Among the nobility of Savaya, marriage was conducted in one of two ways.
The first was by imperial sanction. Two noble houses would inform the Emperor of their intent to unite, obtain his approval, and hold their wedding ceremony.
Selina and Morgan Patel had been the prime example of this. Had the engagement not been broken, it would have been a textbook union without the slightest complication.
“If only that fool hadn’t broken the engagement.”
The Emperor ground his teeth, recalling Morgan’s sheer stupidity.
The second way was to travel to a temple and exchange the Marriage Vow before a high-ranking priest.
“Issue an order to seal every temple where high-ranking priests reside at once.”
“Your will be done, Your Majesty.”
The moment Luce stepped out, the Emperor slammed both hands against the armrests of his chair.
“Let us see how long you two can hold out.”
“They have surely sealed all the temples by now.”
“The temple must be overjoyed these days. Ever since the public learned of the Dragon Power, their popularity has waned day by day. This incident will be their chance to seize the spotlight once more.”
Selina laughed softly at Will’s quip.
“Thanks to the fine idea young master Chase proposed, we were able to reach the wedding venue without drawing any attention. I am truly grateful.”
“No thanks are necessary, Miss Arsene. We are at the future Duchess’s service. If anything, I am the honored one. Good heavens… I never imagined his Fated Partner would be so close by…”
“If you intend to play the driver, face forward and focus on the road.”
“Yes, yes, I understand.”
Once Will fixed his eyes on the road ahead and drove the carriage, Selina spoke up a moment later.
“Earlier… you weren’t using the Command Language, were you?”
“No. I have trained extensively to keep from using that power in my daily life.”
“Yet because you never know when it might slip out, you keep your words scarce around others?”
Xenos nodded in confirmation.
“Everyone wondered if you had some secret reason.”
“And what about you, Miss Arsene?”
“Me? Oh…”
‘I never had any particular interest… but if I say that, he’ll wear that sorrowful expression again… like a lost puppy.’
Remembering the look on the Duke’s face when they discussed the engagement contract, Selina quickly added,
“Of course… I was the most curious of all, naturally.”
A contented smile surfaced on Xenos’s face, as though her interest delighted him, and Selina’s cheeks warmed slightly.
‘He can captivate people with his voice… and with his looks, too. Dangerous… this is dangerous.’
She cleared her throat.
“I have a question.”
“Ask whatever you wish. I will never lie to you.”
“If I had remained stubborn to the very end and refused to marry you… what would you have done? You said the Command Language has no effect on your Fated Partner, right?”
The gaze Xenos turned upon her was so tender it seemed to drip with honey.
“Is that what you wish to know?”
Even Will, driving the carriage up front, pricked up his ears in eagerness to hear the answer.
Without warning, Xenos—who had been sitting beside her inside the carriage—rose and sank down on one knee.
“That’s dangerous. Get up.”
“I wish to take you as my wife. Please accept my heart.”
Xenos held out his hand to her, looking up with ardent warmth.
‘What if he hears how fast my heart is beating right now?’
Turning her flushed face slightly aside, Selina placed her hand over his. Only then did Xenos rise, giving her hand a firm squeeze as he settled back beside her.
“They say sincerity always reaches its mark.”
Seeing him beam so brightly, Selina could not help but smile softly, yielding to his guileless charm.
“We’ve watered the horses, so we’ll turn in for the night now, miss. Our room is right next to yours, so call out if you need anything.”
“Thank you for looking after us.”
The sun had set, and after retiring to the inn, washing up, and lying down, Selina found her mind flooded with wandering thoughts.
‘I am… His Grace’s Fated Partner.’
She had always known of the Duke of Eustia, wielder of the Dragon Power, but to her he had seemed more like a figure out of myth or legend.
Xenos lived as though the battlefield were his true home, leaving Selina no opportunity to cross paths with him, whether at high-society gatherings or private affairs.
And while the Arsene Trading Company handled some military provisions, such goods were hardly their primary trade, meaning their paths never crossed in business either.
The thought of marrying someone who belonged to a completely different world brought a suffocating tightness to her chest… yet it also stirred unfamiliar emotions within her.
