And even if there was no mistake, it would not be a problem.

Just make one.

All it took was five words added to any evidence.

[By the will of the gods.]

On top of that, there was a clear reason not to make it an issue right now.

A small pond was located inside the temple.

A pond called the Water of Prophecy.

Bishop Armonius approached with his hands clasped behind his back and looked quietly into the water.

Within it lay a prophecy concerning Alicia’s future: a frail body covered in blood, crumpled on a dirt floor. It was Alicia’s wretched fate.

“Helena will be most pleased.”

The corners of Bishop Armonius’s lips rose slowly.

˗ˋˏ ♡ ˎˊ˗

The sun had lowered, casting long shadows across the land.

The carriage returning to the castle stopped in the middle of the road.

“Whoa, whoa!”

The coachman halted the carriage and quickly climbed down to inspect the road. A deep pothole had formed where the ground had thawed in the warming weather, blocking the way.

“It seems we will need to repair the road briefly.”

At the coachman’s words, Lieutenant Derick quickly assessed the situation. He then reported to Grand Duke Evander.

“Right. See to it without too much delay.”

“Understood.”

While Grand Duke Evander gave his orders, Alicia savored the spring breeze drifting through the carriage window.

The warm, gentle spring air made her whole body languid and her eyelids heavy.

It was because she had stayed up all night making the antidote and then spent the entire day at the mass, leaving her utterly exhausted.

“You can rest your eyes.”

Grand Duke Evander spoke, unable to watch Alicia struggling to blink.

“No. I’m fine……”

Alicia blinked hard and fought off the drowsiness. When it still refused to leave, she forced her gaze out the window.

Then a beautiful river came into view, its surface shimmering with the light of the fading dusk.

“……It’s truly beautiful.”

At her words, Grand Duke Evander’s gaze drifted naturally to the window as well. But his heart was still winter, too cold to take in the beauty of nature.

While Grand Duke Evander looked at the river without much feeling, Alicia continued.

“There must be a sea at the end of that river.”

“There probably is.”

“Have you seen it?”

“Seen what?”

“The sea.”

Grand Duke Evander looked at her quietly for a moment, then nodded.

“I have.”

“I never have.”

“Is that so?”

This time Alicia nodded.

“No, I’ve only read about it in books and heard of it in the songs of bards.”

“Well, it is quite far from Darlington.”

“That’s true. That’s why I’ve always wondered. What it must look like……”

A smile spread across Alicia’s face as she murmured almost to herself. Warm spring sunlight settled over her.

A growing sense of ease.

Alicia slowly gave herself over to the comfort. Her eyelids grew heavier and heavier, and in the end they could not resist the pull of sleep.

Her head tilted slowly to one side.

It came to rest against Grand Duke Evander’s broad shoulder.

“……”

The Grand Duke felt her weight and turned to look at her. He raised his hand at first, intending to wake her, but changed his mind when he saw the peaceful expression on Alicia’s sleeping face.

“She said she was fine……”

Grand Duke Evander muttered a half-complaint to himself and lowered his shoulder slightly so she could lean more comfortably.

He turned his head naturally and looked outside. The river Alicia had just mentioned came into view.

The sea……

A word he had never thought much about quietly settled somewhere in his heart.

If the chance ever comes, it wouldn’t be bad to go together.

It was a distant future that’s not yet in sight.

Even so, a faint smile had found its way to Grand Duke Evander’s lips.

˗ˋˏ ♡ ˎˊ˗

“Good work.”

Lieutenant Derick, having encouraged the soldiers who had finished the repairs, hurried toward the carriage.

“Your Highness, the repairs are com—”

Derick’s eyes fell on the Grand Duke and Grand Duchess sitting side by side as he was about to make his report.

A smile spread across Lieutenant Derick’s lips at the peaceful scene he had never seen before.

This is going to need a little more time.

Lieutenant Derick moved away from the carriage without making a sound. Then he called over the soldier who had just reported the repairs complete.

“It seems the road needs a bit more work.”

