Chapter 2.8

“Seyoung?”

‘Hyuntaek? …It’s been a while. Your face looks so tired.’

“Nurse! Over here!”

The sound of a sliding door opening and closing, unpleasantly close.

“Oh, her finger’s moving. Wait a moment, please. I’ll get Doctor Bang.”

“Seyoung. Wake up. Please?”

Han Hyuntaek was calling out to me desperately.

And then I had the same sensation as when I used to fall asleep leaning on Adrian’s shoulder. A state where I couldn’t tell if I was losing consciousness or regaining it.

Everything was as vivid as if it were happening right next to me.

And the moment my eyes, which had been flickering white, opened again, the first thing I saw was a cross-shaped lamp shining brightly.

‘A lamp? There’s no electricity here…’

“Seyoung, it’s me. Do you recognize me?”

The voice felt so real. Instead of my unmoving neck, I just rolled my eyes to the side, and unbelievably, there was that man, Han Hyuntaek.

“Hyun…taek…ssi?”

The words of my own country came out of my mouth. My body ached and throbbed. My throat felt like it was tearing, and my head felt like it was splitting.

“Yes, it’s me, Hyuntaek. Your husband. Ha… Seyoung. It’s been three months.”

‘Clop, clop.’

‘Clop, clop? That’s the sound of a horse’s hooves, isn’t it?’

“No. Don’t close your eyes, Seyoung!”

Han Hyuntaek’s voice grew distant, and my vision began to flicker white again. At that moment, my world turned upside down once more with a tremendous bout of breathlessness.

“Ha… ha! Gasp, gasp… What is this?”

“What’s what?”

“Gasp!”

“Did you sleep well, Claire?”

“Who is it?”

“Who do you think? Your sister.”

Celine was sitting at my room’s vanity, looking at me through the mirror.

“Why are you in my room without permission?”

Despite my sharp reaction, Celine just smiled slyly and looked at me.

“What’s wrong with a sister coming into her sister’s room? More importantly, it seems like someone’s arrived outside. Go on out and greet them.”

“I understand, so please leave now.”

“Okay, alright. But who’s ‘Hyuntaek-ssi’?”

Before I could say a word, Celine floated out of my room. And from the slightly ajar window, I could hear a murmuring noise. Feeling a sense of foreboding, I ran to the window. The garden was filled with dozens of knights on horseback, their imperial seals fluttering.

Just as I was about to pull the bell rope, Jenny burst into the room.

“My lady!”

“Yes, I saw it, too. Please hurry and get me ready.”

Why would the Imperial Family send dozens of knights to the Grand Duke’s castle? My heart was pounding. When I, having gotten ready as quickly as I could, came downstairs, the letter from the Imperial Family was already in Celine’s hands.

“Give it to me.”

“I wonder what this is?”

“Hand it over, Celine.”

Celine, who was teasing me with a grin, tossed the letter to me. I tore open the envelope with the dark red Imperial seal.

`@Marriage Ban@`

‘A marriage ban? Is it the one I know?’

“It says that all eighteen-year-old noblewomen with black hair in the entire empire cannot marry until the Crown Prince gets married. Isn’t that fun? It’s so much fun!”

Celine cackled as if she was seeing the most amusing thing in the world.

‘That… so you knew all along.’

“Ben! What about Adrian? I mean, is there any news from the Grand Duke?”

Before Ben could come to me, a man in a knight’s uniform stepped forward.

“I am Kai Kaylen, Captain of the Quinze-Nouais Imperial First Knight Order.”

At the knight captain’s proper demeanor, I, too, straightened my posture and met his gaze.

“Speak.”

“His Highness the Crown Prince has issued a special command: upon delivery of this letter, Lady Claire Ianster is to be escorted to him immediately.”

“Look here, Sir Kai Kaylen. As a captain of the First Imperial Knight Order, do you not know that the command given by His Royal Highness is to kidnap a mere noblewoman?”

