“That’s hardly a reasonable thing to say. There is such a thing as propriety…….”

“Then allow me to say it plainly. Will you marry me?”

“I believe I made it clear that I refused that proposal, Your Highness.”

“I know.”

“And yet you know, and still you do all of this……!”

He knew, so why on earth was he doing this? Isabella, unable to bear his incomprehensible behavior and the impossible situation it had created, finally raised her voice in front of Declen. The gap in their ranks was enormous, but the situation itself was more than she could carry.

Every time she rode somewhere in a carriage, people who recognized the Piper barony’s crest would mutter at the sight of it. Composing polite replies to letters from houses whose faces she could barely recall, all of them pretending to be close friends. Listening to her maids come home from the market and pour out the things people had said behind her back. All of it was exhausting, and she felt terrible for her maids.

On top of that, the Wiren county was sending protest letters to the Piper barony every single day, demanding compensation for the young count’s severed arm. Isabella had not been the one to cut it off, and she had not invited Declen there, yet somehow the Piper barony was expected to provide restitution.

She had her suspicions as to why, but neither Isabella nor Henry could bring themselves to push back. Baron versus Count. The difference in power was stark, and the Piper barony had no choice but to repeat their apologies over and over, unable to offer a single word in their own defense. 

She understood that Ronan Taylor, the knight commander of the Clerc grand ducal house, had taken young count Wiren away and used a priest to restore his severed arm completely, yet the Wiren county was not satisfied with that and continued to press the Piper barony for compensation.

All while saying not a single word to Declen Clerc, the one who had actually cut the arm off.

She was worn out by all of it. She had been worn out for a long time. Her mind had stopped working in the face of the wreckage everything had become. The plan she had thought was her best option had fallen apart in the most absurd way, and she needed to come up with something else, but nothing came to her.

So she had shut herself in her room, pulled the blankets over her head, and trembled with anxiety, until finally, without even consulting Henry, she had sent a maid ahead to arrange a meeting and come rushing to find Declen. To find out why on earth he was doing this.

“I.”

“…….”

“I know that you are the subject of the prophecy.”

Isabella’s body went rigid. He knew. That Isabella was the subject of the prophecy. How had he found out at this point? The hands clasped in her lap trembled faintly with tension and fear. How had he found out? Could it be that he remembered everything too? If he knew that he had died because of Isabella Piper?

“There is no need to be so guarded.”

He must have caught her reaction quickly, the way her body stiffened and her defenses went up. Declen spoke in a rush.

“I cannot tell you the details, but I learned it through a personal information source of mine.”

A personal information source he could not name. What could that be? Turning it over in her mind, she thought she could dimly guess. In the past, Declen had operated an independent information guild beyond the reach of the imperial court’s eyes. It worked from the very bottom, but handled the widest and most detailed intelligence of any such organization, and Isabella had not learned of its existence until just before Declen died.

The way she had found out was entirely by chance. She had picked up a piece of paper dropped by Gunner Taylor, the chief among Declen’s aides. It was hard to understand how an aide at the grand ducal estate, who was supposed to be meticulous in all things, had made such a careless mistake, but that was the day she learned of the information guild Declen was running in absolute secrecy.

Why did he need something like that? She had wondered ever since that day. Why did he need an information guild like that? Even without one, everything would have found its way to his ears eventually. There was no end to the questions, but she had never bothered to ask him. Even if she had, he would never have answered.

But thinking about it now, several things struck her as strange. It had only been a few days since the prophecy was issued. It had not taken long for many people to realize that Isabella was the subject of it, but right now was still too soon. The information guild was making deductions that specific? And what kind of confirmation had they arrived at that would make Declen act so decisively?

“I don’t know what that information source is, but are you saying it identified me as the subject of the prophecy?”

“Yes.”

Should she lie and deny it? Or acknowledge it and agree? Neither option sat well with Isabella. Even if she denied it, it would not be long before everyone knew Isabella was the subject of the prophecy. And even if she said she was not the subject right now, would he simply accept that and let her go?

“Do you believe that information?”

“Yes.”

Declen gave a firm, unhesitating nod. Isabella closed the mouth she had been about to open in protest. What was she to do? In this disaster of a situation, who was she supposed to trust, who was she supposed to keep at a distance, and who was she supposed to be wary of?

“Your Highness.”

“Yes.”

“As Your Highness has said, I am indeed the subject of the prophecy.”

And so Isabella made up her mind to give him the one thing he wanted so desperately.

“If Your Highness can accept the conditions I am about to state, I am prepared to accept the proposal you made to me.”

To repay him with her life for dying in that rain for her sake, unable to achieve the one thing he had wanted.

“Please, go ahead.”

Declen nodded without a moment’s hesitation, telling her to name her conditions, and Isabella watched his face for a moment before letting out a small sigh and opening her mouth. The conditions. She had wrung every thought she had to arrive at these conditions.

In the middle of that, the promise she had made to the saint came back to her.

The promise not to appear before him. The promise to leave his side.

“Even if we marry, please do not concern yourself with me.”

“How could I not concern myself with the person who is to be my wife?”

“Did I not just say these are my conditions for the marriage? If you will not accept the conditions, I will not accept Your Highness’s proposal.”

She could not keep the promise not to appear before him, so she needed to put distance between them instead. Isabella’s cool reply was met with silence from Declen. His eyes narrowed in a way that said he was not satisfied, and the cold shift in his gaze made Isabella want to shrink back. But she did not yield to it, and put forward her next condition.

“And please do not fall in love with me.”

“…….”

“I have someone I love. So please do not ask for my love, and please do not fall in love with me…….”

“Are you referring to young count Wiren?”

He had been listening in silence, but now he worked his sculpted lips and let out a cutting remark. Why was young count Wiren coming up again here? The memory of Count Wiren flooding the barony with protest letters surfaced suddenly, and Isabella’s brow creased slightly.

“No.”

“Then who?”

“I don’t believe I need to tell you that.”

“…….”

“You need only know this, Your Highness.”

“…….”

“That Isabella Piper has someone she loves, and therefore, whatever feelings Your Highness may hold, I cannot return them.”

That was the only answer she had for the man who had appeared out of nowhere, smiling brightly and declaring his love.

Pressing down the unspoken meaning behind her words and swallowing it deep, Isabella tightened her clasped hands. The pain of her neatly trimmed nails cutting into her flesh was the only thing that kept her head clear enough to go on to the next condition.

“And I would like the marriage to last only one year.”

“Isabella!”

“You said you know that I am the subject of the prophecy. Then I will speak plainly without going around it.”

“…….”

“The prophecy said this. He who claims that woman shall obtain all things in the world.”

“…….”

The expression on Declen’s face as their eyes met looked ready to kill someone on the spot.

“Avilion told me first.”

“…….”

“That the prophecy would be fulfilled within one year.”

“What do you mean? Are you saying Avilion issued you a separate prophecy before issuing the one that was made public?”

“Yes.”

She knew this lie was absurd on its face, which was why Isabella had hesitated over whether to say it at all. But without it, there was no way to make the condition of a one-year marriage hold up. If he asked how she could propose a one-year marriage when there was no telling when the prophecy would be fulfilled, she would have nothing to say, so Isabella had pulled Avilion into it and told the lie.