Reynard asked again.

Evelyn, frozen with extreme tension, moved her unmoving gaze to stare at Reynard.

His unreadable eyes collided directly with Evelyn’s.

No expression appeared on Reynard’s face.

Even Evelyn, who had learned to read many people’s moods as a maid, couldn’t guess what Reynard was thinking.

Her eyes trembled constantly.

Evelyn was facing the worst situation of her life.

“That is……”

She couldn’t say, I was running away from you.

‘I am not Princess Ophelia of Hesta, but the maid Evelyn, and the King of Hesta, unwilling to give up the princess, used me to deceive you.

So before I could meet you, Hesta tried to kill me, and you saved me from that.

I tried to run away because I feared that if the truth were discovered, you might kill me in anger.’

She couldn’t say any of it.

Who knew what might happen if she told the truth?

The sword hanging from Reynard’s waist looked as though it might at any moment flash its sharp blade at her throat.

“Why can’t you speak? Got something to hide?”

Reynard took a step toward Evelyn.

He was already tall, but from her crouched position, he looked even bigger—and more threatening.

Her trembling fingertips were getting dirty against the dirt floor.

Evelyn could do nothing but look up at Reynard without giving a proper answer.

This was bad.

There wasn’t even an excuse she could use.

She could say she went out for a walk and got lost in the dark night, but this wasn’t a place one could explain away with a mere stroll.

Evelyn had run straight here from the barracks.

No matter how slow her pace or how injured she was, it was undeniable that she had covered a considerable distance.

Indeed, the only light to prove it was the faint moonlight seeping through the leaves.

There wasn’t a single torchlight from the barracks to be seen.

As her thoughts reached that point, Evelyn suddenly realized something.

As she had thought earlier, this wasn’t a place one would come for a light walk.

It was a forest off the main path, and the night was deeply dark.

Then how had Reynard come here……?

“Were you running away?”

Reynard finally stepped up to Evelyn and bent one knee to meet her gaze.

Evelyn, about to turn her eyes away because she couldn’t face him, clenched her fists and looked straight at him.

“You were following me.”

Even as she tried to sound composed, the tremble in her voice was impossible to hide.

It was definitely strange.

Even if Evelyn had intended to run, what reason did Reynard have to come all the way out here at such a late hour?

There was no way they would have met here unless he had been following her from the beginning.

“Do you want to know?”

At Reynard’s lack of denial, Evelyn bit her tongue.

Whether out of curiosity or because he had known from the start, it meant Reynard had been following her all along.

“Since when were you following me?”

“From the beginning.”

Reynard answered without hesitation.

Evelyn, who had been sure no one had seen her when she left the barracks, felt a chill run down her spine at his words.

Had he known everything and followed her from the start? Or was it just curiosity?

Avoiding Reynard’s gaze that seemed to read her thoughts, Evelyn turned her head.

She had never even imagined that Reynard might know her true identity.

“How?”

“You’re speaking informally now.”

Reynard, dodging the question, raised his hand and lifted Evelyn’s chin, bringing his face close to hers.

His face, now uncomfortably close, made her instinctively lower her gaze.

“What exactly is your complaint?”

Reynard’s breath brushed against her face and scattered.

Evelyn blinked rapidly with a low, shallow breath.

She tried to move her body back to escape him, but it was no use.

“I saved you from the bandits, took you to a safe place, and even treated your wounds. Was there something lacking in what I gave you?”

Reynard’s languid eyes slowly traced Evelyn’s face.

Under platinum lashes the same color as her hair, her teal eyes, full of fear, trembled.

Her tightly sealed lips were quivering minutely, unable to suppress her terror.

“Are you afraid of me?”

There was no intent to threaten.

Reynard truly wanted to know why Evelyn was afraid of him.

“Why are you afraid of me?”

As far as Reynard remembered, he had done nothing that could be considered harmful to Evelyn.

Rather, he had helped and treated her. That made it all the more puzzling.

He waited for an answer, but still, no words came from her.

The reason Evelyn feared Reynard was clear.

Because he was someone strong enough to take her life at any moment. Moreover, even if she hadn’t intended to, she was deceiving him.

At this rate, it felt as though things would end while they remained stuck in this state. Reynard removed his hand from Evelyn’s chin.

“Tell me your name.”

Unlike the previous moments, when he had spoken as if talking to himself, this was a clearly commanding tone. Evelyn hesitated before opening her mouth.

“Ophelia… Flourette Fabian.”

Even in her fear, she gave the name of Princess Ophelia.

Reynard frowned, the answer not being what he expected.

“Your name.”

He pressed again, shortly. Evelyn, unable to understand his intention, shook her head slightly.

“Ophelia―”

“No, I’m asking for your real name.”

At Reynard’s unexpected words, Evelyn flinched in shock, eyes widening.

“That’s impossible…”

It truly was impossible.

From Evelyn’s perspective, Reynard should have had no way of knowing she was a false Princess Ophelia.

Evelyn felt utterly disoriented.

Reynard, on the other hand, looked calmly at her confusion. Just as he suspected, the girl in front of him was not Princess Ophelia.

“If you thought I was that easily fooled, then you’ve made a mistake. If I couldn’t even recognize that, I never would’ve been able to put Bait under my heel in the first place.”

What Reynard said wasn’t wrong.

He had realized the moment he first saw Evelyn that she wasn’t Princess Ophelia.

Evelyn parted her lips. This was the very worst situation she had feared.

“…Are you going to kill me?”

Reynard realized that what Evelyn feared most was death.

He had suspected as much, but knowing it for sure didn’t make it any more pleasant.

“Do I have a reason to kill you?”

It was a completely different reason than her fear-induced silence that now robbed Evelyn of words.

If he needed a reason, there were plenty.

Daring to deceive him and impersonate Princess Ophelia alone was enough to forfeit her life.

Yet Reynard spoke as if he had none. That, somehow, felt even more unreal.

“Then what will you do with me? I’m not even the real Princess Ophelia.”

Now that her vague anxiety had turned into reality, she found herself calmer than expected.

“For now, just remain as Princess Ophelia.”

“What did you say?”

Reynard simply shrugged his shoulders, as if wondering what the problem was.

Evelyn recoiled and frowned. It wasn’t such a simple matter.

“Do you even have anywhere to run to if you escape this place?”

Of course not. That was a question Evelyn herself had been grappling with.

When she shook her head, Reynard let out a scoff as if he’d known it.

“Doesn’t look like you volunteered to play the decoy out of some grand sense of duty. Don’t you want to take revenge on the ones who threw you away?”

“Is it even okay to say that I do?”

It would be a lie to say she didn’t want revenge.

Hesta had intended to kill her from the very beginning.

As Glenna had said, they didn’t have the slightest intention of letting her live a comfortable life.

They had only wanted to kill her before the Emperor of Bait discovered the truth—make it look like she was murdered by bandits.

To say she didn’t want to return the fear and despair she had felt would be a lie.

But that didn’t mean she could blindly follow Reynard.

Because she had no idea what his intentions were in showing her such favor.

Looking down at the confused Evelyn, Reynard’s lips curled into a smile.

“For the next year. In that time, I plan to conquer Hesta.”

It wasn’t a finalized decision. Just a tentative plan Reynard had formed in his own mind.

Of course, Bait’s military was always ready to conquer Hesta the moment Reynard wished it.

“If you stay by my side, you’ll be able to get more than enough revenge.”