The villa under Casian’s uncle’s name was located on the outskirts of a coastal area connected to the Monster Forest. In that remote place, Casian spent each day personally nursing Rihana, who couldn’t open her eyes.

Some days he wished she would wake up quickly, and other days he wished she wouldn’t wake up for a long time. He missed her eyes looking at him, he longed to hear her voice directed toward him, and he yearned for her vitality living and moving beside him. 

But at the same time, he wished she would remain unconscious for a very long time so that the engagement between Rihana and the Tarecus prince would be broken, and her existence would be forgotten by everyone.

If a very, very long time passed and Rihana remained unconscious until the day he could correct all his wrong choices and stand purely by her side, perhaps that would be a much better situation for them. If she opened her eyes now and said she would go to that damned foreign prince, he felt like he might go mad and break both her legs.

Wiping Rihana’s face with a wet towel, Casian truly felt like he would do anything if only he could keep her confined.

“We’ll be moving locations soon, Rihana.”

After carefully wiping Rihana’s face and neck, Casian took her right hand and wiped it with the wet towel as he continued speaking.

“This time I’m thinking of going much farther. A carriage would be difficult, so I’m trying to get a teleportation stone. I’m selling the villas in Kadelai. Probably within a few days, Gerel will secure us a house to live in at Oniarn.”

After kissing the back of her now-clean hand, Casian took her left hand and began wiping it.

“I’ve told him to find a quiet, small village where you can see the ocean right when you open the door. Let’s live there, just the two of us, in a world with only us two.”

That’s how it should have been from the beginning. Casian murmured quietly.

Instead of using the princess to save her life, he should have suggested from the start that they go live together in a small village in a foreign country. He shouldn’t have thought about the Empire or titles. Because he couldn’t abandon the Empire and his title, he only looked for ways to save her within that narrow framework, which led to this situation.

Whether the Empire fell to rebellion or not, he should have just asked Rihana to go to a foreign country with him. His family had more than enough relatives who could carry on the family line in his place. 

There was no particular reason he had to be the family head. Of course, he wasn’t certain that Rihana would abandon her family and profession to follow him, but if he had said it was just a temporary trip together, she surely would have come along.

Yes, that’s how it should have been from the beginning. It should have been like that…

A long sigh mixed with sadness flowed from Casian’s lips.

“It’s not too late… Yes, it’s not too late. I can reverse everything. While you’re lying here, I’ll reverse everything.”

Casian muttered quietly.

He could reverse it all. The marriage between the princess and himself, and the marriage between Rihana and Raiden. No, he just needed to nullify the broken engagement between himself and Rihana.

Since that wouldn’t be easy, first he needed to hide her somewhere no one could find her, avoiding the princess and Raiden. The princess surely knew about this place and would somehow send people to bring him back. 

Gerel had given him a heads up, so not even an ant had been visible yet, but they would eventually come barging in. He had to move Rihana before then.

Casian kissed the back of Rihana’s now-clean left hand as well, then set it down. Then he covered her with a blanket up to her chest and stood up.

* * *

He received word from Gerel that he had secured a house and would send someone with a teleportation stone. Casian was packing so he could take her directly to Oniarn. He placed her sword and his own beside the bed, and carefully packed their few belongings and the gold bars he had brought along into a large travel bag.

Suddenly hearing movement behind him, he turned his head just as a sharp blade was pointed at his neck with a metallic swoosh.

“Rihana.”

Casian looked at Rihana, who was pointing her sword at him. Rihana looked around without lowering her guard.

“Where is this?”

Her voice was quite hoarse from lying down for so long.

As Casian slowly stood up, Rihana’s sword followed his neck upward.

“How harsh. Anyone would think I’m some villain, Rihana.”

“I asked where this is. What about Drabaden, the antidote…”

Suddenly, Rihana grimaced. Her vision spun and she felt dizzy.

“Don’t overdo it, you’ll still be dizzy.”

“Answer me, Your Excellency.”

“It’s my uncle’s villa. I mentioned it to you once before, remember? I said we should come here for a trip after our wedding…”

“Why am I here? What about Drabaden’s blood? I need to send the antidote…”

“Your body ended up like this trying to get that damned antidote. Don’t you remember?”

“…”

“You were slashed across the back by Drabaden, and I rescued you.”

“…”

“I saved your life, Rihana.”

He had no intention of showing off, but the situation of his fiancée pointing a sword at him was quite unpleasant, so it ended up sounding like showing off.

“…Thank you.”

“Just words? While pointing a sword at me?”

Rihana quickly lowered her sword. Casian showed a satisfied look but didn’t smile.

“Why did you bring me to this place?”

It was because of Rihana’s next words.

“You should have left me to the kingdom’s knights. To bring me to a place like this without my fiancé’s permission…”

“I’m your fiancé!”

Rihana’s body flinched at Casian’s sudden shouting. But soon Rihana frowned and spoke to Casian.

“Ex-fiancé.”

“…I’m the one who’s been nursing you all this time.”

