The two of them hurried on with heavy, unsteady steps until they finally reached a small cabin. Light spilled from the windows, and the area around the cabin was cluttered with signs of life: flowerpots, a wood-cutting axe, and scattered tools. There was no doubt that someone lived here.

This was clearly not the ‘villa’ that Breni had mentioned, but finding any inhabited place at all in the depths of this pitch-black forest felt like extraordinary luck.

Knock, knock.

As Ailie knocked, slow, shuffling footsteps could be heard from inside. A moment later, the door creaked open to reveal the owner of the cabin, an elderly woman with snow-white hair tied neatly at the nape of her neck.

Startled by the unexpected visitors, the old woman let out a small gasp.

“At this hour… what brings you here? Are you unwell?”

As she took them in, her gaze settled on Benate, and her voice took on a note of concern. Anyone could see at a glance that he was in a very bad way. His face was deathly pale, he was covered in cold sweat and his eyes were struggling to focus.

Benate did not answer. He slowly closed his eyes, then forced them open again. For a moment, his pale blue irises came into view through the haze, only to dull and fade once more.

“We need help, ma’am. He’s been poisoned, and it has to be treated immediately.”

Ailie pleaded earnestly.

There was no time. If the old woman knew nothing about antidotes, Ailie planned to ask her to look after Benate while she went back out alone to find help. At the very least, letting him rest indoors might buy them more time.

As Ailie calculated the remaining time, her fingertips began to tremble uncontrollably.

“Poison, you say… ah—this isn’t the time for that. Come in, quickly.”

“Thank you. Thank you so much.”

The old woman threw the door wide open in haste. With Ailie’s help, they guided Benate inside. With the woman’s help, they just about managed to get him onto the bed.

Only then, when the tension finally eased, did Ailie become aware of her surroundings.

‘What is that smell?’

A bitter, astringent scent lingered throughout the cabin. As she looked around, Ailie spotted several round bottles resembling medicine vials nestled among the everyday household items. There was also a small cauldron, separate from the one used for cooking.

Could it be…?

“I’m actually an apothecary.”

The old woman said, as if she had noticed where Ailie was looking, her hands busy as she prepared something.

To think that the owner of the cabin they had stumbled upon by chance was an apothecary. At last, relief slowly spread through Ailie’s rose-colored eyes, which had been clouded with confusion until then.

“Then… do you happen to have an antidote as well?”

“I don’t have remedies for everything. I can’t claim to know every poison.”

“I see…”

“But if he ended up like this after fighting a magical beast in this area…”

While rummaging through the cupboard, the old woman suddenly turned to look at Ailie. Her gray eyes were astonishingly calm.

“I may be the only one who can help him.”

Her voice was firm. Her gaze, clear as she returned to the cupboard. This was not confidence without reason.

“What do you mean by that?”

“Judging by your reaction, I suppose I’m right?”

Her gaze, as though it could see straight through Ailie, lingered for a brief moment before withdrawing.

“That’s… true. Ma’am—what you just said. Is it really true?”

“Call me Teda. The reason is simple—the herb needed to counter that poison only grows in this forest. No one else knows about it.”

Teda, the old woman, took a palm-sized glass bottle out of the cupboard. Inside were dried leaves that emitted a faint glow and shimmered as though dusted with pearl powder.

“The beasts only started appearing about six months ago. In that time, more than a dozen visitors were poisoned. Four of them were lucky enough to find me before they died, but… well, I suppose they weren’t quite lucky enough.”

“……”

“I only discovered the herb after losing three of them.”

Teda spoke with a bitter smile.

More than a dozen victims since the beasts appeared half a year ago. Ailie’s brow furrowed.

“I was told that if I contacted the imperial capital, the knights would come and deal with the situation. I considered going to the neighboring village to post a letter, but I didn’t have the courage to leave the forest while there were still magical beasts around.”

Of course she would have been afraid. Even a seasoned warrior would need considerable resolve to walk alone through a forest infested with magical beasts.

Teda had clearly lived in the forest for so long that she did not even recognize the empress standing before her.

Ailie listened in silence, deliberately pretending not to notice. Revealing her identity as the Empress — and the fact that the man lying there was the Emperor — might shock Teda into making a fatal mistake.

“Even after finding the herb, I kept putting things off… and that’s how it came to this.”

Teda continued working briskly as she spoke. Before long, the herb had been ground into a fine, glittering powder.

Ailie glanced at Benate’s face. He seemed to have fallen asleep. His eyelashes fluttered faintly from time to time.

If they had not stumbled upon this cabin while wandering in the forest, there would have been no way to save Benate.

Ailie quietly clasped her hands together and offered thanks to the gods.

“I’m sorry.”

At that moment, Teda spoke those words.

“If only I hadn’t delayed things, your husband wouldn’t have ended up like this. Judging by your clothes, you are people of high standing. You’ve been through a terrible ordeal.”

Ailie shook her head.

