“Marienne!”

At Nigel’s anguished cry, Marienne, wrapped in petals and floating in the air, opened her eyes.

He desperately reached out his hand in the fierce wind. Having become a pitiful monster.

The peace that had settled within Marienne began to waver.

Her calming heart shook and collapsed completely.

She would never see him again. Never meet him.

Though she didn’t know what was happening to her or where she was being swept away, that loss alone was clear.

The dam built with silver coins crumbled, and her precariously contained heart spilled over.

Marienne reached out toward the Duke who had become a monster.

Grass, stems, and vines burst through the earth and wrapped around her body.

The flower spirits lost their power and had to place their beloved child back in the harsh world once again.

Nigel rushed to Marienne, who was tightly wrapped in stems and vines.

Not even a strand of her hair was visible inside the solid cocoon.

As if sensing Nigel’s presence, thorns began sprouting on the vines and stems.

Like a madman, he tore at the thorny stems, heedless of the pain as his flesh was torn away.

His bloodshot eyes burned with desperation.

Without even thinking to draw his sword, Nigel roared like a beast as he broke through the tough stems.

His hands became horrifically bloody.

“Marienne……”

When she finally appeared with closed eyes, the monster held the thorny cocoon tight, as if crying, laughing.

The stems that had been wrapped so tightly lost their strength and slowly unraveled.

Nigel pressed his lips to Marienne’s fingers that had nearly scattered into petals.

Her stirring hand caressed the monster’s cheek.

At last, the lovers’ lips met.

Marienne wrapped her arms around Nigel’s neck.

The last petal that had been swirling in the night sky softly landed on the monster’s shoulder.

* * *

“You said Nucria means moonlight? Is that because it’s so beautiful?”

Veronica Rampton, the Duchess’s lady-in-waiting, asked while helping write letters.

She was a Marquis’s daughter staying in Rockshield while serving the Duchess.

The letter written in handwriting unusually elegant for a fourteen-year-old girl was placed in a flower-decorated envelope and handed to the Duchess.

It was an invitation to the year’s final banquet.

The graceful lady wearing a velvet dress with high lace collar checked the letter.

The Duchess stamped her personal Nucria seal on the invitation envelope.

A subtle Nucria fragrance emanated from the invitation.

“The true power of the Nucria flower isn’t its beauty, but its healing. It actually soothes pain and calms troubled hearts. You’ve done well until the end.”

“Will Her Highness the Imperial Princess come this year too? I heard she’s never missed one. I’m nervous about seeing such a noble person.”

The Duchess smiled but with worried eyes.

She was well aware of the Imperial Princess’s pure love for Nigel. She had admired him consistently since childhood.

When Nigel stopped visiting the imperial palace due to his seizures, she had even run to Rockshield secretly from the Emperor and cried while clinging to her.

Yet her son cruelly refused to show his face even once, though he knew the Imperial Princess had come.

Even though she had traveled such a long distance out of concern for him alone.

Most likely, Nigel would not attend this year’s banquet either.

Ah, how should she console the Imperial Princess this time.

“Madam! Madam!”

The lady-in-waiting’s eyes widened at the urgent voice.

The Duchess’s study was rarely bustling since the Duke handled all major affairs.

“Madam! An urgent letter has arrived from Louer. It seems there was a problem en route, causing the delay.”

The Duchess hastily opened the envelope after confirming Aaron Ballock’s name.

The middle-aged lady’s face brightened with surprise as she read the contents, then quickly darkened.

“Are you alright? Your complexion has turned pale. Shall I bring you some water?”

The lady-in-waiting placed a cup of water on the Duchess’s desk.

The Duchess took a sip and lifted her bewildered eyes.

“Nigel is coming.”

“How wonderful! Perhaps Her Highness’s unrequited love will finally bloom!”

The Imperial Princess’s one-sided love was so well-known even a debutante knew about it.

“Madam, this year’s banquet will be the best yet!”

The Duchess hesitated, then decided it would be better to explain in advance.

“The Duke is bringing his bella with him.”

