Rosie let out a faint sigh as she watched Callios, who showed no sign of changing his mind.

For some reason, the towel he had draped over her felt hotter than the one he had wrapped around her in Langnis.

It must have been because the bathroom was filled with warm steam.

She quietly bit her lip.

“…Fine. Do as you want.”

She was worrying about matters of the ducal estate again. Even though they were strangers now—why was she fussing over everything?

Turning her back to him, Rosie said.

“I never meant that you should release him or treat him well. I only meant you should be careful not to go too far.”

He gave a soft laugh, resting one arm on the edge of the tub.

“So you’re worried about me?”

“Apparently so.”

Rosie let out a breathless laugh and squeezed the wet hem of her dress. With her head lowered, she murmured.

“Why am I even doing this… really.”

She didn’t fully understand it, but she could sense that something was wrong. Callios was heading straight for ruin. He no longer cared about the ducal estate’s reputation as much as he once did. His excessive punishments were causing resentment among the servants, and even the Emperor’s subtle checks were becoming more frequent.

It was as if he wanted to destroy himself, as if he were running somewhere alone, determined to punish himself.

Callios scooped up some hot water with one hand and splashed it onto his face. The droplets scattered, never touching her, and fell straight to the floor.

“Don’t worry. I’ll finish what needs to be done here.”

“What? What does that mean?”

The rough sound of water trickling echoed around them, and he spoke as if gently pushing her away.

“You should go. Staying here won’t dry your clothes.”

“…….”

“Go warm up. Don’t hurt yourself again.”

The more he spoke, the tighter Rosie held the towel around herself.

Strange.

It was truly and unmistakably strange.

Whether it was instinct or intuition, something inside her was warning her. But she still couldn’t quite put her finger on what it was.

***

As soon as Rosie stepped out of the bath, Callios wrapped a large towel around himself and joined her.

His clothes were already laid out in the room, as if that were the most natural thing in the world.

He dried himself roughly and got dressed without saying a word or accepting any help from the servants.

He had grown up in a brothel from childhood; his mother had been a stunning beauty. Having inherited her looks, Callios had been relentlessly targeted by others.

Nevertheless, his mother — formerly a knight — had protected him well from such threats and advances, so he made it through childhood safely.

As he grew older, he became more imposing and adept at handling people, and he rarely fell victim again.

However, the disgust and weariness he felt, particularly regarding the way people looked at him sexually, never changed.

Rosie was the only person who had never made him feel that way. Whether she saw his n*ked body or the ugliness inside him, she alone had never been repulsed by him.

Looking down at his wrinkled, pale hand, which had been soaking in the water, he suddenly remembered her laughter.

Before he knew it, the memory had prompted him to pull her into the tub with him. Perhaps it was because, for a moment, she had shown an opening, and that brief smile had given him confidence.

‘You should go. Staying here won’t dry your clothes.’

It was true. Nothing would dry in that damp air. Staying with someone mired in misfortune would not dry her heart either.

The deep, knotted wounds she bore would never fade while she stayed by his side. Perhaps she had been forced to carry the misfortune he was born with simply because she was the one closest to him.

Maybe that was why he had fallen asleep earlier, with such thoughts in his mind.

As he dozed in the bathtub, Callios had dreamed a nightmare he never wanted to imagine.

Rosie remarried Marquis Midas. She appeared happy, loved without hardship and cherished without pain. She even bore him three sons.

The warmth of her bright smile stayed with him. The peaceful life she had dreamed of, strolling hand in hand with Midas through the marquisate’s beautiful gardens, was etched so vividly in his mind.

Someone who could smile so beautifully had only ever cried beside him. It was unbearably miserable.

He never wanted to be that pathetic again.

When he opened his eyes, the first thing he saw, filling his vision like a full moon, were her large brown eyes, looking at him in surprise.

‘Are you training right now?’

His beloved.

She was so gentle that bloodshed did not suit her at all.

Callios knew better than anyone that the Marquis of Midas coveted Rosie and was always on the lookout for an opportunity. That was why Callios had always been on his guard and furious at the sight of Midas.

But if that was truly what she wanted…

‘He needed to let her go.’

For her brilliant future.

For that dazzling smile.

A drop of water fell from his still-damp hair to the floor.

A small patch of moisture slowly spread across the wood.

But what would remain for him afterwards?

Nothing. Absolutely nothing.

A hollow pain stabbed through his chest, reaching so deep that it made his back ache too. Without her, his life was empty. The parts of him where life had gone were slowly rotting away.

His eyes stung. Inside, something screamed that she wasn’t enough, that he desperately needed her. Every lingering desire in him thrashed, refusing to let her go.

But Callios crushed it with all his might.

Enough.

Don’t become any more pathetic.

He slammed his fist onto the wooden bath trolley where his clothes had been laid out.

A sharp crack echoed.

Just then, Rob Beisler hurried back, breathless and clearly having discovered what Callios had ordered him to investigate before bathing.

It had taken a considerable amount of time, but the report arrived far sooner than Callios had expected.

Rob knocked once, then entered, still panting, and delivered his report.

“The woman in the purple robe the noble lady mentioned—we found her.”

Callios took a long breath, quickly suppressing the heated turmoil Rosie had stirred in him. As always, he returned to cold, unwavering reason.

