“If something is troubling you, would you like to share it? Even if there’s no solution, simply talking about it might help.”

“Ahaha… haah. Do you think so?”

Though she wavered for a bit longer, Lady Mifaro eventually began speaking.

“I embarrassed myself by complaining so much in my letters.”

“You mean about your engagement?”

“Yes. Haah.”

With a deep sigh, Lady Mifaro stared into her empty teacup as she continued.

“As I mentioned, things are moving far too quickly. Honestly, I don’t even find my fiancé particularly appealing.”

‘Then, who does appeal to you? The knight?’

Raylin bit back the words that nearly slipped out and simply nodded instead.

“There’s no real disqualifying factor, to be fair. He doesn’t seem surrounded by strange rumors, so he’s probably not bad. His family is respectable… I suppose my elders chose him carefully.”

Still, Lady Mifaro’s brows remained deeply furrowed, refusing to relax.

“He probably feels the same way. I understand. We live privileged lives, and with that comes responsibility. But still… if only they’d given me some time to prepare myself…”

Raylin quietly nodded along and occasionally gave small signs of agreement, letting Lady Mifaro speak freely.

“Haa. Thank you so much for today.”

By the time their conversation ended, the afternoon sun had begun to give way to evening.

Even though she had merely vented about a problem she couldn’t solve, just as Raylin had suggested, Lady Mifaro looked noticeably lighter, as if a weight had been lifted off her shoulders.

The words floating beside her—‘relieved’ and ‘refreshed’—left no doubt about her current state of mind.

Of course, Raylin felt the complete opposite—frustrated.

“Let’s go shooting together next time.”

This statement would startle any third party who overheard it, yet Lady Mifaro delivered it with a bright smile and a cheerful wave.

As Raylin saw her off, she grew anxious.

If only she could confirm whether the rumored love was mutual or one-sided!

Perhaps the heavens understood her frustration, for at that moment, Lady Mifaro’s eyes finally met her knight’s as he gathered her firearms and belongings.

Raylin widened her eyes and focused on the words floating beside them.

Love, excitement, nervousness, joy, anticipation, anxiety, fear, desire.

A dizzying number of words appeared and vanished beside the knight.

But next to Lady Mifaro, only two remained—‘refreshed’ and ‘relieved.’

Those were the exact words she had carried since venting about her engagement.

What? So Lady Mifaro doesn’t feel anything for her knight? Not even interest?

Doubt turned into certainty.

The rumors of passionate love were only half true.

One-sided love—entirely on the knight’s part.

Unable to contain herself any longer, Raylin finally asked outright.

“Lady Mifaro, are you acquainted with Lady Sillion by any chance?”

“Hm? No, not at all. If I were, I wouldn’t have had to hear about her broken engagement from you.”

Just in case, Raylin asked bluntly, but the answer was as expected.

There was no connection between Catherine and Lady Mifar.

But then, how was she involved in the young lady’s disappearance before the regression?

“Oh, my escort knight is from the Sillion family. Isn’t that right?”

“Yes.”

Ah, so the connection to Catherine lay with the escort knight!

An unrequited love, an elopement framed as a disappearance, a hastily arranged engagement, and then Catherine.

Various puzzle pieces jumbled in her mind, forming an incomplete picture.

Raylin unconsciously glanced at the escort knight and Lady Mifaro before swallowing dryly.

Could that escort knight have kidnapped the young lady?

And was it then disguised as an elopement, aligning with the rumors?

No. That couldn’t be. That was too far-fetched.

No matter how blinded by love he might be, he wouldn’t do something so insane.

Maintaining control over her hardening expression, Raylin closely watched Lady Mifaro’s escort knight.

‘I need to watch his movements.’

However, her resolve was rendered meaningless in just a few hours.

Because the following morning, after Lady Mifaro had returned home, news of her and her escort knight’s disappearance spread.

***

“Set me free. Set me free.”

Silently, Lady Mifaro kept praying as she struggled to loosen the rope binding her wrists.

But no matter how much she pulled and twisted, all she gained was sore wrists—the rope showed no signs of loosening or snapping.

She let her arms fall limp and stared blankly at the unfamiliar ceiling above.

‘How did it come to this?’

She closed her dried-up eyes, recalling the events of two days prior.

That day, she had been in a perfect mood.

Her dear friend, Lady Greuga, had accepted her invitation, and for the first time in a while, she could indulge in her favorite pastime—shooting.

