Spotting the former duke from afar, Sveta halted in her steps.

“You should take your leave now, Father.”

“My mind has not changed. I will say it again—do not abandon the easy path only to take the long way around.”

“Then continue straight ahead. It’s the easier route. I’m going to walk through the garden with my partner, so you don’t need to turn back.”

Aiden repeated the same words, but they had a different meaning now, and he turned away.

In that brief instant, Sveta had disappeared, slipping out of sight. Aiden immediately began searching for her.

The calm rhythm of his steps faltered. Urgency replaced them, his hurried footsteps striking the earth and sending sharp echoes through the fresh, green leaves.

“Sveta.”

The moment he found her hiding in the shade of a tree, a heated breath escaped him.

He pulled her slender, reed-like body tightly into his arms.

“Where do you intend to go? After your revenge is complete, what will you do? What will you have left to live for?”

His father’s impatient voice carved through his heart like a cruel blade.

Into the ruins left behind, another voice quietly seeped.

“Your Grace… your expression… Are you all right?”

Sunlight filtered through the lush leaves above, breaking into fragments that fell like jewels. This scattered light settled on Sveta’s dark hair, crowning her.

Aiden gently pressed his cheek against the top of her head.

“…I am fine.”

The warmth of her small body in the gentle summer sunshine.

The soft scent of her skin.

The relief that spread through him the moment she touched him.

Living with this warm woman, who trembled in fear of his father yet still worried for him, was his destiny.

This was the heaven he had finally reached.

Revenge no longer needed to be the purpose of his life.

The moment he realized this, his shattered heart began to beat again.

***

Several days passed.

With the distant crash of waves and the shrill cries of seabirds, Sveta opened her eyes.

Along one wall formed by a grand archway, sheer curtains swayed gently in the breeze.

“Are you awake?”

Madam Nora’s eyes curved warmly as she smiled.

“His Grace told me not to wake you, so I have been waiting for you to rise.”

Sveta slowly pushed herself upright. The salt-laced sea wind brushed against her still-warm cheek, heavy with sleep.

Only then did it truly feel real—they had arrived in Czernok.

“I will bring fresh water for washing.”

“Thank you, Madam Nora.”

Madam Nora smiled gently at Sveta as she rubbed her eyes, then quietly left the room.

Sitting up fully, Sveta shifted her hips slightly against the mattress. It was hard to believe that she had slept in such a comfortable bed all day.

“It still feels as though I’m in a swaying carriage…”

Three days.

It had taken them three full days to reach this place.

They had stopped at inns along the way, but had spent most of the journey travelling by carriage.

And Aiden had been with her the whole time.

‘I thought he preferred riding on horseback. Was I mistaken?’

He hadn’t ridden a horse once.

Instead, they had spent three consecutive days crammed together in a small carriage.

As always, Aiden’s expression revealed almost nothing. Yet she could not forget the look he had worn in the garden on the day he confronted the former duke. It had unsettled her ever since.

He had looked like a glass goblet veined with cracks, on the verge of shattering at any moment. As though he had been wounded.

This startled her. She had never imagined he was capable of wearing such an expression.

This feeling had nothing to do with the resentment she still felt towards him. It was simply the same instinct one feels upon seeing a wounded young animal — an ache impossible to ignore.

By the time they arrived in Czernok, the exhaustion and tension she had been suppressing hit her all at once. That was why she had stayed in bed all day.

Her body felt stiff and unbearably heavy. Stretching her arms high above her head, Sveta slowly rose and walked towards the balcony.

“The garden is quite beautiful, isn’t it?”

At Madam Nora’s voice behind her, Sveta turned.

Holding a porcelain basin, Madam Nora smiled softly.

“It truly is.”

“And even from the second floor, you can see the whole city. It must be because the ground is elevated.”

Sveta nodded slightly, then washed her face with lukewarm water.

After drying herself with a soft towel, she stepped out onto the balcony.

The green waters of Oakman Bay stretched out endlessly before her in the distance.

Suddenly, a vast wave of unease surged through her like an enormous wave.

Her heart pounded wildly, as though it might leap from her chest.

Overwhelmed by this violent rush, Sveta quickly lowered her head. Her lower jaw trembled.

“…Are you still afraid of the water?”

“I like the sound of the waves. But sometimes it feels as though there is a black hole in the middle of that sea. As though that darkness might swallow me whole…”

She liked the peaceful atmosphere of the harbor city, with its faint briny scent, brilliant white sunlight, and distant cries of gulls.

It was her imagination that had betrayed her.

Shaking her head to dispel her fear, Sveta spoke again.

“But someday, I would like to live in a small house near the shore.”

