Just as Lydia’s skirt reached about her knees, they heard movement in the distance.

“Someone seems to be coming this way, Sir Arsen.”

Now the skirt wasn’t the issue anymore.

Arsen quickly hid behind a large tree with Lydia in his arms, then gently placed her on the ground.

With that, Lydia’s skirt fell down on its own with a soft rustle.

Arsen’s eyes met Lydia’s as she awkwardly adjusted her appearance.

Could it be that ‘put me down’ meant this?

* * *

Arsen’s ears turned bright red with embarrassment.

Fortunately, the night was dark, and Lydia was too anxious about being caught to look at him.

“Get on my back for now.”

“What?”

“You were trying to leave the Marquis’s residence, weren’t you? I’ll take you out.”

Arsen turned around and knelt on one knee.

Seeing his broad back before her, Lydia hesitated briefly before quickly climbing on.

It was embarrassing to straddle the back of a man who was, despite knowing his name and secrets, still essentially a stranger, while wearing only her nightclothes.

Though Lydia wasn’t exactly following the path of a proper lady, such close contact still made her feel shy.

But now wasn’t the time to be embarrassed.

Lydia had her own escape plan, but it was obvious without calculation that leaving with Arsen’s help would be much faster.

“Hold on tight. I won’t be responsible if you fall.”

“Don’t worry, Sir. I’m actually quite strong at, eek!”

Before she could finish saying she had good arm strength, Arsen stood up abruptly with Lydia on his back.

His movements were extraordinary as he headed toward a secluded wall while checking their surroundings.

“I trust you won’t scream.”

“What do you mean by—whoop!”

He seemed to prefer showing through actions rather than explaining with words.

Before Lydia could finish her question, Arsen supported her bottom with one arm and began climbing the wall.

With just one arm and two legs, Arsen easily scaled the high wall.

He moved quickly, as if Lydia on his back wasn’t even a hindrance.

Though Lydia had done all sorts of things in her life, being carried on someone’s back over a wall was a first for her.

‘But Sir Arsen thinks too little of me. To think I would scream at just this much.’

Of course, the wall was high enough to be frightening, but this was Lydia who had attempted to climb down from a second-floor balcony on a rope.

Just as she was thinking Arsen had misunderstood her, he reached the top of the wall.

And then, without hesitation, he jumped down.

“……!”

Ah, so that’s why he told her not to scream.

Lydia realized a beat too late.

But he needn’t have warned her.

The jump was so sudden and surprising that she couldn’t even scream.

Tap—

After landing lightly, Arsen properly adjusted Lydia on his back and ran into the darkness.

He moved so quickly that Lydia couldn’t tell if she was riding a horse or a person.

When they reached a secluded alley, Arsen slowed down.

“Are you trying to strangle me to death?”

“Eh?”

Dazed by what had happened in that short moment, Lydia let out a stupid sound that was neither yes nor no.

“You can loosen your arms now.”

“Ah, I’m sorry.”

Only then did Lydia realize she was embracing Arsen’s neck so tightly she was practically strangling him.

“What was your plan for escape if you hadn’t met me?”

Arsen asked out of genuine curiosity.

Of course, what he was really curious about wasn’t her escape plan but whether she was in her right mind.

“I was planning to go to the stables, steal a horse, and leave through the side gate. The side gate is wooden, so I could break through it.”

She had left that way once before when she secretly went to meet Richard.

Back then, there had been no guards in the corridor, so she had gone down the stairs.

“Did you also sneak in, Sir?”

“Yes.”

As they talked, they arrived at a secluded alley where Arsen had hidden his horse.

Arsen put Lydia down, then swiftly picked her up again and placed her on the horse.

“Why did you sneak in? I don’t think Devon would have prevented you from coming.”

“Coming and going from the Marquis’s residence only feeds on the strange rumors.”

Arsen mounted the horse behind Lydia.

When he pulled the reins, the horse started moving on its own.

“Sir, will you take me to the temple?”

“You will not be going to the temple, my lady.”

“What?”

What does he mean when I said I wanted to go to the temple?

Lydia looked up at Arsen with a questioning gaze.

“You said you met me in your past life, but it seems you don’t know me well, my lady.”

Arsen didn’t look at her.

“Did you think I would easily let go of someone who knows my secret?”

* * *

Bayern.

A surname she hadn’t called or written since she was 9 years old, but had never forgotten.

The relationship between the previous Emperor and the Bayern ducal family had not been bad.

