“Why does it have to be you?”

“I have good instincts.”

It was an answer that skirted the core of the question. I’m not sure what expression I had on my face because of that.

“Then you must know I’ll refuse here.”

“Of course.”

My head throbbed and a sigh escaped me involuntarily.

“Talking about marriage as a means to an end doesn’t seem right.”

“Where in the world does a marriage based on lofty love exist?”

She doesn’t intend to back down an inch. Genevieve Raven seemed to have some other purpose for wanting to marry me.

“Anyway, think it over carefully. I’ll offer you favorable terms.”

“No matter the terms, I don’t think that will happen. Please leave.”

“If you change your mind about marrying, come to me anytime.”

Genevieve maintained her cryptic attitude to the end.

She left behind words filled with a strange conviction that I would surely accept her proposal. I stared intently at her retreating back as she turned around, smiling until the end. Then I ran my fingers through my hair, my heart heavy.

‘I’m really screwed.’

Are there any families besides the Ravens who know about the Holy Empire in detail? There must be some, but the quality of their information would certainly be inferior to the Ravens’. Above all, Genevieve Raven had already caught on that what I wanted was information about the empire, even if she didn’t know exactly what. I had a feeling she would readily provide that information.

However, our desires differed too much to see eye to eye. Genevieve showed an inexplicable obsession with engagement and marriage. I also thought I would eventually have a political marriage, but not now.

‘And not in such an unpleasant way.’

No matter how much they say there’s no love in marriages between nobles, it didn’t seem right to proceed with the feeling of trading goods.

Of course, I wasn’t in a position to be picky. I had firmly refused, but seeing the border made me realize it even more. I needed information. With the information and power I currently had, I couldn’t send Zachary beyond this border. So I absolutely had to dig up information somehow.

‘Maybe it would be better to get close with other members of the Raven family at the banquet.’

But excluding Genevieve, with whom I had built at least some rapport, there was even less hope. In the first place, the Ravens and Serpentines couldn’t even claim to be on good terms, not even superficially.

“…Let’s go too.”

More time had passed than I thought. The sun would set soon, so we had to return.

Still, having come all this way, I planned to check the border area again so it wouldn’t be a waste. I took out the map that had become crumpled and checked my location. Let’s just go this far from here. As for the horse…

“Come here.”

The horse approaches me obediently with a snort in response to my beckoning. After mounting the horse and slowly walking, strangely, I didn’t sense the presence that should have been following me as expected.

Glancing back, unlike the large-built servant who had already mounted his horse and was ready to follow, the blond servant was just standing there blankly.

“You don’t need to keep your distance anymore.”

Was it because I had ordered him to stay back earlier?

I had said that because it was inconvenient to examine the border. I planned to observe from a distance and return right away anyway, so there was no need to maintain distance now.

As soon as he heard my words, the large servant immediately came to my side, but the blond one…

“What are you doing?”

The blond servant, who had been standing still, slowly raised his head at my words.

Even though I couldn’t see his eyes due to the cloth covering his face, I felt an eerie sensation as if he was staring at me. I thought I saw something flash blue just now, but was it my imagination? The blue light seemed to disappear like a mirage.

It gave me goosebumps and chills down my spine, making it hard to keep looking at him.

‘Why? I’m scared.’

I turned my head. Believing they would follow on their own, I unfolded the map and stared at the direction I needed to go.

But the moment I looked at the map, my vision strangely overlapped as if seeing double. It was really strange. My body felt heavy and my mind hazy, as if I had caught the flu.

‘I was definitely not in a very bad condition before coming here.’

I knew my physical state best. Today’s schedule was certainly not easy, but it wasn’t to the extent that my condition would deteriorate this rapidly.

‘I need to go back.’

Warning bells kept ringing in my head. It was nothing new for my body to be as fragile as glass, but the chills were not a good sign at all.

It was the first time my condition had worsened so quickly in such a short time since I was a child.

With the urgent thought that I had to hurry back, the moment I tried to change the horse’s direction, my head spun.

“!”

