When someone he did not want to think about was mentioned, Rian openly displayed his displeasure.

The man was destined to be publicly executed as soon as Rian and Dearlin’s wedding was over.

In Rian’s mind, the man was as good as dead.

“Whether you like it or not, you’re going to meet him.”

But the Emperor remained firm.

“There are plenty of things you want to know as well, aren’t there?”

“If satisfying that slight curiosity requires me to face that bastard, then I would rather remain ignorant.”

If he had arrived even a day later, that man would have become Dearlin’s husband in every sense of the word.

They would certainly have shared their wedding night.

Even if Rian had threatened the High Priest in the same way as this time, there would have been no way to annul the marriage.

Perhaps even if Rian had gone on to destroy the Kingdom of Orva and execute the man himself, Dearlin still might never have become his wife.

The mere thought of Dearlin living her life without the name Sinaster attached to hers filled Rian with a terrifying mixture of fear and rage.

“Duke, I am not advising you right now. I am ordering you.”

Rian clenched his fist tightly.

The veins protruding across the back of his hand stood out sharply.

“He’s someone you were bound to face eventually. In the end, aren’t you the one who won Lady Shuvachen’s hand? I don’t see why the victor should be the first to avoid the confrontation.”

The Emperor was right.

Even so, Rian could not bear the thought of seeing that man’s face.

Because no matter how much he tried not to think about it, the image of Dearlin standing beside someone other than himself kept resurfacing in his mind.

“…Haah. Understood.”

The Emperor’s personality was not much different from Rian’s own.

Knowing that better than anyone, Rian had no choice but to obey the order.

“Since you’re already here, go see him now before you leave.”

The Emperor waved cheerfully toward the departing Rian.

Rian let out a faint, incredulous laugh.

“Your Grace, shall we return to the Grand Duke’s estate?”

“No. There’s somewhere I need to stop by first.”

Taking his aide, Cain, who had been waiting outside, Rian headed toward the underground prison located in the eastern wing of the Imperial Palace.

“What brings us here…?”

The moment they entered, a sinister atmosphere coiled around them.

The damp, suffocating air that clung to the skin made the place instantly unpleasant.

“Wait here.”

“Ah… understood.”

Rian left Cain by the prison entrance and continued deeper inside alone.

The stone floor was so poorly maintained that stagnant pools of foul, rotten water had gathered on it.

For that very reason, he liked it.

Although Arthur was still the king of a fallen nation, the others had refrained from torturing him out of respect for his former status — a fact that Rian found deeply irritating.

However, seeing Arthur imprisoned in such conditions eased some of his dissatisfaction.

“It suits you.”

Rian stopped in front of the very last cell.

A faint movement stirred within the darkness.

“Who’s there?”

Arthur’s voice, rough and badly cracked, echoed through the underground prison.

Through the narrow beam of light slipping into the cell, Arthur’s haggard appearance slowly came into view.

“Duke Sinaster…!”

As soon as Arthur recognized Rian, he grabbed the iron bars and shook them violently while shouting.

Although he was locked up, Arthur moved around in such a threatening way that it looked as though he might leap out of the cell at any moment and attack Rian.

Yet Rian did not take a single step back.

“What are you doing here?!”

Arthur violently rattled the iron bars, looking as though he might charge at Rian at any moment.

But the sight of him, with one severed hand wrapped in bloodstained bandages, was so pitiful that pity had long since run dry.

Now that he was standing before him, what exactly was he supposed to say?

Even Rian himself did not know.

Meanwhile, the nobles and newspapers continued to spread countless rumors about the true reason behind Rian’s invasion of the Kingdom of Orva.

Some claimed it was a secret imperial command from the Emperor, who had long considered Orva to be a thorn in the Empire’s side.

Others insisted that Orva had attempted to rebel against the Empire.

They crafted stories worthy of heroic legends.

Not a single person believed that it had all happened because of one woman: Rian’s former lover, who had been on the verge of marrying Orva’s king.

To everyone else, Dearlin’s presence there was nothing more than the result of a series of unfortunate coincidences.

But from the very beginning, Rian had only ever had one objective: Dearlin.

This meant that he had never had any dealings with Arthur.

“If you came here to mock my condition, then leave. I have no miserable spectacle to show you.”

