Chapter 25

As the surveillance in the vicinity increased, Julia remained quietly in her place for a while.

The more time she spent alone, the more her mind sank endlessly.

At dawn, after what might have been days, Julia paced by the door, unable to sleep.

After a short hesitation, she opened the door and saw a dark and desolate hallway. Fortunately, the hallway appeared to be empty.

While she was stepping out in such a cautious manner, someone suddenly stood in front of her.

“Your Grace.”

Surprised, Julia looked up and saw a knight bowing to her.

"It's dawn. May I ask where you are going?"

“I'm just going for a walk.”

When Julia calmly replied, the knight bowed and continued.

"I will accompany you."

“No, I want to go alone. You don't have to follow me.”

She tried to sound as nonchalant as possible. Fortunately, the knight stepped out of her way.

"Yes, Your Grace.”

Feeling relieved by the unexpected obedient answer, Julia immediately walked past the knight.

She left the castle and headed for the garden. She walked down the long garden path and soon stopped in front of a large fountain.

In her hand was a pendant.

As she held the pendant close to her heart, Julia remembered Matheus' quiet voice.

“The reason I gave you this pendant is because I hoped it would give you peace.”

On a recent visit to the temple, Matheus said, infusing the pendant with a stronger and denser holy power.

“But now, you have a situation, I will help you to use my power contained in this.”

That day, Matheus said something incredible. Julia could use the power herself.

He said it was because of the holy power that was in her heart since birth.

“If you put the pendant close to her heart and make it resonate, you will be able to exert your power for a short time.”

This meant that the power of the heart could be used for a short time using the pendant as a medium.

He added that the act of using the power in such a way always comes with a price.

He said that her body was not in a stable state to use power and if she were to use it randomly, her body would not be able to handle it.

“Please consider this power as a last resort.”

Julia finished her recollection of Matheus' words and put the pendant back in its place. Then she took a long look around. It was dawn and no one was passing around. She tightened her robe and hurried away.

She continued walking in a rash manner.

The gate of the castle would certainly be guarded by knights, so Julia deliberately headed towards the direction where no knight patrolled.

Looking up at the high wall, Julia showed a determined face.

“If you use your power to hide your presence, you might be able to escape safely."

There was no way to escape unless it was dawn like now.

Just as she was about to take the pendant out of her pocket, someone grabbed her wrist.

Her spinning body slammed hard into someone's chest.

"…!"

She raised her head, and to her surprise, Fernan was standing there.

Below his messy black hair, glistening golden eyes turned to her. While Julia froze for a moment, Fernan spoke with a frighteningly cold voice. 

"What are you doing here?"

Julia didn't answer, biting her trembling lip, so he asked again.

"Where do you intend to go at this dawn?"

"…"

"Tell me. Were you trying to run away?"

Julia's expression tightened and she tried to shake him off, but the firm hand that grabbed her wrist was too strong. She was afraid of his gaze that seemed to swallow her all up. Julia lowered her shaky eyes.

Obviously, the knight earlier let her go. But did he secretly follow her?

Or there were eyes watching her from elsewhere.

While Julia was silent with a gloomy face, her body was suddenly lifted up.

"…Ah!" 

Fernan embraced her in his arms and began to walk leisurely.

Julia could not hide her confusion when she looked closely at his face.

When she lowered her gaze, she saw the collar of his shirt was loose. It looked as if he had jumped out of bed as soon as he heard 

Julia went out.

His hands held below her knees and around her waist with persistent force.

Julia was submissively held by him without rebellion. However, her mind was tangled with many thoughts and they stirred wildly.

Without even taking a glance at Julia, he stepped relentlessly.

As he did so, he reached the castle in the blink of an eye. There was a commotion while Julia left the castle to escape, and servants were gathering in the lobby left and right.

Once inside, the servants who spotted him huffed and bowed.

"…please let me down."

Julia mumbled quietly, not wanting people to see her being held like this.

But Fernan didn't even pretend to hear her, he just walked up the stairs.

He wasn’t headed for the hallway where Julia's bedroom was located. It was the other side, the hallway where his bedroom was.

He opened the door a little urgently and placed Julia immediately on the bed.

As Julia tried to get up, Fernan’s feeble efforts quickly put her back on the bed.

“Stay here from now on.”

"What do you mean…?”

"You will stay here, in my bedroom only. Don’t go anywhere."

Julia shrank at the cold words.

She thought he was going to kiss her again like last time.

But Fernan turned away, leaving her untouched.

Then he sat down on the sofa a little further away and just stared at her. 

Julia, who was staring at him blankly, slowly straightened up. Holding the blanket tightly, she asked in a small voice.

"… Why are you doing this?”

"…"

“Tell me what it is that you want from me.”

She thought after he discovered her fake identity he would divorce her in a heartbeat, but…

Fernan’s brows furrowed. His lips moved  as if he were about to say something, and then closed them again. 

In the end, there was no answer that came back. Thus, only silence lingered between them for a long time. Julia felt a distant feeling and clenched her hands.

Her head felt dizzy. Julia, who had been sitting firmly, eventually buried her head in her knees. Fernan was still watching her. 

He never took his eyes off her, not even for a moment. Time passed without delay as she sat like that with a complicated mind.

It was around morning when the sun rose that Julia opened her eyes. When she raised her body, a thick blanket fell down. 

‘When did I sleep?’

She remembered she was sitting up, but before she knew it, she was lying in bed asleep.

Julia hurriedly checked the surroundings and did not see Fernan. With a small sigh of relief, Julia got out of bed.

While doing so, she crossed the room and suddenly the door to the dressing room on one wall flashed open.

Standing in front of the door, Fernan stared at her quietly.

"Where do you think you are going?"

A voice with no highs or lows addressed Julia. