“…….”

She felt it dimly — that even the last threadlike possibility, the one she had clung to on the faint chance it might be otherwise, was now gone.

Just as her spirits had been sinking by degrees, Judith’s gaze too fell steadily downward.

It was then.

“You two.”

Tap, tap.

At some point Rainer had settled himself onto the couch, and he knocked on the tabletop to make his presence known.

“All well and good, but I’m growing rather tired of listening.”

“…….”

“May I take my leave? Things seem more or less resolved.”

The eyes that had been on Lorenz shifted to Judith.

“……!”

The moment she met those dark crimson irises — like congealed blood given form —

“——”

A sharp, involuntary breath caught in her throat. From somewhere within the vast guest suite, an overwhelming stench of blood began to saturate the air.

On reflex, Judith held her breath and raised the back of her hand to cover her nose and mouth.

She swept her eyes quickly around the room, but nothing she could see would account for this skin-crawling smell.

“……My lady?”

Lorenz called to her with careful restraint, unnerved by her sudden reaction.

But she had no room to spare even a proper glance at the way his manner had shifted so completely.

“…….”

She felt another gaze resting on her in silence. She had only imagined those dark crimson eyes — and already the scent of blood seemed to grow thicker.

The stench of blood was so sharp she could barely draw breath.

It would not fade — it only thickened — and from somewhere deep in the pit of her stomach, nausea began to rise. Judith poured every ounce of her concentration into forcing back that sensation, which threatened to spill over at any moment.

This is wrong.

A smell this vivid, this dense, would not confine itself to a narrow space. All the more so for blood.

And yet, inexplicably, she appeared to be the only person in this room who could smell it.

Given how overwhelmingly present the scent was, anyone else should have reacted in some way by now — and yet neither of the two men showed the slightest sign of it.

“…….”

She pressed her hand over her nose. Over her mouth. Held her breath entirely. Still the blood smell drove itself through.

As she worked back through the situation, something seemed to occur to her, and she turned her eyes toward Rainer.

Those dark crimson irises were still fixed on her — and the instant blood rose unbidden in her mind at the sight of them —

“——”

A gag she could not suppress.

The density of the air around her surged all at once.

“——”

Overwhelmed by the weight of it, Judith curled in on herself where she sat.

“Judith! Are you all right?”

Lorenz moved quickly, his hand sweeping across her back.

It was not only her nose and lungs — every single cell in her mind went white, a brightness sharp enough to sting. And into that paper-white blankness, a drop of vivid red blood fell, and pooled.

“……!”

Even with her eyes squeezed shut, a scene unfolded before her — raw and immediate, as though playing out directly in front of her.

Within the vision, the small pool of blood grew steadily wider, a spreading puddle, and its vivid crimson deepened into dark red.

The blood flowed without end until it could only gather and pool — and around that pool, the surrounding scene came into view.

It was a battlefield.

Across a rugged terrain of sheer cliffs and bare rock, bodies lay strewn here and there, their forms too mangled to identify. From an ashen sky where the hour was impossible to gauge, snow fell in ones and twos.

And through it all, a man in a dirt-caked uniform staggered forward with tremendous effort.

He bore what appeared to be a grievous wound to his left side — and yet that man, half-carrying another person on his back, was——

“……Grand Duke Rainer.”

Judith murmured, vacant and adrift.

In the next instant, the thick stench of blood that had hung so heavily throughout the guest suite vanished — as though it had never been.

“Ah……”

She could breathe. Air, stripped of its suffocating weight, flooded into her lungs.

Judith drew a slow, steadying breath and uncurled her spine.

She met the eyes of the man at the center of that vision — gone now like a mirage along with the smell of blood.

The man who had been watching her ever since he’d knocked on the table. Rainer.

Come to think of it — it wasn’t only after my commission that I saw him.

During her days as a military cadet, she had been briefly deployed to the front lines for live combat training — and she had carried out a mission alongside him there.

Why had she forgotten that until now.

“…….”

Lorenz, who had been watching the line of Judith’s profile as her eyes narrowed, called to her in a low voice.

“My lady.”

Judith turned her head, just slightly.

She met a pair of pale violet eyes wearing their customary gentle smile.

