“Did you think His Highness the Crown Prince maintained the barrier simply to ensure your safety, my lady?”

“That’s what I was told.”

I clearly remembered the baron speaking about it as though it were some great favor.

The baron scoffed.

“It does prevent external forces from invading this estate, but it also keeps you from leaving Meldorf.”

“The exile decree only states that I’m not to return to Belvo.”

My head spun as I struggled to make sense of his words.

The baron sneered and said, “Wake up from your delusions. Norhart? Lure? This is where it all ends. Right here, in Meldorf.”

Pointing at the ground for emphasis, he practically shouted before storming out of the estate.

“How dare he be so rude…!”

I was so furious that my nape tensed and the crown of my head burned. My fingertips trembled from the directionless anger.

I had spent my entire life as the powerless one, yet I still had to endure such insolence here?

Flushed with disbelief, I found myself growing lightheaded—

“My lady!”

…and then I collapsed.

***

“…Mama.”

Muffled babbling echoed faintly beyond my consciousness.

“Mamaa… hoo.”

Ah, right. The baron made my blood boil, and I passed out.

How much time had passed? I slowly opened my eyes, and the dim light around me suggested it was dawn.

‘I must have fallen asleep after fainting last night.’

Ever since I came into this body, fainting had become an all-too-familiar occurrence.

I forced my sluggish mind to awaken.

‘Angie must be worried. I need to get up…’

As I slowly blinked my heavy eyelids,

I noticed a pair of golden eyes floating in the distance, as if waiting for me to wake up.

‘Floating? Who’s holding her?’

Was it the nanny? Mathias wouldn’t have entered my room, would he?

Just as I wondered about it, I suddenly spotted another pair of golden eyes—darker and far more intense than Angie’s.

“…Grand Duke?”

“So that’s what you call me in your thoughts.”

Oh. Embarrassed, I wished I could pull a blanket over my head, but I couldn’t even move a finger.

‘Why is the Grand Duke here?’

It was far too early for his usual visits.

“Madam Allen sent word to me last night.”

“…Ah.”

Noticing my confusion, the Grand Duke helpfully supplied an answer.

Since all of this happened because of Baron Alterman, it made sense for my nanny to ask him for help.

“I’m sorry for making you come all this way.”

“It’s okay. Thanks to this, I get to see my daughter early in the morning.”

“Buuu.”

Angie pursed her lips like a little bird, her expression clearly saying, ‘As if that’s true.’

“It is also my duty to worry about my fiancée’s well-being.”

“We’re not engaged yet. And you don’t look all that worried.”

Was it because I was still groggy from sleep or because my body had weakened enough to make me faint? Either way, I was saying things I normally wouldn’t.

“You are quite frail.”

His sudden remark startled me. If he found out I was terminally ill after agreeing to an engagement, it would seem like a scam.

“I had wondered why you kept a personal physician despite having so few servants.”

“Well…”

I had already told Viscount Nielsen that my frailty was due to the shock of exile, just in case something like this happened.

Not knowing what he might say next, I quickly changed the subject.

“Um, Your Grace.”

“Cedrion.”

“…Yes, Cedrion. There’s something I need to discuss with you.”

Villain or not, I was now relying on the Grand Duke. I decided to tell him everything that had happened the previous night.

Since he shared blood with Michael, the one who placed the barrier, there was a chance he could break it. And with Angie tying us together, we were in the same boat now.

“…That steward has been quite hostile toward you.”

After recounting my encounters with Baron Alterman, I got to the main point.

“He suddenly burst in, ranting about how I had no right to marry Your Grace, and then he claimed that His Highness the Crown Prince had placed a barrier over Meldorf to monitor me.”

“A barrier?”

“Yes. Apparently, it was originally set up when I was a child to protect this estate and the forest behind it. But it was recently reinforced, and it seems they added that function.”

Since I knew little about barriers, I relayed everything I had heard.

The Grand Duke’s expression darkened ominously. Or maybe it was just a trick of the light from the dim morning sun.

“When you were a child?”

“I’m not sure. After what happened to my father, I lost many of my memories. Especially those from my childhood.”

Aside from my terminal condition, I told him something that was close to the truth. After all, I only knew what I had read about Odelia in Princess Flora Is Lovely.

“…I see.”

Yet, for some reason, the Grand Duke’s expression was peculiar. He looked both relieved and concerned.

“Michael placed a barrier when you were young.”

“Yes. Since Your Grace carries the first bloodline of Arcadia, I thought you might know something about His Highness’s barriers.”

I studied his face as I spoke.

The Grand Duke frowned deeply in thought for a long time.

Given how he constantly questioned Michael’s legitimacy, he might see this as another sign of his corruption.

