“I’ll explain later.”

Cutting Edith off firmly, Astrid all but ran toward her destination. No matter what kind of trouble he had caused, she could not allow Caleb to k*ll Sepia’s prince with his own hands.

The moment she first saw Murad, Astrid recognized at a glance that he was foreign royalty. She had already heard of the delegation from Elkan, but more than that, she had immediately noticed that the many jewels adorning the man’s earlobes, hands, arms, and nape were genuine.

The second prince of the Sepia royal family was notorious both as a troublemaker and as a famous beauty. Seeing the man’s dazzling features, Astrid’s suspicion had been confirmed.

‘I’d heard he was a womanizer and the royal family’s headache, but I didn’t think he would be so reckless…….’

Clutching the hem of her dress in both hands, Astrid picked up her pace until she was running. As she passed, maids, servants, and even knights cried out in shock, but she paid no attention.

“Haah, haah! You mustn’t, Your Grace! If you do this……ah!”

“Matilda!”

“……Matilda?”

At the thud, Astrid turned back, her eyes widening. Whether she had twisted her ankle or not, Matilda had collapsed behind her with a groan.

“Matilda, are you all right?”

“I’m fine……ugh.”

“Edith. I must go to the Grand Duke at once, so take Matilda to the physician. Please.”

Just as Astrid was about to rise again after checking Matilda’s complexion, Matilda’s urgent voice—so unlike her usual calm tone—made her stop in her tracks.

“Your Grace!”

Startled, Astrid froze.

“What am I, to dare block Your Grace’s path? But please, just for a moment. Allow me to say one thing, Your Grace.”

“……Matilda.”

Her heart churned with conflict—what if Caleb killed Murad at this very moment?—but in the end Astrid crouched down before Matilda.

Only then did Matilda sigh in relief, and with a trembling voice, she spoke the words she had to say.

“……All right. I understand, so don’t worry about me. I promise you. I won’t do anything reckless.”

“Yes, Your Grace. Please, go with Edith.”

“Very well.”

Tapping Matilda’s hand lightly, Astrid rose again. Her steps were still quicker than usual, but not as frantic as before.

Her destination was the deepest part of Cliff Castle. The underground prison, which rumor claimed had gone unused for a hundred years.

***

The moment the potion slid down his throat, Murad—who had regained consciousness—wanted to faint again. The murderous aura of the Grand Duke closing in on him step by step pressed so heavily that even breathing was difficult.

“I—I am! Murad, second prince of Sepia! I speak the truth! If my father hears what I have suffered, he will not stand idly by. S-stay back! No matter if you are the Grand Duke of Cliff, you cannot lay hands on me at will……ack!”

There was a crack, and at the same time Murad coughed up a dark, bloodied mass.

Still bound tightly to the iron chair, Murad’s chin was lifted by Caleb’s long fingers. His face, already so battered by Caleb’s blows that no trace of natural skin color remained, was mottled black and blue like a cheap canvas ruined by a careless painter.

“……So, Your Highness. What was that you said? Unfortunately, my ears haven’t been working so well these days. Say it again.”

“…….”

The way his lips stretched into a long smile was like that of a butcher about to sl*ughter cattle. Murad clamped his torn lips shut.

‘If I want to survive, I must endure until my men come.’

He had believed the Grand Duke might beat him, but surely not k*ll him. Yet looking at the man before him, Murad realized that this one could break his neck right then and there, diplomacy be damned.

Terrified that a single wrong word might provoke him further, Murad sealed his mouth tight. At that, a faint chuckle rang out, as though amused.

“So, your mind is working a little now? But what a shame—I’ve already made my decision.”

“……!”

Suddenly, Murad’s eyes flew wide as a rough hand seized his throat. The Grand Duke’s expression was one of enjoyment, as if this were merely some entertaining game.

“You mad……!”

“Tell me, Your Highness. As a man who should know better, why did you touch the wife of a madman……?”

“I—I……!”

“This grows tiresome. It is nearly time to bid farewell……”

“Caleb, stop!”