“What do you mean? A bella! That’s impossible. He must know Her Highness attends every year. How…… how can he be so cruel? This is too much! This absolutely shouldn’t happen!”

“Veronica……”

Veronica sat at the Duchess’s feet and buried her face in her skirts, bursting into tears.

“Please stop him, Madam. The Duke must be bewitched by some wicked woman! A bella—this is betrayal that will shatter Her Highness’s pure love!”

“Child, calm down.”

“Please tell me it’s a lie. I can’t bear that my first sight of Her Highness will be her sorrowful face. I simply cannot accept this.”

“Oh dear……”

The Duchess chose not to tell Veronica, who was like a daughter to her, that the Imperial Princess also had a bella.

She wanted to shield her from the adults’ complicated circumstances for now.

Still, she couldn’t help but sigh.

The Duchess worried about Nigel’s reckless defiance against the Emperor and Imperial Princess.

A commoner woman with healing abilities.

The bella must be kept close even if it meant deceiving the Emperor’s eyes.

She had already heard the news that they’d finally found a healer who could suppress his seizures.

She vividly remembered crying for hours while reading that letter.

But she never imagined their relationship would deepen so much.

Aaron wrote that the two were nurturing a growing passion for each other. He also mentioned they planned to announce it at the Emperor’s birthday banquet in autumn, but were heading to Rockshield first to introduce her to the Duchess.

Aaron apologized for not accompanying them due to concerns for his heavily pregnant wife, and left an unbelievable note that the Duke was gradually returning to his former self.

To think Nigel had taken someone into his heart.

Her son who had roamed battlefields despite his frequent seizures….

Those spring-like eyes lived only in his mother’s heart—her grown child had become desolate.

She should have embraced him sooner.

Should have protected him from his father’s tyranny somehow……

But back then, she was too overwhelmed by her own grief to look after him.

They turned away from each other, both covered in their own wounds and scabs.

Now love had found her son.

The Duchess gently stroked the letter with her fingers, her lips curving in a faint smile. Then she carefully placed it in her drawer.

Unaware of Veronica’s tear-filled, indignant eyes following her actions.

* * *

The inn near Rockshield Gorge was noisy late into the night.

The knights and servants gathered comfortably to drink, as they would soon arrive at the castle.

Though their lord and his lady hadn’t been seen since daytime, the knights made lewd jokes while gesturing toward the second floor.

Chewing on dried meat, Hector complained.

“They’ve been up there too long—shouldn’t we check on them?”

Theo took a drink of Nucria wine from his wooden cup.

Since it could only be tasted in Rockshield, he never failed to drink it when stopping here.

“You want to go up? To tell them to take it easy?”

Hector, who had sworn off alcohol for the time being, tore off a piece of dried meat with his canine teeth.

“The lady’s been suffering in that carriage for over ten days. Couldn’t he show some consideration and let her rest properly? Does he really need to satisfy his desires?”

“Do you have two lives to spare?”

Hector bristled at Theo’s sarcasm.

“What nonsense!”

“Every time you steal glances at that woman, I see the Commander. And each time I think, tsk tsk, my old friend might die soon, and not on the battlefield.”

Grinding his teeth, Hector barked at the innocent innkeeper.

“Damn it! Did you dry rat meat? Why does this jerky taste like this! Hey! Innkeeper! Don’t you have any proper side dishes! We paid good money—is this how you treat customers!”

As the innkeeper came out bowing, the inn’s door opened.

“We’re not accepting any more guests.”

The knights who had been glancing at the unwelcome visitors immediately stood and showed proper respect.

The commoners who didn’t understand knelt awkwardly while reading the atmosphere.

Hector, who had been grabbing the innkeeper’s collar, turned around.

“What’s going on? Why is everyone suddenly—oh no! Your Highness!”

Hector dropped to his knees and bowed his head to the floor.

A mere knight had no way of knowing the Imperial Princess’s face.

But the purple cloak embroidered with the Cruneau Imperial Family’s golden eagle emblem, and the beautiful platinum-blonde woman who had brought towering knights to their knees—

Even Hector, who had not an ounce of perception, could tell.

It was Imperial Princess Elizabeth Cruneau.