Locked up…?

Even in the dimness created by his broad shoulders blocking the light, his blue eyes shone distinctly deep like the abyss of dawn.

His gaze felt strangely cool, leaving me frozen and speechless.

Maybe I was the only one taking his joke too seriously.

“L-locked up?”

Shouldn’t I be running away…?

“…Who?”

It must be a joke, surely.

“Come on, you’re not serious, right?”

I forced a smile, pretending I’d heard something trivial.

However, Carlo’s reaction was far from what it should have been, so utterly insensitive that one corner of my heart began to grow anxious.

“What should I do.”

Despite his words, Carlo maintained an expressionless face without the slightest trace of regret—even brazenly so—as he spoke.

“I am serious.”

When a cold smile formed at the corner of his lips, my heart sank.

Goodness. He’s a man whose true feelings are impossible to discern from his expression or tone. But judging by his current attitude, he seemed like someone who had already calculated exactly where to confine me in that brief moment.

Unable to even move my lips, I stared at him as Carlo leisurely opened his mouth.

“So I need to figure out what to do.”

“Wh-what?”

“What you should be doing while I’m gone.”

All I could think of was memorizing the emergency exits of St. Berte Castle.

No, that wouldn’t be enough—he owned countless buildings from villas to hotels to museums, so merely memorizing the emergency exits of St. Berte Castle might not suffice.

“Ah…”

Only then did I realize one fact I had forgotten in my growing affection for this man.

The Carlo before me was actually such a powerful figure that the imperial family and Count Azanie had targeted him for over ten years. From what I’d observed, though he appeared indifferent to everything, he was a terrifyingly fearsome man who could grasp the nuances of political situations faster than others and instantly reverse the tide.

Now my heart began pounding for a different reason.

Would my life be over if I got caught…?

I could only attempt to escape when his guard was down, but what had happened to my mind during my first experience with love…? Images of myself fluttering around him, completely smitten, flashed before me like a kaleidoscope.

“Um, what I should do is…”

I swallowed hard and looked up at him with a forced smile.

Liking him was one thing, but remembering to escape without getting caught was my fundamental duty.

While I had been pouring my sincere heart into doing my best while I could be by his side, grieving over having to leave him, I had become completely careless about my escape—a perfect disaster.

If he discovered my plan to run away, all trust would be gone, and Carlo would change instantly.

And if all the things Lea had done were revealed…?

Just imagining it made me dizzy, so I forced a smile.

“Wait for… Carlo?”

I needed to wait for his guard to lower without upsetting him.

I must not forget the fierce nature hidden behind that handsome face.

“You understand well.”

Carlo, who had been gazing down at me intently, smiled languidly, apparently satisfied with my answer.

He scrutinized my face carefully with calm eyes that seemed arrogant.

“Think only of me.”

“……”

“Don’t listen to bad things.”

When I nodded, he naturally leaned down and lightly captured my lips.

My heart pounded throughout my body, and I couldn’t tell whether it was from fear of being caught or from the unbearably ticklish affection—my mind was too jumbled to distinguish.

Perhaps it was because he kept stirring me up to the point where I couldn’t even measure myself. Like this!

“Stay away from all other men.”

When he pulled away from my lips and looked down at me, a deeper blue light swirled in his eyes.

My hair stood on end with goosebumps, but it wasn’t fear of him.

I slowly blinked as I looked at the playful smile lingering at the corner of his lips.

“Th-there aren’t any men who would come close to me. You’ve had Joseph block them all.”

When my unconsciously grumbling tone slipped out, he mischievously raised one eyebrow.

“I should have said this earlier. Whether it’s a man or woman beside you, or even a passing bird—anything alive—I hate it all.”

“……”

“To the extent that I hope you won’t keep anyone close except me.”

Just as I flinched with widening eyes, he laughed as if he had anticipated my reaction.

“Though you wouldn’t want that.”

His empty smile suddenly made my heart sting, and I impulsively pulled him close as he was about to rise.

Though he had shoulders and a chest too broad for my arms to fully embrace, somehow I wanted to hug him.