“However, in the Quinze-Nouais Empire, the Emperor’s command is above all morals and ethics. So please, make your preparations quickly.”

At his aggressive attitude, I changed my own.

“I’m sorry, but I cannot go. I am the fiancée of Aurelian Quinze-Nouais, the master of this Grand Duke’s castle. So until the Grand Duke returns and says it’s alright for me to go, I will not take a single step out of this castle.”

“I have no choice either. If you do not move, I will have no choice but to use force.”

“Are you not ashamed? The Grand Duke is now on the battlefield, risking his life for the peace of this Quinze-Nouais Empire, and you want to take his fiancée. No matter how much of an imperial order it is, you cannot be without shame.”

The word “shame” seemed to have pricked the knight captain’s pride. He was lost in thought after hearing my words.

“…I am merely following a command. It is not my place to make such a judgment.”

“Is that so? You said you could use force against me, did you? Do you know what that means?”

A physical clash at the Grand Duke’s castle could easily ignite a civil war in the empire.

“You might be able to drag me out right now. But what do you think will happen to the Quinze-Nouais Empire after the Grand Duke learns of this?”

At my words, the knight captain’s momentum faltered a little.

“…I can only give you five hours. If the Grand Duke does not return within that time, you must depart immediately.”

“Ben! Go tell the Grand Duke this news right away! Hurry!”

“Yes, my lady!”

Ben was calling me “my lady” instead of “young miss.” He had named me the mistress of this Grand Duke’s castle.

I couldn’t just stand there and wait for him, so I ran up to my room and started writing a letter. Or rather, I tried to. But there was so much to say that I had no idea what to write.

If it was a marriage ban, what could he do to solve this problem and bring me back? No, now that he’s met Celine, would he even bother to come for me?

For the first time since I came to this world, tears streamed down my face in my helplessness.

The fact that it was Celine, not me, who could completely save his tormented soul… I resented the author who had decided this.

Adrian had just barely learned to stop hating Claire, but for me, moments of thinking about him, waiting for him, my heart pounding, and a searing pain had already begun.

Since there was no brand on his face, he could now be perfectly happy with Celine, and the fact that I was the one who was going to get in Adrian’s way again… it was unfair.

What made me different from that villainess, Claire Ianster?

But I wrote him a letter.

`’I will definitely come back. …If you want me to.’`

And, as expected, Adrian did not appear even after five hours had passed.

***

Celine felt a strong sense of possessiveness the moment she saw Adrian appear in the drawing room with Claire. He was perfect, to the point where she could understand why Claire had been so maniacally obsessed with him.

Shouldn’t he have been hers from the very beginning?

For the first time, she was grateful that Claire hadn’t branded his face.

“Please, sit.”

A shiver ran down her body at his voice. And Adrian, as the author had intended, stared at Celine’s face.

In the novel, Adrian feels an inexplicable pull to her the moment he sees her.

With the marriage ban in place, Claire would have no choice but to go to the Imperial Palace, and Celine was determined to make everything go back to the way it was in the original story.

She wore a dress in the color Adrian had liked in the novel. And she asked for a tea with a scent he had liked. As expected, he couldn’t take his eyes off of her.

And as if the heavens were helping Celine, Adrian had to leave the Grand Duke’s castle.

Now, no one could stop Claire from being dragged to the Imperial Palace.

***

Adrian’s heart was in a hurry. The engagement ceremony was in three days, but those barbarians had invaded, and he couldn’t be by Claire’s side. It wasn’t enough to watch over her to make sure she didn’t have other thoughts…

As soon as he heard the news from Ben, he rode his horse like a madman. He arrived at the battlefield at dawn and took down the enemies with whatever he could get his hands on.

It was a very hasty action, a far cry from his usual tactics of assessing the situation and then pressuring the opponent with an attack.

But Owen and Cedric, who knew Adrian’s state best, followed him like shadows.

If they could exterminate the enemy all day, they would be able to return to the castle by dawn tomorrow. Adrian thought so.

