‘Mmm… Reiner.’

The previous night, Rachel had slept in Reiner’s arms.

No matter how many times he gently pushed her away, she had simply crawled back against him.

She rubbed her lips against his neck and ran her palm over his firm, flat abdomen.

Rachel alone was the reason Reiner hadn’t slept a single moment that night.

Looking utterly bewildered, he asked,

“Then before…?”

Rachel hurriedly raised her hand.

“Gloves. I’m fine if I’m wearing gloves.”

Reiner’s eyes narrowed.

Unlike the mild climate of the Basta Empire, Newberic was generally cold, so most women preferred wearing gloves or dresses with high collars.

Rachel had always liked wearing gloves.

Now that he thought about it, every time they had touched before…

She had been wearing gloves.

Except for last night.

‘Trauma…’

Sleep belonged to the unconscious.

It wasn’t impossible for someone to behave differently while asleep than when awake.

“Reiner.”

He turned fully toward her.

“Go on.”

Rachel desperately wanted to end the conversation and put some distance between them.

‘It hurts because I want to touch him so badly.’

“I like it.”

“…What?”

…What had she just said?

This was bad.

The bond truly was a dreadful affliction.

Words completely unrelated to what she actually meant kept slipping out.

“I mean going to the capital tomorrow. I really want to go. I… I love the capital.”

Like a broken doll, Rachel kept nodding, silently urging him to leave.

Reiner let out a quiet sigh and turned away.

“All right. I’ll have everything prepared as quickly as possible.”

Just before leaving the room, he stopped again.

“And Rachel.”

She looked up nervously.

“Thank you for taking care of Graham Castle these past two years. You’ve worked hard.”

That was what he had wanted to tell her all along.

“…You’re welcome.”

Reiner quietly closed the door behind him.

Only then did the tension leave Rachel’s body, and she let out a long breath.

“This is really bad.”

The capital was relatively close to the Forgotten Forest.

Rachel needed to get Lucius’s medicine as soon as possible.

***

“Who’s disappeared?”

Inside the Imperial Palace of Newberic.

Felix lounged lazily on the imperial throne, glaring at his chief secretary.

Beads of sweat rolled down Chief Secretary Barsi’s bald scalp.

“Y-Your Majesty… the spy we planted in Graham Castle has disappeared.”

The corners of Emperor Felix’s mouth twisted.

Rachel was already like a fishbone lodged in his throat.

She had been practically within his grasp…

Only for that mutant to snatch her away.

That alone was enough to infuriate him.

And with her tucked away in that distant northern territory, he couldn’t even find an excuse to make trouble for her himself.

So he had sent spies to uncover something useful.

Yet every last one of them had been exposed and driven back.

“Rachel… that cunning little…”

Grinding his teeth, Felix recalled the fearless expression Rachel had worn even in his presence.

Chief Secretary Barsi cautiously read the Emperor’s mood before finally summoning the courage to speak.

“Your Majesty… perhaps it would be best to stop sending people to Graham Castle.”

“Why?”

“Your Majesty…”

“Do you have a death wish? How dare you speak to me like that?”

“My deepest apologies, Your Majesty.”

“Every last one of you treats the Emperor like a fool!”

Just as Felix grabbed the lion-shaped ornament beside him, ready to hurl it at Barsi—

The sharp click of heels echoed through the silent audience chamber.

“Why keep making such pointless trouble? You tried to make the daughter of one of the Empire’s most prominent counts another one of your concubines. Did you really think Count Flynn, who dotes on his daughter, would simply accept that?”

It was Ashila.

The Emperor’s younger sister.

As if dealing with the Emperor alone wasn’t difficult enough, Barsi’s back grew damp with sweat the moment Ashila appeared.

The others attending the Emperor looked equally uncomfortable.

Flicking open her fan, Ashila climbed the steps toward the throne.

“A chair.”

The moment she spoke, the attendants behind her hurried off and returned carrying a chair, placing it beside Felix.

Ashila gracefully sat down, crossing her shapely legs.

“Brother, are you seriously out of your mind? What exactly do you do with all those concubines? No… do you even do anything with them?”

She leaned close and whispered,

“Brother… are you impotent?”

“Hey! Do you have a death wish?!”

Ashila frowned.

“If I’m wrong, then forget it. Why are you yelling?”

Felix had taken so many concubines by now that no one could even keep count anymore.

Yet not a single one of them had become pregnant.

People had begun to question his manhood.