Despite being too strong for me to match, too large for anyone to bring down, he came into my arms docilely, like a weakened beast willingly led by my hand.

“……”

Yes, that’s right…

Only after embracing this man did I realize that all along… I had been overflowing with the desire to hold him.

My pounding heart wasn’t due to fear or excitement.

I couldn’t bear the thought of the betrayal he would feel when I eventually left him after deceiving this man who seemed capable of pouring endless affection on me.

Having never experienced such affection before, I lacked both the courage and the daring to look into his heart.

“…Do you have to go?”

In that moment, words I had never spoken before came out, something that would remain puzzling even when looking back later.

I felt him pause before he finally raised himself.

He looked quite surprised, as if my words were unexpected to him too.

“I… I know you have to go.”

Right now, I just wanted him to stay by my side.

Suddenly, having to run away for crimes I didn’t commit felt so unfair, yet it was clear that if I didn’t leave, I would eventually harm this man. I even wished time would just stop right here.

“I just… wish you didn’t have to go.”

I could sense something crumbling and rebuilding in the man’s steady blue eyes as he looked at me.

His gaze grew quiet and heavy, like silent snowflakes piling up thickly to form a wall before hardening.

He drew a faint smile after a deep sigh.

“I want to grant your every wish, but this time I can’t. Still, I’ll be back soon.”

My heart ached.

“No, I’ll come back quickly.”

He spoke to me in a low yet gentle tone.

His touch was tender as he soothed me while I nodded.

“Hasn’t everything gone wrong?”

Lily placed her gloves on the table with a loud noise and spoke irritably.

“The Grand Duke seems different from what you described, Miss Lily. Didn’t you say His Highness would never come to St. Berte?”

The young ladies, startled by the Grand Duke pulling the Grand Duchess into the carriage and closing the door, turned and began to speak one by one.

“According to Miss Eleanor who attended the wine tasting earlier, far from having a poor relationship, the Grand Duke cherished the Grand Duchess so much that it was embarrassing to watch.”

“Didn’t you clearly say they might divorce, Miss Lily? Claiming it was a private conversation shared with your family!”

“My goodness? You told me it was confidential information, but what’s going on, Miss Lily?”

“Miss Clodel knew too? Are you saying that when you told me to prepare for the Grand Duke possibly appearing alone during the social season, it wasn’t just told to me?”

“Oh my. I heard it too!”

“Me too!”

The young ladies opened their eyes wide in surprise, then surrounded Lily with indignant faces.

“I’ve held my tongue until now, but there always seemed to be an intent to slander someone in what you have been saying, Miss Lily.”

“Have you been using us all this time?”

“The Grand Duke has no intention of divorcing, does he?”

As the young ladies, feeling betrayed one and all, turned their backs in anger, Lily keenly felt her position becoming even more precarious.

It was already infuriating enough to be beaten up using the St. Berte Castle attack as an excuse because of the foolish Lea’s mistakes, but now it felt like the couple was working together to make a fool of her.

“They even said there were no rooms available.”

She had belatedly discovered that the many hotel owners in St. Berte had colluded not to provide rooms to people from families closely connected to Empress Genevieve and Count Azanie.

“I thought it was strange that Mariette, that old woman who arrived in St. Berte after me, was staying at the Plage!”

Lily threw a cushion from the sofa and fumed in frustration.

According to her father, shouldn’t their position have become advantageous by now?

How could even a mere hotel owner refuse to accommodate her?

“The social season will start soon…!”

Lily, visibly growing anxious, gritted her teeth.

“If things continue like this, we’ll end up with nothing.”

Looking at how things were unfolding, it seemed the situation her father hoped for—relying solely on Empress Genevieve—would never come.

“I absolutely must find a man to marry this social season.”

She desperately wanted to leave the wretched Azanie mansion and become the mistress of a new family.

Anxious, Lily rolled her eyes around before pulling out a travel bag from under the bed.

“Found it.”

Lily clutched the envelope she had taken from the bag and smiled meaningfully.

It was someone’s letter that she had done well to steal without her father knowing.