No, it could be said it was quite good.

So when the previous Emperor suddenly accused them of treason, they must have been caught completely off guard.

It was Arsen’s 9th birthday. The Emperor’s knights and soldiers stormed the ducal residence.

Arsen’s grandfather and father resisted, buying time for Arsen and his mother to escape.

Without money or belongings, they fled with a few knights and household members.

When the Emperor’s pursuit was right on their heels, Byron, who had been Arsen’s writing tutor, became a decoy himself to create confusion in the pursuit.

When someone reported that the Duchess was hiding, Nella, his nanny, wore the Duchess’s clothes and was captured instead.

By the time they reached the border of the marquisate where Brahman Edis, a close friend of Duke Bayern, lived, only a butler and one knight remained with the mother and son.

And soon after Arsen lost his mother as well, Brahman adopted him.

The small, barren land at the border of the marquisate, where demonic beasts frequently appeared, became Arsen’s new home.

There, Arsen cultivated his strength. Strength to never lose his people again.

‘Arsen, my son. Remember one thing. Until the time comes, you must keep your identity hidden. Trust no one.’

Until her dying day, his mother trembled with a sense of betrayal toward the previous Emperor.

Arsen strictly adhered to her dying wish.

He doesn’t trust people easily. Even if it’s a woman who can’t inflict even a single scratch on him.

“Is this a kidnapping?”

“You should hope it ends with just kidnapping.”

Arsen brought Lydia to the Knight Order’s quarters.

As it was a temporary lodging during their stay in the capital, there wasn’t really a reception room.

Eventually, Arsen had no choice but to bring Lydia to his room.

He put Lydia down on the bed.

Then he wrapped her tightly in the blanket.

“Is this some kind of restraint, Sir?”

Wrapped in the blanket like a caterpillar, Lydia wiggled her arms inside and asked with displeasure.

“Your attire is not appropriate for an interrogation, my lady.”

Arsen, as if only now finding her acceptable, pulled up a chair and sat across from Lydia.

“Seeing that you came looking for me, I assume you found the Eastern labor camp.”

“Yes.”

“That’s a relief.”

So you checked, that’s good.

Lydia had been somewhat anxious that Arsen might have dismissed her words as complete nonsense.

But the fact that he sent someone to verify meant he believed her words, didn’t it?

“Did you also find out if Byron and Nella are alive?”

“Yes.”

Instantly, Lydia’s face brightened.

Lydia buried her face in the blanket, murmuring that it was fortunate, truly fortunate.

“It’s not something to be happy about.”

Lydia had no idea why Arsen had helped her escape.

“I found the whereabouts of my tutor and nanny. This means I no longer need your information.”

He had no particular ill feelings toward her, but she knew too dangerous a secret.

Arsen was considering methods to permanently silence her if necessary.

In the midst of this, he witnessed Lydia trying to escape on her own.

Evidence of Lydia’s escape attempt would remain intact at the Marquis’s residence.

So even if Lydia never returned to the Marquis’s residence, Arsen wouldn’t become a suspect.

“Are you going to kill me?”

“If necessary.”

Lydia blinked and looked at Arsen.

She hadn’t expected this development, but from Arsen’s perspective, it made sense.

After thinking it through and coming to terms with it herself, Lydia nodded.

“Why are you nodding? Are you asking me to kill you?”

Arsen asked incredulously.

You’re nodding in front of someone who’s threatening to kill you?

Either she was fine with dying or she knew he wouldn’t be able to kill her—it had to be one of the two.

Do I look that weak?

He’d never been told he appeared gentle in temperament.

“Perhaps you think if you scream, other knights will come running? Unfortunately, there’s no one here to help you.”

“No, there is.”

Lydia, who had been wiggling her arms diligently, finally managed to free one arm from the blanket.

Then she pointed her finger directly at Arsen. Her thin, white fingertip touched Arsen’s shoulder.

Arsen leaned back, feeling a strange sensation.

“You will help me, Sir.”

“……Has the poison you drank last time not been fully detoxified? You’re talking nonsense.”

“Then I will help you. The sequence of events will be like this.”

Arsen frowned, unable to understand Lydia’s words.

Lydia realized once again that handsomeness and grimness could coexist on one person’s face.

“Sir, help me first. Save Byron, Nella, and Maria, and take me to the border of the marquisate. Then I’ll make the borderlands of the marquisate your domain.”

Arsen sneered at Lydia’s words.