He closed his eyes again, tired of the continuous nightmares. But not long after, he woke up from the dream as if struggling.

“Haa, haa.”

He had been leaning on the bow of the speedboat until just now, searching for a stranded ship.

〈He left at dawn. He’s a famous scammer at the port, and sometimes outsiders unknowingly follow him aboard.〉

Next to him, the assistant couldn’t bear the angry gaze and lowered his eyes.

The man suppressed his anger without a target and opened his mouth.

〈The route is.〉

〈According to the sailors, there are often cases where wealthy fugitives are stripped and abandoned on uninhabited islands. For now, following the Marina Trench that leads to the northern strait is the most accurate search route. Of course, if it sank underwater after being stranded, we won’t be able to find it…〉

The other name for the Marina Trench was the Boatman’s Tomb.

It was a notorious strait where the weather changed dozens of times a day, and it was nicknamed because if a ship was wrecked, not a single corpse could be found and buried due to the deep water depth.

〈We will do our best to find her, but you must also consider the worst case.〉

The worst case he was referring to meant that the ferry Diana was on had sunk under the sea.

Watching this scene, Raoul glared at the man with fierce eyes and then turned his head towards the vast ocean.

He couldn’t strangle this guy or throw him into the sea now that he had no physical strength.

He had tried several times, but it just passed through his body.

He truly hated this man.

The man wearing his mask was a pathetic and insect-like being.

Not only did he impregnate Diana and join the rebels, but he only found out about the pregnancy months after receiving the title.

The man next to him unfolded a worn-out letter, and the paper fluttered in the sea breeze, making a sharp sound.

Raoul frowned irritably and clenched his teeth tightly.

The man, who had belatedly learned to read and write to keep a military journal during the expedition, read the letters at a slower pace than others.

Kind Diana didn’t write a single word blaming him even while running away.

Of course, she also kept the news of the baby a secret.

On a letter filled with regret for a lifetime, there was only an apology for the last night spent together and gratitude for being happy to meet him.

Tears of remorse flowed down the man’s cheeks. Raoul glared at the man with a contemptuous gaze.

With what shame are you shedding tears?

Are you regretting it now?

After making her bear it alone all this time, after inflicting countless wounds, and now?

He must have secretly wanted to find Diana again.

Even while denying and denying the love he couldn’t admit to himself, he must have turned a blind eye to the sinister feelings rising inside, thinking it was just forced imprinting.

But the moment he read the letter, he must have realized.

The small hand that greeted from behind the stone pillar, the pupils that wandered while watching the situation, the burdensome gifts were all pure affection.

He belatedly searched for survivors and tracked Diana’s whereabouts.

Biche, who had been living quietly while cultivating the barren land of the frontier, informed Raoul, his old friend and enemy, of the truth in a somewhat cold tone.

〈What did you just say…? She was pregnant?〉

〈Yes. That’s right, Duke. The young lady fled like a criminal with a full-term body.〉

Even with the sarcastic tone, he seemed to have no sense to point it out.

〈Did the duke persecute her? Is that why she fled?〉

〈There’s no way. The duke kept the young lady’s pregnancy a strict secret. But…〉

〈But what?〉

〈But there was a condition that the child had to be aborted. If the child was born, the fact that she had a relationship with a slave of another race would be revealed. The duke couldn’t make the young lady a slave. It was the natural choice.〉

The shocked man couldn’t do anything from then on. He only immersed himself in finding Diana.

Raoul looked down at the mountainous body sprawled on the floor and felt the urge to kill several times.

It was as if he could still taste blood in his tightly bitten mouth.

Perhaps because he had just woken up from wandering in the illusion of the past, he was still dazed.

But something was strange.

Why do I see the same ceiling again?

This was rare.

He stared at his right arm, which had felt heavy for a while.

The fur that curled up and tickled his chin felt oddly irritating, and it was this woman again.

Come to think of it, Diana had said that.

Don’t go to Ayla.

In the memories that intruded randomly without order, Diana cried and pleaded.

〈I understand your heart… She’s too perfect and amazing even in my eyes. But this is a matter of life and death… What’s the use of love if you die?〉

In Diana’s hand was a letter with the date of escape and medicine she had brought to give him.