“You gave me quite a fright, struggling like that so suddenly.”

“…….”

“Are you feeling better now?”

His tone of voice. His manner of speaking. His posture. The look in his eyes.

He had returned — not to the raw, unguarded state she had glimpsed moments ago, but to the polished, carefully composed gentleness she had always known from him.

She felt something complex stir within her — difficult to name with a single word.

Judith dropped her gaze and answered with a small nod rather than words.

“……It seems you are quite worn out today, my lady. Shall we take our leave? I’ll send for Norman — if all goes smoothly, we should reach the townhouse by evening.”

“Yes, that would be best.”

Lorenz folded back the thick coverlet and helped Judith to her feet.

Leaving her to straighten her rumpled clothes, he crossed the room to stand before Rainer.

“His Majesty was kind enough to summon the imperial physician. For some reason the man is running late, but he should arrive before long.”

“…….”

“However, we intend to depart immediately.”

Rainer sat with one leg crossed at an angle, his chin propped on the arm he had draped over the back of the sofa, utterly still.

His narrowed eyes carried the unmistakable intent of someone waiting to hear the point.

“I would ask that Your Highness kindly send the physician away on our behalf.”

“Belheim.”

“And one more thing.”

“…….”

“It is a relief to have seen the guest of honor — Your Highness, Grand Duke Rainer — before taking our leave from the victory banquet.”

Rainer’s eye twitched involuntarily, and he said nothing.

He shut his eyes and turned something over in his mind — then a short, self-deprecating laugh escaped him. His dark crimson eyes opened slowly and looked up at Lorenz.

“Yes. That makes two of us.”

“My lady appears to be quite unwell, so we will take our leave. Forgive the discourtesy.”

Lorenz dipped his head in a brief nod of farewell, and beside him, Judith stepped into place — her clothes now straightened, her back held straight.

Rainer’s gaze shifted. A look that mingled curiosity with faint displeasure.

“I am afraid the introduction comes late. I am Judith Belheim.”

Judith took hold of her skirts and dipped into a curtsy. She folded her hands together and lowered her eyes.

“I behaved rudely toward Your Highness a short while ago. Unavoidable as the circumstances may have been, it was conduct unbecoming of proper decorum. If I caused any offense, I ask most sincerely for your forgiveness.”

It was not the manner of speech of any ordinary noble wife.

Rainer, who had been sitting at an angle, straightened — and rose to his feet.

“Duchess.”

At that address, Judith lifted her head. Dark crimson eyes looked down at her.

Skin far paler than she remembered. Black hair, cut to a different length.

But those dark olive eyes — still cold, unchanged.

Rainer gazed into those dark olive irises, cool and sharp as their owner’s nature, and let fall a single quiet word.

“……Griene.”

Judith blinked twice.

“Yes, Your Highness.”

Griene was Judith’s maiden name. Until her years of service at the Imperial Palace, she had been Judith Griene.

“…….”

A strange smile rose at the corner of Rainer’s lips. But he said nothing more.

He dropped back onto the sofa and waved a hand at the two of them — a lazy gesture that said go, quickly.

Lorenz took Judith by the arm, pulling her along as she seemed reluctant to move, and hastened toward the door.

“Ah, right.”

Without turning around, Rainer raised his voice just slightly.

“I forgot to mention something.”

“…….”

“There is a proper limit to everything — and for that reason, there is a limit to what one can endure and let pass as well.”

Lorenz’s footsteps stopped short.

“You would do well to keep that in mind. Duke Belheim.”

The pale violet eyes that glanced back held a strange and flickering light. That dangerous expression — as though suppressing considerable anger — was also one she had never seen on him before.

“……I thank you for the counsel, Your Highness.”

“Counsel.”

Rainer let out a quiet scoff and shook his head slowly. The two of them left the room, leaving him behind.

***

The banquet celebrating Rainer’s victory appeared to have been held in the Imperial Palace gardens during the afternoon hours. Outside the carriage window, it was still a fresh and unhurried afternoon, the dusk not yet come.

Judith gazed at the scenery moving swiftly past and let the throbbing in her head slowly settle.

“…….”

From across the carriage, she felt Lorenz’s peculiar gaze.