But why did the Grand Duke doubt Michael’s legitimacy so much? Did he have some personal grudge against him?

‘He doesn’t seem as cruel and reckless as the original novel depicted.’

Although he was a bit intimidating… I had already grown somewhat fond of him. As I pondered the nature of his character, he ground his teeth and muttered darkly,

“Ha. If that’s the case, then back then…”

The Grand Duke’s golden eyes, shining intensely, turned to me. His Adam’s apple bobbed as if he were suppressing words.

“I need to meet that acting lord.”

“The Baron?”

“If I am to be with my fiancée as soon as possible, I must uncover the secret of that barrier.”

The look in his eyes shone with the intensity of a man desperate to tear apart the Baron’s flesh and bones at any moment.

‘…I take it back. He really does have a violent personality.’

***

“L-Lord, there’s someone at Lure’s villa.”

“What? Again with these comings and goings?”

The servant at the manor bowed deeply, knowing how irritable the acting lord was.

“The steward—has he left?”

“Yes, he hasn’t been seen since last night, so I assume he went to the royal capital.”

“Good.”

The Baron grinned and stood up. As the servant quickly assisted him in putting on his coat and hat, he kept smirking as if amused.

“Have you met Lady Odelia?”

“Hah! Ridiculous. It’s one thing to be ungrateful to His Highness Michael, but she is outright shameless.”

“…So the engagement rumor is true?”

“Yes. At any rate, His Highness…”

“Understood. I will handle it myself.”

The heir of the Alterman Barony, a long-serving vassal of Lure, first started collaborating with Michael fourteen years ago.

It was around when Odelia first—and last—visited the blue-roofed manor.

He was one of the very few who had witnessed ‘that event,’ and Michael had promised him many things in exchange for his silence.

For instance, an estate rich in gemstone mines would later be separated from Norhart’s territory.

‘And yet, keeping watch over a girl on death’s doorstep turns out to be such a hassle.’

Clicking his tongue, the Baron stepped out of the manor.

Over the years, he had been Michael’s eyes and ears among Lure’s vassals, helping Michael expose the Marquis of Lure’s treason and secure his position as Crown Prince.

‘If I were to spill everything I know, even the crown prince title would be meaningless.’

Of course, he didn’t have the guts to do so, but entertaining the thought made him feel proud.

‘If that girl whines about yesterday, should I just slap some sense into her?’

The mere thought amused him further, and he grinned as he pushed open the gate of the blue roof manor.

Creeeak—the sound of the hinges grinding echoed ominously.

The moment he swaggered into the garden, an inexplicable chill filled the air despite the spring warmth.

“You must be Baron Alterman.”

A low, eerie voice made the Baron jolt in surprise.

“W-Who…?”

Except for that overly tall young knight, no one in this mansion could possibly threaten him.

As he cautiously rolled his eyes, his gaze landed on—

“Gah! G-Grand D-Duke…!”

The moment he saw the imposing figure leaning against the entrance, staring him down, his posture stiffened instinctively.

The Grand Duke of Norhart descended the steps, closing the distance between them.

‘Wasn’t this just a farce orchestrated by that Lure girl, begging to be taken in?’

He had thought that Odelia, clinging to the ruins of her house, had schemed to maintain her pride.

‘Even if the rumors say the Grand Duke proposed, it’s obvious that scheming wench seduced him with her beauty…!’

That was why he never expected the Grand Duke to interfere even as he berated Odelia. He had never imagined their bond ran this deep.

The sharp golden eyes glaring at him made Baron Alterman’s knees tremble.

“The barrier.”

“P-Pardon?”

“Michael cast a barrier over this mansion and the forest behind it, did he not?”

The Grand Duke’s shadow loomed over him.

Overwhelmed by the taller man’s threatening presence, the Baron instinctively hunched his shoulders.

“W-Well, that is…”

“It was done fourteen years ago, wasn’t it?”

“I—I wouldn’t really know…”

“It was during my father’s time as acting lord…” The Baron mumbled weakly.

“Deliver a message to Michael.”

“Y-You want me to?”

The Baron feigned shock, as if he had no association with the Crown Prince.

The Grand Duke sneered, lifting the corner of his mouth.

“Tell him to release her.”

There was no need to clarify who ‘her’ referred to. The Baron’s sweat poured down his back.

“W-What do you mean by that…?” He barely managed to stammer.

The Grand Duke, watching his pathetic fumbling, spoke with chilling finality.

“And tell him that the matter Lure wished to protest—Lure’s future son-in-law will soon take it to the Council.”

“B-But the travel ban…”

Even in this state, the Baron struggled to argue, but the Grand Duke merely scoffed.

“You really think a travel ban is a warning to Norhart?”

His golden eyes glinted menacingly, filled with unmistakable scorn.