Kallis stopped every servant he passed and demanded to know Chloe’s whereabouts. Perhaps because she habitually wandered around without attendants, not a single servant knew where she was.

His fruitless search finally came to an end when the blue sky darkened toward evening.

Upon hearing that Chloe had returned from her outing, Kallis immediately headed to her room.

“What brings you here?”

Chloe’s face turned deathly pale at his appearance.

Even that expression was fascinating to him now.

He eagerly awaited the moment when the face steeped in nobility would become engulfed in despair.

“There is something I need to tell you.”

Kallis continued, feigning a solemn expression.

“Let us put an end to this.”

“Put an end to what?”

“To our relationship.”

A faint glimmer of joy immediately appeared on Chloe’s face.

“By that, do you mean…… Your Grace wishes to divorce me?”

“Yes.”

When Kallis confirmed it, Chloe’s face brightened even more. He barely managed to suppress the smirk tugging at his lips.

“Very well. Then let us begin the proceedings at once…….”

“But before that, there is something you must do.”

“Tell me.”

He deliberately stalled while observing her reaction.

Of the countless emotions on her face, joy and anticipation stood out the most.

The words he was about to utter would make those emotions disappear instantly.

“I want you to obtain His Majesty’s consent.”

Just as Kallis expected, Chloe’s expression crumpled.

However, her quick mind immediately began searching for a way out.

“If both spouses agree, I understand that the consent of the relevant authority is unnecessary.”

“That is a separate matter.”

“Do you wish to make this affair even more complicated?”

“No, of course not. What I mean is…….”

Nevertheless, escaping Kallis’s grasp would be impossible.

He had set an insurmountable obstacle in Chloe’s path — one that she could never hope to overcome.

It was the contract between Kallis and King Valont.

Kallis had devised the scheme long ago, and it had already proven useful during their previous encounter. Now, it shone once again at this crucial moment.

“His Majesty and I have a contract. Strictly speaking, divorcing you would be equivalent to breaking that agreement. What would happen if His Majesty became enraged?”

“I shall explain everything to him properly afterward.”

“No. Absolutely not. What would I do if you betrayed me afterward?”

“Once I leave this place, I will have no reason to involve myself with Your Grace again. I can assure you of that. Therefore, you need not worry about anything else…….”

Her brazen stream of excuses only irritated Kallis.

With a faint scoff, he immediately cut her off.

“What is the matter, Chloe? You merely need to accept my condition, yet you are dragging this out in a manner quite unlike you. Why take such a roundabout path when the simplest solution is right before you?”

“…….”

“Ah, could there perhaps be some unavoidable circumstance preventing you?”

Waves rippled through the ocean of her eyes.

Those resolute eyes, which had always been so irritatingly steady, began to waver, filling Kallis with satisfaction.

He stepped towards her with an ominous air. His strides were swift and unhesitating, quickly closing the gap between them.

“For example, perhaps His Majesty refused to permit our divorce.”

He deliberately lowered himself to her height so that he could whisper directly into Chloe’s ear.

Chloe trembled faintly at his cold voice.

“You…….”

Only then did she appear to understand the situation.

Kallis withdrew his face with a derisive laugh, wanting to observe her unguarded reaction.

“What in the world…….”

She seemed eager to continue, but she could only let her words trail off. Her formerly confident voice had grown so quiet that it was difficult to hear her.

Seizing the opportunity, Kallis stepped closer.

Every time she retreated from the shrinking distance between them, he advanced again, mocking her futile efforts.

Eventually, with nowhere left to go, she backed into the wall.

“Chloe!”

A powerful fist slammed into the wall. The impact sent vibrations rippling through it and jolted Chloe forward.

“Did you find it amusing to toy with me?”

“…….”

“Did you really think the royal family would allow us to get divorced? You know better than anyone what it means in this kingdom. And yet you, a royal princess, dared to request one. Have you completely lost your mind?”

Now that Kallis thought about it, there had been far too many suspicious details.

Chloe had left in a royal carriage but returned in a different one. It wasn’t shabby, but it was far too modest to belong to the royal family.

Furthermore, if the king had approved her divorce, she would never have returned to the ducal estate. She would have stayed at the palace, enjoying a life of luxury, before delivering the devastating news to House Arhen.

“I heard you visited the temple as well. What were you planning to do there? Did you intend to beg the High Priest after the king rejected you?”

As it happened, the High Priest had contacted Kallis to inform him that Chloe’s name had been written in the temple guest book.

At last, every piece fell into place.

That foolish woman had searched desperately for every possible means of escape, yet she was destined to fail.

“Go on, keep chattering, Chloe. Why have you fallen silent? If discovering one little secret is enough to crush your spirit like this, you will make me far too happy.”