The soldier asked back in a bewildered tone.

“Pardon? We already finished.”

“Stop talking and do it again. There might be parts we missed. Yes, put your heart into it like you’re making a work of art.”

“Art…… you say? On a road?”

“Oh, hurry up!”

“Yes, sir!”

The soldier, unaware of Derick’s intentions, returned to his comrades with a puzzled look.

Watching them go, Derick peered into the carriage once more.

Alicia still asleep, and the Grand Duke willingly offering his shoulder. It was an unfamiliar sight, but a rather good one.

In that moment, a warm breeze came from somewhere unknown.

“Could spring finally be coming to the frozen North?”

Derick leaned against the carriage and looked up at the sky, then pulled out a piece of bread and took a large bite.

A sweetness that made him smile on its own.

It was the very bread Alicia had handed to the people herself.

˗ˋˏ ♡ ˎˊ˗

The carriage did not arrive at the castle until late at night, when the moon hung high. But Alicia was still deep in sleep.

“She must have been very tired.”

A pale face.

Long silver hair spilling down, as though it held the moonlight.

They were husband and wife now, yet there was still so much he did not know about her. He had not even looked properly at her face until now.

She has an expression like that.

But then,

“Mmm.”

Alicia stirred with a faint groan. Her brow furrowed, her eyes squeezed shut, and cold sweat broke out on her skin.

Is she having a nightmare?

As she tossed and turned, her face grew pale and the cold sweat continued. Evander reached out without thinking and touched her forehead.

She has a fever.

And in that moment, Alicia’s eyes flew open.

“……”

“……”

Their eyes met in the air between them.

Grand Duke Evander pulled his hand back in a fluster.

“Ahem, ahem. We’ve arrived at the castle.”

His heart pounded and he felt flustered, like a child caught stealing.

“……”

Alicia looked at Evander with a still-confused expression.

“I think there may be a misunderstanding…… you were tossing and turning in a cold sweat, so I was checking whether you had a fever.”

Then, Alicia, who had been looking up at him quietly, took his hand. Her expression grew more serious.

“This won’t do. Let’s go to my bedchamber quickly.”

“……Bedchamber?”

Evander’s pupils wavered for a moment at her unexpected words.

“Quickly.”

Alicia took the hesitating Grand Duke Evander’s hand and hurried into the eastern annex.

She barely acknowledged the maids’ greetings and rushed up the stairs.

Grand Duke Evander let himself be led while his mind turned over the questions that kept rising up.

What she wanted, and what it meant to go to her bedchamber together. The more he thought about it, the more tangled his feelings became.

Why is she in such a rush?

Her unusually assertive behavior.

Could it be……

By then, the two of them had arrived at the bedchamber.

“Please wait here for just a moment.”

Alicia quickly opened the bedchamber door and disappeared inside in a hurry.

“Ahem, ahem.”

Grand Duke Evander cleared his throat and waited, caught off guard by the unexpected turn of events. He understood well enough what Alicia might be thinking, but he was not ready for that.

‘More precisely, we are not yet at that point with each other.’

While he was making that firm resolution, Alicia returned carrying a bag. She pulled out one of the many small vials inside and held it out urgently.

“Here, take this quickly.”

What she held out was the antidote she had spent the night laboring to make.

“Once you’ve taken all of this, you should no longer need to worry about the poison. You’ll have built up a resistance to it.”

“……”

Evander looked back and forth between her eyes and the small vial in her hand.

“……Was this the reason? Why you said we had to get to the bedchamber quickly?”

“Yes. Just now I felt the heat in Your Highness’s palm, and it resembled the symptoms right before a headache returns. I thought it would be better to take it before that happens.”

“……”

Alicia asked carefully at his stiffened expression.

“Is it not enough?”

Alicia asked. At her genuine concern, Grand Duke Evander’s expression fell into a momentary blankness.

“……No. It’s fine. You would know better than I would.”

Evander looked at the vial and pressed his back teeth together slowly. An awkward silence followed, and Alicia asked carefully.