It seemed that she had tried to hide it in the drawer as if it were not new, and discovered the letter.

〈I told you not to enter my room without permission.〉

Raoul felt dizziness and a headache at the heartless face that came to mind again.

Come to think of it, the throbbing pain in his abdomen and the nausea were all a sense of reality he had never felt before.

It’s not a dream.

As soon as he opened his heavy eyelids, he hardened his expression like a stone.

His hand that had risen over his abdomen unconsciously rubbed his own scar.

Unpleasant sensation.

He warned in a low voice like a well-sharpened knife.

“If you don’t want to die, get out of the way.”

The long eyelashes trembled at the creepy voice. The gently lowered eyelids slowly rose, and the bright golden eyes were gradually revealed.

The fully illuminated pupils contained a rich light that could bloom flowers with a single glance, but Raoul found all these actions that only felt slow to be annoying.

Ayla stared at Raoul as if possessed, and suddenly reached out and let out an innocent voice.

“Raoul! Are you conscious now? I was worried… You slept for too long.”

The moment the beautiful fingers touched his shoulder, Raoul pulled out his arm and abruptly sat up.

“What month and date is it today?”

It seemed that a considerable amount of time had passed.

When Raoul asked while looking for clothes, Ayla looked down at her rejected hand and answered in a dazed manner.

“…It’s September 12th, 726 in the Imperial calendar. You were asleep for a whole month. Thanks to that, you recovered quickly.”

“A whole month?”

It was much longer than he thought. He spotted the newspaper placed by the bedside and hurriedly picked it up.

“Ah, don’t look. They drew your face strangely.”

“…”

“I’ve thought this for a long time, but the illustrator’s skills are a mess.”

Raoul froze like a statue, holding the newspaper.

The illustrator hired by the war correspondent had freely exaggerated the situation and depicted the two as lovers.

The scene of Ayla laying Raoul’s face on her lap and shedding tears looked as tragic as Romeo and Juliet.

〈The face of the hero hidden behind the mask, exclusively revealed!〉

〈Testimonies of the surviving soldiers, is the identity of the woman an angelic girl who descended from the sky?〉

〈Who is the hero’s lover? Uncovering the slave-born knight!〉

To make matters worse, the forget-me-not handkerchief on his arm was clearly visible at a good angle.

Ayla naturally leaned her cheek on the arm of the surprised Raoul.

“It’s a bit embarrassing. We’re not in a deep relationship yet.”

Raoul quickly got out of bed, disgusted by the unfamiliar warmth on his bare skin.

“Don’t touch my body.”

The surprised Ayla blushed and protested.

“D-don’t touch you? What do you mean by that?”

“I mean it literally. Don’t approach me without permission.”

Raoul coldly said, picking up the tunic top hung on the chair. As he spread the clothes and raised his arms, his chest muscles as solid as a rock rose up.

The scars left haphazardly on his stomach added a wild charm, possessing a strange power that made the onlooker turn their gaze away.

Ayla replied, blushing up to her ears like a thief caught red-handed.

“Don’t misunderstand. It’s just a medical act.”

“Medical act? You think crawling into someone else’s bed is a medical act?”

Ayla abruptly got up from the bed, put on her robe, and said primly.

“Is this how you treat your savior? How ungrateful. My divine power is more effective with skin-to-skin contact. I’m sorry for inevitably sleeping with you to break the curse. But I definitely didn’t do anything bad. Why would I want to?”

Ayla glared at Raoul, her face flushed with shame.

But the answer that came back was even more problematic.

The large hand that was putting his foot into the military boot suddenly stopped.

“What do you mean by breaking the curse for me.”

Raoul stared at Ayla with shaking eyes.

Ayla, who thought she would receive a kiss of gratitude, took a step back towards the entrance of the tent, visibly startled by his stiff expression.

Why is he angry?

She spoke in a slightly trembling voice, not hiding her bewilderment.

“I stayed by your side for a month and infused you with divine power. Thanks to that, you are now free.”

“…”

“Why, why do you think your neck is fine?”

Ayla asked, stroking her long, thin neck.

As Raoul followed and touched his own spotless skin, his eyebrows that had been flat shot up like an active volcano.

At this rate, even if he returned to the ducal castle, it was obvious that he would be treated as a double agent.