Chapter 10

Even dozing upright, he embodied the rigid precision of a career soldier, posture straight, shoulders squared, chin set. Yet beneath that unyielding austerity, his features were undeniably striking. He was handsome in a way that was both severe and arresting. It was no wonder, she thought, that half the women of the Stein Kingdom were rumored to have fallen in love with him.

His reputation had been formidable enough that even she, who had lived shut away from the world until adulthood, had heard his name whispered throughout Velasque.

But Adeline’s reflections went no further than that.

Her gaze drifted to the compartment door.

There were no guards stationed outside, and train doors, by their nature, didn’t lock.

The moment she became aware of this, her heart suddenly began to pound. Almost without meaning to, her hand lifted, fingertips brushing toward the door handle.

Just as they neared it—

“I’d stop there.”

The low voice cut through the silence like a blade scraping against stone. Adeline gasped, her hand freezing in midair.

The man she thought was asleep was now staring straight at her.

Her heart sank as she realized exactly how her impulsive gesture must have appeared to him.

“I don’t give second chances. If you intend to try, then go on.”

Sure enough, his expression darkened even further, growing more ominous than before. Adelein bit her lip, choosing not to offer excuses and speaking instead with quiet resolve.

“Whether you believe me or not, I wasn’t trying to run. Even if I stepped outside, there’s nowhere to escape on a moving train.”

His gaze sharpened, as if accusing her of acting despite knowing that very fact, but Adeline held her ground and continued firmly.

“If you marry me, you’ll regret it.”

Leon regarded her in silence, meeting her steady, defiant gaze without blinking. Then he lifted one leg, resting his ankle atop the opposite knee leisurely.

A slow smile stretched across his well-shaped mouth.

“I look forward to it.”

At the shadowed edge of his deep-set eyes, a low, coarse amusement stirred.

“It’ll be far more entertaining than sinking quietly into this disgustingly peaceful age.”

︵‿୨ ₊‧꒰ა ཐི༏ཋྀ ໒꒱ ˚₊ ୧‿︵

The car flew down the open road, its engine humming with steady power, before finally slowing to a halt before a majestic gate plated in gold.

It was the main entrance to the Velasque royal palace.

The sentries posted at the checkpoint glanced in awe at the sleek S-Ford vehicle, their admiration quickly masked as they adjusted the long rifles slung over their shoulders.

“State your affiliation and identity!”

The rear window slid down. A hand emerged, thrusting forward a set of credentials.

The guard who took it frowned, his brows knitting tightly as he read the name stamped there. Because the vehicle bore no military insignia, the guard had assumed it belonged to some arrogant Velasque noble still clinging to pride despite their nation’s defeat.

The guard, having no patience for such insolence today, cleared his throat loudly.

“We need to verify everyone’s identity. All passengers must step out—”

His authoritative tone cut off abruptly. The moment he unfolded the credentials and matched the photograph to the name printed there, his eyes widened with sudden shock.

“My apologies, Supreme Commander! Open the gate!”

The guard snapped into a rigid salute as he hastily returned the credentials.

At his signal, the scorched, blotched gate, its burn marks still not fully repaired, groaned heavily as it swung open. The car passed through and continued down the inner road, circling a great fountain before finally slowing to a halt.

Click.

Leon opened the door himself and stepped out, straightening his posture. Immediately, the wandering eyes of palace attendants and soldiers alike were drawn to him, their gazes snared as though by instinct.

Unbothered by the stares gathering around them, he held the door open and inclined himself slightly, extending a hand toward Adeline, whose face had grown even paler from the journey.

“You must be glad to be home.”

The mischievous curve at the corner of his lips was impossible to miss, yet Adeline ignored it, choosing instead to step out of the car on her own.

It had been her first time riding in an automobile, then a train, then a ship, then a jolting carriage over rough stone roads, and finally another ship before this car. After traveling a route more than three times longer than the ordinary one, her body felt ready to collapse from sheer exhaustion.

When she straightened, the harsh June sunlight poured down on her, blinding in its brilliance. She closed her eyes for a moment, then opened them again and found herself staring up at the palace roof, now under repair.

It was the main palace of Velasque.

The palace of her father, the King, which she had once never dared even to approach.

Velasque had suffered under civil strife and war for half a year. She had crossed multiple ruined towns on her way across the border, so she expected the capital to be much the same, but she hadn’t realized even the royal palace had taken damage this severe.

“It’s still under repair.”

“You were kept in a northern backwater and brought to the capital only afterward, so you wouldn’t have seen how fierce the final battles were.”

Standing close at Adeline’s side, Leon traced the outline of the palace with his eyes, the same palace that had been engulfed in flames a year earlier.

“It was quite the battle. The king fought to the very end, even bringing the building down in an attempt to trap us beneath the rubble. Though in the end, it wasn’t us who captured the king, but the rioters from your own civil war.”

“….”

Seeing the way her expression hardened, Leon added.

“Ah. I suppose that isn’t a pleasant story for a princess to hear.”