As though clinging to the last scraps of his pride, Arthur stood unnaturally upright within the cell.

“A criminal certainly talks too much.”

Even if it had been an order from the Emperor, Rian should never have come here of his own accord.

Instead, he found himself imagining Dearlin waiting for him back at the estate.

The moment he thought about reclaiming her, he no longer found Arthur’s face quite so disgusting.

“Criminal? I am the King of Orva! Who dares treat me like a criminal?!”

“You’ll be executed soon enough.”

He had once considered asking this man questions about Dearlin.

What a foolish thought!

After hearing the sentence that awaited him, Arthur could only mutter incomprehensible words under his breath.

“Th-Then what about Dearlin…? What happened to Dearlin?”

The moment Dearlin’s name left Arthur’s mouth, a crack finally appeared in Rian’s calm expression.

‘I should have torn out that mouth too…’

Rian absentmindedly brushed a hand against the sword hanging at his waist.

‘No. Perhaps it’s better to let him know whose woman Dearlin truly belongs to.’

Changing his mind, Rian slowly curled the corner of his lips upward, as though granting Arthur some great mercy.

“Dearlin is at the House of Sinaster.”

The Emperor had been right.

As though reminding Arthur once again who the true victor of this struggle was, Rian silently watched his face twist in devastation as the truth finally sank in.

“You seem completely ignorant after rotting in this prison, so allow me to generously enlighten you further. The High Priest annulled your marriage to Dearlin. She is no longer the Queen of Orva.”

“What are you…?”

Arthur’s eyes shook violently, like those of a man losing his sanity.

“Your execution will take place after my wedding with Dearlin.”

“…Wedding?!”

Arthur stretched out his remaining hand desperately toward Rian, clawing at empty air as though trying to reach him.

But nothing changed.

“Dearlin will become the Duchess of Sinaster and stand beside me as she watches your execution.”

“Shut your mouth! The declaration of holy marriage had already been completed between us! An annulment is impossible! Duke Sinaster, you dare challenge the authority of the Goddess herself?!”

At the repeated mention of the Goddess’s authority, Rian curled his lips into a sneer.

“Dearlin was mine from the very beginning. You were the one who coveted her without knowing your place. I merely took back what was always mine.”

Rian mocked Arthur calmly.

But Arthur was already so consumed by agitation that none of his words reached him.

“I thought… I finally had her…”

He simply could not believe that he had failed.

How much effort had he poured into possessing Dearlin over all those long years?

He had finally married her, and yet in the end, nothing remained.

‘We should have held the wedding in secret…’

Arthur knew that Dearlin missed the Empire.

In an attempt to crush that hope, he held the wedding in public.

That had been his mistake.

He had wanted to show her that she could never go back. He never imagined that it would end up ruining him so completely.

“Let me see Dearlin. Just once.”

Contrary to Rian’s expectation that Arthur would grow even more agitated and cause a scene, Arthur quickly forced himself to calm down.

“You’ll see her before your execution. Wait until then.”

Rian had no intention of ever allowing Arthur to see Dearlin again.

Dearlin was currently acting as though she still had feelings for Arthur, but Rian did not believe her feelings were genuine.

He convinced himself that it was merely flattery — words she had no choice but to utter to survive.

However, if he allowed her to see Arthur and she began to long for him again…

Then even the fragile affection she had shown him until now might disappear.

And that was something he desperately wanted to prevent, at the very least.

“You’re afraid.”

“…What?”

“You’re afraid Dearlin might miss me.”

At Arthur’s words, which pierced straight through his hidden thoughts, Rian was left speechless.

He had to deny it.

Firmly.

But the words would not leave his mouth.

“You don’t know the time Dearlin spent in the Kingdom of Orva. You don’t know what kind of relationship she and I had.”

“…”

“Duke Sinaster, I know you were once Dearlin’s lover.”

The anxiety Arthur had shown just moments ago was nowhere to be found.

Instead, the one who now looked uneasy was Rian.

“You’re the one clinging to Dearlin because you’re still trapped in a childish fantasy from the past.”

“Shut your mouth…”

“My marriage to Dearlin happened by her own choice. No one forced her.”

Arthur had begun touching Rian’s rawest nerve.