As soon as she stepped out into the deserted corridor, Ioret broke into a run. Her destination was the central garden.
In her previous life, at this exact time today, Ioret—wearing a pure white wedding dress—had also fled outward, clutching her skirt just like now.
She had turned her back on the people celebrating her marriage to a man over sixty years old and ran away for the first—and last—time.
Just like that day, palace guards were chasing her. From the corridor she had run through, the urgent footsteps of knights echoed loudly.
Reaching the garden, Ioret quickly looked around in panic.
“Haa… ha… it must be somewhere here…”
Deep within the garden, she spotted a beautifully landscaped thicket.
There.
Ioret pushed through the bushes. Inside the stiff branches, there was just enough space for a person to crouch.
Footsteps of men rushing into the garden could be heard.
“Split into groups. If you find the princess, immediately escort her to the tower!”
Ioret recalled the past.
How long did it take them to catch her back then?
Probably less than an hour.
Her heart pounded violently.
‘The wedding was turned into the Founding Day celebration, but nothing related to that man has changed. So he’ll definitely come here.’
She had met him only once in her entire past life—on this very day.
Footsteps from the garden entrance grew closer. Holding her pounding chest, Ioret buried her face in her knees.
It was here, just like now, that someone once found her curled up and crying.
She remembered that voice clearly.
“Shall I take you out?”
At first, she had thought it was a wild dog.
From between the bushes, a young man had thrust his shoulder in, his untamed wildness overflowing.
“If you want, I can take you out.”
The footsteps of someone wandering the garden suddenly stopped. Ioret instinctively held her breath.
Rustle.
Cutting through the silent night air, someone stepped on the grass.
Rustle, rustle.
The footsteps drew closer.
Ioret swallowed dry saliva repeatedly.
Now three steps… no, two. One.
Ah. It stopped.
“……”
Slowly, Ioret lifted her head. That brief moment felt like eternity.
And when she finally saw him—
A chill ran through her entire body.
Beyond the bushes, a pair of wine-colored eyes stared directly at her.
His appearance gradually came into view.
Hair like refined pure silver, sculpted cheeks, lips shaped like gentle slopes. He was even taller than Lucian, with an imposing build.
But what froze Ioret was not his physique or striking features.
It was his eyes—completely unbent despite his smiling face. Eyes that captured whoever looked into them without even the slightest blink.
‘Just making eye contact… makes my body feel numb.’
Ioret knew this man.
The illegitimate son of the King of Kalande, commander of the northern border fortress.
The man who, five years later, would plunge the entire continent into terror—and the reason she had once stood on the execution platform.
Kailon Winterbark. Known as the Winterbark Commander.
“Hello.”
Breaking through the cold night, the man smiled faintly. The tips of his ears were slightly red.
“Shall I take you out?”
In the past, Kailon Winterbark had been one of Catherine’s chosen candidates for Ioret’s marriage.
But after reviewing the candidates’ portraits, Catherine immediately excluded him. The reason was that she could not send her beloved younger sister beyond the border.
However, thinking about it now, wasn’t it perhaps also because he was far too much for Ioret to handle as a husband?
The dangerous young man who had come to bow before the King of Eloviss would, five years later, seize his homeland with overwhelming military force and bring surrounding nations to their knees.
And he had demanded Ioret’s head from Catherine as tribute.
Even before she died, she wondered why.
Why did you do that? What grudge did you have against me?
You didn’t even know me well.
And yet…
On the day we first met, you even asked if I wanted to be taken out.
Ioret stared at the hand in front of her for a long time.
She was still curled up small, and the man crouched beyond the bushes did not withdraw the hand extended through the branches.
His voice, impossible to refuse, brushed her ears.
“If you want, I’ll take you out. Come.”
The same words, the same situation as in the past.
Back then, Ioret did not take that hand.
She remembered nodding, but at almost the same moment, she was discovered and dragged out by guards who had found her. Because of that, she never even properly spoke to this man.
‘Is this a hand I can take?’
Even though she had long made up her mind, facing him now made her spine turn cold. The sharp gaze that felt like it pierced straight through her made her neck sting as if it had once been severed.
Ioret bit her lip tightly, and the man tilted his head.
“Do you dislike it?”
At least his voice did not sound like that of a demon who would drown the world in blood.
Ioret decided to place hope in that.
“Thank you. Then… could you help me?”
She placed her hand on his large palm.
The moment she touched him, the man immediately gripped her hand tightly. Then, with terrifying strength, he pulled her up.
“!”
Yanked to her feet in an instant, Ioret staggered.
He supported her easily by wrapping an arm around her back.
“You should be careful.”
His strength was so overwhelming that it felt as if she had become a cloth doll.
The man casually removed a leaf from her hair and asked,
“What’s your name?”
“Ioret Leonelia Belician Ronadel.”
Her full name—her very identity.
Belician was the name of the Eloviss royal family, and Ronadel was the royal house of Levia, her mother’s homeland.
The man showed no particular surprise.
“So you are the princess of Eloviss.”
“That’s right.”
“My apologies. I saw you in such an unusual place and thought you might need help.”
His tone, once half casual, had shifted into formal speech.
Yet his languid manner remained the same regardless of honorifics.
If he had witnessed the opening ceremony, he would have immediately recognized Ioret in that distinctive dress.
Ioret glanced toward the outside of the garden.
“I am indeed in need of help. People are looking for me, and I don’t want to be taken back willingly.”
“I see. I don’t see anyone right now.”
“Then that’s fortunate.”
Leaves clung to her clothes and hair from moving through the bushes.
A large hand suddenly reached out and removed a small leaf from beside her ear.
“You don’t ask who I am.”
His tone sounded amused.
Ioret felt that he was thoroughly enjoying the situation.
“It would be harder not to know you, Commander Winterbark. You came to resolve the northern border conflict, didn’t you?”
“You know quite a lot. I’m honored.”
Her heart was still pounding. There wasn’t much time left.
Kailon Winterbark gestured toward the hedge maze.
“If you need somewhere to hide for a moment, how about over there?”
“Anywhere is fine. Ah, they’re coming.”
Without hesitation, Ioret grabbed his hand and entered the maze garden.
It had been a long time since she last came here—since she used to play hide-and-seek with Benedictus as a child. Tall, neatly trimmed hedges enclosed everything on both sides.
Only then did Ioret finally let out a breath of relief.
The man looked at her with curious eyes.
“Were you always like this? The type who knows how to run and hide?”
