“By withdraw, you mean…”

The Duke of Hewitt couldn’t bring himself to say the word he had in mind.

“Divorce.”

At the unhesitating answer, he was left with his mouth open, unable to say anything.

“Karina, no, Your Highness–! That absolutely cannot…”

“There is no such thing as ‘absolutely cannot’.”

She cut off her father’s words and answered. The result of thinking that divorce was absolutely not an option, that such a stain couldn’t be left on the Hewitt ducal family, and to instead persevere, was the annihilation of the family. So, there is no such thing as ‘absolutely cannot’.

“If I feel it’s absolutely not working, I will divorce without hesitation. At that time, neither you, Father, nor the Hewitt ducal family should have any expectations or support for His Highness Aidan.”

Even if she stepped away, if the Hewitt ducal family couldn’t let go of their lingering attachment, who knows what might happen.

However, Duke Hewitt, not knowing the future, couldn’t readily agree with his daughter’s words. From the beginning, he had been suspicious of the former Empress’s death and was opposing the current Empress.

“Please promise me. Trust me, and if I judge it’s not working, both the Hewitt family and you, Father, will no longer involve yourselves in imperial affairs.”

“Your Highness…”

The Duke of Hewitt still couldn’t bring himself to agree. Having stood at the center of those arguing for years that Aidan should become Emperor, it was by no means easy for him to give up on Aidan.

“Then let’s do this.”

Karina, meeting her father’s gaze, looked more resolute than ever. For her too, this was a matter of survival.

“Half a year. If His Highness shows a changed appearance within that time, I’ll follow your wishes. But if not, if during that time His Highness only brings me disappointment, you’ll agree to my divorce.”

The Duke of Hewitt stared at Karina silently for a long time. His blue eyes, the same as Karina’s, sank deeply and wavered. He seemed to have a lot on his mind as well. As a nobleman, maintaining the legitimacy of the imperial family was important, but as a parent wishing for his daughter’s happiness, he couldn’t ignore that desire either. That’s why Duke Hewitt found it difficult to readily agree to his daughter’s request for divorce.

“In return, I too will do my best as the Crown Princess for half a year, so you can rest assured.”

Guessing the confusion her father might feel, Karina added a word first. Only then did the tense muscles in Duke Hewitt’s face relax a little.

“I understand. I believe Your Highness will handle things well, but…”

The Duke of Hewitt hesitated as if he wanted to say something.

“You must never be played by the Empress’s faction. Don’t forget that you should neither be deceived by their words nor fall for their tricks.”

No matter how well-educated Karina was from a young age, she was still only twenty years old. He was worried that if the cunning Empress made moves behind the scenes, she could be swayed in any direction.

“You don’t need to worry about that.”

Karina answered confidently. It wasn’t bravado, but she really had confidence that she wouldn’t be shaken when dealing with the Empress. Others might not be able to imagine it, but she had already experienced the Empress and Lloyd for three years. She couldn’t help but be completely different from when she was an innocent twenty-year-old who had just entered the imperial palace.

“It’s not that I’m worried Your Highness might make a mistake. With the recent incident of His Highness being attacked, it’s a father’s heart hoping that Your Highness will also be careful.”

Duke Hewitt’s face clouded over again.

“The timing of His Highness being attacked is still bothering me…”

At his words, Karina also swallowed a groan in her throat.

Aidan happened to be attacked on his way back from enjoying a secret meeting, so that part was being highlighted, but yesterday was also the day Karina married him. In other words, the problem was not that Aidan had an affair, but that it was the point at which the Hewitt ducal family officially joined hands with him. Unfortunately, because of the gossip about the secret meeting on the first day of the wedding, this more important fact was being buried.

The ones who were most displeased with Karina and Aidan’s marriage were Lloyd and the Empress. In fact, as time passed, it would become clear that no matter how good a sword the Hewitt ducal family was given to Aidan, it would be useless if he didn’t know how to use it, but for now, the Hewitt ducal family standing behind Aidan must have felt threatening. So, did they try to kill Aidan to cut off the dangerous sprout altogether?

Whether it was luck or the opponent’s preparation was inadequate, Aidan was alive and well.

“On my way here, I met the imperial physician who said that His Highness’s wound is quite deep. He said this time your life was truly in danger.”

At Duke Hewitt’s additional words, Karina tilted her head. The Aidan she had seen was much better than expected. Rather, he even irritated her by saying everything he wanted to say with a smirk. Could such a person have been on the brink of death? It was true that he had lost a lot of blood, as the bandage wrapped around his abdomen was stained with blood. But they said it wouldn’t be life-threatening…

Could it be that Aidan pretended to be fine in front of her to avoid showing weakness?

As her thoughts reached this point, one of her eyebrows twisted. It was because two assumptions came to her at the same time.

One was that Aidan didn’t fully trust her either. He had rationally judged that he needed ‘Karina Hewitt’ based on the given information, but in fact, from his position, he couldn’t be certain who had attacked him. He didn’t rule out the possibility that Karina might be involved, so he didn’t want to show any weakness.

The second was that the changed Aidan had the patience and acting skills to hide his pain to this extent. If what Duke Hewitt said was true, it should have been difficult for him to even sit up straight, but he showed no signs of that at all.

“Ha…!”

When a small laugh escaped, Duke Hewitt looked at her with an expression that seemed to ask why she was laughing. Karina shook her head, saying it was nothing, but as she recalled Aidan’s face smiling leisurely at her, she had a lot to think about.

*

After Karina left, Aidan ordered that no one be allowed in, saying he wanted to rest. The murmuring of people in the corridor gradually subsided as time passed, and soon an almost frightening silence flowed through the bedroom.

Whew. Only then did he let out a long breath, lifting his shirt and unwrapping the bandage to check his wound. The throbbing pain had been intensifying since earlier. Seeing that the stitched wound was about two finger joints long, he thought it might have been stabbed with something like a dagger. The size of the visible wound wasn’t very large, but it seemed to have gone deep inside. Fortunately, it must have missed the internal organs. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have regained consciousness in just one day.

This prince is certainly luckier than me.

Thinking that, he couldn’t help but smile. Someone might call him crazy for saying he’s lucky when he has a hole in his stomach, but it was true. Compared to ‘Park Jin-hoo’, Aidan Griffith was blessed in many ways.

‘You should have known your place. This is what happens when you try to punch above your weight.’

The voice echoing in his ear came to mind. At the same time, a throbbing pain from the wound made him unconsciously furrow his brow. His hand movements as he rewrapped the bandage on the wound were very familiar. Park Jin-hoo had lived a life where such wounds were common. He was fundamentally different from Aidan, who had the imperial physician turn pale and provide treatment just for a minor injury.

After neatly wrapping the bandage in the same state as the physician had left it, Aidan leaned back against the soft cushion propped up behind him. His gaze naturally turned to the window outside. The sky was gradually turning red as the sun was slowly setting.

I really don’t understand people’s lives. To wake up and find myself in a world I’ve never seen or heard of.

He had prided himself on his adaptability, but even for him, this situation was quite bewildering. At first, he thought he was dreaming. Or that he had died and come to the afterlife. It was too vivid to be a dream, and if he had died, he thought he would have fallen into hell rather than this luxurious heaven, so he could accept that this was reality.