“Huff, ugh. Huff.”

I had been living too comfortably and had overlooked it. The fact that my stamina was much lower than I had thought.

‘The border? What nonsense…’

I checked and rechecked the compass I was holding. I had followed the direction the compass needle was pointing, but the border was still nowhere in sight.

‘At least I’m fortunate to have this.’

To know my current location, I had brought a map with a magic circle drawn on it. The problem was that even after walking for a long time, the black circle indicating my position had only just passed the halfway point.

The horse I was riding also seemed tired. Wanting to reach the border before sunset, I had kept urging the horse on without rest, and it appeared to have reached its limit. Nevertheless, I continued to spur the horse forward.

‘The knights haven’t been seen for a while…’

Although I was supposed to act together with the knights during the hunting competition, I had asked them to keep their distance so that I could comfortably observe the border. Of course, despite my repeated requests not to come close, possibly due to the duke’s orders, they kept approaching. However, when I threatened to leave them behind if they continued to follow, they reluctantly complied with my command.

Even if they weren’t visible, they were probably nearby and would appear if summoned or if I were in danger.

In fact, I wondered if there was anything dangerous at all. The surroundings were completely devoid of any human presence. I hadn’t even seen a single animal on the way here.

‘It seems I’m getting closer to the border.’

It appeared that my efforts weren’t entirely in vain. The forest had grown slightly denser, yet the faint sound of human activity could be heard from far beyond.

“Come on.”

Just a little more. I briefly quenched my thirst and immediately urged the horse forward. And finally, the border I had been longing for…!

“What?”

I was taken aback.

‘A river?’

Strange. There was definitely no river on the map.

I had never heard of a river near the border, so why was there one here?

“Who goes there!”

At that moment, one of the individuals standing near the river noticed my presence.

Upon their rough reaction, my servants, who had been keeping their distance, swiftly rode their horses towards me.

However, I couldn’t allow the border guards to see my servants, who had a suspicious appearance to anyone’s eyes. I signaled the servants to stop and hastily approached the border guards.

“I apologize. I’m a participant in the hunting competition, but I took a wrong turn and ended up here. I am Oscar Serpentine of House Serpentine.”

The guards were all heavily armed and exuded an extremely fierce atmosphere.

Even though I quickly showed them my identification badge and smiled innocently, their expressions didn’t soften.

“You cannot approach any further.”

They even blocked my line of sight as I tried to glance across the river.

‘Even though there aren’t any particular issues with the empire, they’re going this far?’

It was puzzling, but even as I apologized, I discreetly observed my surroundings. The security was much tighter than I had anticipated, and the terrain was different from the map.

‘On the surface, the empire and the kingdom should have a friendly relationship.’

If someone saw this, they might think a war had broken out between the empire and the kingdom.

Moreover, the river flowing before my eyes seemed somewhat artificial. It didn’t feel natural, as if the waterway had been forcibly created. Considering that it wasn’t marked on the map, I thought it might be related to a national secret.

“I apologize.”

Compared to the strict guards protecting the kingdom’s side of the border, there weren’t many knights visible on the empire’s side across the river.

Speaking of the river, it was completely unexpected.

‘Should I start teaching Zachary how to swim as soon as I get home?’

I wanted to take a closer look, but I couldn’t observe any further. The gazes of the guards on duty were quite fierce.

As I retreated with an embarrassed smile, my mind was rapidly working. What should I do? Even if I managed to break through the tight security, I would have to cross the river by boat, which wouldn’t be an easy task.

‘Should I visit other parts of the border besides Raven territory?’

I had come here because it was the most accessible place. What should I do?

As expected, nothing ever goes smoothly…

“La, dy?”

I blinked my eyes. Someone was walking towards me, bearing a striking resemblance to Genevieve Raven… No, it was Genevieve Raven.

Her entire body was drenched in sweat, and the two knights following her were in the same state. It seemed like they had been searching for something for a long time, as all three of them looked disheveled.

“Phew, finally, found, you.”

Genevieve, speaking between breaths, had a resentful expression on her face. As I widened my eyes at her appearance, my knights approached and stuck close to me.

It was the same on Genevieve’s side. The exhausted knights naturally stood behind her, as if protecting her.

“What brings you here?”

“I came to meet you, Lord Oscar.”

Genevieve, who had instantly drained a bottle of water, replied. She had chased after me this far?

‘Did she see me surveying the border area?’

Based on the timing of her appearance, there was no way she hadn’t seen it.

‘What could be her motive for following me all the way here?’

