“What?”

Carlos paused, stopped wiping the sweat from his hands, and looked up at the report being delivered.

Under his sharp scrutiny, Knox instinctively lowered his gaze. No matter how many years passed, Knox could never grow accustomed to Carlos’s merciless eyes, especially after he had just taken on five knights single-handedly. An almost explosive force and a feral, dangerous presence still clung to Carlos.

Without waiting for Knox to finish, Carlos raised his sword again. As he moved, sweat traced slow paths down the thick muscles exposed beneath his discarded top, drawing every gaze in the room.

His body radiated undisguised k*lling intent, yet his face remained refined — beautiful, even. This contrast made the threat he exuded all the more captivating: perilous and irresistible.

At Carlos’s signal, one of the knights who had been sprawled on the floor forced himself upright and charged. He was fast, but Carlos remained calm, waiting for the perfect moment as the distance closed.

Only when the blade flashed before him did Carlos twist his body.

It happened in an instant.

The knight tumbling helplessly across the floor was proof enough of how decisively and swiftly Carlos had struck him down.

“Still not talking?”

Knox, who had been staring blankly at the sparring, flinched and hurriedly repeated himself.

“Amber summoned the personal physician. The examination is ongoing, but according to Emily, after waking up, milady showed signs of mental disturbance.”

Amber had suddenly started asking about the imperial calendar, the date, and even her own age.

Startled, Amber summoned the physician amid an uproar. Amid the confusion, Emily discreetly sent word to Knox.

With only two days to go until the official succession ceremony, Carlos was so overwhelmed that he had barely slept in the last few days. Today’s sparring session — the first he had managed in a week — had been squeezed into his schedule despite the severe lack of time.

Everyone knew how much he hated interruptions during training. However, his subordinates also knew from experience that, when it came to matters concerning Milady, nothing else took precedence.

That was why Knox had come to report to Carlos at once.

“Signs of mental disturbance?”

After changing into fresh clothes and sheathing his sword, a faint crease formed between Carlos’s smooth brows.

He checked the time, then remembered the documents that were still waiting for him on his desk. To ensure that the succession ceremony in two days’ time would proceed without a hitch, he would have to work without rest today and tomorrow.

Carlos had waited a very long time for this ceremony.

For more than twenty years, he had endured being treated as a b*stard of unknown origin by the former Duchess of Da Vinci, forging his reputation through his own strength.

Even that had not been enough. For the sake of the ducal title, he had also sold himself…

In any case, this day mattered to him.

Pressing a hand to his throbbing temple, which ached from lack of sleep, Carlos finally got moving.

“I understand. Return to your post.”

“Yes, my lord.”

Carlos took off his outer coat and headed straight for Annely’s chambers. As he walked along the familiar route, he realized how long it had been since his last visit.

He had been busy, but that was not the only reason.

To Carlos, Annely had once been a useful tool. Now that her purpose had been fulfilled, however, she was no longer useful.

In fact, if he were being honest, it had ended long ago.

Less than a year after their wedding, Carlos had replaced his incompetent half-brother to become the young duke. From that moment on, he had been the sole, unquestioned heir to the House of Da Vinci.

In truth, Annely’s role had ended two years ago.

But both the Grand Duke and the Emperor were suspicious men. To appease them, Carlos had maintained the charade for two more years, pretending to cherish the treasure they held so dear.

When the duke died a month ago, there was no longer any reason to keep up the pretense.

Carlos naturally began to distance himself from Annely, using his busy schedule as an excuse to avoid her. This was not a lie — he had genuinely been busy. Annely believed him and remained obediently silent for over half a month.

This is precisely why her sudden outburst irritated him so much.

‘So I never thought she’d resort to something like this.’

She had always been gentle and compliant.

She was the kind of woman who looked at him as though she loved him, smiled with devotion and carried herself like a dutiful wife.

Whenever Annely crossed his mind, an unpleasant itch would creep through Carlos’s chest and his expression would slowly harden. Stopping before the door to her chambers, he steadied himself before turning the half-open doorknob.

A knight by nature, he instinctively quietened his breathing and softened his footsteps as he moved towards the bedroom. Because of this, the voices of those unaware of his presence reached him with unsettling clarity.

“Milady, are you truly all right? I think we should call the physician again.”

“Amber, I’m really fine. I must have been half asleep.”

“Who gets their own age confused in their sleep?”

The maid sat at the foot of the bed while the young, beautiful duchess leaned weakly against the pillows. Her hair, like molten gold, cascaded softly over her slender frame, giving her the appearance of having stepped straight out of a masterpiece.