Rumors spread that he abused his concubines in other ways… or satisfied his desires through strange means.

“So why are you here? If you’re just here to spout nonsense, get out.”

Hidden behind her fan, Ashila clicked her tongue.

‘What an idiot.’

No matter how generously she judged him, he was beyond saving.

That throne had originally belonged to her.

Ashila was the legitimate daughter of the Emperor and Empress.

Felix was the son of a concubine.

Everything had gone wrong when the Emperor and Empress of Newberic died unexpectedly in an accident.

Their deaths had been sudden.

The ministers debated who should inherit the throne.

Public opinion ultimately favored the fifteen-year-old boy over ten-year-old Ashila.

If only she had been a little older…

If only she had possessed just a little more power…

She never would have been pushed aside by someone with such tainted blood.

Though everyone kept quiet about it, Felix’s mother had been nothing more than a tavern servant.

When the Emperor learned she had given birth to his son, he took Felix away from her and brought him into the Imperial Palace.

When Felix ascended the throne…

Young Ashila had been powerless to protest such absurdity.

But she had always known.

That throne belonged to her.

Before Felix completely destroyed Newberic…

She intended to reclaim it.

‘Your Highness Ashila, there’s someone who could prove very useful in bringing Emperor Felix down.’

Without Felix’s knowledge, Ashila had steadily built her own power.

The spies she had hidden throughout the Empire, along with the men who slipped into her bed each night, brought her a constant stream of information.

‘Duke Reiner. With the wealth he’s amassed, he could buy the entire Newberic Empire. Rumor has it the Emperor of the Basta Empire even handed him a blank check. Your Highness… this is our opportunity. We must bring Duke Reiner over to our side.’

Ashila smiled crookedly.

“Brother.”

“What.”

“What if I seduced Duke Reiner?”

“…What?”

The smile on Ashila’s lips widened.

“What you really want is Rachel, isn’t it? That’s why you’ve been sending spies after her.”

Felix frowned as he turned toward her.

Objectively speaking, Ashila was a remarkably beautiful woman.

She possessed a sensual allure completely different from Rachel’s.

Men always grew tired of modest women eventually.

The muscles in Felix’s jaw tightened.

It… might actually work.

“Hmph. You think you can?”

Hoping he would take the bait, Ashila spoke in a sweet voice.

“Sending a hundred spies won’t accomplish anything. You have to confront him directly.”

She noticed the crooked smile tugging at Felix’s lips.

He was trying not to show it.

“I’ll go seduce Duke Reiner. Then you can use that as grounds to force the two of them to divorce.”

Barely suppressing her laughter, she gently stroked Felix’s arm.

“I don’t even want much. Once you confiscate all of Reiner’s wealth, just buy me a diamond necklace and give me… oh, about a third of his fortune. What do you think?”

“Get lost. You think I’d agree to such a stupid proposal?”

Unable to hold it back any longer, Felix laughed, his white teeth gleaming beneath the palace lights.

***

For several days, Graham Castle buzzed with gossip about Rachel and Reiner’s kiss at the banquet.

The North, whose biggest topic of conversation lately had been Alfredo’s pig incident, had finally found something new to talk about.

Thanks to that, the two of them were able to get through each day without putting on much of an act.

Even simply having breakfast together was enough to make people whisper behind their backs.

During the day, Reiner stayed busy overseeing construction of the new shipyard along the shore.

Rachel, meanwhile, continued managing the castle as she always had.

The biggest problem, however, was where they would sleep.

‘Come to the master bedroom at nine. Mostly everyone will have gone to bed after two or three hours, so we can part ways then.’

Feeling slightly nervous, Reiner stopped outside the bedroom.

Just as he was about to knock, a servant walked down the corridor and greeted him.

“Good night, Your Grace.”

“And to you.”

Even as the servant passed by, he cast Reiner a lingering glance.

Only then did Reiner realize he had been about to knock before entering his own bedroom.

‘D*mn.’

Having only recently returned, Reiner still couldn’t remember everyone living in the castle, much less distinguish Felix’s spies from loyal servants.

In the end, he opened the door without knocking.

“Rachel.”

He called her name softly so he wouldn’t startle her.

The moment he turned around…

He froze.

Rachel was sitting on the bed, surrounded by stacks of documents.

Her dress had been rolled up, leaving her slender, pale legs completely exposed.

One foot dangled over the edge of the bed, swaying gently in rhythm.

At the tip of that delicate foot, a slipper hung precariously, as though it might slip off at any moment.