“…”

“Don’t misunderstand. I’m not trying to show off. I just…”

“I’m going back.”

“Going back, where?”

“Where else? To where I belong.”

“Where you belong is by my side, Rihana.”

“Have you forgotten that we broke off our engagement?”

“I plan to reverse it, by any means necessary.”

At Casian’s words, Rihana’s face hardened.

“Who says they want that?”

Feeling her vision growing increasingly blurry, Rihana placed her hand on her forehead as she spoke.

“You chose me. Have you already forgotten?”

“You’re the one who betrayed me, Your Excellency.”

“I know my choice was wrong. That’s why I regret it.”

“What’s the point of all these conversations now? It’s not even an important topic to me.”

Rihana frowned as she stared at Casian.

“What’s important to me is whether the antidote was safely delivered to Rai, how long I was unconscious here, whether Rai knows my location – things like that. Your broken engagement or your regrets have nothing to do with me.”

At Rihana’s blunt words, Casian’s handsome face contorted.

“You’re being cruel to me, Rihana.”

“…Sigh. Your Excellency. Thank you for saving my life. I’ll repay the debt somehow after consulting with the Tarecus prince.”

“Why would you consult with the Tarecus prince about repaying the debt for saving your life!”

“Because he’s going to be my husband.”

“Rihana!”

“Stop it, Your Excellency!”

Already dizzy, shouting in frustration made her vision spin. Rihana barely managed to support herself by gripping the bed rail.

“Why are you doing this now? Why on earth…”

“Live with me, Rihana.”

At Casian’s words, Rihana gasped and looked at him.

“I want to live alone with you. Just the two of us, without anyone’s interference. Soon someone Gerel sent will come. I’ve secured a teleportation stone to Oniarn. If we go there for a while and live like we don’t exist, your political marriage and my marriage to the princess will become things that never happened. I’ll make it so. I’ll definitely make it so…”

“What are you talking about, Your Excellency?”

When Rihana looked at him with a disgusted expression, Casian took a step closer to her and continued.

“I’ll only look at you. I’ll love only you for the rest of my life. No, from the beginning, there was only you for me. The only one I love is you…”

Rihana raised her hand to stop Casian’s words.

“Stop it. Really, you’re only saying things I don’t want to hear…”

“Rihana.”

“I love the Tarecus prince.”

“…!”

“I will never love Your Excellency again.”

“The Tarecus prince is dead!”

Casian shouted. At Rihana’s words that she loved Raiden, he failed to realize that she had said “never again” – meaning she had loved him before. Unable to acknowledge that she had once loved him, he was only desperate to push his own love onto her.

“…What?”

At Casian’s angry shout, Rihana’s face began to turn deathly pale. He realized his mistake, but since it had come to this, he thought he should take her to Oniarn even if it meant making Raiden out to be dead.

“We couldn’t get the antidote. Drabaden killed all the humans who attacked its nest and disappeared, and I only managed to save you and come here.”

“…!”

“And how long do you think you’ve been unconscious? Teinori’s rare poison is hard for those without resistance to survive even a week. You’ve just woken up after three weeks.”

“That can’t be…!”

“Sounds like a lie? If you can’t believe it, I can prove it to you. What I’m saying is the truth, Rihana. The Tarecus prince is dead. So you have no other choice but me…”

Suddenly, Rihana moved her sword-holding hand to point the blade toward her own neck. Casian quickly raised his sword to block her blade, preventing Rihana’s sword from piercing her throat.

The two swords clashed with a sharp metallic sound.

“What are you doing!”

Shocked, Casian turned pale and shouted.

Rihana had only intended to say that if Raiden was dead, she would die too, to make him take back his nonsense, but seeing Casian seriously blocking her sword made her a bit flustered. 

However, if he thought she was really trying to die, she might be able to make Casian give up his ridiculous talk, so she decided to use the situation.

“Are you trying to die?! Just because that damned prince is dead?! What on earth are you…”

“There’s no reason to live.”

“…What?”

“If Rai is dead…”

Even though she thought it wasn’t true, speaking of his death out loud felt unbearably sad. The tears welling up in her eyes were just because she missed him. Yes, there was no way Raiden would die easily.

“I’ll die too.”

This was also sincere. Though she thought he couldn’t be dead, if he really was… If he truly hadn’t received the antidote in time and no longer existed in this world, she would choose death as well. Thinking this, tears naturally streamed down her face.

“If Rai is dead, that’s my only choice.”

“Rihana!”

Casian called her name in an angry voice.

That’s when it happened. With a crash, the door broke and Raiden appeared.

He looked a bit tired and quite disheveled, but was still looking at Rihana with a dazzlingly radiant face. Hot tears continuously flowed from Rihana’s eyes – she had heard from Casian that Raiden was dead and though she thought it wasn’t true, she had been anxiously trembling at the thought of losing him.

Raiden looked at her and said:

“Why are you making such a heartfelt confession in front of that b*stard, Hana?”