“Who was it?”

“She didn’t even bother hiding her face. It was the dethroned empress dowager.”

Callios froze mid-motion, hands paused as he was dressing, and slowly turned around.

“The empress dowager? Are you certain?”

The Empress Dowager was the mother of the deposed Crown Prince, who was killed by Callios. She was reviled for her madness, arrogance, laziness and cruelty. She was the mother of the ill-fated prince, who was despised by the nation and even the emperor.

Ultimately, the deposed crown prince, who had once toyed with Callios as if he were worthless, begged for his life before dying a miserable death.

“It’s confirmed. The description matches exactly. I can hardly believe it myself, but….”

“Is she still within the empire?”

“No. She must have noticed something and fled immediately.”

After her son was killed by Callios, the former empress dowager vanished. When Callios and the Second The prince tried to act, but she had already escaped overseas swiftly and thoroughly.

He had expected some kind of last-ditch resistance, but she had even abandoned her son and fled along a route that she had clearly prepared in advance.

Now, Callios’s mind finally began to make sense of the situation.

The sudden reappearance of the empress dowager. And the inexplicable involvement of people from the Kingdom of Kuhote who had helped Pante Benedict.

There was definitely a connection.

Callios began fastening the buttons of his cloak, starting calmly from the top.

“So the empress dowager drifted between various places, eventually taking refuge in Kuhote. And they’re helping her?”

Rob Beisler scratched the back of his head, looking troubled.

“Yes. They say the people of Kuhote were always present wherever she went, but how did you know?”

“If they’re from Kuhote, then they’re the same people who were already captured here at the ducal estate — the so-called rescue party who tried to free my brother and got caught.”

At that, Rob Beisler’s face instantly turned pale.

“You mean… Pante and the empress dowager were connected?”

“Exactly.”

The Empress Dowager had allied herself with the most troublesome Kuhote faction. Together, they entered the empire to free Pante Benedict.

That was the situation.

Rob panicked, stumbling over his words.

“T-then I’ll investigate immediately to find any trace of Pante contacting her—”

“Erase the traces the moment you find them. Not that it isn’t already too late.”

“…Sir?”

“Do you think His Majesty is someone easy to fool? I’ve been monitoring him, but he’s doing the same. He may already know.”

Callios’s fingers moved quickly, fastening the buttons halfway down.

His mind flashed to his final campaign in his past life, the war against the Kingdom of Kuhote.

‘So that was why.’

They were extremely difficult to handle back then. If military intelligence from the Empire had been leaked by the Empress Dowager, then everything fell into place.

Upon hearing Callios’s deduction, Rob Beisler asked in a grave voice:

“…Are you saying the empress dowager sold imperial military intelligence to them?”

“Her son was murdered. Do you think she has any pride left as a member of the Imperial Family? Showing her face in the Empire was probably a warning in itself. She probably wanted to see for herself how events were unfolding.”

This was unprecedented: Pante Benedict and the Empress Dowager were working together. This time, the strength of the ducal estate had been compromised.

‘Did something change because of the regression?’

Following Isabella’s downfall, Pante Benedict descended into fear-driven madness — he was clearly the variable.

It was possible that the Empress Dowager had also reached out to him in his previous life. However, he must have refused her help at the time — after all, he had already succeeded in eliminating the duchess who was carrying the heir.

‘I would’ve been his next target.’

It could be hidden poisoning, as with Rosie, or it could be something else entirely.

‘Though I would have caught him and killed him long before that.’

He had thought Benedict Pante was a fool and never imagined that he would become so obsessed with the duchy that he would risk his own life.

Underestimating him was the biggest mistake of his past life.

As Callios considered how painful a death to inflict on Benedict this time, Rob Beisler frowned with worry.

“Whether she approached Pante first, or he approached her… if His Majesty learns of this—”

“He’ll suspect the entire Benedict Duchy.”

For treason or collusion to overthrow the empire.

At Callios’s cool reply, Rob flailed in panic and shook his head violently.

“No—no, His Majesty trusts you completely!”

Does he?

Callios let out a cold, brief laugh.

“He’s a cautious man. Although he considers me a comrade-in-arms, he’s always on his guard.”

Perhaps that was why the emperor had doubted the true reason for Callios’ delay to the Kuhote campaign. He had postponed it because of Rosie — nothing more — but, considering the current political climate, the delay was undeniably suspicious.

‘The only thing I can rely on is my memory of the previous life.’

He was familiar with Kuhort’s powers, strategies, and combat style. He had fought them before.

Experience was everything on the battlefield.

‘We have a good enough chance of winning…’

But the circumstances were unfavorable. As he turned possibilities over in his mind, Callios glanced at the sword standing upright by the bedside.

It was time for that blade to be used properly on the battlefield once more.

“The time has come to silence those noisy war hawks.”

“Surely you’re not thinking of departing for the campaign?”

Rob Beisler’s face had grown serious, but Callios replied as if it were nothing.

“We’re already fully prepared. We’ve sent countless spies, and I’m familiar with the general terrain. We know enough about their military to act now.”

Rob interrupted his superior before he could continue with his sharp, flawless reasoning.

“No, that’s not what I meant. Have you told the lady about the campaign schedule? Did you consult her?”