Even after blinking repeatedly, it was Ahazan.

Dressed unusually in informal attire, he brushed back his disheveled hair and strode straight toward the bed where Clodine sat.

‘I suppose I’m too late.’

It must have been what he meant, seeing her already changed into her nightclothes and seated in bed while the ball was still in full swing.

Clodine hurriedly glanced at her own appearance and pulled the outer garment she had left at the edge of the bed over her shoulders.

‘Ahazan. How did you get here? And what are you wearing…?’

‘I was in a hurry and couldn’t change. If the ball ended, the five days I spent riding here would mean nothing.’

Now that he stood close, she could almost smell the cold wind clinging to him.

Clodine blinked in confusion.

‘Why would you rush here like this…?’

Ahazan let out a faint laugh.

‘You told me never to forget our promise.’

Promise?

She tilted her head.

Ahazan bent one knee before the bed, lowering himself to meet her eyes. Bluish moonlight glimmered in his golden gaze.

‘The first dance of your debutante. You said we would dance it together.’

With his large, calloused hand, he gently drew her small white hand toward him.

‘Was I too late? Has the first dance already been lost?’

‘You remembered that promise?’

Their voices overlapped.

Clodine was stunned that he had remembered something she had said so long ago. It had been only a passing remark, spoken lightly. He had not even answered her at the time.

After a moment’s hesitation, she pulled her swollen ankle from beneath the blanket and showed it to him.

‘The first dance hasn’t happened yet. As you can see, I injured my ankle, so I couldn’t dance.’

Of course, even if she had not been injured, she would not have wanted to dance with any man but him. But she did not say that aloud.

‘How did you hurt it?’

Ahazan frowned slightly as he examined her ankle. His touch was careful and practiced as he gauged the swelling and the pain with movement.

The air grew heavier between them.

‘I slipped while stepping down from a carriage.’

His lips parted as though to scold her, but closed with a sigh instead.

For some reason, she felt as though she had been reprimanded. Embarrassment crept over her. To think she, who was to become Empress, had been so careless.

‘The physician said the bone isn’t broken. If I take care of it, it should heal soon.’

Ahazan kept his gaze on her ankle for a long moment.

Just as the atmosphere was about to grow unbearably awkward, he rose abruptly and leaned toward her.

Startled by his sudden closeness, Clodine instinctively drew back.

‘Wrap your arms around my neck, Clodine.’

The request was so unexpected that her hands hovered in the air uselessly. Ahazan took her wrists and placed her arms around his neck himself.

Before she could adjust to the unfamiliar contact, he lifted her into his arms.

He looked down at her briefly, then carried her toward the balcony.

The open balcony was filled with music. The orchestra on the first-floor terrace was playing passionately.

Ahazan gently lowered her feet to the ground, then lifted her by the waist and placed her atop his feet.

Realizing she was standing on him, Clodine tried to step down at once. But he pulled her closer, and her feet lifted helplessly from the ground.

‘Ahazan, what if someone sees us like this?’

Her heart pounded violently. Even her hands trembled.

She made every excuse she could think of, trying not to let him notice her state. But Ahazan merely moved slowly in time with the music drifting up from below.

‘You must be tired… Please put me down, Ahazan.’

At last, the words escaped her like a plea.

Ahazan buried his face lightly against her delicate shoulder and murmured, his voice faintly heated.

‘Just until this song ends.’

‘…’

‘Just until then.’

He was not someone who ever behaved this way.

Clodine froze, unable to move.

How long had she remained in that dazed embrace? It felt too short, so short that it left an ache of regret.

Then he drew back slightly.

‘Happy birthday, Clodine.’

‘Hm?’

She blinked in confusion.

He smiled faintly and glanced downward.

Following his gaze, she looked down as well.

‘What is this?’

A necklace.

A delicate necklace with a brilliant yellow gemstone shining at its center.

Only then did she realize it was his gift.

‘Ahazan…’

It had already meant so much that he had ridden here himself. The thought that he had prepared a gift as well made her eyes fill with tears.

‘It’s a one-of-a-kind gem. It reminded me of you. I wanted to give it to you on a special day.’

Knowing the meaning behind it made it even more precious.

Clodine smiled, more beautifully than she ever had before.

‘Thank you, Ahazan. I’ll treasure it more than anything.’

The moisture that touched her cheeks that night had not been sorrow.

It had been joy.

Clodine returned abruptly from the memory and looked quietly at the familiar yet unfamiliar man before her.

The same melody from that night drifted sweetly between them. But the emotions of that day had long since vanished.

“How about it?”

Ahazan asked, stepping closer.

“One dance. Like that night.”

Clodine studied him as though he were a painting too difficult to comprehend.

At some point, he had become broader, more imposing than the figure she remembered.

Yet even that transformation filled her with fear, because she did not know what had shaped him into what he now was.

A chill settled in her mind.

She stepped back again.

For the third time.

Ahazan’s sharp gaze followed her every movement.

“You’re making me say it again.”

As before, he closed the distance she had created.

He lowered his head and whispered near her ear.

“I never gave you permission to move away from me.”

His voice was low and cold, stripped of warmth.

Clodine’s shoulders trembled despite herself. Still, she lifted her chin stubbornly, refusing to yield.

Ahazan was just parting his lips to speak again when someone approached hurriedly.

“Your Majesty. There is an urgent matter.”

It was Cal, Ahazan’s aide. Clodine recognized him at once.