“I’d like some fresh air… but going out at night would be dangerous, wouldn’t it?”
No sooner had Selina whispered this to herself while unlatching the window than a sudden rustle came from the adjoining room, followed by a light knock at her door.
“Miss Arsene, it’s me. I will accompany you.”
Telling him to wait a moment, Selina could not help a small laugh as she prepared herself.
‘He heard that so quickly…’
She pinned up her hair, wrapped her shawl securely around her clothes, and opened the door. Xenos extended a hand toward her.
“Shall we, then?”
They made their way down the narrow corridor of the inn, descended the stairs, and stepped out into the night together.
“I heard there is a lovely lake nearby. Shall we go?”
“Yes, I would like that.”
After a five-minute walk, the lake opened before them.
Selina sat by the shore, gazing out over the water shimmering beneath the moonlight, before curiosity prompted her to speak.
“Still… it seems Your Grace no longer minds being near a lake.”
“A lake?”
“Yes.”
Xenos pondered her words for a moment, then asked,
“Don't tell me that ridiculous rumor about me fearing lakes has spread throughout the Empire?”
“No, no, not at all.”
He stared back at her, looking utterly bewildered.
“Do you truly not remember?”
“Is there something I ought to remember?”
‘Should I really bring it up if he doesn’t remember at all?’
Selina hesitated for a moment.
“Tell me, anything. If there is something I have forgotten… I want to hear it.”
His gaze, eyes glistening like the moonlight upon the water's surface, melted her hesitation away.
“Even if you’ve forgotten… it’s only natural. It happened so long ago, when we were both small children… You were only five years old.”
“When I was a child… near a lake… It can’t be…”
“Yes. The day you fell into the lake at the Crown Prince’s palace.”
Xenos’s face darkened instantly.
“Most of what I know about that day… comes from what others told me.”
“Do you not remember anything?”
“I don’t recall what I was doing before I fell into the water. All I remember is heading toward the Crown Prince’s palace for some reason… and when I opened my eyes, I was in my bed. They told me I hadn’t awakened for three days. That I had nearly drowned, and—”
“And you were also told that the Crown Prince was the one who saved you, weren’t you?”
“Yes, that is what I heard.”
“And thanks to that, people began calling him the blessed Crown Prince… the one who raises the dead.”
“But… how do you know all of this, Miss Arsene?”
Xenos asked, then continued in a tone tinged with bitterness,
“I… I truly knew nothing… and believed everything the Imperial Palace told me.”
“And what did they tell you?”
“They said the Crown Prince… along with my Fated Partner, saved me. That my partner was the one who granted me the Dragon Power that brought me back to life. But because they didn’t know who she was, they never found her.”
When Xenos remained unconscious for three days, the Emperor assumed he would die and summoned Philip.
And while nursing him, Philip uncovered the truth of what had happened.
“A commoner’s daughter, who had accompanied her parents to help the palace delivery workers, saw the Crown Prince screaming for help. She knew how to swim, so she dove into the water and pulled me out. Once she made sure I was still breathing… she refused any reward and left the palace.”
Xenos went on with quiet detachment.
“Ever since then, my father searched for this Fated Partner everyone spoke of. But it was far from easy. The imperial family sowed countless false leads to hinder him.”
Finding that partner was an unavoidable destiny for both Philip and Xenos.
Had they failed to find her, he would have met the same fate as his grandfather… consumed by his own power and dying an agonizing death.
“You must have… suffered so much.”
With those words of comfort, Selina gently stroked his back, and Xenos quietly rested his chin on her small shoulder.
“I never understood what having a true Fated Partner meant… until I met you.”
Her face heated up once more, and waving her hand in a flustered attempt to collect herself, she stammered,
“Wh-what makes it different?”
“From you… there is an irresistible scent.”
“A scent?”
Xenos lifted his head from her shoulder, looking deep into her eyes. He placed his hand over hers resting against the ground, his voice dropping to a quiet murmur.
“And whenever I catch that scent… all I want is to stay just like this… close to you.”
