Although he hurried to arrive at the Imperial Palace, meeting Ravenne wasn’t as easy as he had hoped.

“Visits are prohibited.”

The soldier in charge firmly shook his head at the request for a visit.

“Why is that?”

“It’s His Majesty’s order not to allow any visits.”

Right, of course it would be like this. Ilion, hiding his impatience, asked the soldier.

“Where is His Majesty now?”

“He should be in his office.”

“I’ll go and ask him directly.”

“That probably won’t… be possible.”

The soldier, seemingly uncomfortable dealing with Ilion, trailed off uncertainly.

“His Majesty ordered not to let the Duke in if he visits.”

It seemed like an order given in anticipation of how he would react.

Ilion knew that Klaus viewed him as a thorn in his side. That’s why he was wary of Klaus showing interest in Ravenne.

Referring to Ravenne as his wife especially in front of Klaus, and constantly reminding him that they were soon to be married, was a kind of warning to withdraw any unnecessary interest.

Well, it’s not like he’s the type to listen to warnings anyway. Klaus would rather dig into that gap.

In the end, since Klaus held the upper hand, Ilion had no choice.

“Then I’ll wait until His Majesty comes out.”

There was nothing else to do but wait for him…

“It’s been five days already…”

“Five days? Has it been that long already?”

Early in the morning, the guards on duty were conversing in low voices.

“That person is really something. How can he wait in the same spot without sleeping for even a moment?”

“…I know. Does he think His Majesty will meet him just because he waits? Even if it’s for his fiancée, it’s a crime tantamount to treason. What if he gets caught in the crossfire?”

“By the way, don’t you feel like you can’t move sometimes when he gets angry?”

“You’ve experienced it too? I thought it was just me.”

Recalling that moment, the guard shuddered as if he never wanted to face it again. Then, noticing a familiar figure approaching from afar, he tensed up and straightened his posture.

Golden hair shimmering softly in the rising sun passed by them. He was heading towards the office.

The story of Ilion had spread throughout the Imperial Palace to the point where even low-ranking soldiers were talking about it.

Klaus must have known. Knowing this, he was deliberately avoiding meeting him. While he was curious to see how long Ilion would last in that state, his purpose was slightly different.

He knew that Ilion had been meeting Artia frequently.

The reason wasn’t clear, but judging from the fact that he was receiving blessings, he could only guess that there might be health issues or some other reason.

That’s why he deliberately confined Artia to her room so that she couldn’t meet with Ilion. To corner someone, you had to take away what they wanted most.

And the response he got was beyond his expectations.

‘Should I call it bold, or reckless?’

It was unexpected that Ravenne, not Ilion, had reacted, but she certainly didn’t disappoint his expectations. If Artia hadn’t informed him in advance, he would have let her slip through his fingers.

‘The only puzzling thing is that Artia revealed this fact first…’

Klaus recalled Artia coming to him and explaining Ravenne’s plan.

‘Why are you telling me this?’

‘I don’t think she’ll be able to escape. I don’t intend to run away either. But there’s one thing I’d like to ask.’

The expression on Artia’s face as she said this was quite audacious, leaving a lasting impression.

‘Since I’ve provided information that will be useful to Your Majesty, in return, I ask that you lift the wanted order on the people from the temple.’

On the day Klaus brought her in, he had issued a wanted order for the temple people who had supposedly fled. She was informing him about Ravenne to lift that wanted order, but how much of that could be trusted…

‘Well, I’ll think about that separately…’

As Klaus reached his office, he saw Ilion waiting for him in front of the door, his appearance impeccable.

“My, are you still waiting for me? I thought you would have given up and gone back by now.”

Ilion bowed his head to him.

“I have a request for Your Majesty.”

“I know what the Duke wants to say. But what’s not possible is not possible. You should consider yourself fortunate that I haven’t imprisoned you.”

“Please, I beg you.”

“You really do put people in difficult positions…”

Although he said this, Klaus’s expression was far from that of a troubled person.

“Helping a prisoner escape is tantamount to treason. Wanting to meet her is as good as saying you’re also participating in treason, isn’t it?”

Klaus, still acting the role of a generous monarch, added.

“Of course, I believe you wouldn’t do such a thing. So I intend to end this incident by punishing your fiancée. Now, go back.”

“Please. Allow me to speak with her one last time.”

Seeing Ilion’s unwillingness to back down, Klaus feigned a troubled expression. Then, he reluctantly gave permission.

“If you insist, I suppose I have no choice. Even if she committed a crime, she was once your beloved fiancée. I’ll give you enough time for a farewell.”

