Even as he held the warmth of her small body in his arms, his heart pounded anxiously.
The more it did, the tighter Eren clung to Liselotte as if she were his lifeline.
Even though she was clearly right there in front of him, the unease didn’t fade.
Liselotte, awkwardly wrapping her arms around his broad back, asked in confusion.
“Eren, your heart is beating really fast.”
“It is nothing. Just for a moment.”
For some reason, breathing felt difficult.
The end of each deep exhale trembled.
Eren buried his face against the back of Liselotte’s neck and quietly asked for her understanding.
“Please stay like this.”
He needed the sound of their hearts beating out of sync. It was the most direct proof that she was alive.
The brief moment it took to open the carriage door had felt like terror itself.
What if the light had gone out of her eyes. What if she would no longer look at him.
Just as countless possibilities flooded his mind.
He realized it upon seeing her bewildered face.
‘Ah, right. I cannot live without Liselotte.’
He liked her, fragile enough that she seemed unable to survive alone outside in the harsh North.
Even while pretending to be cool-headed, she was warm-hearted, smiling as she proudly introduced him as “my husband”—and before he knew it, he had come to like her.
Eren recalled the words of the former Grand Duchess.
“Unfortunately, we nomads accept only one partner in our lifetime. Even if you want to love someone else, it doesn’t go as you wish.”
“Hm… when the time comes, you will realize it instinctively. Even if no one tells you.”
So this was love.
The moment he acknowledged it, the senses that had been frighteningly sensitive until now no longer felt uncomfortable.
Liselotte’s small movements and her surroundings were still vividly conveyed, but instead, it felt comforting.
It seemed to be senses meant to instinctively protect one’s partner.
Knowing that he could rush to her side at any moment made him feel reassured.
‘Maybe this is fortunate.’
To have taken as his partner someone who didn’t fear or loathe him—couldn’t that be called good luck?
They were even already married.
The fact that she was unmistakably his wife, someone who couldn’t go anywhere, felt deeply, achingly good.
He had thought his life was far from fortunate.
Yet now it felt as though he had endured all the hardships until this day for this very moment.
Perhaps because the stench of blood clung to him, Liselotte sucked in a breath, her body shuddering as she trembled.
Eren gently rubbed his cheek against the back of her neck.
“E-Eren… um…”
Now that he had acknowledged it, even her flustered voice sounded sweet.
Like something spiraling out of control, it was hard to stop.
He bared his teeth and gently bit the back of her neck without hurting her.
It was an impulse that had been building for a long time.
As Eren stepped deeper into the carriage, the seated Liselotte was pushed backward.
“All the assassins have died, so you can rest easy.”
“No, that is not what I mean…”
“I will increase our escort from now on. I will ask the Tower Master to provide more protective magic stones.”
Worried that she might be frightened and run away, Eren explained while nuzzling at the back of her neck.
Liselotte’s ears flushed red.
“No, not that…”
“I should have kept them alive to dig up the one behind it, but that was my mistake. I can predict who it is, so I will…”
“That’s not it!”
Thrust, Liselotte pushed his shoulder away.
Facing Eren, who was immediately pushed back by that weak force, she shouted, her face red and fuming.
“We are going to be late for the trial! Hurry and get the carriage moving!”
***
The courtroom.
The presiding official, seeing Hedmilton sitting alone at the plaintiff’s bench, asked the clerk.
“Plaintiff’s side. Do we have a request to change the hearing date?”
“No, we do not.”
The clerk flipped through the documents a few times, then shook his head.
Blinking, Hedmilton insisted earnestly, in a tone that didn’t seem apologetic at all.
“I apologize, Presiding Official. Her Highness is on the way. Please wait just a little longer.”
“Are you certain?”
“I am certain. Probably.”
“Do those two sentences not contradict each other?”
The second hearing had begun, yet for some reason, the plaintiff’s representative was absent.
The presiding official openly revealed his bewilderment as he looked around.
