elsewhere, together. And yet, here they were, spending winter apart in different places.

She sank onto the sofa with a weary sigh.

“And him?”

“He went to the palace again today.”

“He’s been going often lately.”

Her tone was even, but Rose wrinkled her nose faintly.

“The atmosphere isn’t good. It seems another war is coming.”

At that, Reina gave a small laugh. So the situation truly was becoming dire. If even Rose, who rarely paid attention to the world beyond their walls, could sense it, then the capital must already be steeped in unease. Others, too, must have begun to suspect war was near.

The emperor’s repeated summons for Kaelid left little doubt that the conflict was close at hand.

Turning the thought over, Reina gave a light shrug.

‘Well, it’s a relief he isn’t around so often.’

No doubt the Berend would take the lead in this war as well. Having secured the marquisate in the last succession struggle, Kaelid might now set his sights on a dukedom. He was a man with a fierce hunger for power.

If he marched to war, would he take her with him again?

Reina let out a short sigh.

‘It doesn’t matter anymore, does it?’

A sudden memory rose up—the day the Baltgar marquisate was seized, when she had first met Zephion. Would she face him again this time, too, on the battlefield? The thought brought an odd calm; perhaps even being dragged along by Kaelid wouldn’t be so terrible if it meant seeing him again.

Of course, even if they met, his eyes would no longer look at her the way they once had. Would he raise his sword against her as well? If she were to die, she wanted it to be by Zephion’s hand.

It was selfish—and surely it would be a cruel burden on him.

‘But I don’t want it to be anyone else.’

Leaning back against the sofa, Reina slowly closed her eyes.

“I wonder if Zephion is all right.”

“I just hope he won’t be dragged into this war.”

‘Dragged in? He may very well stand at the front lines.’

Reina bit back the words, a bitter smile tugging at her lips. If he could only win this battle, everything could be restored. The name of Iron-Blooded Baltgar. The marquisate. The emperor’s trust and power.

And the Baltgar estate she had spent years preparing in secret.

‘They said it’s nearly restored to what it once was.’

She had worked tirelessly to see it rebuilt before she left with him, so that the manor would stand again almost as it had in the past. She wondered what expression Zephion would wear when he finally saw it—after everything was over, after he had regained the name, the land, the castle of Baltgar.

She knew she likely would not live to see that moment.

‘It’s a gift I prepared with such care… I hope he’ll smile when he sees it.’

A faint smile curved her lips. Or perhaps he would find it dreadful, thinking it was something prepared by the very one he now despised. She pictured the portraits of the late Marquis and Marchioness that would hang there, and a wry laugh slipped out.

‘So in the end, I won’t live to see him grow old.’

“Zephion will do well.”

At her words, Rose tilted her head slightly but asked nothing more.

Warm air from the fireplace filled the room. Turning to the window, Reina realized that autumn had already passed her by.

Bare branches swayed in the wind. Winter had come.