Kaisel smiled faintly and opened his mouth after a slight delay.

“I’d like you to call my name once more.”

At his words, her heart raced so frantically that it felt like it might burst, making her squeeze her eyes shut and then open them.

She quickly placed an umbrella she had nearby into his hand.

“La-later. You must be tired, so Your Highness should rest too. I’ll bring some herbal tea later.”

“……Alright.”

Kaisel prepared to leave and opened his umbrella.

At the thought of him leaving, Cynthia felt the desire to see him a little longer.

In the end, unable to go inside, she watched him leave with yearning eyes.

His name……

Cynthia called him softly so he wouldn’t hear.

“Lord Kaisel.”

At that very moment, Kaisel suddenly turned back and strode toward Cynthia.

His blue eyes fully captured her.

Though all the time spent with her had been happy, today was filled with moments so overwhelming he would never forget.

Her bright smile as their eyes met, her kind words expressing gratitude shyly.

Cynthia was so cute and pretty that his heart soaked in sweetness, as if he had dipped his feet in sugar water.

She appeared suddenly in his cursed life, shaking his lonely self and ultimately changing everything.

He coveted this radiant woman. He wanted to possess her madly.

If he were an ordinary man, he would keep her in his arms forever and give her only love.

But Kaisel couldn’t do that. He alone couldn’t do such a thing.

To Kaisel, Cynthia was his first love and savior.

Meanwhile, he was merely a cursed man with a set date of death. Even if Cynthia felt the same way, he couldn’t reveal these feelings.

Kaisel wished for Cynthia to forget her painful past and live happier than anyone else.

More brilliantly than now.

But…… the happiness he felt with her created an endless longing, like a cornucopia.

A month. No, even just a few days by his side.

If he begged like a beast, saying he would give her everything, would she accept?

Kaisel clenched his fist, unable to suppress the emotions surging like waves.

Though startled, she stepped back, but with the closed door blocking her retreat, she had nowhere to go.

“Cynthia.”

Cynthia’s eyes trembled at Kaisel’s deeply sunken voice. He looked as if he were about to collapse.

Kaisel buried his face in Cynthia’s shoulder and let out a long sigh.

“A-are you sick?”

When the startled Cynthia asked worriedly, he raised his head again and met her eyes.

“I love you.”

Cynthia felt as if her breath stopped for a moment.

It was as if someone had stopped time, making even raindrops fall slowly.

“You make me live. So won’t you stay by my side……”

Kaisel painfully furrowed his brow.

Cynthia’s throat unconsciously choked up. She didn’t want to see such a pained expression.

She liked everything about him—his usual boredom, his occasional slick manner, and sometimes his exasperating way of speaking.

I need to be brave. I need to answer his heart.

“Lord Kaisel.”

Kaisel gazed at Cynthia with an anxious expression.

“I……”

“Ugh.”

That’s when it happened. Kaisel exhaled a faint breath and clutched his chest. Then he slumped his head onto her shoulder.

“Y-Your Highness?”

Cynthia hurriedly supported him as she sat down. She almost fell simultaneously, unable to bear his size.

She urgently examined Kaisel’s complexion.

As if black scales had sprouted, Kaisel’s entire body was stained with the curse.

His skin twisted and cracked, and the scales quickly covered his face, transforming into a terrible appearance.

Unable to even gauge how painful it must be, Cynthia’s hands trembled uncontrollably and couldn’t calm down.

“Kaisel…… wake up!”

Despite tapping Kaisel’s cheek, he only breathed faintly, still unconscious.

“Mila……! Is anyone there? Help!”

Please……

As Cynthia’s voice, mixed with tears, urgently echoed, lights turned on in the distance, and servants began to appear.

Her vision gradually blurred as tears welled up.

Kaisel had collapsed again.

❀❀❀

The unexpected autumn rain poured heavily for days.

A heavy silence flowed through the grand ducal residence day after day. The atmosphere was not just quiet but desolate.

Kaisel, who had fainted and lost consciousness in Green Reed, had collapsed again.

Crushed more by guilt than shock, Cynthia neither ate nor slept, staying by his side for two whole days.

Despite Mila and Hannah’s pleas to rest, she simply stood guard by his side.

If only she had gotten angry or cried, it wouldn’t be this heartbreaking.

