Weighed down by a tangle of thoughts, Yuria walked faster and faster. So distracted that she forgot to watch where she was going, she walked straight into someone. It was the kind of mistake the usual Yuria would never make.

“Please be careful, my lady.”

A solidly built man spoke in a voice that resonated low and steady. Still looking at the floor, Yuria had to lift her head to look up at him.

He wore a neat dark green uniform, and while he wasn’t hulking, there was a toughness about him that made it easy to believe two men together couldn’t bring him down. Since green and gold were the Castoria family’s colors, there was no need to ask who he served.

His face, however, looked younger than his voice suggested. Gold hair swept back, and beneath it, two grey eyes that seemed to swirl. He was a young man who hadn’t quite shed the look of a boy.

Caught off guard by the sudden appearance of a young man, Yuria stumbled over her words.

“Oh, I’m sorry.”

“There’s no need to apologize, my lady. Only, if you were to hurt yourself through carelessness, the young lord would have my head.”

“The young lord?”

“Yes.”

His tone was composed and unhurried, with something almost gentle about it. Like someone speaking patiently to a child. Despite his appearance, he was clearly someone of considerable maturity. In any case, what was his connection to Valen? The rifle at his hip suggested he was one of Valen’s guards.

“Allow me to introduce myself. I am Equus Verde, and I have served the young lord at his side my entire life. As his attendant and aide, I am as much your man as his, my lady.”

Ah. Now that he mentioned it, she vaguely recalled crossing paths with him at the Bellaris manor.

He had been so composed throughout that she hadn’t noticed, but looking more carefully at his face, she could see a faint twist at the corner of his mouth. Like a sulky child. That one small detail was what finally made Equus look his age. He wasn’t in Valen’s league, but he was a rather handsome young man.

“Verde? Isn’t that a branch family of Castoria?”

“That’s right, my lady. When you trace it back, the young lord is something like a distant cousin of mine.”

“I see. I’m sorry we’re only meeting properly now.”

“I didn’t want to intrude on the young lord’s honeymoon.”

Equus answered with exaggerated gravity. Yuria felt her face warm without meaning to. Valen’s strange behavior kept making her forget, but Equus had just reminded her that they were, in fact, newlyweds.

Clearing her throat to cover her embarrassment, Yuria asked:

“Were you on your way to see Valen?”

“Yes. He called for me.”

“Then go on.”

“Will you be all right on your own? You seem rather…”

“Like someone who’s lost her mind?”

Equus frowned and shook his head at her question.

“No. Only, you seem to have your thoughts elsewhere.”

Same thing. Yuria muttered inwardly and looked at Equus again.

“Don’t worry. What just happened was a genuine mistake.”

“If you’d like, I can escort you to wherever you’re going.”

“That won’t be necessary.”

Yuria declined gently and turned back toward the small garden. Equus Verde. Valen Castoria’s closest aide. A young man who seemed serious about everything and yet somehow straightforward. If she played it right, she might be able to find out what Valen was really thinking.

It would likely be a difficult road, but she needed to make him her ally. Yuria stopped walking. Then she spun around and called out to Equus’s retreating back.

“Excuse me, do you have a moment right now?”

* * *

Shortly after, Yuria and Equus were walking through the back garden that led to the smaller courtyard. He seemed to deliberate briefly over whether to answer his master’s summons or honor his wife’s request, but Yuria settled the matter with a single line.

“You said you were as much my man as his.”

He might be reproaching himself for ever saying that. Yuria watched him follow along with his head bowed, as though still wrestling with the conflict inside, and quietly laughed to herself. He shouldn’t have said things he couldn’t stand behind.

“You don’t need to look so miserable. If Valen asks why you didn’t come, tell him you were staying by my side.”

“Yes, my lady.”

A little further on, a fountain came into view, water rushing and spilling freely. Noise like this was ideal for a private conversation. Yuria settled onto a nearby bench and gestured for the stiffly standing Equus to come and sit.

“Forgive the imposition.”

He sat, and a small breeze passed through. The air carried the warm scent of a season just turning to spring. The garden was cozier than she had expected, and unlike the other garden that was far too large, this one was a comfortable size, well suited for resting.

But Yuria had no time to take in the scenery. Dinner was not far off, and the man beside her was visibly on edge over having ignored his master’s summons.

“Let’s make this quick, then.”

“What is it you’ve brought me here for, my lady?”

Equus was as solid as he looked. Yuria knew perfectly well he wouldn’t be easy to win over. Given his loyalty, there was a real risk he would report even this meeting to Valen, so she chose her words with care.

“I’m interested in you. That’s all.”

“In me, my lady?”

“Is it strange for a wife to take an interest in her husband’s closest aide?”

“No.”

Equus had the kind of strong bearing that seemed impenetrable, but Yuria was no less formidable. The cool air that came with Bellaris blood, her cat-like eyes, and the mask she had built as a daughter of a ducal house were enough to make anyone falter.

It was hardly surprising that people whispered the word “villainess” about her. When it came to appearances alone, there was no woman who looked as cold and forbidding as she did.

In the middle of their quiet standoff, Yuria spoke first.

“As you’ve no doubt heard, I love him very much. So I’d ask you to think of this as a wife’s harmless little obsession with her husband.”

Equus’s expression didn’t change, but he didn’t contradict her either. Taking that as permission to continue, Yuria went on.

“Has Valen given any particular orders or instructions about me recently?”

“……Nothing out of the ordinary. He simply told me to serve you well, my lady.”

“Was that before the wedding or after?”

“After.”

Just as she thought. Up until the wedding, Valen had clearly not spared a single thought for Yuria’s wellbeing. So why, after they became legally husband and wife, did he keep making remarks that sounded like concern for her safety?

It was nearly certain that something had changed in Valen from that day forward. Yuria simply couldn’t figure out why. Even granting that having a wife as flawless as Yuria was useful to Valen’s image, there were still too many things she couldn’t explain.

“Did Valen ever talk about me before the wedding?”

“Hardly……at all.”

Equus said it with an apologetic air. He didn’t seem like someone who would lie. Then what on earth had shifted in Valen’s heart.

Playing the part of the skilled actress she was, Yuria let disappointment show on her face at Equus’s words. Like someone who had just been told the person they loved had no feelings for them.

“Then, is there a lady he used to meet often? Secretly or openly, any woman at all.”

“Are you perhaps suspecting your husband, my lady?”

Equus’s expression hardened as he asked, as though the question were a personal affront. Valen certainly kept loyal people close.

“Less suspicion, more wanting to cut off any such thing before it takes root.”

Equus swallowed dryly at that. Yuria wondered briefly whether she had sounded too ruthless.

“As you know, the young lord is quite well known in society, so there were often ladies in his company. Of those, the one he met with most frequently would be Lady Vivian.”

Vivian Libero. A name she was tired of hearing. There was no question that she was the most significant threat at the moment. Whether she and Valen were simply close friends or something more, the first order of business was to find out whether Vivian had any hidden intentions.

And in that moment, a realization struck Yuria.

Perhaps Valen was looking for a legitimate reason to break off the marriage. And perhaps the reason he expressed concern for her safety was simply that if Yuria were to lose her life in the process, it would likely escalate into a conflict between the two houses.