But there were more enemies than he had anticipated. Was it a problem that he had charged forward so recklessly? It was taking longer than he had initially thought.

And as time was delayed, Grand Duke Aurelian’s state became more and more sensitive.

Clang! Clang!

Without a wink of sleep or a bite to eat, Adrian swung his sword. In the suffocating silence of the Northern border, only the sound of death and blood splashing echoed through the desolate land.

Owen knew.

He knew why his master had volunteered to come to this North, where he couldn’t have a single day of peace, and what he ultimately wanted to get. And his master’s heart, which was becoming more and more tattered without even realizing it.

Owen’s heart had also been warming up recently from the warm breeze that had blown through the North.

But because his master was so strangely hurried today, Owen’s heart was also filled with unease.

As he watched Grand Duke Aurelian swing his sword, he looked like not a human, but a demon with a sword. It was at that very moment.

The sound of a horse galloping and then stopping in the distance echoed on the battlefield, where the only sound was the clash of swords. And he thought his master’s sword had faltered.

“Your Royal Highness the Grand Duke!”

It was a low-ranking knight who had remained at the castle.

The fact that a knight from the Grand Duke’s castle had come here without guarding the castle meant that there was very urgent news. And such urgent news was rarely good news.

At the sound of his name, Grand Duke Aurelian Quinze-Nouais lost his balance and exposed an opening to the enemy. In that instant, he couldn’t avoid all the swords that flew at him at once.

***

I, who was biting my thumb in the carriage heading to the South, had made a decision.

‘I should have seen Adrian and talked to him before I left…’

After five hours had passed and Adrian still hadn’t appeared, the knights hurried me. I had no choice but to step outside, and Celine saw me off as if she were the lady of the house.

“Goodbye, Claire.”

“Celine…?”

“Fortunately, I’m nineteen with silver hair, so I’m not subject to His Royal Highness’s marriage ban.”

“So… you’re staying here?”

“Of course. Your sister will stay here and explain the situation to Adrian. Don’t worry. I’ll talk to him.”

“You must hurry.”

When I hesitated, the knight reached out as if to grab my arm. From their perspective, they had given me a lot of time. I blocked his hand and took a step away from the castle on my own.

The carriage sped off. The weather had been good for the past few days, so the roads were clear, oblivious to my turmoil.

When we reached the forest, the carriage’s speed slowed down because of the bumpy road. No matter how I thought about it, I should have seen him before I left.

I was biting my nails with a bloodless face inside the carriage when I made up my mind.

“Sir Kaylen!”

I put on a performance with all my might.

“What is it?”

He came to the window next to the carriage.

“I… I have to use the restroom.”

“Pardon?”

“Hey, isn’t it because you’ve been so unreasonable that I’ve been dragged away in a hurry, and now this is happening?”

“But… but!”

“Are you telling me to hold it until the forest ends and the Imperial Palace appears?”

“We’ll reach a small village in about three hours.”

“Three hours? Three hours! Just tell me to die instead.”

Sir Kaylen made a flustered expression, but he couldn’t stop me anymore. Moreover, there wasn’t a single female knight among them who could follow me.

I quickly scanned the path leading into the forest and decided on my escape route.

As I quickly moved into the forest, Sir Kai Kaylen followed me.

“Where are you going now?”

“It’s not that…”

“Ha, you’re hopeless. Are you following a noble lady who’s going to use the restroom? And a woman His Royal Highness the Crown Prince personally ordered to be brought to him?”

“But I can’t let you go alone like this.”

“You don’t know what I’ll become after I go to His Royal Highness, the Crown Prince, do you? You don’t expect to survive after seeing a future Crown Princess’s private business, do you?”

“…You may go.”

This forest was a place I had traveled through countless times over the past two years. When I reached a place where no one could see me, I turned around and started running back like a madwoman.

Even as I ran, I didn’t think I could outrun all these knights.

But I had to go back. There was no other reason. It was just the thought that I had to see Adrian.