By the time they finally emerged from the reception hall, no one else was waiting. After over three hours of meetings, all other attendees had completed their audiences and left.

The only ones remaining in the venue were the attendants standing guard at the door and a handful of servants waiting discreetly in the background.

“You’ve grown quite a bit.”

Astrid, who had been walking mechanically while holding Caleb’s hand, abruptly stopped in her tracks.

Caleb, who had been escorting her courteously, looked at her with a faintly teasing smile, his eyes half-narrowed in amusement.

“Caleb, what on earth is…”

Finally at ease, Astrid was about to ask him about the situation when someone suddenly interrupted, effortlessly stepping between the two of them.

“…Who are you?”

Astrid stammered unintentionally. The person who had wedged themselves between the couple was an unfamiliar woman.

Startled, Astrid stared silently at the stranger. A strikingly beautiful woman with bold features and a slender figure was confidently holding onto Caleb’s arm and standing close to his side.

With fiery red hair and deep brown eyes, the woman’s healthy, tanned complexion complemented her attire—a battle uniform similar to Caleb’s.

“Introduce yourself. This is…”

“I’m Elena, Caleb’s lover.”

Caleb’s gaze shifted slowly to the woman clinging to his arm. The playful glint that had filled his long, curved eyes had disappeared, leaving his expression dry. But Astrid didn’t notice.

The shock of what she’d just heard hit her like a hammer.

“…!”

Astrid stared silently at Elena, who was beaming as she clung to Caleb’s arm. She wasn’t angry or flustered.

‘What… is this?’

She couldn’t comprehend the situation. No, she didn’t want to.

For a moment, she thought it might be one of Caleb’s pranks, but his expression was far too tense for that.

“As, I…”

“Elena, let go of me. Now.”

Before Caleb could explain, a man suddenly appeared, glaring daggers at Caleb and Elena as though he were ready to kill them.

“Chase, you step away from me. Permanently.”

“…!”

Elena’s cold words froze the man, Chase, in place. His face hardened in shock, but Caleb regarded him indifferently as he issued a warning.

“Marquis Chase, stand down. You’re making Elena uncomfortable.”

The sound of teeth gritting filled the air. Chase bit his lip so hard that it bled.

Hearing Caleb’s words, Astrid’s mind went blank. She felt like a mere spectator, caught in the middle of a melodramatic love triangle.

The man, trembling for a moment at Caleb’s words, turned to Elena and finally opened his lips.

“…This is the last time I’ll ask. The words you said about loving His Grace, the Grand Duke—are they true? Is that why you’re rejecting my proposal? Elena, answer me. If there’s even a shred of loyalty left for me as a friend, tell me the truth.”

He didn’t say “please,” but Astrid could read the desperate plea in the intensity of the man’s eyes as they fixed on Elena’s crimson lips. The fervent longing in his gaze—the suffocating tension of waiting for an answer—was something Astrid was all too familiar with.

“…I already sent you a letter. It’s the truth, nothing more or less. I love Caleb. I apologize to Her Grace the Grand Duchess, but he feels the same way. Isn’t that right, Caleb?”

Clinging to Caleb’s arm, Elena tilted her head and looked directly into his eyes as she asked.

‘The two of them… They’re not much different in height,’ Astrid noted.

Unlike herself, who had to crane her neck to look up at him, Elena—tall for a woman—stood confidently eye to eye with Caleb.

As Astrid half-listened to their conversation in a daze, she shook her head to regain her focus. She felt as though she might crumble if she didn’t pull herself together.

Even though most people had left, this was still the royal palace. The ears of servants and maids were always present. As the Grand Duchess of Cliff, she couldn’t lose her composure.

‘There must be an explanation. I can wait until we return to hear it. Surely, there’s a reason…’

She decided to ignore anything that woman—Elena—might say. She would trust only the words of Caleb.

At the very least, the Caleb she knew might remain silent, but he would never speak falsehoods.

“Your Grace, please respond. This is a matter of great importance to my life.”

As Caleb kept silent, the Marquis of Chase, unable to endure, urged him for an answer. Astrid’s eyes instinctively turned to Caleb’s lips.

