“Wow…!”

Standing before the massive front gates, Eve could only gape in awe. Vines climbed over the white, towering walls, and the arched gate—several times taller than a grown man—radiated a grandeur wholly unlike the golden castle she had seen in Scizlon.

“Woooow!”

At the entrance, retainers, knights, and servants stood in a line to greet the duke’s return.

“Woooowww!”

The spiral staircase leading upward bore carvings of different animals and mythic creatures on every railing.

“Waaah, wooow!”

Even the paintings on the corridor ceiling…

“How long do you plan to keep making such a fuss?”

At last, Shed glanced back at her, unable to endure it any longer. From the moment they had arrived in Recherdam, Eve had been showering the place with nonstop exclamations.

This mansion was no more splendid than the golden castle of Scizlon. What on earth did she find so fascinating?

“Bad man. Hey, are you a king?”

Eve chirped on despite his small rebuke.

Luise, uneasy under the watchful eyes around them, pulled Eve tighter into her arms. But Eve was too young to read such things.

Shed cast her a sidelong glance, then kept walking as he replied.

“Yes.”

He was a duke—and a prince-elector.The ruler of Lester and Ideana, presiding over the largest domain among all the principalities beneath the Empire.

Which meant, he was a king.

Eve clapped her tiny hands, the sound faint but full of joy.

“That’s so cool!”

“…”

Perhaps annoyed by her fuss, Shed quickened his pace.

“You’ll be staying here from now on.”

He stopped in front of a room on the second floor of Recherdam’s grand mansion. Spacious enough for both Luise and Eve, it was furnished with everything they might need, including a bed, a desk and a wardrobe.

“Is this our room?”

Eve’s voice rang with excitement, and Shed gave a curt nod.

“If you need anything, tell the servants.”

With that short command, he turned to leave again.

“Wait.”

Luise’s voice halted his steps.

“…You’re not placing anyone to watch us?”

She asked, noticing that no one stood guard in the hallway. She had deceived him and fled more than once—surely he would set soldiers or maids to watch her. Yet Shed turned back, locking eyes with Luise.

“Yes. You’re free to run. If you’re prepared for the whole world to turn its blades on that child.”

A faint, leisurely smile brushed his lips.

As long as Eve existed, Luise could never escape his chains. If the child had inherited her power in full, she too would live eternally.

Surely Luise would not want that secret revealed. Surely she would not want to make her child an eternal fugitive, branded a sinner.

Until the day Shed died, Luise would remain perfectly within his grasp.

“If what you need is a guard, say so. I can arrange it.”

With that cold remark, Shed turned and left.

His back receded slowly down the corridor.

As Luise watched him go, she felt a small tug on her hem and turned her gaze.

“Mommy! Let’s explore the room!”

Eve’s face lit up with excitement. Luise nodded and took her small hand, which fit perfectly into hers. Together, they went to the window.

The picturesque view of Recherdam stretched out before them outside. Beyond the mansion walls, Ideana’s distinctive white buildings with orange roofs lay low and uniform.

Rolling hills stretched out beyond them, and cypress trees marked the plains that had once flourished as a trade hub, earning them the nickname ‘the lighthouse of the fields’. This was where the routes to Faradel, the other cities and the Hellingen port met.

Encircled by gentle hills that made farming easy, it had become a land of abundance.

‘A city never ravaged by dark magic…’

For that reason, Recherdam had regained its former color more quickly than most of Ideana.

“Mommy, this place is so nice! Right?”

Eve stomped her little feet as she gazed out the window.

“Yes. Mommy likes it too.”

“Is this our home now?”

At her words, Luise leaned against the window frame, lowering her long lashes.

“It’s not our home, but we’ll stay here for a while.”

“I like this house, Mommy!”

Luise nodded as she watched her daughter dart about with boundless energy.

The one relief was that Recherdam had no temple. Felix Ideana, in his pursuit of dark magic, had driven out the temples across Ideana.

But still…

“Eve, Mommy has something to tell you.”

Her daughter would have to be prepared. To learn how to wield this power or rather, how to conceal it.

🌺⟡───⟡🌺 🌺⟡───⟡🌺

“So it’s come to this, then.”

Luise, who had stepped out to hear about life in Recherdam, froze at the sound of that familiar, hostile voice.

A knight stood before her, his posture stiff and straight as a rod, his gaze fixed on her. He was a man who bore the same color of eyes as Shed.

