‘What have I done?’

A knight, sworn to protect his lady, had kidnapped and imprisoned her.

As a man who valued honor, this was a sin he would never be forgiven for—even in death.

Gripping his head, he breathed heavily, violently rejecting the thought.

No. This isn’t something terrible.

They were lovers escaping to where they could be together, free from outside pressure.

She was just scared because her environment had changed so suddenly.

She would love him eventually.

Because he loved her, protected her, worried for her, and would always be by her side.

“What now? What are you planning to do?”

It was her way of asking, ‘How long do you intend to keep me locked up like this?’

But his answer was completely off the mark.

“I will make you happy.”

His conviction was unshaken as if happiness was just around the corner.

Lady Mifaro was speechless.

‘Happiness? What happiness?’

“I know this place is shabby and unpleasant, but if you endure a little longer, we’ll move somewhere much better.”

Of course, with a knight’s salary alone, he could never afford the life satisfying a noble lady from a wealthy country’s family.

But he had a plan.

“This is the document for transferring ownership of the mine to me. Of course, I will pay you a fair price for it.”

Catherine’s honeyed whisper of persuasion was like rain after a drought to him.

If the young lady of Mifaro disposed of the mine she owned, he would gain unimaginable wealth.

With that, he could provide for her without lacking anything.

For a lifetime…

Filled with baseless confidence, he met the unwavering gaze of Lady Mifaro, and in that moment, she forgot the fundamental rule—”Do not provoke your captor.”

“Don’t talk nonsense!”

The fury she had been holding back erupted like a volcano.

“Happiness? What happiness! Do you think I’d live happily with you?”

“Ah, my lady.”

The knight was flustered.

That morning, he had been pleased, believing she had finally started to recognize his sincerity as she had become somewhat more obedient. But now, her desperate outcry shattered that illusion.

“Hah! That level of delusion is insanity! Love? Who? You? You claim to love me truly, yet treat me like this?”

Lady Mifaro screamed, unleashing the emotions she had been suppressing.

She could no longer hold back the words she had been dying to say to him.

“I would rather die than love you!”

“Enough!”

He raised his voice at her in a rage for the first time, and Lady Mifaro instinctively froze.

The knight gripped her slender shoulders with both hands.

His hold was so tight that it felt as if her bones might twist, but she did not scream or struggle to break free.

She had thought he was insane, but when she met his wildly flickering eyes head-on, she found herself unable to breathe.

Looking at her, he whispered words that seemed either a vow or self-brainwashing.

“My lady, you will come to love me too. I will make sure of it.”

Hearing his murmured words sent shivers down her spine.

“We eloped out of love, didn’t we? So, you will surely—”

What remains if you strip away the romanticized notion of a forbidden love between a lady and her knight?

A knight’s duty is to protect someone in exchange for compensation.

Even with the title of knight, it does not change the fact that it is a profession.

Knights from noble households receive not only lodging and food but also a stable salary and investments in their advancement.

And yet, this knight had abandoned his duty and was now stalking her 24/7—not as part of his job but out of twisted affection, targeting someone who had no feelings for him and couldn’t resist him.

He was someone who had the means to kidnap and hide her at any moment, all while wearing the mask of the most trustworthy companion.

Even a random passerby would be horrified and shake their head if asked about this situation.

And yet, this nightmare was happening to her right now.

A fresh wave of despair washed over her, suffocating her with sheer terror.

Even as she turned deathly pale—so much so that she looked like the living dead—the knight kept repeating the exact words.

Just as her consciousness started to waver, the knight shook her shoulders and pulled a document from his coat.

Unlike the two of them, who were in complete disarray, the paper he held was bizarrely pristine and crisp.

“Hah… haah… haah…”

Barely managing to catch her breath, Lady Mifaro lifted her bloodshot eyes, filled with burst capillaries, toward the knight, whose voice carried an unsettling excitement.

“My lady, you need to sign here. If you do, you can leave here much sooner…”

“I refuse.”

She shook her head without even listening to the rest of his words, but he showed no sign of acknowledging her refusal.

Forcing a pen into her hand, he covered her hand with his own and spread out the document.

She could hardly make out what was written.

Even if she could read it correctly, she had no intention of complying with whatever he wanted.

He could not forge her signature, no matter how much force he used.

Summoning every ounce of strength, she resisted, refusing to give in even as pain shot through her hand, as if her bones were about to break.