As if her naturally pale complexion were not enough, the trace of illness lingering on her face lent her a fragile, almost sickly beauty.

Yet Carlos knew better than anyone how exceptional that small, beautiful woman was at deceiving others.

In hindsight, he felt that he had never even come close to matching her. No matter how capable he was, feigning love at first sight without revealing a single crack for three whole years would have been impossible.

And yet, for the sake of her revenge against the cousin she had once loved, Annely had willingly ruined herself by pretending to love a man like him.

For three years.

She was remarkable — so much so that he nearly felt like applauding her.

At that moment, her violet eyes turned towards him.

Out of habit, Carlos smoothed the coldness from his expression and curved his lips into the faintest of smiles.

“Annely.”

“……”

Annely stared blankly as Carlos approached. Amber stepped back with a relieved expression, and Carlos took her place. Sitting at the bedside, he examined Annely’s face.

“I heard you called for the physician. What’s wrong?”

Up close, Annely’s face looked paler than Carlos remembered. Even her usually vivid, full lips showed signs of illness, and Carlos’s brow creased.

He received daily reports from Emily, the maid he had placed in Annely’s household, and there had been nothing out of the ordinary in recent days. Annely had simply read or taken quiet walks as usual. With Emily attending to her meticulously, she had neither caught a cold nor suffered indigestion.

So, when he heard that she had suddenly developed strange symptoms just two days before the succession ceremony, he thought it might be a ploy to draw him to her.

Yet, contrary to his expectations, Annely truly did not look well.

“Annely? What’s wrong?”

Only after a long moment of watching her did Carlos realize she had not responded at all. He found it strange, having just seen her converse normally with Amber.

On the way here, the physician had told him there was nothing wrong—but as if forgetting that, Carlos reached out to press his hand to Annely’s forehead.

Tak—.

“…Annely?”

Carlos stared at Annely in confusion after she slapped his hand away. Before he could say anything more, Annely bit her lip and spoke.

“Ah. I’m sorry, my love. I must have had a nightmare…”

As she said that, Annely pulled up the corners of her mouth. Her lips formed the same gentle curve as always, but perhaps because they lacked color, his gaze kept returning to them.

Carlos lowered his hand, which had been left hanging awkwardly after being brushed aside.

“It seems I appeared in your nightmare.”

At those words, Annely’s eyes widened. It was the reaction of someone caught off guard—how did you know?

“Your expression when you look at me isn’t good. Did I torment you in your dream?”

Carlos’s voice was not tender, but it was familiar. Over the past three years, he had spent a great deal of time with her for the sake of his act, and regardless of intent, he was aware that they had grown close.

Now, with Annely in such a precarious position, Carlos found himself paying her more attention than usual, even though he knew she was no longer useful to him.

“…No. How could you ever torment me?”

The stiffness in Annely’s face eased.

“You should go now. You’re busy.”

Carlos rose from his seat, having had no intention of staying long himself.

“Get some rest. I’ll come tomorrow night.”

After leaving the room, Carlos turned and stared at the firmly closed door, overcome by a vague sense of emptiness. Nothing came to mind. In the end, he walked away.

Meanwhile, left alone, Annely stared blankly at her right hand — the one that had reflexively pushed Carlos away.

When she opened her eyes, she thought she had narrowly survived.

Ribesha’s pregnancy. The demand for divorce. All of it flashed through her mind: the moment she had finally resolved to let Carlos go.

Then she saw Amber’s face, which looked younger somehow. She noticed that the scar on her lower abdomen had darkened once more, just as it had been before.

Only then did she realize that something was terribly wrong.

‘…I’ve returned to the past.’

She had gone back in time.

In fact, it was two years ago — just before Carlos stopped pretending.

Annely could not tell whether this was a cruel joke played by God, or an opportunity given to her.

She was afraid to face Carlos. The resentment, anger, and complicated love she felt towards him were more than she could bear.

Yet, as she looked at him standing before her amid the turmoil, she made a decision.

This was an opportunity.

Allowing him to leave her without putting up a fight just before she died had been her last shred of pride. But after dying that way, all that remained were the deep, unresolved emotions she still held for him.

Annely knew better than anyone that Carlos’s attitude would change completely once the succession ceremony concluded two days later.

So there was only one thing she needed to do.

‘Let’s divorce.’

There was no need to see Ribesha’s swollen belly, no need to be wounded by it, no need to leave in quiet misery.

There was no reason to remain any longer as a duchess who would be coldly discarded by the duke.