As the owner of this territory, Genevieve should know better that there wasn’t much game to catch here.

“Have your knights stand back.”

“The knights?”

What could be so important that she followed me here to discuss? As I was about to ask for a reason behind her sudden request to have the knights stand back…

“Permission denied.”

The answer came from elsewhere.

Genevieve and I simultaneously turned our gazes behind me.

‘Goodness, when did they get behind me?’

The two servants were there. Their gravelly voices were very resolute, but with both of them wearing cloths depicting ghostly eyes, it was impossible to tell who had spoken.

Only I, who felt a strong sense of familiarity, furrowed my brows. I couldn’t understand why the blonde knight kept reminding me of Zachary.

“I know it’s quite dangerous here, and I shouldn’t carelessly dismiss the knights like this. But just for 5 minutes. Can’t we do it for just 5 minutes? I’ll have mine stand back too. I have something I want to discuss.”

“…But.”

“Oscar Serpentine.”

Just as I was about to refuse, saying that I couldn’t possibly dismiss the knights despite everything, Genevieve suddenly called out my full name and narrowed her eyes.

“You have a keen interest in the Holy Empire, don’t you?”

…Oh dear. It seemed like this conversation would be lengthy.

I sighed and gestured to my servants.

“Please step back for a moment. I’ll keep the conversation within 5 minutes.”

They didn’t budge an inch. However, with Genevieve dismissing her own knights and watching, there was no choice.

“That’s an order.”

Only after I spoke coldly did the knights retreat. Genevieve, with a satisfied expression, smiled at me.

“I guess it was quite noticeable.”

I had planned to slowly investigate after becoming closer, but it seemed like my letters had revealed such inclinations. Above all, she had apparently noticed me observing the border area of the empire just now.

“It’s just a moderate interest. I have a keen interest in goods from the Holy Empire.”

Still, it was best to make up an excuse, so I casually brushed it off, but she already seemed convinced.

“Add this one discourtesy of mine to the debt I owe you.”

Genevieve, who had spoken those puzzling words, took a big step towards me. I barely managed to extend my hand to stop the servants from instantly approaching and intercepting her.

And Genevieve, taking advantage of that gap with valor, whispered in my ear.

“You have much more than others. Enough to consider crossing over to the Holy Empire. Not only do you selectively exchange letters with nobles who communicate with the empire, but you also come to survey the border area and make excuses?”

I rolled my eyes and stared at Genevieve. How did she know that I was in contact with nobles associated with the empire?

The nobles I had been exchanging letters with appeared to have no commonalities on the surface. However, upon closer examination, a connection to the empire could be found. Most of them were engaged in trade-related activities or belonged to families possessing unique goods from the empire.

“I didn’t know you had the sinister habit of intercepting letters.”

“That’s just how ravens are.”

It seemed pointless to make up excuses to her, who had even grasped my correspondence and connections.

“What are you trying to say?”

How could I possibly go against the empire, the powerhouse of the continent? No matter how much the kingdom disliked the empire, they had no choice but to maintain a friendly appearance on the surface.

Of course, that was only on the surface, and there were no kingdom nobles who openly traded with the empire.

‘Trading with the empire isn’t illegal. It’s just that everyone is reluctant to do so for fear of being marked by the king. It’s ambiguous to pester me solely based on my interest in the empire, and Genevieve shouldn’t have a reason to do so, right?’

Considering that there were no restrictions on the Raven family, who imported blue salt, it meant that the king was tacitly favoring them.

She smiled slyly and mouthed.

‘Information about the empire.’

Then she shrugged.

“You want it, don’t you? And a lot of it.”

…How was this situation going to unfold?

Even though I wanted to gauge her intentions, I couldn’t properly grasp them.

“I’ll send it formally soon, but I wanted to give you a simple heads-up now. In case you’re surprised to suddenly receive contact.”

She narrowed her eyes and said.

“Will you marry me?”

…What was this about now?

“Ma, rriage?”

For a moment, I unknowingly made a dumbfounded expression.

“Don’t tell me… you like… me, no.”

“Yes, I like you.”

Was that the right expression for someone who claimed to like me? No matter how I looked at it, it wasn’t.

“You’re quite intelligent, handsome, and unlikely to cause troubles with women of your own accord.”

“What is your intention in suddenly saying these things? Marriage isn’t a joke. You can’t just bring it up out of the blue like this, without any proper reason…”

“If you marry me, I’ll let you know.”

I gaped my mouth wide open. She wasn’t making any sense.

“Or should we start with an engagement?”

Crazy raven…