Kallis rubbed the back of his hand against Chloe’s cheek.

His unwanted touch traveled from her cheek down to her shoulder.

“Fine. Let us assume you somehow manage to divorce me. The royal family would hardly want to keep such a disgraceful woman in the palace. Who would ever take you in? You have already spent your wedding night with me, so you no longer possess any value as a bride.”

Kallis clicked his tongue before continuing.

Their wedding night.

Those two words summoned the memory Chloe had struggled to ignore.

“I am sorry, Princess. The truth is, I am not ready yet.”

Kallis left for the war before he and Chloe had consummated their marriage. When he returned, they finally shared a bedroom and spent their wedding night together.

However, when she returned from bathing that night, Kallis firmly rejected her.

Even worse, while she burned with humiliation, he smeared a beast’s blood across the bed.

Chloe was deeply embarrassed, but since he said he was not ready, she did not pressure him and simply let the matter pass.

How could the man responsible for that deception now speak as though they had consummated their marriage?

“Listen carefully, Chloe. A foolish woman like you belongs in the palm of my hand. You have nowhere to return to, so all you can do is quietly rot away here! Surely being a duchess in name alone is better than becoming a homeless wanderer?”

The corners of his lips gradually lifted. After seeing the despair on Chloe’s face, he broke into a triumphant smile.

Only then did Chloe understand everything.

He had even created the illusion that they had consummated their marriage.

This was not to preserve her dignity or prevent him from appearing like a scoundrel.

That demon, now intoxicated with triumph, had anticipated a day like this long ago and set his trap accordingly.

***

Dylan approached Kuhn, who was reclining on his bed.

“Your Majesty, a letter has arrived.”

If a letter had arrived at this hour, it could only be from that woman.

Kuhn immediately snatched it from Dylan. Unable to wait even the few moments it would take for Dylan to leave, he began reading at once.

His reddish eyes darted restlessly across the page. After reaching the bottom of the letter, his gaze returned to the beginning once more.

[Um…… Are you angry about something?]

Her subtly rounded handwriting was adorable.

It almost seemed as though the voice of the woman he had heard only a handful of times was echoing beside his ear.

‘Worrying over nothing.’

Nevertheless, he was secretly pleased that his behavior had unsettled her.

Unable to suppress his smile, Kuhn revealed his genuine feelings.

“……Who in the world have you been exchanging letters with?”

Dylan looked as though he had suffered an unexpected misfortune simply by standing nearby.

His sovereign’s bizarre reaction was truly astonishing.

A smile. His Majesty was actually smiling!

He had not smiled so beautifully even when informed that the enemy commander had been beheaded.

“There is someone I want to free from a damned rat.”

“……A damned what?”

“Someone I must personally help.”

Perhaps he truly was in a good mood, for he even displayed the generosity to answer Dylan twice.

“And someone who must help me in return.”

“She is going to help Your Majesty?”

Dylan questioned him after hearing the unexpected answer.

To think there was someone beneath this vast sky whom that man actually needed.

Dylan assumed he must have misheard, only to be startled again when his sovereign nodded in confirmation.

“Then why are you merely exchanging letters? Is the help you require something that can be accomplished in writing?”

“For now, I am cultivating our friendship.”

“And after that?”

“I am waiting for my savior to reach out and ask for my help first.”

Kuhn answered indifferently, as though Dylan’s barrage of questions was gradually becoming tiresome.

“……Why do you not simply go and help her first, Your Majesty?”

Dylan’s curiosity, however, showed no sign of subsiding.

That was only natural, for this was the first time his sovereign had ever shown interest in another person.

The more answers he received, the more curious he became, unintentionally transforming himself into a relentless interrogator.

“If I reach out first, I will become nothing more than her benefactor.”

Kuhn murmured to himself as he gazed at the letter in his hand.

Even if he volunteered to help Chloe, she wouldn’t offer him anything significant in return.

At most, she would be grateful to him. If she were feeling particularly generous, she might even regard him as her savior.

However, satisfied with what she had gained, the princess would not take Kuhn’s subsequent proposals seriously.

“But I want a far more intimate relationship than that.”

However, if the situation were reversed, everything would change.

If she discovered the answer herself and realized that only Kuhn Frihid could secure Chloe’s freedom, she would do anything to find him.

“That is why I am waiting—until she reaches out and asks for my help.”

Kuhn had been waiting for that moment alone.

Yet, at the same time, he was endlessly afraid of it.

When Chloe sought him out and reached for him, he would forget everything.

All the power, honor and strength that he had worked so hard to protect would disappear, leaving behind nothing but instinct and an empty shell.

Then he would cast aside even that, surrendering everything to help her.

Yes.

Just as Chloe had once done.

Even this arrogant man would become foolish.