Whether her act had been convincing or Carlos had simply been lost in thought, the moment passed without incident, and Annely soon fell back asleep.

She hadn’t expected to see Carlos when she opened her eyes again. For a moment, she could only stare at him, still dazed. Carlos smiled, amused and quietly pleased by the way she looked at him.

“Why?”

“You… got ready early.”

Her gaze slid down from his face. Carlos looked as though he had already finished preparing.

“You said you were having breakfast with your brother today. I’ll take you there. You’re not feeling well.”

Annely was about to refuse immediately, but she hesitated when Carlos added that last part. After all, she was supposed to be on her period and therefore uncomfortable. Rubbing her eyes sleepily, Annely nodded.

“All right. But you’ll come see me off, right?”

“I’ll come at the right time.”

Carlos lifted Annely in his arms, set her down in the bathroom, and left. Once Amber entered and the bathroom door closed, Annely asked in a quiet voice.

“Where’s Carlos?”

“The Duke left right away.”

Amber took a small container out of the pile of towels she had brought with her and scattered its contents over Annely’s discarded underwear. The bathroom filled with the faint metallic scent of blood.

Annely watched Amber carefully as she prepared the menstrual blood, then stepped into the bathtub.

“Amber… aren’t you curious why I suddenly did this?”

When the question was asked, Amber hesitated and turned her head away. Annely leaned back against the bath, avoiding her gaze.

The previous night, Annely had given Amber an odd instruction, which she had obeyed without question.

“Madam. I liked that the two of you had grown closer these past few days, but that doesn’t mean I’m foolish, nor has my heart toward you changed.”

Annely’s hand, which had been slowly stirring the water, stopped.

“The reason I liked it was because your period hadn’t started.”

Annely immediately turned to look at Amber. When their eyes met, Amber smiled brightly, just as she always did.

“My father died early, didn’t he?”

Amber’s father was an exceptional knight. He lost his life on the battlefield when Amber was still a baby. She grew up constantly hearing from others what a remarkable man he had been.

‘I used to think that he didn’t need to be exceptional. He didn’t have to be admirable. All I wished for was for him to have lived.”

Amber hated the pitying looks that accompanied the praise for her father. Each time this happened, she wished that, even if everyone thought he was a scoundrel, his life was all that mattered.

“But after hearing what you said yesterday, I realized something. You aren’t me, Madam. And you don’t think the same way I do.”

Amber had grown up in peace, yet she had always felt the quiet ache of her father’s absence. Determined that the child of the person she loved would never experience that same emptiness, she chose to look away and pretend not to notice, even though she had understood the truth for a long time.

However, after hearing Annely’s order the previous night, she finally accepted that she had been wrong.

“Because I love you, Madam, I will follow your orders without question. So please don’t worry. I won’t ask anything, and I won’t be curious.”

The steam rising from the bath blurred Amber’s figure. For a moment, Annely was reminded of Amber from her previous life.

Back then, Amber had been bright and full of life, but she had slowly withered alongside Annely. At first, she had obeyed Annely without hesitation, but over time, she had started to plead instead.

To go back.

To leave this place.

For someone who had once followed her so faithfully to cling to her in that way meant her previous life must have been utterly ruined. Ultimately, Annely lost everything and met her death.

“…Amber.”

“Yes, Madam.”

“Carlos doesn’t love me. He loves Ribesha.”

She dragged out the shameful truth she had never been able to tell anyone.

“The supplements I’ve been taking every month were contraceptives. They said they were so potent that there’s a high chance I became infertile. And yet…”

Annely leaned back comfortably against the bath and rested a hand on her lower abdomen. The faint sensation she could just about perceive there was strangely fascinating and brought her an uncanny sense of calm.

“By some miracle, this child came to me.”

Thinking of the child who had yet to take proper form, Annely smiled.

“I have to protect this child. I fell in love with Carlos at first sight, and I truly—truly loved him… deeply. But I won’t anymore.”

A love that had festered for so long could not be severed in a single night. It was a feeling that she could not simply discard, even if she were reborn. Annely had never expected to abandon it all at once.

But now, she was ready.