I couldn’t see in front of me. My vision turned black. Surprised, I pulled on the reins and the horse jolted. By the time I heard the horse’s cry, it was already too late. My body, having lost its balance, tilted heavily to the left and plummeted to the ground in an instant.

I was done for. If I fell off the horse like this, I would definitely be seriously injured somewhere. The moment I sensed I would fall from the horse, I tried to curl up as much as possible to protect my body.

As I waited, anticipating the pain to come, someone grabbed me firmly. Then the hand that saved me supported my neck, nullifying the impact that would have occurred.

“…Huk.”

I was saved.

With this frail body, if I had fallen off the horse, I would have been bedridden for months for sure.

I shook my head a few times, and my hazy vision began to clear as if clouds were parting.

The first thing I saw was the fluttering cloth with a ghost eye drawn on it. The cloth I usually found unpleasant was so welcome now. As I thought, the servant had saved me.

“Than-“

I tried to express my gratitude, but I noticed something strange. The one who saved me was the blond servant. That blond servant who had been standing far away for a long time even when I told him to come.

I couldn’t simply show my gratitude to that servant.

“…Who are you?”

The familiar scent brushing the tip of my nose, I could be more certain smelling it up close. It was the body scent of someone I knew.

As if proving the long time spent in the basement, a musty odor like mold emanated from him.

But being this close, I could clearly tell. That smell had all come from the clothes, not a moldy scent ingrained in his body like the other servants…

“Why are you here?”

It was Zachary. Even without immediately checking his face, I could guarantee it.

“How did you get here looking like this…”

It was a shocking situation enough to forget my headache. Moreover, Zachary had deliberately tried to deceive me. From the dyed blond hair to the changed posture, and even the scent. If we hadn’t ended up in such close proximity, I might have never known, that’s how meticulously he had prepared.

Holding my throbbing head, I looked at Zachary, and the other servant tried to approach me.

“Don’t come. Turn around.”

When I stretched out my hand to stop him, that servant immediately halted.

Yes, that’s the normal reaction. Even if I don’t have as much authority to handle servants as the marquis, I still have Serpentine attached to my name, don’t I?

But the blond servant had seemed strangely free from my commands since earlier, which was odd, but it was Zachary, so that fact alone made all the discomfort I had felt understandable.

‘How should I handle this situation? Did the marquis notice?’

There’s no way he wouldn’t have noticed. But if he knew, it doesn’t seem like he would have left it alone…Could it be that the marquis directly ordered Zachary, leading to this situation?

I had no idea how things were unfolding.

“Young master.”

As I groaned, holding my throbbing head, Zachary spoke.

“Did you come here to meet your marriage candidate, Genevieve Raven?”

“What?”

Why is he spouting such nonsense so earnestly from the start?

I even lied about being interested in Genevieve, and the reason I came here was all because of whom? It was to find a way to send Zachary, right in front of my eyes, back.

“That’s not what’s important right now.”

And it wasn’t the time to have this kind of conversation. Zachary had a lot of explaining to do to me right away.

“Let go first. I need to get up…Ugh.”

But my body was very strange.

The moment I put strength into trying to get up, my vision turned pitch black and then brightened. As if I had fainted for a split second. As I froze, stunned by the abnormal state of my body, the hand of Zachary, who was holding me, tightened.

“Why?”

A strange voice that didn’t understand at all.

“Why is that not important?”

“Of course it’s not important. I didn’t come here for that anyway…”

Just then, I heard a small rustling sound from far away. Startled, I looked in that direction and fortunately, it was a small animal, not a person. Seeing the long tail swiftly entering the grass with a swish, I felt utterly deflated.

“Are you in your right mind? How could you follow me here, knowing this place?”

“…”

“If the marquis finds out you left the mansion and came all the way here, what are you going to do…Cough!”

As I continued speaking, a cough burst out. I covered my mouth and hunched over, feeling muscle pain spreading throughout my entire body and a sensation of my arms and legs going limp. It was as painful as having caught a terrible case of the flu.

‘Did I ride for too long?’

No, no matter what, I didn’t ride long enough to be in this much pain…

‘No way.’

Not believing it, I looked down at the hand I had used to cover my mouth.

My hand was completely stained bright red.