Mila looked sadly at Cynthia, who was withering day by day like a doll with no emotions.

❀❀❀

In the dark dawn before daybreak.

Someone secretly visited the grand ducal residence.

Mila hurriedly informed Cynthia about the visitor’s identity. Surprised, she rose from her seat.

She was a mess, but there was no time or mind to groom herself.

When the man wearing a white robe with gold embroidery removed his hood, everyone in the bedroom bowed in respect.

“We greet Your Majesty the Emperor, the sun of the Clanes Empire.”

“Rise.”

Emperor Luest spoke in a heavy voice.

Behind the Emperor appeared a middle-aged man who seemed to be an imperial physician, the head priest, and Iris.

The Emperor closed his eyes tightly as he saw the hideous traces of the curse rising over Kaisel’s motionless face.

“Examine him. Find a way to save him somehow!”

When the Emperor, known for his gentleness, shouted loudly, everyone around swallowed dryly.

Shortly after, the imperial physician and head priest finished their examinations and holy power treatments in turn and bowed their heads before the Emperor.

“There are no special abnormal findings.”

The imperial physician continued with a troubled face. The head priest had the same reaction.

Deep concern shadowed the Emperor’s face.

Amid the silence, the imperial physician opened his mouth again in a shrinking voice.

“Your Majesty, may I offer a word?”

“……Speak.”

“His Highness the Grand Duke’s ailment is not a human disease but a divine curse. At times like this, it would be good for Lady Blewitt, His Highness’s soulmate, to stay by his side.”

As everyone’s gaze turned to the imperial physician, he explained with a more confident tone than before.

“There are ominous rumors circulating in social circles now.”

He shot a glance at Cynthia with a vile smile, raising one corner of his mouth.

“If you keep his true soulmate determined by the goddess by his side rather than a mere apothecary, he will surely wake up.”

“……”

Emperor Luest’s gaze turned to Cynthia.

He seemed to be contemplating, but he didn’t hide his cold expression.

Thinking that his brother, whom he cherished like a son, might lose his life, he seemed out of his mind.

“I have something to say, so everyone withdraw.”

At the Emperor’s command, everyone except Count Nuden, the chief chamberlain, and one knight guarding him left the bedroom.

When the Emperor, seated on the sofa, nodded to Count Nuden, he held out an envelope stamped with the Emperor’s seal to Cynthia.

“Please open it.”

Count Nuden forcibly placed the document in Cynthia’s hand and stood behind the Emperor.

Cynthia opened the envelope with a calm expression.

Inside were a certificate to change her name and status, along with a large sum of money.

“This is not a request but an order. So leave.”

When Cynthia looked at the Emperor with trembling eyes, he warned in a cold voice.

“If you disobey my command, it will not end with simple deportation from the country.”

It was a clear threat that she might die if she didn’t leave.

“Your Majesty.”

Count Nuden called the Emperor with a worried heart.

It was advice that a wise woman would have understood sufficiently without such intimidation.

Cynthia was already exhausted both physically and mentally.

Though she had already completed preparations to leave early, she had repeatedly hesitated after falling in love with Kaisel, and her heart ached at the thought that she had made him sick.

“Even without saying so…… I was planning to leave.”

As the answer flowed difficultly from Cynthia’s mouth, Emperor Luest showed a relieved face and also appeared apologetic.

“My heart aches too. But what can we do about fate? If alive, you might meet again someday. People can also live on memories.”

It was an affectionate and gentle tone.

Emperor Luest’s wrinkled eyes looked sadly at Kaisel.

“Your Majesty the Emperor. In exchange, I’d like to decide the day of departure myself.”

As Cynthia continued speaking, the Emperor turned his head. His forehead furrowed slightly.

“How impertinent.”

“I don’t want to leave by Your Majesty’s force, but rather when His Highness the Grand Duke’s condition improves. I think I can sort out my feelings only after seeing His Highness at least somewhat better.”

“……”

The Emperor said nothing and stroked his chin. He nodded slowly as if something had occurred to him.

“The imperial physician said that, didn’t he? That recovery would be faster if the destined soulmate were nearby. Very well, let’s do this. When Lady Blewitt is by Kaisel’s side and he regains consciousness, then leave the Empire.”