Ignoring Cal’s brief bow, she seized the moment when Ahazan’s attention shifted away and slipped quietly from the scene.

***

“The maids have disappeared?”

“Yes, Your Majesty. The carriage carrying them made a sudden detour on its way to the banquet hall. We pursued immediately, but…”

As Cal trailed off, Ahazan finished the sentence in his stead.

“Then you’re saying you lost them in the end.”

Ahazan quietly watched Clodine’s retreating figure. Though she appeared to be wandering aimlessly, it was obvious she was still searching for her maids.

“I have no excuse, Your Majesty.”

Cal bowed deeply.

After a brief silence, Ahazan spoke in a cool voice.

“This was not a simple escape. Those women willingly chose captivity out of duty as maids. They would not have done something so reckless on their way to see Clodine.”

“But to claim it was someone else’s doing… we lack clear motive, do we not, Your Majesty?”

“Lack of motive simply means we haven’t found it yet. There are countless possibilities.”

A strange smile touched Ahazan’s lips, the kind worn only by someone who had survived countless betrayals and schemes.

“Mobilize every available man. Find them immediately.”

“Yes, Your Majesty!”

Cal vanished from the banquet hall at once.

Now Ahazan’s task was to find Clodine, who had slipped from his sight somewhere within the vast hall.

He moved slowly, surveying the room at ease. She could not have gone far. There was no need to hurry.

He could already picture how she would react upon hearing the maids had disappeared. She would refuse food again. She would weep.

Despite her cold demeanor, she cried easily. She had only just begun to eat properly again.

Ahazan exhaled quietly.

It seemed he had grown careless, drunk on victory. To let his guard down over something so simple.

‘There is no end to my sins.’

Should he tell her the truth and remain a scoundrel but an honest man? Or lie again for her safety and accept her hatred?

‘As if there’s any more room left for her to hate me.’

He mocked himself.

His leisurely steps eventually carried him out of the grand greenhouse and into the outdoor garden glowing with lights.

“Is it cold?”

He murmured it softly.

It was not that he himself felt the chill, no northern snowfield frightened him. His mind had simply turned to Clodine, as it always did.

He tilted his head back and gazed at the black night scattered with white stars. A slow breath left him.

For a fleeting moment, her hatred stung more than usual.

He knew he deserved it. He had chosen it. And yet some stubborn part of him still wished to deny that truth.

It was unfair.

Though she had once left him and loved another man, Ahazan could not bring himself to hate her completely.

Yet Clodine’s anger toward him felt deeper than his occasional cruelty toward her. He could pretend indifference, but the arrows of her resentment struck again and again.

Pain was pain.

He closed his eyes briefly, then opened them and continued walking.

Even amid all this, he missed her.

That was the simple reason he could not hate her.

When he reached the fountain in the outdoor garden, he saw her.

She was not alone.

Ahazan’s expression shifted faintly as he watched the two figures standing together, as though part of the painted beauty of the garden.

***

Ten minutes earlier.

Clodine wandered through the garden, searching for her maids. She wanted to believe Ahazan had spoken truth about their attendance, but the longer she failed to find them, the more doubt crept in.

“Clodine?”

She turned at the sound of her name.

“…Grand Duke Lernando?”

Standing behind her in surprise was Yuri von Lernando, the emperor’s half-brother, and Anna’s full brother. Another imperial prince of the Van Helsing Empire.

“So we meet here.”

Yuri’s gentle, refined appearance had changed little in seven years. Yet despite his sociable nature, he hesitated to approach her too closely.

They had once known each other fairly well, but not intimately enough to bridge seven years of distance without awkwardness.

“I heard you were staying in the imperial palace. I did try to visit… but the security was quite strict.”

“‘Staying’ seems an inaccurate word.”

The sharp edge in her voice did not go unnoticed.

Yuri met her gaze with deep regret.

“My brother did not wish for this. Don’t you know him, Clodine?”

She pressed her lips shut.

Everything she had once believed she knew about Ahazan felt uncertain now. She doubted Yuri would understand her.

“There must have been a reason. I cannot believe my brother would conquer Rotermann without cause. I understand your pain, but if you would just open your heart—”

“Rotermann was a nation friendly to the Van Helsing Empire. If there had been a problem, it could have been resolved through dialogue and negotiation. Instead, the empire launched a merciless invasion. Without lawful procedure, they murdered a king in the most brutal manner.”

Her voice trembled with restrained fury.

“Tell me one justifiable reason, Grand Duke. Just one.”

“That is…”

“There isn’t one. I have thought of it countless times since I was dragged here. Our diplomacy held no discrimination, no injustice.”

“Clodine…!”

Yuri had no answer, yet he still tried to defend his brother.

She watched his desperate fraternal loyalty and finally spoke in a quieter voice.

“If you truly care for your brother, then let me go.”

Yuri had ruled as regent during Ahazan’s decade at war. If anyone’s persuasion carried weight, it was his.

Clodine grasped his sleeve earnestly.

But even before responding, Yuri’s face filled with distress.

“Clodine, please… do not hate him. As always, my brother would never harm you.”

He already has.

She almost said it.

Instead, she let out a hollow laugh.

Too much had changed. Too much was beyond repair. And if Ahazan stood at the center of it all, she could not forgive him.

“What are you doing here?”

As if summoned by her thoughts, his voice cut through the air.

She turned.

Ahazan stood there, a coat clenched in one hand, watching her.