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She frantically scanned her surroundings, only to be pulled back into the carriage just as quickly.

At the same time, a sharp shout erupted from a man.

“Run!”

It was a familiar voice.

The only special student at the boarding school.

…And the one who had escaped and destroyed the school himself.

“Ah.”

Dante gritted his teeth.

“So the one behind all this… is that brat from Kalleid.”

His icy blue eyes were filled with hostility as he glared at Dante.

Lucian extended his hand toward Dante, and Dante could feel the air around him begin to distort.

The powerful ability that only the direct line of Kalleid could manifest was at Lucian’s fingertips.

Boom!

An explosion rang out.

Neighhh!

The horse pulling Dante’s carriage screamed and thrashed wildly.

“What the hell is wrong with this thing?!”

The coachman frantically grabbed the reins, but the panicked horse refused to move any further.

Meanwhile, the carriage carrying Lucian and his group was rapidly putting distance between them.

Dante’s eyes narrowed sharply.

“We’ll have to abandon the carriage.”

He muttered under his breath, gripping his gun tightly as he leapt from the carriage.

“My lord!”

Liam shouted in alarm.

It was a dangerous move, but Dante expertly rolled on the ground to soften the impact and sprang to his feet.

He aimed his gun with steady hands.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Lucian, who had been shouting something to his group inside the carriage, suddenly stumbled.

Blood splattered from his shoulder.

“Ah, what a shame.”

Dante, watching closely, twisted his lips into a wicked grin.

“I was hoping to blow his head off.”

His whole body burned with the desire to chase after Elze.

‘You will never escape from me.’

If someone else tried to take her from him, he would rather break her ankles himself.

He would strangle that delicate neck, even if it meant ending her life.

He would completely own her, no matter the cost!

That destructive impulse surged through his entire being.

But.

“…”

Dante, who had been tensing his muscles to act, hesitated for a moment.

The expression on Elze’s face from earlier.

That look of relief, the way she turned her back on him without a hint of regret…

‘Is this really what I should be doing? Chasing after her?’

During her time at the mansion, Dante had watched as the life seemed to drain out of Elze day by day.

Like a rose withering without water.

At the same time, a question he had been trying to ignore began to creep into his mind.

‘Wouldn’t it be better for Elze… if I wasn’t around?’

‘What if my very presence… is slowly killing her?’

Dante clenched his teeth.

He was confused.

At this point, he almost wanted to scrape every memory of Elze from his mind, to rid himself of these suffocating feelings that strangled him.

If he could discard these overwhelming emotions that choked him…

…Would he finally be free?

“My lord.”

Liam, who had finally gotten off the carriage, called out to Dante.

“Shall I summon the men?”

“…”

But Dante remained silent.

Liam, puzzled, called out again.

“My lord?”

“…”

After a long silence, Dante finally spoke in a heavy voice.

“…Let it be for now.”

“Excuse me?”

Liam couldn’t believe his ears.

But Dante didn’t seem interested in explaining further.

After chewing on his lip for a while, Dante let out a long sigh.

“Anyway, the situation’s already blown up. Let’s deal with that first.”

Why on earth is the marquis acting like this?

Liam had expected Dante to fly into a rage, like a mad beast, ready to tear everything apart.

Cautiously, Liam asked.

“What about the punishment for the men involved?”

The fact that the safe house had been breached was a serious issue.

And on top of that, losing Elze…

‘The guards stationed this time… they’ll likely all be thrown into the middle of the ocean,’ Liam thought grimly.

But to Liam’s surprise, Dante, who seemed to be contemplating for a moment, shook his head.

“Forget it.”

…Has he completely lost it?

It was a rather disrespectful thought to have about his long-time master, but Liam was genuinely starting to think so.

Dante furrowed his brow and continued.

“The intruder was that brat from Kalleid.”

“…My lord.”

“Those incompetent fools probably couldn’t handle it anyway.”

Since when had Dante been this level-headed?

Liam was now thoroughly confused.

“And even if we deal with those men later,” Dante muttered as he ran a rough hand through his disheveled hair, “if she ever found out… she might hate it.”

Ah.

In that moment, Liam fully understood Dante’s strange behavior.

It was clear that Lady Elze still had Dante wrapped around her finger.

“Gather all the guards who were stationed at the mansion,” Dante commanded, his voice cold and calm. “I need a detailed report on this intrusion.”

Watching Dante’s composed demeanor, Liam couldn’t help but feel a small sense of relief.

It had been a long time since he’d seen Dante so clear-headed.

It almost felt like they’d gone back three years, right before Elze left.

“Yes, sir!”

Liam responded in an unusually loud voice.

* * *

Our group split up along the way.

[We’ve shaken off the pursuit for now, but… just to be safe.]

Benedict had switched to another carriage mid-journey to throw off any trackers, heading in a different direction.

Meanwhile, Lucian, Marguerite, and I headed for a prepared safe house.

“Hah, hah… ugh.”

Lucian panted heavily, clearly feverish from his wound.

“Lucian, are you alright?!”

Marguerite stayed close to him, gently calming him to prevent him from losing control.

Soon, the carriage, winding its way through the forest, came to a stop in front of a secluded safe house deep in the mountains.

“Oh dear, Your Grace!”

“What in the world happened?”

The servants who had been waiting at the safe house rushed out.

“Get a doctor!”

“The Duke is seriously injured!”

Chaos immediately erupted within the safe house.

At that moment, as Lucian was being carried into the bedroom, he weakly turned his head toward me.

“Lady…”

His voice was faint, like it could vanish at any second.

“Come… closer.”

The servants turned to look at me, their eyes full of hostility.

I stiffened in response.

“…”

I was used to this kind of animosity, but just because I was familiar with it didn’t mean it didn’t hurt.

“Did the Duke get hurt because of that woman?”

“Shh, be careful what you say. What if she hears you?”

“But still…!”

As much as I hated to admit it, they were right.

Even though I hadn’t asked for Lucian to come and save me, and I had tried to refuse out of concern for a conflict between Kalleid and Offenheir…

The fact remained that Lucian had been injured while trying to rescue me.

‘If it weren’t for me, Lucian wouldn’t have gotten hurt.’

I bit my lip hard and tried to ignore the stares as I approached Lucian.

“What is it, Your Grace?”

A faint smile spread across Lucian’s face.

“Stay… by my side.”

The moment he finished speaking, his eyes fluttered shut.

The servants grew even more frantic.

“Quick, get the Duke to bed!”

“Be careful not to aggravate the wound!”

Lucian’s face was as pale as a sheet as he was laid on the bed.

Moments later, the doctor arrived in a hurry and inspected his wound.

“Bring hot water! And clean white cloths! Hurry up!”

Under the doctor’s orders, the servants scrambled into action.

Marguerite sat by Lucian’s side, holding his hand tightly to calm him.

In the midst of it all, several servants cast grateful and admiring looks toward Marguerite.

“If it weren’t for Lady Marguerite, who knows what would’ve happened to the Duke…”

“She’s truly the Duke’s savior.”

Meanwhile, I felt like I had become invisible.

Honestly, I wanted to leave immediately.

[Stay… by my side.]

Lucian’s fading whisper echoed in my ears, making it hard to walk away.

“Is there anything I can do to help?”

Summoning my courage, I cautiously approached the doctor and asked.

But the doctor simply glanced at me from head to toe, then waved me away with a dismissive hand.

“The best way you can help, Lady, is by not getting in the way. Please step aside.”