‘Please, deny it.’

No matter the circumstances, the last thing she wanted to hear from Caleb’s mouth was that he loved another woman.

“…Elena is telling the truth. So, Marquis, from this moment forward, do not come near her again. If you show yourself before her once more, my sword will not forgive it.”

But Astrid’s hopes crumbled like a sandcastle swept away by an immense wave.

The Marquis of Chase stood motionless, seemingly paralyzed by Caleb’s words. His eyes, which had briefly reddened with anger, soon brimmed with veins as his heated gaze began to tremble. Without a word, he turned his back.

“…Marquis.”

The Marquis, who had been walking away without a word, halted. Upon realizing that the voice calling him was Astrid’s, his bloodshot eyes briefly flickered with something unusual.

“Your lips… I thought you might want to wipe them.”

Even she couldn’t understand why she acted as she did. But in that moment, she wanted to stay true to her own desires.

Stopping the Marquis in his tracks, Astrid handed him a handkerchief embroidered with her initials.

“…I will not forget your grace today, Your Grace.”

His strained voice was hoarse, barely audible. Astrid silently watched his unsteady steps as he staggered away, as if he might collapse at any moment.

“Well, shall we go too, Caleb?”

It was Elena who broke the peculiar silence between them.

“…Where are you going, Lady Elena?”

When Caleb didn’t respond, Astrid took the initiative to ask. Elena’s face showed a brief flicker of surprise before she smiled brightly.

“Oh my, Your Grace. Lady Elena? That sounds far too formal. Why not simply call me Elena?”

Her smile was radiant, without the slightest hint of duplicity.

Elena. Like the name that meant “bright, shining sun,” she was someone who seemed to radiate light just by being.

Looking at such a woman, a faint trace of a bitter smile formed on Astrid’s lips.

“…Very well, Elena. Then, I suppose I prefer Astrid over ‘Your Grace.’”

The exchange between the two women appeared casual, but Astrid could sense the subtle discord in every word. Just as Caleb, with a deeply furrowed brow, was about to speak—

“If you don’t have a specific destination in mind, how about visiting Cliff, Elena? It’s been two years since he returned. I don’t think I could bear to send His Grace the Grand Duke… anywhere else.”

“Oh my, how thoughtful of you. Receiving an invitation from Her Grace the Grand Duchess—it’s an honor I look forward to.”

With an ambiguous smile, Elena turned her gaze to Caleb, as though waiting for his response.

“…If she wishes, then so be it. The hostess of Cliff is Astrid, after all.”

“….”

Though the answer was meant for Elena, Caleb’s piercing blue eyes were fixed on Astrid, as if trying to discern the emotions hidden within her.

A heavy silence settled between them. Astrid, meeting his gaze without blinking, eventually looked away first.

“In Cliff, we welcome all guests with hospitality. I hope you’ll feel at ease during your stay, Elena.”

With a brief nod toward Elena, Astrid turned and began walking toward where Cradoc, Matilda, and Edith were waiting.

“…Caleb, are you alright?”

“If not, would you be willing to show mercy?”

Though his lips curled into a crooked smile, his eyes did not smile at all. Elena, staring into his cold gaze, answered firmly.

“No, I wouldn’t. I love you, and you love me. That’s how it is, but…”

“…”

Astrid, by then, had joined her group and was engaging in conversation. Watching her retreating figure, Elena murmured softly.

“I can’t help but feel a little uneasy. I don’t mean to hurt her, but… seeing her so resolute, that’s… unsettling in its own way.”

“Stop talking about Astrid.”

At Caleb’s cold words, which cut through the conversation abruptly, Elena pressed her lips tightly together. She then hurried after Caleb, who had begun striding ahead.

“…”

“Why not? We two are in love, aren’t you? Linking arms is basic. Don’t you think we’ll have to do more than that in the future?”

“…Ha.”

Elena clung to Caleb’s arm as if hanging from it, but Caleb didn’t shake her off. Still, he neither adjusted his stride nor slowed his pace for her.