The carriage that had crossed the border via the fastest route continued to race forward without pause.

Overwhelmed by exhaustion and tension, Eveline tried to sit as upright as possible, her whole body swaying with the motion of the carriage.

The windows of the carriage were covered by heavy, dark curtains that prevented anyone inside from seeing out.

Before long…

The carriage, which had been speeding along unhindered, gradually slowed down.

When the wheels finally came to a complete stop, the man seated beside Eveline rose to his feet.

“Please step out.”

Eveline got out of the carriage and followed the royal guard, who did not allow any questions.

She found herself standing in front of a grey, two-storey building.

Without hesitating, the guard opened the door and led her to the room at the far end of the corridor.

“Please have a seat. This is the diplomatic mission located in the capital. As far as Entian is concerned, Lady Eveline is already dead. Until official authorization is granted, you are to remain here.”

Eveline’s gaze wavered uneasily around the room, which contained nothing but a table and a few chairs.

“…What exactly am I waiting for here?”

She cautiously asked the man standing guard by the door.

It was the first question she had asked in days.

The answer she received was just as indifferent as before.

“I only follow orders.”

“…”

She knew that any question would receive the same answer.

Eveline quietly turned her head away.

It was four o’clock in the afternoon.

After glancing at the wall clock, her green eyes wandered briefly around the room before settling on the window.

The brilliant summer sunlight streamed in unhindered.

Eveline of House Beaufort.

She recalled the name that people had once given her.

But it was no longer a name she could use.

Caught up in a royal power struggle, her family had lost its former glory and fallen into ruin.

And she…

She was the last surviving member of House Beaufort.

She had faked her own death, fled her homeland, and lived under a different identity in a foreign land.

In that sense…

The name Eveline Beaufort was one she had already abandoned.

Eveline bit down gently on the inside of her cheek.

The events of the past several days remained painfully vivid in her memory, enough to turn her stomach.

Twenty days earlier…

A royal envoy from Entian appeared before her while she was living an ordinary life as a jeweler in Kaimon.

Five years had also passed since her father and older brother had lost their lives in the struggle for the royal succession.

Since then, Eveline had faked her own death and fled abroad.

[Upon receipt of this royal decree, Eveline Beaufort is hereby ordered to return to her homeland immediately.]

The brief, single-sentence decree was delivered to the princess who had helped Eveline build a new life in Kaimon.

Not long afterwards…

With that single sheet of paper in her hands, Eveline was ushered straight into a carriage.

The Royal Guards escorted her.

She returned to the country she had once fled.

No questions were permitted.

No protests were entertained.

The knights remained courteous throughout.

However, they kept her firmly at arm’s length and refused to answer any of her questions.

Telling herself that she wasn’t afraid would have been a lie.

She had abandoned her country.

She had concealed her identity.

These were crimes she could not deny.

Even so…

It made no sense for so many royal knights to be mobilized just to hold her accountable.

More importantly, three months earlier, when the new king ascended the throne…

The treason charge that had branded House Beaufort like an indelible stain had been revoked.

She was no longer a traitor.

Nor was she a titled noble anymore.

So why…?

Why go to such lengths for someone like her?

As Eveline sank deeper into thought…

The sound of footsteps echoed crisply through the corridor.

Even though the room was silent, each measured step could be heard clearly.

The footsteps drew closer.

Then there were two precise knocks on the door.

Eveline slowly rose to her feet.

The guard standing watch by the entrance silently bowed to whoever was outside, then stepped aside and disappeared.

The door opened wider.

Someone entered.

The first thing that caught Eveline’s eye was a pair of polished black dress shoes.

A faint sense of familiarity stirred within her.

Her gaze slowly traveled upward.

The impeccably tailored black suit was flawless, though otherwise unremarkable.

Except for the fact that its owner was exceptionally tall.

But the moment her eyes reached the man’s face…

Everything else ceased to matter.

“…Michael.”

Her voice barely escaped her lips, cracking faintly at the end.

Michael Parsen.

Duke Parsen.

Her former fiancé.

He was the man whose engagement to her had automatically been annulled when she was declared dead.

Michael, who had stopped just inside the doorway, crossed the room in a few strides and stood before her.

From the moment he entered…

His unreadable blue eyes never once left her pale face.

His gaze lingered on the tension around her eyes.

Then it drifted to her chestnut hair, which rested over her shoulders.

He meticulously examined every detail: the simple, short-sleeved, cream-coloured blouse.

The deep navy skirt, cinched neatly at the waist with a sash.

Even her plain brown walking and working shoes.

It was practical clothing for a jeweler.

But…

If she had remained in Entian and continued to live the life of a noble lady, she would not have worn this sort of attire.

His gaze paused briefly on the worn toes of her brown shoes.

Then it returned to her rigid, pale face.

He met Eveline’s trembling eyes.

The corners of his lips curved into a perfectly beautiful smile.

“You’ve changed a lot, Eveline.”

Tilting his head ever so slightly…

Michael smiled leisurely.

“And you’re still beautiful.”

The greeting that followed was utterly at odds with the icy expression that resembled the heart of winter.

“I’ve come to take my fiancée home.”

***

After Michael’s shocking declaration…

Everything happened in the blink of an eye.

He signed a written pledge to serve as Eveline’s guarantor.

Then he left the diplomatic mission immediately.

