“Is the Duke crying right now?”

“Or is he laughing?”

“It looks like he’s crying, doesn’t it?”

Lucy and Luid couldn’t tell whether Sikar was crying or laughing. It seemed like he was laughing while crying, which was confusing.

“Was he startled, thinking we were going to die?”

When Luid asked hesitantly, Lucy shook her head vigorously, as if that were impossible.

“No way. The Duke? He doesn’t even like us. That’s absolutely not it.”

“Well, that’s true.”

“Right? That’s why I won’t bother liking the Duke either.”

All this time, Yura had tried not to scold Lucy and Luid for being rude to Sikar, since they weren’t her children.

She thought that since the kids were still young and Sikar was an adult, he should be more understanding.

But now, Yura realized she had been gravely mistaken.

“Lucy, what kind of way is that to talk to the Duke?”

Seeing Yura approach, Lucy, who had been smiling brightly in delight, shrank back at Yura’s stern expression, which she had never seen before.

“Huh?”

“Calling the Duke ‘Satan’ before was already too much. You know that, don’t you?”

Of course, Lucy knew. She had done it on purpose.

“But the Duke didn’t even reprimand you for such rude behavior and let it slide. You’re not unaware of that, are you?”

“Yes…”

“If the Duke truly hated or disliked you, do you think he would have just let it go like that?”

Only then did Lucy and Luid realize how wrong they had been. Lucy answered in a subdued voice.

“No… I don’t.”

“Just now, the Duke was about to rush into the flames, thinking you two were in danger.”

Though her brow wasn’t furrowed, Yura was more intimidating than ever.

The twins couldn’t believe that the Duke would have jumped into the flames for their sake.

Yura could tell that the children didn’t believe her.

“If you don’t believe me, go outside right now and see the Duke for yourself. His face and hands are all covered in soot. And if I’m right, you must apologize to him.”

As the twins stood there, unsure of what to do, Yura’s voice grew even firmer.

“Now!”

At Yura’s sharp command, the twins immediately ran outside.

Seo Yeon, who had been watching, approached Yura, who let out a deep sigh.

“We’ve been too lenient with the kids because they’re young. You did well, Duchess.”

It wasn’t the day for Yura to want to scold the twins, so she didn’t feel at ease. All she could do was sigh.

Seo Yeon, understanding her feelings better than anyone, gently patted Yura’s hand.

The twins pushed each other to go first but cautiously approached Sikar. Sikar, who had his head lowered, looked at them quietly.

“What’s the matter?”

Lucy glanced around nervously, then lowered her head slightly, feeling sorry, and spoke.

“Um, Duke… I’m sorry for being rude before.”

“I… I’m sorry for not stopping my sister from being rude.”

As the children stood there, unsure and apologetic, Sikar stood up abruptly and walked toward the twins.

His expression was so dark that the twins grew scared, exchanging glances.

They hesitated, wondering if they should back away or flee, when Sikar approached and placed a hand on each of their heads.

His touch was icy, likely due to a curse. But since the ducal residence was hot from the flames, it felt refreshingly cool to the twins.

“I’m glad you’re safe. I didn’t get to say that earlier.”

Sikar patted their shoulders a few more times before calmly walking away.

It was strange. His touch was clearly cold, yet it felt warm.

The twins each touched their heads where Sikar had patted them.

The sensation was definitely cold, yet it felt warm.

Only then did they realize that the warmth they felt wasn’t from Sikar’s hand on their heads but in their hearts.

Among the paths the prison cart carrying the condemned passed through was a bridge over a river.

Reidox’s group had already set up booby traps on the bridge in preparation for the cart’s passage. The plan was to switch the cart with a prepared one as soon as the bridge collapsed.

Jeremi, newly transformed, circled above the bridge, waiting for the cart.

Soon, dozens of the king’s guards, led by mounted knights, approached the bridge with the prison cart.

The booby traps were designed to react only to the cart’s wheels, not to people or horses passing by.

Boom! Crash!

The traps activated, and the bridge collapsed in an instant.

“Hold your positions!”

“Protect the prison cart with the condemned!”

