Watching the man walk into the drawing room with a smile, Isabella pressed her clasped hands tightly together.

This was her choice. To stop everything. To stop that person’s death.

“Thank you for accepting my proposal.”

“I am sorry for having sent only letters of refusal until now.”

“Sorry? Please don’t say such a thing. There is nothing to be sorry for. It is quite all right.”

“I will have tea brought.”

“My lady of Piper.”

“Yes?”

The young count’s body drew close in an instant. Before she knew it, her hand was caught in a large one. The sudden grip startled her and Isabella’s body stiffened on its own.

“No, Isabella.”

“……”

“I love you. I have loved you for a long time. I am so happy I can hardly contain myself that you are to become my wife.”

The young count’s confession pouring out without any warning left Isabella’s mind reeling. The instinctive urge to pull her hand away rose up, and at that very moment, the drawing room door flew open. There was no one who should be flinging that door open like that. Who was it? The startling situation and the sudden commotion made Isabella’s head turn naturally toward the door.

“……!”

“Oh dear.”

Her eyes met those of the large man who had opened the door and walked in. A large frame, precise movements. The man who had strode into the drawing room without hesitation furrowed his brow as though something displeased him. Then he raised the hand holding something high and brought it down without a shred of mercy.

“Aaaaah!”

She could not believe it. She had been staring blankly at the man who had walked boldly into the drawing room, and when she lowered her gaze, the young count’s hand that had been holding hers had been cleanly severed. The chilling smell of blood hit her and she lowered her trembling head without thinking, and there was the young count, screaming and writhing on the floor with his hand clutched to the stump, blood pouring freely. What was happening. Isabella could not make sense of the situation.

He. He shouldn’t be here yet. He wouldn’t know me yet. That I am the subject of that prophecy, you don’t know that “yet.”

The man stepped to her side, pried the young count’s severed hand from where it still clung to Isabella’s, dropped it to the floor with a clean motion, and carefully took Isabella’s trembling hand in his.

“Isabella. I have come to escort you.”

Declen Clerc. The head of the Clerc grand ducal house, and her ex-husband who had died because of her.

* * *

Declen Clerc.

There was no one in the Tenat Empire who did not know Declen Clerc. Even a five-year-old child revered and looked up to Declen Clerc. He was the one and only grand duke in the Tenat Empire, and the most exalted captain of the Holy Knights among all the clergy who followed Avilion.

His beautiful appearance, seeming to carry Avilion’s love directly upon him, monopolized the adoration of every noble lady, and his great height and body packed with muscle drew the envy of men. Unlike the clergy, among whom platinum hair was overwhelmingly common, his black hair that seemed to have drawn in all the darkness in the world and his brilliantly crimson eyes that looked fit for a demon out to bewitch women made everyone love him and lose themselves over him.

But he loved none of it. He, who received the love of all, loved no one and nothing.

「His cold heart must be filled with nothing but thoughts of Lord Avilion.」

Everyone said so. And Isabella had believed it too. Until the saint appeared and became his lover. And until he died because of her.

But what was happening now? The blood-soaked scene spun round and round in Isabella’s head.

“Ah, ah……”

Blood of a thick, foul color spread slowly across the floor, seeping wide. The drops soaking into the plush rug made her feel as though she were back in that terrible time.

“Aaaaah! Ah!”

Bright red blood poured madly from where the hand had been severed. Isabella had been staring blankly at the young count Wiren writhing in agony, but the sound of heavy footsteps brought her back to herself and she tried to step back, her body swaying. No, she tried to, but the man already holding her hand would not let go, so the only step back she could manage was a single one.

“Wh, what is this right now……!”

“To think you were about to take the hand of someone so filthy.”

“How did you get here? No, more than that, the young count!”

She did not know how or why he was here right now, but the young count Wiren was more important at the moment. His was a house famous for the sword. A house that maintained the title of earl through the sword and bow alone. And now the heir of that house had lost the hand that should wield a sword. And it had happened while he had come to propose to Isabella.

“Ugh, ngh! Ahh!”

Drops of blood fell and pooled on the floor. In the middle of that pool, the young count Wiren was writhing in agony. She tried to go to him, but the man holding her hand would not let go. She tried pulling her hand free in every direction, but it was beyond Isabella’s strength.