As Klaus entered his office, leaving Ilion behind, a deep smile formed on his lips.

There were more than enough reasons to arrest Ilion, but simply imprisoning and executing both of them for treason would be uninteresting.

If they were going to die anyway, wouldn’t it be more enjoyable to slowly tighten the noose?

Would he crumble watching his beloved woman die miserably, or would he commit treason by pointing his sword at his master’s neck?

Whichever he chose, it would undoubtedly be an entertaining spectacle.

***

Ilion came to visit on the fifth day of my imprisonment. I had thought he would come the day I was imprisoned, but his visit was later than expected.

Looking at him across a table, he seemed a bit tired. Well, he must have had a lot to think about.

“Leave us for a moment.”

He asked the soldier without taking his eyes off me.

“I-I’m sorry, but I’ve been ordered to report all conversations held here.”

A pair of red eyes glared at the soldier once. Though he flinched at the piercing gaze, he managed to stand his ground quite bravely.

“Just speak. It’s not like we have anything to hide anyway.”

I spoke up, intervening between the two engaged in a pointless battle of nerves. It wasn’t particularly because I felt sorry for the soldier dealing with Ilion. I just wanted to get out of this uncomfortable situation quickly.

“Are you… eating well?”

Is that all you have to ask?

“Is that why you came?”

“……”

Why is he the one clamming up when I’m the criminal? What’s so difficult that he’s hesitating?

“If you’ve come to talk about breaking off the engagement, I’ll comply with whatever direction you wish, Duke. So just say it.”

I brought up what I thought he would want to say. I was prepared to accept even if he wanted to add to my charges by holding me responsible for all the trouble I’ve caused. That would actually be more advantageous for Ilion.

However, Ilion’s response was different from what I expected.

“I’m thinking of requesting His Majesty for your pardon.”

“……!”

At his nonsensical words, I almost blurted out asking if he was in his right mind.

“I see the Duke also wastes time on useless things.”

Though I didn’t hide my intention to mock him at all, Ilion continued without changing his expression.

“I plan to get you out of here somehow before the execution. So don’t worry too much.”

“Who’s worrying about what? I intend to pay for my crimes. It has nothing to do with you, Duke.”

“Then keep thinking it has nothing to do with you. I’ll do what I want to do.”

Ilion, speaking like this, showed no sign of backing down. As if he would push through with his own will.

Where does this confidence in such absurd words come from?

Suddenly, I recalled the story from the original work. Is he planning to start a rebellion?

Considering what he had done for Artia, it wasn’t such an absurd idea.

“I don’t know what you’re thinking, but if you’re planning to do something for me, it’s not necessary, so stop.”

I hurriedly drew the line.

Klaus was a far more exceptional mage than Ilion thought, and not someone to be challenged with ordinary forces. No, there’s no need to argue about this and that, didn’t it fail in the original work anyway?

“As I said, I’m just doing what I want to do.”

“You could easily end this by breaking off our engagement. Why do you need to do such troublesome things?”

Perhaps due to surging emotions, my voice kept becoming more urgent contrary to my intentions, but unlike me, Ilion remained calm throughout.

“As you probably already know, I don’t have much time left. There’s no need for you to bear an unnecessary burden because of me. You still have many days to live.”

It was as if he knew why I was here.

“I want your future to be brighter. I want you to laugh more, to be happier, to find…”

Ilion paused for a moment, then continued.

“…real love, as you wished.”

It was a calm yet affectionate voice. He seems to still not have come to his senses even after I hurt him so much that day.

“That’s what I’m calling useless.”

I barely managed to squeeze out a rebuttal, trying to ignore his words.

“It’s not useless. Although I won’t have a place in the ending you dream of, this way you’ll remember that I was there in every moment you breathe.”

As Ilion said this, a faint smile formed on his lips.

Somehow feeling like tears might well up in my eyes, I lowered my head.

I thought it would be fine to end it like this. It was something I had done due to my foolish judgment, and I didn’t want the damage to extend to Ilion. If I couldn’t resolve the situation now, I was prepared to die taking all the blame…

Why are you saying such things? Are you telling me to live the rest of my life grieving while clinging to your corpse? Really, what a curse…

A few drops of tears I had been holding back finally fell onto the table.

Indeed, no matter how many times I thought about it, I didn’t want Ilion to die. Even more so if it was for me. So please, think. What I can do, the knowledge I’ve gained in this world, knowledge of the original work, anything, let’s think.

There must be a way to solve this. Surely…

Pondering as I watched the falling tears, I raised my head to look at Ilion.

“Duke, I want to kiss you. Right now.”