“Judging by your reaction, you’ve never heard of it.”

Eilio smiles bitterly. For the first time, his face shows sadness and heartbreak. If he was faking it, he was quite good at it.

“Yes……. There is no way he would confess his sins.”

“…….”

“That bloodless, tearless fiend.”

For a moment, Christa cringed and her teeth clenched.

“That’s not true.”

She stammered in Ragnar’s defense, but she knew nothing more about this situation than that.

Then Eilio nodded and said lazily.

“I understand if you do not believe. He must have tricked you with all sorts of platitudes, and his eloquence is well known.”

“B, but…….”

“You’ve heard the rumors of his promiscuity; he has many women, and if you’ll excuse me, you’re just one of them, and I’m sure he’s been good to you, as if he’d have his liver and gallbladder removed for you.”

His voice could not have been calmer. Even so, there was a tingling in the pit of her stomach because there was so much truth in it.

“But that’s just his mask. He hides his ugly self beneath the mask, and it would take an elaborate mask to conceal his promiscuity and filth.”

Christa blinked her eyelids slowly.

“Yudina and I were in love, and we knew our hearts were in the right place from a very young age. Our marriage was short, but we were truly happy.”

Eilio’s voice trailed off and he slammed his fist down on the table. The teacups rattled and rippled.

“Yes, we would still be happy if he hadn’t interfered, and Yudina, she would be the most noble lady in the empire right now.”

He stared off into the distance, as if reminiscing about the past, and I could see the wistfulness in his eyes.

“Why do you think I haven’t married for so long? Why do you think I have left the position of consort vacant, even with my status as crown prince.”

“Ah…… that…….”

Christa didn’t know what else to say. Everything was confusing.

“Because I haven’t forgotten the woman who holds a place in my heart.”

His eyes held a different emotion than his usual viciousness.

“Yes, Ragnar was always against us. Ever since his sister and I married, he’s been wary of the decline of their authority in the north, including mine, and he’s been growing his own power, aiming for the center.”

Christa had nothing more to add. This was a far cry from his usual aggressive demeanor, and she had never seen him so emotional before.

“I’m……. I will admit that my offer of the mistress position to you was in fact an act of greed. I’m sure I’ve been rude to you.”

He held out his hand respectfully to Christa. She hesitated, then wrapped her hand around it.

Slowly, he picked up the ring on the table and slipped it onto her left ring finger.

“I just wanted to get revenge by taking you away from the man who murdered someone I cared about in the first place.”

“Ah…….”

“But it’s different now.”

He moves his hand slowly, slipping the ring between her fingers. She instinctively recoiled and tried to pull her hand away, but somehow it wasn’t easy.

His voice was quite sticky against her ear.

“Now I’m interested in you, too.”

Slowly, he kissed the back of her hand. The warmth of his skin felt like a brand on an animal. Coincidentally, it was on the back of her hand.

His lips were hot where they touched. It became even harder to pull away from him.

“Besides, it’s not a bad offer for you, either.”

“You mean ……the Riverhead Wetlands?”

She wasn’t interested in the reward he’d once promised her; for her, material possessions were one thing, but nothing more.

Moreover, it was a disputed piece of land. To her, it would be more trouble than it was worth, unless Baron Palmaril is not involved.

But Eilio shook his head.

“No, it’s more important than that land.”

“It’s…….”

“What I can promise you is your safety.”

“What?”

For a moment, his green eyes flashed like a finely crafted gem.

“The Baron and Baroness Palmaril told me you are barren.”

Christa hung her head.

“I doubt Ragnar’s loyal servants would leave you alone if that fact became known.”

“…….”

Christa fell silent, unsure of what to say.

“The High Lord of the North taking as his wife a barren maiden who can’t even produce an heir, that sounds very strange indeed. Why on earth would Ragnar marry such a woman?”

Christa wanted to cover her ears, but Eilio’s words were truly true, and that had always been the most troubling part of her mind.

“How long do you think you can hold on to that position?”

“…….”

There was no way Eilio knew about their contract marriage. But he was getting to the point.

“A divorce would be the most humane thing to do, but the barbarians of the north are fierce. It is unlikely they would tolerate a woman who deceived their lord. Sudden illness or accident. And eventually, death from any of those causes…….”

“…….”

As a member of the same knightly order as Ragnar, you knew his men well, and it was no exaggeration to say that some of them were loyal enough to give their lives for him.