“…It’s been a while, Sir Carlisle.”

Luise recalled his name and lowered herself with courtesy. But Carlisle did not return her greeting; instead, his brow furrowed.

“And now you even come with a child… Hah.”

That short sigh brimmed with unmistakable hatred.

Had Luise been a knight herself, she would have already challenged him to a duel for her life.

“I always knew you were ill-mannered, but you truly don’t know your place. Do you think that just because His Grace has broken off the engagement, the seat of Lester’s mistress belongs to you?”

Rather than drawing his sword, Carlisle wielded his words, sharpened like blades, and aimed them at her. Yet instead of being cut, Luise felt dazed—like being struck with a blunt weapon.

“Broken… off the engagement?”

She repeated his words in disbelief. Shed had broken the engagement?

She had never heard of such a thing.

Eclace had only ever told her that Shed was doing well. That he remained in glory, that there was no discord with Giselle.

She had found it strange that no news of their marriage had reached her, despite such a long betrothal. But she had assumed it was Eclace’s consideration.

If she were to hear of Shed’s marriage, it would surely hurt her. So she had thought he had deliberately spared her such pain. In fact, she had even imagined that perhaps Shed had already wed Giselle. That was why it shocked her all the more.

She could never have guessed that he, who seemed destined only for a life of happiness with Giselle, would come all the way to Scizlon in pursuit of her.

But now—broken engagement?

“It’s all because of you.”

Carlisle’s silver eyes flashed murderously.

“Do you mean… His Grace truly broke off the engagement?”

Unable to believe it, Luise asked again, acting foolishly. After all, there was no reason for Shed and Giselle to call off their engagement.

They seemed to be a perfect match. With the combined wealth and power of their two families, this was all the more apparent.

Had another house interfered, fearing the strength of such a union? Or was it as Carlisle had claimed?

‘If it really was because of me… could it be because of that night?’

The night she had shared Shed’s bed, driven by his rut. The night Giselle had found them—unable to deny what she saw.

A woman as proud as Giselle could never forgive him for taking another into his arms while leaving her behind.

Luise’s fingers clenched tightly around her arm.

There was no room for excuse.

The reasons for Shed’s hatred of her only seemed to grow—simple, countless, and easy to find. And yet, Luise still felt wronged.

That night—that bed—had not been of her choosing. It had been Shed’s impulse, and she had only…

‘…given in.’

Luise closed her mouth, her excuse dying unspoken. As though drunk on wine or his very scent, she had been swept helplessly away. Her body was on fire, and she had never even thought to flee.

To claim innocence now would make her a liar. She had been complicit.

Besides, she could not bring herself to completely deny that night. The night that had given her Eve. So she had no words.

“It’s all your fault. The broken engagement, and the loss of his Aura…”

“His Aura? What do you mean?”

“Hah. Don’t pretend ignorance.”

Sir Carlisle’s hardened features twisted in disgust.

Shed’s loss of Aura had already been known across the Empire for years.

In the war against Blancas, he had been unable to wield it. The enemy had sensed it, and Shed had faced crisis after crisis under their strikes. Because of it, he had even been accused of endangering his own forces.

The first Lupus Sword master. His name, once exalted, was met with jeers just as merciless and cold after his fall.

Though the status of the Lupus had risen somewhat since earlier times, when such moments came, they bore far heavier burdens than ordinary men.

Every paper, every gossip rag was filled with scandal and slander. His title of Sword master was stripped away.

When he had cut himself off, completely isolated, there were even voices declaring that Shed deserved death. Even though it was during the war, even though he had given his life for the Empire, even though he had been a great strength to its army.

The memory of those days still made Carlisle’s body tremble with rage.

Only when Shed returned and placed the key to victory in the Emperor’s hand did the furious outcry and debate finally subside. But his once-great prestige had been undeniably tarnished.

After the war with Blancas, the name and power of House Lester had soared, but ironically, the honor and reputation of Shed Lester lay mired in filth.

Carlisle believed all of this misfortune that had befallen Shed was the fault of Liana Serpens. Because it was from that time onward that Shed had begun to change.

The curse of the heretic had stripped Shed of his Aura, yes—but Carlisle believed its true root was Liana.

That she had unsettled him, shaken him, and disrupted the strict, cold discipline of House Lester.