T/N: i just realized that the way the chapters are divided in the raws that I’m using and the official raws are different. and after working on 50 chapters, i think it’s too late to start over now OTL. so please know that some chapters might be very short. thank you!

“I’m really sorry.”

With that brief explanation, Roderick began to dress.

So what happens to us now?

It was Roderick’s job to dress Erica, who was still sitting in a daze, not yet understanding what he had said.

His hands kept slipping as he put on her blouse and fastened the buttons.

“Damn it……”

When he finally finished, he realized the last button was missing. He must have torn it off in his haste yesterday. He searched the bed and looked underneath, but couldn’t find it.

“I wanted to take you with me, but the royal capital is dangerous right now. So please wait for me here.”

He urged her as he finished dressing her and helped her stand up. Erica, still half-asleep, was led by Roderick all the way to her house before she fully came to her senses.

Knock knock.

Only when he knocked on the door to wake her parents did she realize.

“Roderick, wait!”

What daughter in the world would advertise to her whole family that she’d spent the night out!

She tried to pull Roderick away to hide, but he didn’t budge, and meanwhile the door swung open.

“Who is— ah……”

Her father, as if he had expected this all along, showed no surprise and gestured for the two to come in.

Of course, he had secretly hoped for this outcome. But he must have failed to convince his wife yet, as her mother glared at them with narrowed eyes.

“Where were you two last night and what were you—”

“I’m going to marry Erica.”

Joy and sorrow crossed her parents’ faces.

“Who gave you permission to—”

“I give my permission!”

“You!”

Roderick, who had no time to stop Erica’s parents from arguing, knew it was impolite but urgently blurted out his promise.

“However, I’ve received a summons and must hurry to the royal capital, so I’ll come back for Erica once the situation is resolved. It shouldn’t take more than three months at most.”

“And you expect us to believe—”

Roderick thrust Erica’s left hand in front of their eyes.

“…I suppose we must.”

In this remote mountain village, a ring with a large jewel that one might only see on the finger of a lord’s wife was more than enough proof of his promise. Her mother just blinked, seemingly dumbfounded.

“Please take care of my wife until then.”

Even though they hadn’t held a wedding ceremony yet, he called Erica his wife. It was a subtle yet bold request not to give her to another man.

And he even added a purse full of gold coins.

“W-well, of course.”

“Don’t worry about Erica. Come back safely.”

Erica’s parents took the purse of gold coins and went inside, telling the couple to say their goodbyes.

“Roderick, wait.”

“I’m sorry. There’s no time.”

Roderick cupped Erica’s cheeks and pressed his forehead against hers.

‘Why is he sweating?’

His skin was cold and damp.

“I will definitely come back. Trust me and wait for me.”

She could only nod at his desperate oath, unable to ask anything more. Roderick gave her a deep kiss and immediately mounted his horse.

The horse began to gallop down the dirt road. The urgent sound of hoofbeats broke the silence just before dawn. Though he had told her not to follow, Erica secretly trailed behind him as she had done before.

Roderick didn’t look back at her even once, quickly becoming as small as a dot before completely disappearing. Down the same road he had left on five years ago.

Only then did her heart sink.

“Come back alive!”

It was too late of a plea. He wouldn’t have heard it.

“Please come back.”

Just like that foolish plea she had muttered alone five years ago, watching his back as he left from this very spot.

“There’s been a crisis at the palace.”

To be honest, it was hard to believe.

The villagers even said this about Roderick’s sudden departure after receiving a summons:

“That guy must be a con man.”

She couldn’t refute this slanderous accusation. Even Erica thought Roderick’s story made less sense than what the villagers were saying.

‘He was with me the whole time… how did he know about it?’

How did he know about the uprising in the royal capital that night, and how did he receive the summons?

She should have found it strange, but she had been too overwhelmed to realize it at the time.

‘But Roderick isn’t the type to make up nonsense or tell lies.’

She felt wronged, as if she was being misunderstood. Erica defended him in her mind while carefully examining the ring she wore around her neck to avoid drawing unnecessary attention.

‘No matter how I look at it, it’s real gold. If he was running a scam just for one night, he wouldn’t need to give me something like this.’

If there really had been a crisis in the royal capital, at least the accusation of him being a con man would be cleared.

But Erica lived in a mountain village at the farthest edge of the kingdom. It would be the last place to receive news even if the world was ending.

And so, with no ominous signs whatsoever, peaceful days continued as usual until a full ten days had passed.

“They say there was a rebellion.”

The news that there really had been a crisis at the palace came from a merchant passing through the village.

Apparently, a certain Marquis who had been the king’s closest confidant raised an army and usurped the throne in a single night. Perhaps conscious of the lords and ministers across the land, the Marquis didn’t sit on the throne himself but placed the king’s illegitimate child there instead.

Just like that, the king changed overnight.

The slander that Roderick was a braggart and con man disappeared that day, but how he had received the summons on that very day remained a mystery.

As to whether Roderick was safe……

The merchant only knew that the king had changed, not what had happened to the palace guards.

Please be safe.

She could only hope that he simply couldn’t leave the royal capital because the king had changed and he had to serve the new one. It was an optimistic expectation to the point of foolishness.

“I wondered why the lord’s castle has been so busy these past few days. They say the king’s knights are staying there.”

It was about two months after Roderick had left. The new king’s pursuers had extended their reach even to this remote region.

Apparently not content with just usurping the throne, the new king seemed intent on exterminating the entire royal family. Ominous rumors circulated that he not only executed royals captured in the palace but also hunted down and killed those who fled.

And they also killed all the Winterborns, the guards, and the royal guards who protected them.

“So Roderick is probably no longer in this world, don’t you think?”

The village woman who shared the rumor looked at Erica with pitying eyes. Erica was too preoccupied to realize that her relationship with Roderick had been exposed.

‘Roderick is dead? That can’t be.’

Erica immediately went to the lord’s castle. She even bribed knights and guards who had frequent dealings with the king’s pursuit team, but the news she heard was, sadly, only bad.

The Winterborn family had been exterminated.

“Now, ice magic has disappeared from this world forever.”

The knight who delivered the news clicked his tongue.

“What a shame.”

“The Winterborns only obeyed the royal family’s orders according to their contract, so they were useless to the Marquis.”

“But doesn’t the new king also have royal blood? They could have used the Winterborns instead of killing them……”

Erica couldn’t hear what the knights were saying. What happened to the Winterborn family didn’t matter to her. But the news that swordsmen affiliated with the Winterborn family were also mercilessly captured and killed was different.

She couldn’t remember how she got home that day. She did remember nearly collapsing as she dragged her staggering legs.

“I’ll never leave you again.”

You liar.

“I will definitely come back. Trust me and wait for me.”

Con man. Bastard.

Why did you go? What’s a royal command worth? You should have disobeyed. You left me to die an unappreciated death? You fool.

I’m a fool too. I should have stopped you from going. Why did I stupidly send someone who was clearly rushing into danger?