As she reaffirmed her resolve, a gentle warmth enveloped her. Amber embraced Annely from behind and carefully brushed her hair aside. The touch was so familiar it almost ached.

When they first arrived at the Imperial Palace, its strangeness made them cling to each other as they slept. Amber would stroke Annely’s hair until she fell asleep.

“It’ll be all right now, Madam.”

“…Yes.”

Held in Amber’s arms, Annely nodded.

“Everything will return to where it belongs.”

What differed from her previous life was this—she would not die. She would simply disappear quietly. That small change would leave no mark on the relationship between Carlos and Ribesha, so it was enough.

“While you go to see him off, I’ll pack your belongings.”

Amber said brightly, her earlier calm gone.

After nodding and smiling, Annely finished her bath and left the room.

As she was only stepping out briefly to see him off, she didn’t bother getting dressed up. She wore thick layers of clothing to keep out the cold. Even when wearing fitted clothes, her belly was not yet visible, for which Annely was grateful, given that it was winter.

There was no guarantee that someone as perceptive as Carlos wouldn’t notice.

Satisfied that her figure revealed nothing, Annely turned her head when Carlos entered.

“Let’s go.”

She reached out to him, and together they went straight down to the hall and boarded the carriage.

As she sat inside, memories of what she had done there before flooded back. Rather than feeling embarrassed or ashamed, however, she felt concerned.

‘There’s no way something happened to the baby… right?’

Over the past two weeks, they had slept together almost every day, and it was even more frequent and relentless than during their honeymoon.

The moment she became aware of the anxiety she had been avoiding, she was gripped by panic and broke out in a cold sweat. After losing a child through ignorance, Annely had read extensively. She knew only too well that having s*x in the early stages of pregnancy could be dangerous.

‘I need to go straight to General—’

“Hot?”

A hand reached out and touched Annely’s forehead.

She turned her head away instinctively, only coming back to herself then. Avoiding Carlos’s gentle touch while performing felt unnatural. Yet, without warning, she simply couldn’t bear the sight of his large hand reaching towards her.

Annely realized her mistake and forced her stiff neck to turn back, lightly brushing her forehead against Carlos’s hand, which was still lingering in the air.

“A little.”

Carlos paused for a moment before gently wiping the cold sweat from Annely’s skin. His touch was calm — almost careless — as if she hadn’t flinched away at all.

She couldn’t tell if his expression was equally composed.

Fearing that he might sense her trembling, Annely did not dare to look up. Feigning fatigue, she closed her eyes and pressed her face against his large, warm hand.

“I’m sleepy. Maybe it’s because I woke up early for once.”

When his hand finally withdrew, she opened her eyes. Carlos, who had been sitting opposite her, moved to the seat beside her. He slipped an arm around her shoulders, pulling her in close until she was leaning against him.

“Get some sleep until we arrive.”

Annely nodded slightly. She closed her eyes again and tried to steady her breathing, but sleep evaded her.

Carlos’s scent kept wafting towards her, distracting her and drawing her attention back to him.

Had he noticed that something was wrong?

Had he felt her flinch away from his touch?

If he found out about the pregnancy, what would he do?

If she knelt and begged, clinging to whatever affection remained between them, would he spare the child? Or had he truly lost all warmth for her?

“Annely. We’re here.”

His calm voice cut through the tangled spiral of her thoughts.

Annely opened the eyes she had kept shut. She blinked a few times, as though she had just woken up, then nodded slowly.

“Okay. Let’s get down and greet my brother together.”

Carlos stepped out first. With his help, Annely got down from the carriage.

Fedric was already outside the estate. The moment he saw her, he came over to her in long strides, a smile on his face.

Seeing Fedric’s bright, buoyant expression, Annely’s anxiety eased and she smiled back.

“You’re here. Is the Duke eating with us too?”

“I only came to bring Annely. I’ll return again before you leave.”

Since it was his last time spending time with Annely, Fedric didn’t even offer an empty insistence that Carlos stay.

“See you later.”

“See you in a bit, Carlos.”

Carlos watched Annely intently as she entered the estate with Fedric.

When the mansion doors closed and the gaze that had been fixed on her back finally disappeared, Annely felt her strength drain away instantly.