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Chapter 4
For a moment, Theodore stayed still—then let out a short laugh.
“…As you command.”
Leaning forward, he pressed the court physician’s jaw muscles hard with one hand, forcing the man’s mouth wide open.
“P–Princess! Wha–what are you doing?!”
Oh, this guy matches my moves pretty well, huh?
Just as Theodore smirked and took another step toward the physician—
“…!”
All of a sudden, Bella’s mind went blank, as if the ground beneath her feet had collapsed.
Her legs gave way.
At the same time, a sharp ringing pierced her ears, and her vision filled with darkness.
And as her body crumbled like broken glass, Theodore hurriedly caught her.
One hand cradled the back of her head, as if it might snap; the other supported her slim waist.
If not for her bloodstained clothes and bare feet, the scene would’ve looked like a lover pulling someone in for a kiss.
Bella leaned against the strength holding her up, forcing her legs to bear weight, and pried her eyes open.
Slowly, the fading light returned.
Like water receding from the shore, the thick darkness ebbed away, and Theodore Callipse’s face came sharply into view.
Thump, thump. Her heart pounded as if it would explode.
Bella admitted it.
This body must have liked him.
He was handsome, after all.
But the clarity lasted only briefly. Soon, her whole body felt drained, as though every function had shut down—even her eyelids refused to obey.
Ah, so this is what humans call fainting?
No—I can’t!
Even in that state, Bella stubbornly thrust out the vial she had clutched so tightly, forcing out her voice.
“This bastard killed me with this.”
[I’m screwed.]
“Yo—”
And with that final word, her eyes closed completely.
She no longer knew whether she was standing or lying down.
All she could feel was the strong, warm support of his hand on her head and waist.
Mustering the last of her strength, Bella whispered:
“Please… protect me.”
Dead, they had said—yet clearly not.
Then what trick was this?
Theodore looked down at the unconscious woman in his arms with cold eyes.
No, was she even capable of such tricks?
Belladis was nothing more than the Emperor’s tool, sent to bring down Callipse.
The downfall of Callipse—
That was her role, and yet he had been forced to marry her a year ago despite knowing it.
At that moment, while Theodore held the collapsed Belladis, the freed physician darted toward the captain of the Imperial Guard, shouting:
“Her Highness is in dire condition, both body and mind! Quickly, Her Highness must—!”
“Escort Her Highness at once!”
Still holding Bella, Theodore rose to his feet.
Silver hair spilled like a cascade beneath his left arm, while her bare feet dangled under his right.
The absurd lightness of her body testified to just how steadily she had been dying this past year.
“Hand her to us. We’ll escort Her Highness.”
Theodore glanced at the Imperial Guard encircling him—and laughed, as if in disbelief.
Ha—
The sharp, bitter sound of his laughter made the guards swallow dryly.
The laugh of a man not yet thirty carried the chill of a beast lurking in the woods.
“Don’t you think you’ve gone far enough?”
“Wh–what do you mean, my lord—?”
“Seems I have to remind you, since you keep forgetting.”
For the first time, Theodore’s light, almost careless tone shifted.
The biting wind stilled, replaced by air so cold it cut to the bone.
“I am Theodore Callipse.”
In that icy silence, only his crimson eyes gleamed.
“Husband of Belladis Callipse.”
“…”
The captain faltered under the man’s piercing gaze. Theodore had already made up his mind.
“Hector.”
“Yes, sir!”
At once, Hector Rodic hurried over, and with him came Countess Fillmore, head of the Callipse maids.
“We’ll take the lady, my lord.”
The maids carefully received Belladis’s limp body.
Theodore turned slowly.
The entire hall was in disarray, but no one looked more anxious than the physician.
Not that it would save him from what was about to come.
Theodore strode toward the dais.
There sat the man who would cut off his own limbs for the family without hesitation; the man who had stayed composed even before the death of his only son and daughter-in-law; the man who now looked weary with age—
“Your Grace.”
Theodore bowed before his grandfather, Duke Kalterion Callipse, known as the Iron-blooded Duke.
“I request permission to arrest the physician on charges of attempted murder of Belladis.”
“W–what nonsense is this?!”
The physician cried out, running forward in a panic.
“My lord Duke! You saw it yourself! Her Highness was not in her right mind!”
“She was clearer than ever.”
“No! Her Highness’s condition is truly—!”
“Enough.”
Kalterion’s heavy voice cut him off. His sharp gaze nearly pierced through the man.
The hall sank under his calm yet crushing weight.
He was the will of Callipse itself, a vast power that did not move lightly.
“I will not tolerate further insults to my granddaughter-in-law.”
The physician began trembling visibly, turning desperate eyes toward the captain of the Guard.
But what could even the captain do?
Tears welled as the physician realized the thorny path ahead.
“I—I swear, I did not!”
“That will be determined in due time.”
Kalterion dismissed him coldly, then ordered Theodore:
“Imprison him. Interrogate him.”
“My lord Duke! I beg you, I’m innocent! Please believe me!”
Theodore bowed respectfully to his grandfather, then signaled to his knights.
Hector Rodic and the other Callipse knights moved immediately.
Theodore followed behind, vial in hand.
For a brief moment, his gaze drifted to the woman in the maids’ arms.
What wind had stirred her?
He had thought her nothing but a doll—unable to speak or act on her own.
‘Please… protect me.’
Anyone overhearing might think they were allies.
Might think he was the only person she could rely on.
A laugh escaped him, sharp and incredulous.
But he quickly masked it, gripping the vial tightly.
Whether the drug was real or not…
Whether the so-called dead princess was in her right mind or not…
None of that mattered.
What mattered was that Callipse would clear itself of charges of attempted regicide.
Now that the princess herself had spoken, Theodore would cling to the physician’s throat like a wolf with its prey.
Protect her?
Who else had wanted her safe within these walls—if not himself?
“As you command.”
When Bella finally awoke from her faint, a haze clouded her surroundings like mist.
She shook her head hard, trying to clear the unpleasant fog.
‘Huh?’
Only then did she realize her body wouldn’t obey—and that this wasn’t her own body at all.
She was seeing the world through someone else’s eyes.
Her head was bowed so low, all she could see was a hem of a skirt and the carpet below.
Then, a voice came from close by:
“Even so, I still can’t believe something like you carries my blood.”
Thump. Thump. Thump.
Her hands—cold and trembling—shook.
Bella suddenly understood.
This was the body’s memory.
“Look at me, Belladis.”
Unable to disobey, her head lifted. And she saw him.
The Emperor of the Empire, Nicholas Belfort—Belladis’s father.
He had the looks of a man for whom the word divine was fitting.
Hair like moonlight, mysterious violet eyes, and gentle features.
“From tomorrow, you will be Belladis Callipse. Do not worry about how you might help me. Just take the medicine I send, and follow the tasks I occasionally give. Do you understand?”
“…Yes.”
Smiling, Emperor Nicholas approached and embraced Belladis.
Bella instinctively held her breath as his whisper brushed her ear:
“You must never come back alive, daughter. Farewell.”