With rumors having spread as far as they could, there were no seats left in the gallery, and spectators stood packed tightly together.
Some nobles seemed to have come fully prepared, even having servants bring in folding chairs.
Everyone whispered while staring at the empty plaintiff’s bench.
“Did they forget that today was the hearing date?”
“Is Her Highness the Grand Duchess really attending in person? If the Magic Tower Master is attending, he might suddenly appear from somewhere.”
“Could it be that they withdrew midway because things were unfavorable?”
Under normal circumstances, he would have announced the absence without hesitation and postponed the hearing.
But with so many eyes watching, and with so many recent bad rumors surrounding House Gloria, the presiding official felt uneasy about proceeding rashly.
‘I have no desire to side with those mage bastards.’
By nature, mages and magic scholars could never get along.
Mages placed greater importance on practical combat and regarded theory as nothing more than a reference.
On the other hand, scholars saw theory as the very foundation of all magic.
How could someone who didn’t know addition ever understand mathematics as a discipline? Yet mages occasionally managed to do just that.
To ignore the fundamentals. How brazen and infuriating that was.
‘But there are far too many people in the gallery glaring daggers.’
There weren’t just one or two people staring with blazing eyes, as if they might step in and argue the case on behalf of the plaintiff at any moment.
The presiding official cast a sideways glance over the defendant’s bench.
Miro, who had already finished organizing the evidence early on, also wore a flustered expression and kept turning around to glance toward the courtroom entrance.
‘It seems the defendant’s representative is just as clueless.’
Clearing his throat with a solemn cough, the presiding official raised his voice and announced.
“The Court will allow a five-minute delay. If the plaintiff or the plaintiff’s representative does not appear, we will set the next hearing date!”
By the time he finished deliberating, a full three minutes had already passed.
‘At this point, no one can fault me later.’
In any case, it was obvious at a glance that it would be difficult to proceed with the hearing today.
The presiding official waited without missing even the passage of the seconds on the stopwatch, and the moment five minutes had passed from the scheduled hearing time, he raised the gavel.
“This hearing is hereby postponed due to the plaintiff’s absence, and a new date will be set—”
“Wait! The plaintiff’s representative is present!”
Bang, the courtroom doors flew open.
The densely packed crowd shuffled and pushed aside to make a path.
When Eren, whose head stood a full one above the rest, entered, the people inhaled sharply all at once.
“I-Isn’t that blood?”
“My goodness. What on earth is this…?”
Ignoring their stares, Eren guided Liselotte to the plaintiff’s bench as if shielding her.
Hedmilton rushed over like a man saved, quickly moving to support her.
Letting out a breath, she cried out the moment she reached the plaintiff’s bench.
“My apologies, Presiding Official. We were delayed after being ambushed on the way to the court.”
Even as she spoke, Liselotte swallowed a sigh of relief internally.
If they had been even a little later, they would have missed their chance.
At the word “ambush,” the courtroom erupted into loud murmurs.
The presiding official frowned and asked.
“If it was an ambush, it may be considered a valid reason for tardiness, but do you have evidence?”
“Uh… would an assassin’s head count as evidence?”
Liselotte asked while deliberately blinking her eyes, feigning innocence.
The bodies had already been transported to the North long ago. If necessary, they could be brought back again using a teleportation magic stone, but they would hardly be a pleasant sight.
The presiding official grimaced and shook his head.
“…The plaintiff’s side will submit anything related to their delay in writing after the hearing.”
Her pink hair was thoroughly disheveled, her dress wrinkled and in disarray.
On top of that, there was Eren, reeking of the stench of blood from his clothes.
There was little room for doubt, so it seemed he was letting it pass.
In the meantime, Liselotte stole a glance at Miro’s reaction.
He couldn’t hide his surprise upon seeing Eren from the defendant’s bench.
Even the eyes that were usually hidden behind his glasses were clearly visible.
‘I thought they were sent by House Gloria. Do they not share information with their lawyer…?’