Her parents hadn’t outright forbidden her from pursuing marksmanship as a hobby, but they disapproved of it. Today, she could enjoy it without worrying about their scrutiny.

She had also had a wonderful conversation with Lady Greuga.

Greuga listened attentively to her concerns, easing the frustration weighing her down.

“I’ll invite you again next time. Will you come?”

“Of course!”

But at what point had everything gone wrong?

Feeling the sting in her wrists, Lady Mifaro bit the soft flesh inside her mouth.

“You said you didn’t want the engagement, didn’t you?”

“Huh? Well, yes. It’s just so sudden… Sigh.”

Was sighing the mistake? No, perhaps the fundamental mistake had been engaging in conversation with him in the first place.

“I will help you.”

“Help me? With what…?”

Tilting her head in confusion, she suddenly flinched in shock.

“Please, trust me.”

Before she realized it, the escort knight knelt before her, grasping her hands firmly.

Frozen by the unexpected physical contact, she was too stunned to react. But he didn’t care. He continued whispering.

“Let’s run away together.”

Meeting his burning gaze, she was overcome with confusion.

What in the world was he saying?

Run away?

As she blinked, the escort knight entered the carriage and pulled out a small, clearly pre-packed bag.

“I have prepared everything. You only need to nod.”

Staring at his unwavering certainty, Lady Mifaro suddenly recalled the rumors that had painted them as passionate lovers.

She had laughed them off as absurd, having never once entertained such thoughts.

She had assumed the rumors would fade with time. But instead, they had grown, snowballing out of control.

Could it be… that those rumors were true?

As she reeled from the revelation, unable to process the sheer absurdity of the situation, the escort knight solemnly pressed a kiss to the back of her hand.

“Please grant me the honor of serving you.”

She snapped back to her senses at that moment as if doused in cold water.

His warm breath against her skin felt revolting, like an insect crawling over her. A shiver ran down her spine.

She now understood the meaning behind the unsettling heat in his eyes.

But since when? How? Why?

Dozens of questions raced through her mind, but there was no time to think.

She neither nodded nor gave an affirmative answer, yet the knight smiled as if he had heard a response and made up his mind.

“I understand. Let us go.”

Lady Mifaro screamed as if in distress.

“I-I’m not thinking of doing that!”

She tried to shake off his grip with all her strength, but his hand, which held her, did not budge an inch.

Now, fear and terror had grown larger than confusion.

She desperately tried once more to free her captured hand, but it was as if she were shackled—she couldn’t move at all.

“Let… let me go!”

“Do not be afraid, my lady. I will protect you.”

Had he made such a vow purely as her escort knight and with such sincerity, Lady Mifaro might have been deeply moved.

However, in this situation, those words only heightened her terror.

Her mouth opened and closed soundlessly before she hurriedly spoke upon realizing that the escort knight was pulling on her hand violently.

“I’m not scared. You’re my escort knight, aren’t you? It’s not that—I have no intention of running away—”

“Are you saying you will go through with the engagement?”

Before she could even finish her sentence, he cut in with a stern, hardened expression.

Lady Mifaro licked her parched lips and carefully chose words that avoided emotional elements like love or desire, stammering as she spoke.

“I don’t… want to, but you know I have to. I must fulfill my duty for my rights as a Mifaro.”

The escort knight pressed his lips together tightly when she presented an irrefutable argument.

Lady Mifaro felt a sense of relief.

She mistakenly believed he had understood her words.

She added as if to soothe him,

“You must have been troubled by my foolish complaints. I’m sorry—”

“No. My lady, you deserve to live freely by your own will.”

Before she could even finish speaking, he interrupted her firmly.

His face bore a resolute conviction, and his eyes gleamed with an unyielding determination.

At that moment, Lady Mifaro realized—

No matter what she said, it would not reach the person standing before her.

Seeing that logical persuasion had utterly failed, she tried to calm her shallow breathing and assess her surroundings.

Screaming… no, it was useless.

At some point, the carriage had stopped.

He had probably bribed the coachman.

Even if he hadn’t, if the escort knight, who had been so loyal until now, ordered him to step away for a moment, what power did the coachman have to resist?

A mere coachman couldn’t knock on the carriage and ask the lady he served whether this was true.

As she desperately searched for a way to escape from him, she was suddenly silenced by his palm pressing over her mouth.

Specifically, a handkerchief laced with a sedative covered her nose and lips.

“Forgive me for this brief discourtesy.”

Behind the most lively voice she’d ever heard from him, her vision faded to black.