Naturally…

Eveline left at his side.

After the carriage had raced onward for quite some time…

it finally arrived at the ducal estate of the Parsens.

She asked him several times what was going on.

But not once did she receive an answer.

“Until the legal procedures are complete, Lady Eveline will remain in Your Grace’s custody.”

Those were the last words spoken by the official at the diplomatic mission, just before they left.

The whole situation made her feel as though she had been forced into a place where she didn’t belong.

Her thoughts refused to settle.

But the turmoil in her mind didn’t last long.

A short while later…

Michael, the estate’s owner, entered the bedroom where she had been waiting.

“Sit.”

He took a seat on the sofa as though it were the most natural thing in the world and looked at Eveline, who remained standing stiffly in place.

She, however, acted as if she hadn’t heard him.

“Here.”

His long fingers pointed deliberately at the sofa once more.

Even then…

Eveline didn’t move.

She remained rooted to the spot.

Michael watched her silently for a moment before leaning back against the sofa.

“So you don’t intend to sit.”

“Is it that you don’t even want to share a sofa with me?”

“Or should I interpret the fact that you’re standing beside the bed however I please?”

He paused.

His gaze slowly traced every detail of Eveline’s face.

When he spoke again…

His voice was quieter.

“No matter what… I doubt the wedding night we never had is going to be tonight.”

It was only then that Eveline realized she had stopped unconsciously beside the bed.

The implications of his casual remark finally dawned on her.

Her wary eyes blinked rapidly.

Left with little choice…

She crossed the room and perched on the edge of the sofa.

He watched her take a seat at last.

Michael narrowed his eyes slightly.

Even though years had passed since they last saw each other…

Eveline was treating him as though they were complete strangers.

Michael found nothing refreshing about it.

It simply irritated him.

He didn’t let any of this show, though.

He handed Eveline the two sheets of paper he had brought with him.

She accepted them.

Yet she continued to look at him with puzzled eyes.

Michael nodded slightly.

“Read them carefully.”

With that, he crossed one leg over the other at a leisurely pace.

The gesture made his intentions perfectly clear.

He would not start talking until she had finished reading the documents.

Eveline looked at him for a moment longer before lowering her gaze to the first page.

She read it.

Then she stopped.

She was unable to turn to the next page.

Her eyes remained fixed on the first page.

“…What is this supposed to mean?”

Her voice trembled ever so slightly, as though she couldn’t believe what she was reading.

“It means exactly what it says.”

Michael answered calmly.

[Upon the restoration of Eveline Beaufort’s identity, all rights and authority over the Beaufort territory shall be returned to her.]

The document bearing the golden eagle seal of the Entian royal family contained remarkably simple information.

In other words…

Everything that had once belonged to House Beaufort would be returned to Eveline.

Five years earlier…

Following the deaths of her father and older brother, all of House Beaufort’s assets were confiscated by the Crown.

The entire Beaufort estate was then granted to Count Cornwell.

The count had been the marquess’s greatest political rival.

During the royal succession struggle, he had stood with the opposing faction.

He had also stood with the opposing faction.

In the end…

Having backed the victorious side…

Count Cornwell’s greatest reward was the territory of Beaufort itself.

But now…

The new king was returning it all to her.

Eveline found this so unbelievable that she read the first page over and over again, wondering if she had somehow misunderstood.

Yet no matter how many times she read it, the words never changed.

The words never changed.

Only then did it truly sink in.

This was an official decree issued by the King himself.

“Congratulations, Eveline.”

“You’ve reclaimed Beaufort.”

Having watched the subtle shifts in her expression, Michael knew she had finally understood the document.

“Ah… yes…”

“Thank you.”

She was so stunned that the words slipped out before she even realized what she was saying.

But the moment she turned to the second page…

Her expression hardened so completely that her gratitude from only moments earlier seemed to vanish.

[A hearing has been scheduled regarding Duke Michael Parsen’s petition to invalidate the annulment of his engagement.]

[The engagement was automatically dissolved following the presumed death of Eveline Beaufort. However, as it has now been confirmed that she is alive, the House of Parsen’s claim has been accepted—that an engagement terminated without the consent of the Duke, her betrothed, is invalid.]

‘Invalidate the annulment…?’

Slowly…

Eveline lifted her head.

A moment later…

Her eyes met Michael’s.

He was looking straight at her.

His expression plainly said that he couldn’t understand why she found this so incomprehensible.

‘Why…’

‘Why would he go this far?’

“…Are you serious?”

She didn’t need to imagine it.

The gossips would pounce on the news straight away.

Rumors would spread like wildfire.

The whole capital would be in an uproar.

Yet none of that seemed to concern Michael in the slightest.

He rose from his seat.

He walked over to Eveline.

He slowly bent down until they were face to face.

He braced both hands on the arms of the sofa.

There was barely two hand spans between them.

“Why? Do I look like I’m doing this because I’m bored?”

“…”

His voice dropped even lower.

It was little more than a whisper.

Yet every word reached her ears with unmistakable clarity.

“Promises are meant to be kept… But you deceived me and ran away.”

This was in stark contrast to the bitterness of his words.

Michael gently took one of Eveline’s hands in his.

He lightly kissed the back of her hand.

His touch was warm.

However, his eyes were anything but warm.

Their icy gaze never left hers.

“Isn’t that right…”

“Eveline Beaufort?”