No, facing him with embarrassment wasn’t the real problem. The more urgent issue was that her life might be in danger.

‘Tell me right now before I break that neck of yours.’

Claude’s final words kept echoing in her mind.

Will he kill her if he catches her?

The more she recalled his ice-cold voice, the more convinced she became that something terrible would happen if she were caught. No telling what he might do to her.

How could he not be furious after being suddenly assaulted by a woman he had no interest in? She genuinely believed he might actually break her neck.

Why did Celia do something so reckless? She couldn’t possibly have been trying to get her pregnant, could she?

At that moment, an ominous thought flashed through Lisette’s mind.

‘I absolutely refuse!’

Before heading to the palace, she first stopped at a pharmacy. Needing to eliminate any possibility of pregnancy, she bought contraceptive medicine and drank it on the spot.

This should prevent any chance of pregnancy.

Lisette decided to forget everything that happened with Claude, considering it a one-night nightmare. No, she had to forget. She wouldn’t have any reason to be involved with him again.

However, separate from what happened between them, she still desperately hoped for the cancellation of his marriage to Natalie.

* * *

After Lisette left, chaos erupted at the Marquis Usta’s residence.

“Tell me again! What commotion happened earlier?”

“A woman was seen leaving Lord Usta’s room this morning.”

“What in the world is going on!”

The Marquis Usta, who had returned from an overnight trip, found himself in a situation so absurd that he wished he were struck by lightning instead.

How could his son, whom he had guaranteed had impeccable relationships with women, bring a woman home in the middle of the night and spend until morning with her? Was it believable that the man who had never missed dawn training would do such a thing?

“Do you know what woman it was?”

“Well, she left the mansion in such a hurry that no one got a clear look at her face.”

“And no one stopped her to ask who she was?”

“No. Lord Usta ordered us to let her go, so we had no choice but to let her leave.”

The Marquis’s face contorted at hearing that his son had ordered them to let the fleeing woman go.

“My goodness. She must be a woman he cannot proudly reveal to others!”

“Um…”

A maid who had entered the office upon being summoned cautiously spoke up.

“What is it?”

“There was a woman who came looking for Lord Usta yesterday. I think it might have been her.”

“Who was she? From which family?”

The Marquis asked, hoping desperately that she wasn’t some inappropriate woman.

“Seeing that she said she was delivering items from a shop, she appeared to be a commoner. And she seemed to be an assassin who came to kill Lord Usta.”

“W-what?”

It was shocking enough that Claude, who had never had woman troubles, brought a commoner woman home for the night, but to hear that the woman he spent the night with was an assassin who came to kill him…

The shock was so great that the Marquis felt his heart splitting in two. Who would dare try to kill Claude, known as the empire’s strongest knight?

Did someone think him invincible and resort to using a beautiful woman? And did he actually fall for it? Was he that weak against female seduction?

Unless she was a spy from an enemy country, there shouldn’t be anyone within the empire who would want to kill Claude, making this news unbelievable.

No. It can’t be true.

He wanted to deny reality. He wanted to believe the butler and maid were lying.

“Where is Claude now? Surely he hasn’t gone to the training grounds in the meantime?”

“He’s in the bathroom. He should be washing up.”

The Marquis immediately rushed to the scene of the incident. The moment he opened the door, a pungent smell hit his nostrils, and he instantly recognized what it was.

The maids must have already cleaned up, as there were no traces of the night’s passion, but they hadn’t been able to eliminate the smell.

“Are there still traces left! Use perfume, burn incense, do something!”

The Marquis, anger rising to his head, covered his nose with one hand and shouted.

What madness has this fool committed?

Though he didn’t want to believe it, the moment he confirmed the evidence with his own nose, he had to accept that the unbelievable story was true.

“When Claude comes out of the bathroom, tell him to come to me immediately. And not a word of what you’ve seen today to anyone. If anyone speaks carelessly, they will not be spared.”

“Yes, understood.”

With his face deeply furrowed, the Marquis had to consider how to modify his plans as he walked back to his office.

There were couples who had relations before marriage, and even playboys managed to get married just fine, so a man sleeping with a woman wasn’t a major flaw. For an ordinary bride, that is.

The problem was that issues could arise when marrying someone from the imperial family.

If the Emperor realized that the man who was to become his son-in-law had been rolling around with another woman, he might become furious.

Of course, it wouldn’t be obvious on the wedding night whether he had slept with another woman, but rumors could be problematic. No, what if the woman became pregnant and showed up?

If they earned the Emperor’s wrath for deceiving him, even the empire’s hero would find it difficult to avoid bringing shame to the family.

What a disgrace that would be.

If there had been rumors of him being a playboy, it might have been different, but Claude was the opposite. He was known for having no interest in women, so if a pregnant woman suddenly appeared, it would bring shame to the family.

“Well… the shop where Lord Usta buys potions is rather suspicious.”

As Marquis Usta frowned deeply with an expression of disbelief, Viscount, a retainer of the Usta family, cautiously spoke up while observing his reaction.

“What kind of shop?”

“A shop run by a mage.”

“A mage? Why would Claude go to a magic shop? What would he need there?”

“He said the potions they sell are very effective.”

“…”

The word “mage” gripped the Marquis’s heart with an indescribable feeling.

Could he have been enchanted by magic? If so, it would explain why Claude did something so out of character last night.

How outrageous. Who dared to seduce his son?

“Find out who that woman is and then keep her under surveillance.”

With an uneasy feeling, the Marquis secretly ordered his retainer to find and monitor the woman before his son came to see him.

He only ordered surveillance because if she happened to become pregnant, he would immediately order the pregnancy terminated. Before things got out of hand later.

Originally, he wanted to summon the woman separately and shower her with insults, but the Marquis restrained himself. He judged it best not to provoke someone connected to magic, as there was no telling what kind of retaliation might follow.

“Yes, understood.”

Viscount, having received the Marquis’s orders, gave a brief response and left the office.

“When is this boy going to come see me?”

A considerable time had passed since the Viscount left the office, but Claude showed no signs of coming to his office.

“When on earth is he coming?”

Unable to wait any longer, the Marquis rang the bell on his desk to summon the butler.

“I informed him after he came out of the bathroom, but he still hasn’t come? I’ll go check immediately.”

The butler, observing his mood, hastily left the office.

At that time, Claude was at the training ground.

The fact that he had missed his dawn training came as a considerable shock, so immediately after washing, he disobeyed the Marquis’s order to come see him and went to the training ground instead.

During war, he often faced extreme situations. It was common to stay awake for days without sleep in order to survive. Yet he had fallen into a deep sleep and failed to wake at dawn.

How could this situation make any sense?