“Clodine, wake up.”

It was a morning that didn’t feel too cold, thanks to the lingering warmth of the dying firewood

wrapping around the crisp air.

Clodine blinked her drowsy eyes, still half-asleep, as she felt a gentle hand gathering her disheveled hair and tucking it softly behind her ear.

The night before, she had fallen asleep in Ahazan’s arms, wearing only her thin underdress, after leaving her damp outer clothes by the fire.

He had willingly stayed awake all night, holding her tightly against him, warming her with his body so she wouldn’t feel even the slightest chill.

Nothing beyond what she had worried about had happened but strangely, her concern had shifted elsewhere.

‘Ahazan… you… I think you have a fever.’

Sensing something wasn’t right, she had stayed awake until dawn as well, then voiced her worry.

Ahazan had simply replied, ‘Is that so?’ and smiled as if it were nothing.

The heat from the inflammation in his wound had raised his body temperature far beyond normal, yet he had joked that it was nice, since it let him keep her warm.

Calling him foolish and stubborn, Clodine had scolded him, yet inwardly, she had wished that if someone had to be the one in pain, it would be her instead.

“That way… you could be the one kept warm.”

At some point, she had fallen asleep.

And when she opened her eyes, she found herself lying with her head resting on his thigh.

Looking down at her with a gentle expression, Ahazan stroked her hair.

Clodine, still groggy, murmured softly.

“The knights…? Outside…?”

Caught between dream and reality, she struggled to grasp what was happening, until suddenly.

She shot upright.

“O-Outside?!”

Ahazan let out a low chuckle at her startled reaction.

Flustered, Clodine quickly glanced around to make sure no one was peeking into the rocky crevice, then hurriedly grabbed her outer clothing and slipped it on.

Since, just like before, Ahazan had to tie the ribbons at her back, she gathered her long hair with both hands, turned her back to him, and urged.

“Ahazan, hurry and tie the ribbons…!”

She couldn’t see his face, but from the sound of it, he was definitely smiling.

This is all because he soaked my clothes yesterday…

The more she thought about it, the more annoyed she felt.

Ahazan’s hands moved skillfully, threading ribbons through the loops of her dress and neatly fastening it.

But before tying the final elegant knot between her shoulders.

He leaned down and pressed his lips to the pale curve of her neck.

The moment his warm, soft lips brushed against her skin.

Clodine flinched, this time in a completely different way.

“There isn’t a single part of you that isn’t beautiful… what kind of woman are you?”

From behind, Ahazan wrapped his arms around her, leaning his upper body against her slender shoulders as he spoke.

“From now on, I won’t let you look anywhere else.”

“I’ll make you lose yourself… loving only me.”

Clodine’s face, flustered, yet not at all unwilling softened as she quietly absorbed his words.

But then, a faint line crossed her expression.

Ahazan’s words often carried meanings too heavy to take in at once, yet there were few things he said that she couldn’t understand at all.

And strangely, those rare things she couldn’t understand always seemed to stem from the same root.

For example…

‘Do you still love him?’

The words he had once spoken, bringing up her deceased former husband.

And,

‘I want to believe you. Tell me the truth. There must have been another reason you couldn’t help but kill O’Neil. Right?’

When she had begged him desperately to tell her the truth, he had claimed he killed him for no reason, yet his gaze had been filled with something far more complicated.

And not just that.

‘I’ll accept any punishment.’

‘Clodine… I’m sorry. For being your hell.’

Even though there had been a far easier and more respectable choice, marrying Charlotte Langham, he had chosen instead to become her hell, to marry her regardless.

And then.

‘At most, it’ll only be ten years.’

‘But you know something? To me, those ten years felt as long as a thousand.’

‘From now on, I’ll learn everything about you properly. Just how much you’ve changed in that time.’

After discarding her so cruelly with nothing but a single letter, how absurd it was for him to claim that the years he endured alone felt like a thousand.

Clodine recalled all the things Ahazan had said and done, the ones she had never truly understood, the ones she had simply buried and moved past and thought again of what he had just said.

‘I won’t let you look anywhere else again. I’ll make you lose yourself loving only me.’

Wasn’t that something you say to someone who had already strayed once before?

Come to think of it…just yesterday, he had said,

‘So that means… you love me again.’

‘Again.’

Again…

…Again…

The word lingered unpleasantly in her mind.

Clodine’s expression stiffened, hardly fitting for a woman who had just received such a sweet confession, as she turned to face Ahazan.

But before she could even speak, he caught her hand, offered her a brief smile, and without giving her a chance to say anything, led her straight out of the rocky crevice.

Just as he had said, outside, Cal, Valoran, the Pantheon Knights, and a vast imperial army were already gathered.

She couldn’t tell exactly when they had arrived but judging by the traces of fires scattered across the ground, they had clearly waited for hours, standing guard until morning under Ahazan’s orders.

“Your Majesty… please execute me for my incompetence.”

Valoran strode forward and dropped to one knee before them.

His expression was filled with genuine anguish, no exaggeration, no pretense, only the raw pain of someone who believed he had failed his duty to protect his master.

Seeing this, Cal hurried over and knelt beside him as well.

Though he had already spoken with Ahazan earlier, he couldn’t stand the sight of Valoran kneeling alone in front of the knights and soldiers.

Clodine glanced up at Ahazan briefly, as if asking for permission then released his hand and stepped forward toward Valoran.

Their faces, both of them, were visibly worn.

Like Ahazan and herself, they bore numerous small wounds across their hands and faces.

It was obvious, they had pushed through the harsh wilderness all night, searching desperately for their missing emperor and empress.

And so, knowing full well the hardship they had endured, Clodine spoke gently, her voice soft and warm.

“If I were to kill you… who would I trust to guard me, and let me sleep in peace for the rest of my life?”

“…Your Majesty.”

Valoran shut his eyes tightly, lowering his head even further.

“This is something I brought upon myself. So if you blame yourself like this, it only troubles me more.”

Clodine lightly patted his shoulder, the same shoulder that must have carried fear and worry for her all night.

“Rise now. We must return and treat His Majesty’s wounds.”

“…Yes, Your Majesty.”

Cal responded first, standing up and pulling the still-motionless Valoran to his feet.

The horse Clodine had thought lost, the fine steed Ahazan had gifted her from Perseion, had already been recovered and brought back by the knights.

Before anyone could even discuss what to do next, Ahazan mounted the horse in one swift motion and extended his good hand toward her.

Despite his torn clothes and the single piece of cloth draped over him,his commanding presence remained flawless.

“How do you expect to ride while carrying me in that condition?”

Worried he might overexert himself, Clodine turned away from his hand and looked toward Valoran instead.

“I’ll ride with Valoran, so—”

But before she could finish.

A strong arm suddenly wrapped around her waist, lifting her effortlessly off the ground.

“Ah—!”

By the time she turned in surprise, she was already seated on the saddle in front of him.

Ahazan held her face firmly, ensuring she wouldn’t look anywhere else, only at him, as he spoke.

“I told you. Don’t look away again.”

He was smiling, yet somehow, beneath that smile, there was a faint, chilling possessiveness that made her heart falter.

Caught off guard, Clodine found herself speechless, her lips parting slightly without forming words.

“And I told you—one arm is more than enough.”

And yet, Ahazan, the man she loved so deeply only smiled again, light and unbothered, as if nothing had ever slipped through.

Just like always.

As if he had never once let any emotion escape by mistake.