Madam Nora, having drawn the curtains firmly closed, tilted her head slightly.

“Would you like me to come with you?”

“What? What do you mean?”

“Let’s run away and live together, Madam Nora.”

“…My lady.”

“If you do not wish it, I will not force you.”

A flicker of confusion crossed Madam Nora’s face.

“But even if you choose not to leave with me, I do not want you to live your entire life as a maid.”

“My lady, I—”

Before Madam Nora had finished speaking, the door to the bedchamber burst open.

Sveta turned towards the rude intruder.

The face of a woman around her age looked familiar. She had seen her several times before, but she couldn’t remember her name.

“Our lady summons you.”

The abrupt command was delivered without courtesy. Madam Nora replied evenly.

“May I ask which lady is calling for me?”

“Not you. You, over there.”

She crooked her finger at Sveta and smiled—a twisted, mocking smile.

“Miss Matwood is waiting. Prepare yourself at once and come out.”

“How can this be so sudden? At least tell us for what reason she calls.”

The woman’s eyes sharpened as she glared at Madam Nora.

“When you are summoned, you come. Why so many questions?”

After casting one last scathing look at Sveta and Madam Nora, she turned on her heel and left.

Without anyone there to restrain her, she allowed herself to be so insolent.

Sveta smiled faintly.

“It is all right, Madam. I will not live like this forever.”

“……”

“Please consider what I proposed.”

“…Yes, my lady.”

“Will you prepare a dress for me?”

Madam Nora pressed her lips together, then nodded. The confusion in her lined eyes had given way to quiet resolve.

***

As Sveta walked across the plaza paved with neatly rounded stones, she kept her gaze lowered. She did not wish to look directly at the sea.

Even so, she carefully observed her surroundings. Knights patrolled in pairs at frequent intervals.

‘Security is far too tight.’

It was not a good sign. If she were to run, she would be caught without difficulty.

The atmosphere was very different from before, and it unsettled her.

“Why are you walking so slowly? Move faster! Our lady is waiting.”

“……”

The tone of impatience felt familiar.

Finally, Sveta remembered who the woman was. She was Alyona Matwood’s maid. Sveta recalled seeing her reprimanding the staff in Renée’s dress shop.

‘Sophie, was it?’

Even when she was a maid, she was born into a noble family. That must be why she carried herself with such arrogance.

Sophie led Sveta towards a corner of the plaza connected to the docks.

There, a chapel-like building stood, its entrance shaded by a large canopy.

As Sveta stepped beneath the fluttering ivory canopy, she saw a gathering of women dressed entirely in white.

“Oh my, look at that dress.”

Sharp gazes pierced Sveta’s pink linen gown.

At the center of the group stood Alyona Matwood. She narrowed her eyes, her thick false eyelashes fluttering rapidly.

“You arrive only after everything is over. How indolent.”

“What do you mean?”

“Did His Grace not inform you?”

“……”

Alyona approached, a sneer curling across her lips. Without preamble, she began to pick at her.

“Why did you not respond to my invitation?”

“I never received an invitation, Lady Matwood.”

Alyona’s narrowed eyes openly displayed her disbelief.

“And why have you summoned me?”

“There was a charity event today for the vagrants.”

Alyona smiled faintly, her elegant tone concealing sharp thorns beneath it.

“Was it five years ago now? My fiancé ordered that all the unruly ones be rounded up. He even established facilities for the vagrants.”

Five years ago…

That had been when Aiden rescued her from nearly being abducted by a stranger.

“There are still those who behave like this? There will be no such incidents after today.”
“So do not worry.”

The memory of his voice made Sveta’s pale blue eyes grow distant.

She had simply been grateful to escape danger at the time. She had never imagined he would truly keep his word.

“Lady Luce. Are you listening to me?”

The sharp voice shattered her brief reverie. Sveta looked back at Alyona.

“How does it feel, Lady Luce?”

“…What do you mean?”

With her arms crossed and a devilish expression on her face, Alyona glanced around the room. Five or six young ladies exchanged meaningful glances.

Whispers rose like dull smoke in the air.

The hostile atmosphere was oppressive, but Sveta remained composed, waiting for Alyona to continue.

Finally, with one corner of her mouth tilted upwards, Alyona spoke.

“Are you not the one who has benefited the most—from the welfare policies my fiancé established?”

“……”

Though she did not say it outright, the meaning behind her words was unmistakable.

‘The beggar’s daughter.’

Had she really gone to the extent of sending a maid to summon her just to publicly humiliate her?

In a way, it was almost impressive.

Sveta had planned to ignore it. She had no interest in the petty games of high society.

However, Alyona’s next words made her eyes widen in shock.