~CHAPTER 88~
Lincia opened her eyes when she felt her body rocking.
The faint sound of hooves followed.
“You’re awake?”
A strange voice made Lincia lift her gaze toward the front.
A man in full armor sat there, his face hidden behind a helmet.
Even in the cramped space, he greeted her with stiff formality.
“I greet Your Highness.”
“I beg your pardon for offering only a brief greeting due to the circumstances.”
Lincia blinked.
Nothing made sense yet.
The purple curtains contrasted with the red saddle.
Her body swayed even though the carriage itself hardly moved.
Lincia realized she was not in her bedroom.
Her last memory ended at her bedroom.
Everything between that moment and arriving in this carriage was completely gone, as if cut clean away.
Her body still felt heavy and languid, likely because she had just woken up.
“They said incense for sleep was burned.”
“It’s harmless to the body, so you need not worry.”
Sleep incense?
Lincia wanted to speak, but her voice wouldn’t come out at all.
The man made a metallic sound as he moved closer and brought water to her lips.
She turned her head away, but he persisted until a smear of water touched her lips.
“You must be very thirsty.”
“…Remove it.”
Her voice cracked miserably as it escaped her lips.
The man obeyed at once.
Meanwhile, the carriage kept shaking as it moved toward an unknown destination.
When Lincia frowned, the knight pulled the curtain aside.
Thanks to the northern duchy’s early sunrise and sunset, even with the curtains drawn, all she could see was a dark forest.
“…Where are we going?”
“To the Capital.”
Her mind snapped back into clarity.
She had been talking to Yulias when she lost consciousness.
And the next moment was now.
“Stop.”
Lincia forced herself upright.
Her body was still too languid to move properly, but it wasn’t enough to stop her from acting.
“That is impossible.”
“His Majesty has given an order.”
Lincia grabbed the carriage door handle.
The knight seized her wrist, but when she pretended to wince, he panicked and loosened his grip.
“Stop the carriage!”
“Turn it around!”
Her shouting made the carriage noticeably slow down.
Lincia breathed heavily and looked around.
Anna.
“Where is my maid?”
“In another carriage.”
The carriage halted, and someone knocked lightly on the window.
Through the crack, she saw a white horse.
“I told you I should be riding with her.”
It was Tereo’s voice.
He was always insufferable, but hearing a familiar voice in a situation like this made her feel relieved.
“His Majesty did not grant permission for you to accompany Her Highness.”
The knight’s voice faded, and instead he jerked his chin in a quiet signal.
An unspoken permission to board.
But Tereo didn’t get on.
“We must wait anyway for His Majesty’s party to rejoin us.”
“Why not rest here for a while?”
He opened the carriage door, and a harsh wind rushed in at once.
When Lincia shrank back, Tereo handed her a cloak.
It wasn’t pleasant to the touch, but it was warm enough to use.
“Your Highness, would you step out for a moment?”
“It’s hardly weather for a stroll.”
Lincia took Tereo’s hand simply to get away from the faceless knight.
Her limbs still felt weak from the incense.
She couldn’t even understand how she had shouted the way she did earlier.
“Your Highness always manages to avoid the worst.”
“A pity the next-best option is usually still awful.”
Tereo supported her as she leaned into him, nearly collapsing.
She didn’t even have the strength to snap back at him.
When she glared at him, he let her go, and she steadied herself on her feet.
Far in the distance, she saw the duchy’s castle.
Torches were lit.
They must have realized she was missing.
Anxiety and the hope that Harvich would come for her mixed together.
Perhaps Tereo noticed that trace of hope on her face.
“What a sight.”
“If only you had taken my hand when I told you to leave the north.”
“You wouldn’t be humiliated like this now.”
Such confidence.
Lincia shot him a sour look.
“Back when we first met in the north, and even recently in your bedroom.”
“You made it very clear you prefer anyone over me.”
“If you know, why ask?”
“Which is why His Majesty kidnapped you today.”
Tereo’s tone was mocking.
She was grateful he helped her escape the immediate discomfort, but Tereo had never been her best option.
Only the least terrible one.
“You knew?”
“That Yulias would come take me by force?”
Tereo stared at her, then frowned slightly.
“Your Highness knew as well.”
Lincia knew Yulias had been irrationally obsessed since discovering the pregnancy.
Obsessed not with her, but with the child.
“His Majesty has always wanted you where he can see you.”
“…You don’t know why he’s obsessed with me.”
Tereo laughed.
As if to say of course he knew.
“You’re his only family.”
He said it proudly, but he was wrong.
When Lincia didn’t answer, he continued.
“It’s funny, isn’t it?”
“He forced you into marriage, and now he’s pulling every trick to take you back.”
Well, what can you do.
A king’s orders were absolute.
Tereo shrugged.
Lincia felt a chill run down her spine at his words.
She was about to say nothing more, until—
“…Are you saying Yulias might have interfered with what happened at the duchy’s castle?”
“No idea.”
“But knowing His Majesty, he certainly wouldn’t be above it.”
“He’s desperate for any reason to force a divorce.”
Lincia’s expression hardened.
Tereo removed his coat and draped it over her shoulders.
She grimaced and slapped his hand away.
“Stop it.”
“I’m not cold.”
His coat fell to the ground.
Tereo bent down, picked it up, and lowered his voice.
“Your Highness returning to the Capital isn’t entirely bad for the north.”
He would resolve the northern crisis.
“But I still want you to be happy.”
He added quietly, then stepped in front of her.
With the carriage behind him, he bent down slightly.
“Let me help you.”
“Will you accept it?”
Lincia pressed her lips together.
She still did not trust him.
Tereo gently placed his thumb on her lower lip.
The touch was sudden.
Her lip, already red from biting it, stung under the pressure.
“Biting your lip won’t give you an answer.”
Before she could react, her lips parted slightly.
“I won’t charge anything for helping you.”
“Instead, let’s make a bet.”
“…”
“I’ll take you back to the duchy’s castle.”
He didn’t know every detail, but Yulias’s late arrival must mean he was arranging the divorce.
“And?”
“If the Grand Duke has given up on you and signed the divorce,”
“then you will leave with me and live somewhere neither in the north nor the palace.”
Lincia’s brow tightened.
The idea of living with him was not happiness at all.
“But if the Grand Duke refuses to divorce you,”
“then I’ll take you back to your bedroom.”
Her eyes trembled.
It was the most reasonable choice she could make right now.
“If you return me to my room, then what about you?”
Tereo blinked, surprised she would ask that.
Then he laughed softly.
“I’ve survived until now, haven’t I?”
“I’ll be fine.”
“…”
“Still, it feels nice that Your Highness worried about me.”
Tereo held her shoulders gently.
Then he guided her back toward the carriage.
“Please stay inside.”