“Let go of me! Young count!”

“He will be fine.”

“His hand has been cut off! How can anyone be fine after losing a hand!”

“Ronan.”

The faint smile on the face of the man who had cut off a perfectly healthy person’s hand faded, and he spoke a name. Isabella’s body went rigid at that name.

“Yes, Your Highness.”

“Remove him.”

“I receive your command.”

Ronan Taylor. The knight commander of the Clerc grand ducal house and the grand duke’s watchdog, known for carrying out any cruel order without so much as blinking. A man in black armor that would not show bloodstains even if blood were spilled on it walked in and tried to drag out the young count Wiren, who was still clutching his hand and screaming.

“Wa, wait!”

“Yes. Please give your command.”

Ronan’s rough grip on the young count stopped at Isabella’s voice. He stepped forward and knelt before Isabella. She tried to make him rise, but that attempt too was blocked by Declen, who still had hold of her wrist.

“Where are you taking the young count……!”

“By the order of His Grace the Grand Duke, I intend to remove him from this place.”

“What about treatment? Hmm? He needs treatment!”

Ronan’s gaze shifted to the grand duke at Isabella’s outcry. As though asking whether he was permitted to follow Isabella’s order.

“See to his treatment.”

“Yes.”

“Shall I put that filthy hand on the floor back on as well, so you can rest easy, Isabella?”

Isabella’s mind went blank at Declen’s face as he asked with a gentle smile. What was this? Why was he different from before? Why? How?

“Please treat him. Do whatever it takes to make the young count well again.”

“Understood. I will do as you wish.”

“……”

“Ronan.”

“I receive your command.”

Ronan answered quickly and rose to his feet, then dragged the young count out of the drawing room and disappeared. The moment Ronan and the young count Wiren were gone from the drawing room and the door closed, Isabella’s strength left her and she sank straight to the floor.

She knew it was not something a noble lady should do, but it felt as though every bit of strength had drained from her body. What on earth had just happened? Why was it different from the past? Because she had not tried to avoid him the way she had before?

“Are you all right?”

“Who are you?”

“……”

“Exactly which noble house of such great standing do you belong to, that you would not only enter someone else’s manor uninvited but go so far as to harm another person’s body without cause!”

“Do you not know who I am?”

“You have not told me who you are, so how could I……”

“Do you truly not know who I am?”

She was not ignorant of him. How could she be? It had been two full years. Two years of living under the same roof. There was no way she did not know. But Isabella glared at him. The her of “right now” was supposed to not know him. He was not someone who attended balls or banquets of any kind. She had no memory of seeing him even at the debutante ball where her past self had first set foot in society. So “meeting for the first time” was correct right now. Wrinkling her nose at the raw smell of blood drifting toward her, Isabella glared at the man before her and gave a nod.

“I do not know you. Who are you? Who are you that you would so cruelly sever another person’s hand and have the rudeness to call my name so freely……”

“My apologies, lady Piper. My name is Declen Clerc.”

“I am sorry for not recognizing you, Your Grace. I do not know what brings you to this humble place, but I am concerned for the young count Wiren.”

“You are concerned for him.”

“Of course I am concerned. Your Grace severed his wrist! What wrong did he commit to deserve that?”

“He sent a letter of proposal beneath his station to the lady who is to become the grand duchess, and had the discourtesy to lay hands on you without permission. Would that not be enough to deserve losing a hand?”

“What do you mean by……”

“……”

“Grand duchess?”

Isabella’s face drained white at his expression as he mentioned the grand duchess with such perfect composure. Grand duchess. That hellish position!

“You are soon to become my grand duchess, my lady.”

“I have made no such decision!”

“Then you may decide right now.”

“……”

“Decide now, Isabella.”

One step. The sound of his footfall stopped Isabella’s heart, and,

“Even if you do not decide now, you will become the grand duchess in the end.”

one step. His familiar scent drifting toward her as he drew closer made Isabella’s head swim.

“Wh, why suddenly me……”

“Is it not obvious?”

“Pardon?”

He smiled brightly at the half-formed question of why he was suddenly proposing to her. A smile he had not once given Isabella throughout two years of marriage.

Whether it was a smile made of happiness or a sneer full of pity, Declen Clerc had never shown her any smile at all.

So why?

“Because I love you, Isabella.”