The commander in charge of the escort shouted. But with the bridge collapsing suddenly, the guards were helpless.

The leading guards flattened themselves at the sudden explosion, while those following were blinded by thick smoke.

“What’s happening?”

“What’s going on?”

“The bridge exploded!”

“The prison cart is floating down the river!”

Voices echoed through the thick dust, indistinguishable in the chaos.

Some guards, caught in the river with the bridge’s collapse, swam toward land in panic, while others swam to catch the cart floating away.

Whenever a guard got close to the cart, Jeremi created waves to obscure their vision.

“The horses pulling the cart will head downstream, so move down the river!”

The guards, following the commander’s orders, rushed toward where the cart would drift.

Only after confirming the guards were no longer chasing the cart did Jeremi leave the scene.

Reidox, waiting beyond the river, grabbed the reins of the horses pulling the drifting cart.

It wasn’t easy to redirect the horses, which kept trying to follow the downstream current.

The water’s flow made it hard to breathe without swallowing a mouthful of water.

But with all their strength, they had to turn the horses’ heads. Fortunately, Jeremi appeared just in time.

Jeremi dove into the water and grabbed one of the reins. The two men, each holding a rein, pulled upstream.

Roen had prepared a decoy cart at a point where the river met the shore.

As time passed, the guards began to spot the prison cart from a distance.

By the time they realized there was no one inside, Reidox’s group had already left the riverbank.

Reidox led the prison cart toward the snowy mountains.

If the guards caught up or any of their group were discovered, they planned to retreat to the mountains as Sikar had instructed.

Reidox stopped the cart in the middle of the mountain range. The two men got off, waiting for Roen and the Duke.

As soon as he got off, Jeremi remembered they hadn’t removed the hood from the princess.

“I forgot. We should take the hood off the princess.”

“What, she’s still wearing it?”

“Yeah.”

Reidox glared at Jeremi, exasperated.

“Jeremi, you should’ve taken it off earlier.”

“You know we were too busy back there.”

“Well, we should do it now.”

“Yeah, go take it off.”

“Go do it yourself.”

Normally, Reidox would have volunteered, but Jeremi knew why he was passing it off. Removing Princess Veronia’s hood wasn’t an easy task. It was just as hard for Jeremi.

But, as always, Reidox, helpless against Jeremi’s insistence, sighed and entered the cart.

Seeing the princess in tattered clothes, sitting slumped in the dark cart, Reidox felt a pang of sympathy.

“I’m sorry for startling you, Your Highness. If I may, I’ll remove the hood.”

Reidox carefully removed the hood covering the princess’s face.

As the hood came off, a woman with bright blonde hair and blue eyes appeared. Reidox, meeting her gaze, quickly lowered his eyes in apology.

“I’m sorry, Princess. That was rude.”

But the princess didn’t say a word. Her brief glance seemed so desolate that Reidox didn’t say anything more.

“Please wait a moment. We’ll prepare to escort you safely soon.”

As Reidox stepped out of the cart, Jeremi rushed over, bombarding him with questions.

“How does the princess look? Is she hurt? Was she startled?”

Reidox pushed Jeremi away, annoyed by his clinginess.

“If you’re so curious, you should’ve gone in yourself.”

“I was going to, but you were already there, so why bother?”

Reidox knew Jeremi would be shameless about it. Frowning, he answered all of Jeremi’s questions.

“Fortunately, the princess is safe, uninjured, and even if she were, she’s royalty and can heal herself. She didn’t seem startled either.”

“I see. Even in this situation, she hasn’t lost her dignity.”

“The only thing that bothers me is that she didn’t say a word.”

“Maybe she was tortured or something?”

“Well, since she’s not talking, there’s no way to know.”

Their conversation trailed off, as if they were too exhausted and hungry to continue.

Jeremi, transforming again to scout the surroundings and check on the group, spotted Roen and returned.

“Roen’s coming.”

“She’s faster than I expected. That’s a relief.”

“But she’s empty-handed. Now we just need the Duke.”

Feeling the mission was nearly complete, Jeremi let out a sigh of relief.

That was, until Sikar arrived and said something unimaginable.