In the end, the knight let go of the pen.

But as she clenched her throbbing hand and glared at him with piercing eyes, he gave her a warning.

“This is not the end.”

Then, pressing his lips against the back of her tightly clenched hand, he turned and left.

The door closed, and Lady Mifaro let her tears fall.

Not out of sadness or fear but because she was overwhelmed with fury.

As she wiped away her streaming tears, she made a vow.

‘I will make that bastard pay…’

***

“Explain.”

Raylin first greeted Aiger, who had suddenly barged into the drawing room and taken over the space.

“I greet Your Highness.”

She greeted him with impeccable etiquette, without a single flaw, and discreetly checked whether any words indicating emotions were floating around.

Interest, curiosity.

Though not particularly vivid, Raylin inwardly cheered when she saw those two words clearly positioned beside Aiger.

‘Got him!’

There was no better ally than Aiger to assist in rescuing Lady Mifaro.

As the crown prince, constantly under the emperor’s watchful eye and even targeted for assassination, he was naturally the busiest person in the world.

Moreover, she had recently pushed the matter of Kertan onto him, so when asking him to lend a hand in this endeavor, she had employed a little trick.

“You mentioned a way to make the Mifaro family a powerful ally, didn’t you?”

Aiger, who had no patience for the roundabout way nobles usually spoke, practiced a blunt and straightforward manner. Raylin, impressed, quickly answered.

“Yes!”

“Explain.”

He rubbed his temple slightly as if fatigued and gestured for her to continue.

“The rumors about Lady Mifaro and her escort knight…”

Raylin, barely breathing, launched into a clear and detailed explanation of the so-called ‘elopement of love,’ as if she had been waiting for this moment.

“So, I’m planning to go and find Lady Mifaro.”

As soon as Raylin finished speaking, silence filled the room.

Tap. Tap.

Only the rhythmic sound of long fingers tapping against the sofa’s armrest echoed before Aiger finally spoke.

“I have one question.”

“Yes, please ask.”

Raylin, who had been preparing to explain how she would pressure the Mifaro family into becoming a perfect ally after retrieving the young lady, faltered at his following words.

“What do you mean when you say you’re going?”

“It means… I’m going, of course?”

Raylin tilted her head slightly, explaining something so obvious, and Aiger mirrored her movement, tilting his head as well.

“So, Lady Mifaro has been kidnapped, and we don’t even know where she’s being held… yet you plan to go yourself?”

His voice, as sharp as the angle of his tilted head, made Raylin press her lips together.

She had intended to gloss over the fact that she, known for being frail and completely untrained, would be heading to an unknown place where the kidnappers were undoubtedly lurking.

But Aiger seemed utterly unwilling to let it slide.

Seeing the words ‘speechless’ and ‘absurd’ flashing beside him, Raylin carefully chose her words before averting her gaze and flashing a sheepish smile.

No matter how she tried to twist it, there was no reason for her to go personally.

And yet, she had to.

She needed to cleanse her past sins with her own hands.

But she couldn’t exactly tell him, ‘I died and regressed and in my previous life…’

That wasn’t something she could ever reveal.

In the end, the only answer left for her was silence.

To Aiger, her attempt to brush off the matter with nothing more than a smile, without any proper explanation, was utterly exasperating.

The Mifaro family was enticing bait, but he hadn’t held high expectations for her.

She had distanced herself from family affairs, so he assumed she had simply come up with some amusing idea.

Still, that was enough reason for him to push aside the task of chasing a butterfly’s tail and come here.

After all, this was the same woman who had introduced him to Kertan, a valuable subordinate, and had once handed him a pearl buried in the mud, disguised as a mere market trinket in an attempt at bribery.

With such a track record, it wasn’t a bad idea to at least hear her out.

If her story were true, it would put the Mifaro family in his debt, and he had more than enough capability to exploit that.

But something in his calculations had gone completely off track.

She was going? Where?

To some unknown, dangerous place? With that frail body?

Aiger stared at Raylin, who was doing her best to avoid his gaze.

At least she wasn’t trying to lie outright or offer a series of frustrating, pathetic excuses.

But that didn’t change the fact that the frail daughter of Duke Greuga, whom he cherished dearly, was planning to throw herself into a fire pit.

“…Since Your Highness will be going, wouldn’t being by your side be the safest place in the world?”