With the chilling sound of a sword being drawn from its scabbard, a red gleam cut across the bedroom.

“Ugh!”

Leon was grabbed by the collar and thrown to the floor outside the bed.

Bella couldn’t believe her eyes. It was Everitt.

Right after, a man with dark blue hair jumped through the broken window. Melki, who had entered after Everitt, inadvertently looked at the bed and let out a groan.

“Ah, this is…”

He immediately turned his gaze away after seeing Bella tied up n*ked. His face turned bright red. She looked identical to the princess and had once dwelled inside the princess. There was no way he could look directly at such a woman’s n*ked body.

More importantly, Melki had to stop Everitt first.

Everitt, with an expressionless face except for his terrifyingly glowing red eyes, raised his sword as if about to behead Leon right then and there.

Melki rushed over and grabbed Everitt’s shoulder.

“Stop! Are you going to take away even Miss Carta’s right to revenge?”

Mentioning Bella’s name worked. Everitt gritted his teeth and lowered his raised sword. Instead of slicing Leon, he delivered a punch to his jaw.

“Kuk!”

With the full weight behind the blow, Leon’s head fell to the side. He had lost consciousness.

“Bella…!”

Everitt turned around and rushed to Bella on the bed, ignoring Leon’s collapse. He moved like lightning, cutting the ropes binding her wrists and wrapping her in the sheet.

“Hic…”

Bella clung desperately to Everitt. She didn’t know why useless tears were flowing.

‘Why did you have to appear so heroically like in a dream? I called for Melki, no, Natalie, so why did Everitt come? Why do you appear and vanquish the villain when I call your name?’

She sobbed and mumbled incoherently against Everitt’s chest.

“Do you think you’re some champion of justice or a fairy tale prince? Leon is the prince…”

Whether Everitt understood Bella’s words or not was unclear. He simply held her tightly and silently patted her back.

When Bella stopped crying and looked up, her eyes met Everitt’s. Flames flickered in his slightly trembling eyes. His tightly closed lips quivered faintly, and the muscles along his masculine jawline were pronounced. He looked as if he was suppressing intense emotions or about to burst into tears.

Bella had never seen Everitt make such an expression before. It was an expression she had never seen, even in the game. She couldn’t take her eyes off his face.

“Are you hurt anywhere?”

When Everitt asked, Bella nodded without properly understanding what he had said.

At that moment, only one thought filled Bella’s mind.

‘Ah, I’ve been missing this man.’

She had thought she wanted to forget everything. But she had to admit that the more she tried, the more she thought of Everitt.

Perhaps deep in her heart, she had been separating Everitt from the other male leads all along. She wanted to forget what happened at the summer palace, but she didn’t want to forget Everitt. That’s why he appeared in her dreams every night, and why she comforted herself by thinking of him whenever she woke from nightmares. While saying that the darkest place is under the lamp, she had actually chosen the Grand Duchy as her refuge in hopes of perhaps seeing him from afar someday.

She had fled, claiming she wanted to live apart from the male leads, but fate wouldn’t leave her alone. From the beginning, their desperate wishes must have drawn her into this world, and the debt accumulated from toying with their affections over a hundred summers could hardly be settled by giving her body for just one season.

What happened today was proof of that. After barely escaping fate for nearly half a year, what was the result? Before a single night had passed, she had met all five male leads again.

Despite the distance, none of the men’s feelings had cooled. During their time apart, they had figured out her identity without being told, and they had all festered that much more.

But among them, only one had moved Bella’s heart.

“Everitt…”

When she called his name, he seemed a bit surprised, then drew in a breath and pulled her back to his chest. Along with his familiar and missed scent, his warm body heat enveloped her through the sheet.

The constant anxiety and inexplicable thirst she had felt subsided remarkably once she was in his arms.

Just then, someone knocked on the door.

“Shh.”

Everyone in the room held their breath and looked at the door.

“Your Highness! Is everything alright?”

The guard must have noticed something was wrong when the sound of breaking glass and screams from inside suddenly stopped. Leon was still lying unconscious. Melki frowned, then moved silently to stand right beside the door.

After a couple more knocks, the door swung open and a soldier with a raised sword jumped inside. Melki attacked him without hesitation.

“Kuk…!”

The guard collapsed to the floor without even managing to scream properly. Melki searched his pockets and pulled out a bundle of keys. One of them fit perfectly into the keyhole of the shackles bound to Bella’s ankle.

“I thought so.”

After freeing Bella’s ankle, Melki turned to Florian, who was similarly chained to the wall.

When Melki released the chains, Florian slumped to the ground. His wrists where the chains had bound him and his mouth where the gag had been were all stained with blood.

While Melki hung the unconscious guard in the place where Florian had been, Everitt gestured toward Leon and asked Bella:

“What should we do with him?”

As he spoke, Everitt slightly unsheathed the sword at his waist. The blade, visible only by two or three finger joints, was so blue that Bella felt dizzy just looking at it. The moment when Leon’s blood had splattered on her came vividly to mind.

Bella shook her head, indicating not to do it.

Of course, considering what he had done to her today, she wanted to teach him a lesson. But she didn’t want to take his life.

‘Everyone’s emotions are running high right now… There’s a greater chance of making wrong decisions.’

When Bella shook her head, Everitt put his sword back with an expressionless face.

“Mmm…”

Just then, Leon began to regain consciousness. Everitt quickly approached and tightly bound him with rope before he fully awoke, and gagged his mouth as well.

Leon seemed confused for a moment, but soon realized what was happening. He didn’t resist or make loud noises. Instead, he looked around the room and glared at the others.

At that moment, Bella stepped down from the bed, covering her body with the sheet. She staggered toward Leon and called his name.

“Leon.”

Leon narrowed his brows at being called by his name rather than “Prince” or “Your Highness.” Bella made eye contact with Leon and smiled sweetly. Then in the next moment, Bella slapped his cheek.

Smack!

Leon’s face whipped to the side. Her hand stung, but one slap wasn’t enough to satisfy her. Bella struck his other cheek with all her might.

“I’ll settle for this much for now.”

Leon, his cheeks turning bright red and swelling, shouted something in disbelief, but the tight gag made it impossible to understand.

Bella ignored Leon and turned around.

“Melki can only transport one person with him, right? That’s why you brought Grand Duke Myers. How were you planning to help me escape from here?”

In truth, she couldn’t guess why Melki hadn’t come alone but had brought Everitt with him, but Bella didn’t bring up that point. It had already happened anyway.

“The plan was for me to escape with you first, and the Grand Duke would stay behind and hold out.”

“Hold out?”

“Hold out until I could take you to a safe place and return.”

When Melki glanced at Everitt, Everitt raised the corner of his mouth.

“I can get myself out even if he doesn’t come back. But…”

Everitt paused and shifted his gaze to Florian and Leon. If they left Leon like this and ran away, they’d be setting themselves up to get stabbed in the back. And Florian looked like he might just die if left behind.

Florian wasn’t Everitt’s concern, and he actually wanted to kill Leon, but now he knew. They were both men that Bella had loved.

He couldn’t let the men his beloved woman had loved die or collapse right in front of her eyes. Whether they lived or died had to be Bella’s choice.

“…We need to change the plan.”