Eilio’s reasoning was sound. How would they react if they realized their lord had been tricked into marrying a barren maiden? It would be anything but moderate.

She wasn’t afraid. But it was painful to realize that what Eilio had said was so close to the truth.

“Ragnar is…….”

He said it didn’t matter when she signed the contract. But was that really true?

She wondered if the reason he’d said it was because there was an end to this relationship?

“He probably told you that he didn’t need children, am I wrong?”

“H, how do you know that…….”

Christa was shaken by Elio’s words; he read her mind as if he knew everything.

“No one knows him better than I do. He may be a doting husband on the outside, but he is a cold-hearted man who has never cared about anyone.”

When Ragnar first told her the story, she thought it was just a lie to cover up the situation, but what if it was all true now?

“But…….”

“Why do you think he’s been with so many women and none of them are around now? Was it to preserve his chastity with you, whom he suddenly married? No, it was because he used women as nothing more than tools to heat his bed.”

“…….”

Ragnar’s reputation, if she knew it at all, was terrible. He was a man who loved to play and was full of nasty rumors. It was unpleasant to hear it from Eilio. Her stomach churned and boiled loudly.

“He married you because you were his most convenient tool. A woman who can’t produce an heir is convenient, and a woman with no ability to bear children is the best to play with.”

“…….”

“Think about it, do you really think he would want a child from a woman of a baron family like you, barren with no dowry and a family that is burdened with debt?”

Christa’s face was now as white as plaster. It was enough to make her shudder to hear Elio say what she had feared most, what she had guarded against, and what she had worked so hard to deny.

She could feel the ground crumbling beneath her feet. The world around her spun in a dizzying fall.

‘But now…….’

Christa clenched her teeth and balled her fists. She had a duty to defend him.

“R, Ragnar is not like that.”

Eilio’s eyes narrowed slightly.

“We are……. married because we love each other.”

She had to try to keep her voice from shaking. Once the words were out of her mouth, it dawned on her: a loving contract marriage.

She couldn’t bear the thought that she was lying to herself. But for now, that was the only way to answer.

Hearing that, Eilio immediately burst out laughing. What could be so funny?

“Did you just say love, to that Ragnar Argonod?”

He laughed for a while longer.

Christa bit her lower lip in disbelief. It was indeed miserable to hear the words she least wanted to hear from the person she least wanted to hear it from.

“I’ve told you that before.”

His eyes narrowed.

“He’ll never be able to love someone.”

How could he sound so certain?

“Maybe he’s pretending to be something like that now, but at his core, he’s a murderer in a terrible mask.”

“…….”

“Love, that’s the last emotion I’d associate with him.”

He shook his head and shrugged. Christa couldn’t think of anything to say in response to that, so she dampened her dry lips with her tongue anxiously.

Love was the only word she could think of to describe what she felt for Ragnar.

But she could not know what he felt for her. Nor did she want to think about it. The truth is always cruel, and it would be so miserable and terrible to know, so she turned away.

It had been so much fun to deceive herself and drown in sweet honey. But it was time to wake up from that dream.

It was clear what Ragnar thought of her. He was a kind and sensitive man, so perhaps he was pitying her, sympathizing with her plight.

Pity, mercy, or perhaps, as Eilio had said, he simply needed warmth for his bed.

The thought that the latter might be better was so devastating that it made her laugh bitterly.

“Well, fine. If you don’t believe me, why don’t you go back and check with him?”

“What, what…… do you mean?”

“This story you just heard.”

At that moment, the sound of raindrops fell outside the window, and the weather, which had been so sunny during the day, quickly turned cloudy and heavy. There was a strange look in Eilio’s eyes.

“Ask him how he killed his sister. Now that you’re married to him, you deserve to know his true intentions.”

* * *

Ragnar gathered his knights to set out for Varus. Thirty men led the horses.

The gates of the Second Wall opened. The rain fell steadily, soaking through their armor and cloaks. The men inspected their equipment with grim faces. Ragnar was in the lead.

“This could be the start of a political dispute.”

He said to the knights behind him.

“We will follow the Duke at all costs!”

The northern knights stiffened and shouted, “We will follow the Duke at all costs!” That’s when they heard it.

“D, Duke! There!”

There was a carriage coming toward them from a distance. It was a carriage, racing through the mud of the rain, heading straight for the second gate.

“Stop!”

Captain Olaf raised the Morning Star at his waist. The coachman, frightened by such a big man’s threat, quickly halted his horse and raised his hand.