At that moment, a voice called out from behind. Caleb faltered, releasing Murad’s face and blinking at the figure before him.

“Astrid? Why are you……”

“Because I knew you would do this. I asked Elena to summon the head of the Sepia delegation here. I told them their prince is here, so they should come and retrieve him.”

“Astrid! Why would you do something so useless……!”

A rare shout burst from Caleb, who hardly ever raised his voice to Astrid. But she did not so much as flinch. She was no longer the fifteen-year-old girl who had cowered at his sighs.

Astrid Lionel. She was the dignified Grand Duchess of Cliff, one of the king’s advisors who moved Croatan itself. She was also a beloved wife—and the only woman alive who could command the strongest warrior, the man before her, a man untamable by anyone else.

“……Please.”

“……!”

The familiar sensation of being embraced and the refreshing fragrance made Caleb freeze in place.

“……For now, fine.”

In the end, a sigh-like murmur escaped Caleb’s lips.

“Really?”

When Astrid brightened at once, Caleb shook his head as though helpless, gazing down at his wife’s face.

“I said for now. Let’s leave this place first and talk outside. You are not someone who should be here. Elena and the physician may say there will be no problem, but you still need rest……”

“And once you send me away?”

“……Hm?”

At some point Astrid had set both hands on her waist and was glaring at him. Her feigned angry look nearly drew a laugh out of him. Caleb bit his lips, barely holding back the chuckle that almost slipped out.

He was ready to grant any request Astrid made, but the one thing he did not wish to grant was her plea to spare Murad.

“Astrid, I know what you want to say……”

“No. You don’t know.”

“What……?”

Caleb quietly gazed into Astrid’s blue eyes. In those lovely eyes there lay unshaken certainty and something like joy.

‘Joy……?’

Suspicion deepened the furrow between Caleb’s brows as he looked at Astrid. His wife always seemed to lay her heart bare with transparency, yet at times she astonished him with words and actions he could not begin to understand.

Rather than anticipation, fear came first as to what words might leave Astrid’s lips. Ever since he realized how precious she was, he felt more and more like a coward.

“……Caleb?”

In an instant, her body lifted into the air, and Astrid soon found herself enfolded in firm, broad arms. Safer than any fortress in the world—the embrace of her beloved husband.

Astrid quietly looked up at Caleb, who had approached without warning and swept her into his arms. His expression as he left Murad behind and departed the prison did not look at all satisfied. His brows were faintly knit, yet she felt she understood Caleb’s heart—he always ended up yielding to her request in the end.

Her heart swelled, buoyant.

‘Is this what they call happiness……?’

Fifteen years old. Since the death of her father, Astrid’s life had always been one of solitude. Looking back, she had never had leisure. Even after moving her life to Cliff and harboring feelings for Caleb, it had been the same.

Always as if chased by something, she lived each day in fierce struggle. If asked whether that life was unhappy, the answer was no.

She had poured all her passion into each day, with no regrets, and Astrid firmly believed each of those steps had placed her where she now stood. But never before had she so deeply felt happiness as she did now.

Caleb—who seemed like unbending steel, unyielding to anyone or anything in the world—softened only before her.

The essence of his heart—she could clearly sense it in the firm arms that held her, the careful steps he took, the small sighs that escaped his lips, and the concern in the gaze that looked down on her.

Unknowingly, Astrid brought both hands around her flat belly, cradling it.

“For the beautiful lady has a star that stays by her side.”

Suddenly the words of that foreign woman she had met at the Grand Duke’s night festival came back to her. It was not as though she believed in fortune-telling. But she thought there was no harm in believing those words. At first, she had thought they meant Caleb.

‘Perhaps not, after all.’

While Astrid was lost in thought, Caleb quickened his pace and left the underground prison.

Astrid herself had seemed unbothered even after seeing the gloomy prison and bloodied Murad, but he feared that perhaps the shock might show later without warning.

“Caleb, put me down. I have something to say.”