What had happened was already done. There was no reason for Teda to take the blame. The real problem was the sudden appearance of the magical beast, not her discovering the herb too late.

“It wasn’t something you could have helped, Teda.”

“Still…”

“And the beast has already been dealt with. You don’t need to worry anymore.”

Upon hearing these words, Teda’s eyes widened with surprise. Then, as if truly relieved, she clapped her hands together softly. The long-held knot of anxiety finally loosened and a clear smile appeared on her wrinkled face.

Meanwhile, Ailie sat down beside Benate and watched the antidote steadily nearing completion.

“…That’s a relief, isn’t it?”

She asked softly, but there was no reply.

With careful fingers, Ailie brushed aside the strands of silver hair clinging to his damp forehead.

***

In the haze of a dream, an old memory resurfaced.

It was the spring of his fifteenth year—the day Crown Prince Benate first met the person who was to become his wife.

“You must be excited. It’s the day you meet your fiancée for the first time.”

“I’m not.”

Young Benate responded with practiced indifference, adopting a bored expression and speaking insincerely.

In reality, he was deeply embarrassed.

He was embarrassed about meeting his fiancée, about the vast outdoor banquet hall filled with people because of his engagement, and about the fact that the entire imperial capital had been abuzz with excitement for a month.

He had even lost sleep the night before.

Pretending otherwise, he kept stealing glances at the mirror and adjusting his clothes, unable to calm his nerves.

“She’ll arrive soon. I’ll step aside then—well, I can’t promise I won’t watch.”

The Emperor laughed playfully, wearing the unmistakable expression of a man unable to contain his curiosity about his son’s romance.

“When will the young lady—”

‘When will she arrive?’

That was what he had been about to ask, but the youthful voice was swallowed by the cheers erupting all around them.

Benate turned his head toward the source of the noise.

“……”

That was the moment it happened.

The vividly colorful world around him drained into monochrome.

Everyone, that is, except one person: Ailie Erdei.

When fifteen-year-old Benate saw her, his first thought was simple.

‘She looks like a doll.’

Her skin was so pale that it was almost translucent, her light-blond hair was almost completely devoid of pigment and her eyes were a rose-tinted color with an uncanny, gem-like hue.

She has a doll-like appearance.

But it was her—

“I am Benate Seraulte Renovard. May I have your name?”

“……”

“Your name, if you would—”

His face was devoid of expression. His eyes were empty, like glass beads, devoid of any emotion. No matter how many times he asked, there was no answer.

She truly seemed like an exquisite doll.

In that instant, color rushed back into the world.

Ailie’s butler stepped between them.

The young Benate craned his neck, trying to catch a glimpse of the young lady with no name who had disappeared so suddenly.

“That was Lady Ailie Erdei.”

It was the butler who answered.

For a prospective fiancée to ignore a direct question from the Crown Prince would have been considered extremely rude.

Yet the Emperor smiled proudly as he looked at Ailie, perhaps assuming that she was simply overwhelmed by nerves.

Benate, who had been about to protest, found that his words were caught in his throat.

“Then we’ll leave you two to talk.”
“Benate, do your best.”

The Emperor, Count Erdei and the butler withdrew with knowing smiles, as though expecting something to happen between the two of them.

A chamberlain escorted them out onto the balcony.

Even after they arrived, Ailie remained silent. Benate tried to speak to her several times, but she did not answer.

Frustration swelled inside him, but there was no one to direct it at.

Biting his lip to stifle his frustration, Benate waited for this unreasonable event to end.

‘How boring.’

On that day, the Emperor and Count Erdei seemed to be enjoying themselves more than usual and were unable to bring their conversation to a close. The painful, suffocating wait dragged on.

By the time heat flushed Benate’s pale face — around the time the banquet was due to start — the doll suddenly spoke.

“Benate.”

There was no mistaking it. She had called his name.

Yet Benate flinched as though he had heard the voice of a demon.

This was the first time he had ever heard her speak. Her voice was far softer, smaller and more beautiful than he had imagined — beyond description.

Benate’s white cheeks burned for an entirely different reason now.

“…Ah—right. Lady Erdei. If you have something you’d like to say to me, you don’t need to hesitate…”

His voice cracked embarrassingly, trailing off on a pitiful note.

Flustered and with his face burning red, Benate tried to say something — anything — to break the silence.

But before he could collect his thoughts, the tedious conversation finally ended. The butler and the chamberlain stepped forward to escort them away.

Even as he was led away, Benate glanced back over his shoulder.

Seeing her retreating figure, walking away without a backward glance, left him with an unexpected sense of lingering disappointment.

‘But there will be plenty of chances.’

Ailie was destined to become his wife.

They would have countless opportunities to talk in the future. One day, he would no longer stammer and would be able to face her easily.

But the young Benate did not know that at the time.

He did not realize that such opportunities would be few and far between for a very long time, even after this moment.

He did not realize that he would spend his entire life faltering whenever he was with her.

Nor did he realize that she would become the only person in the world he could truly rely on.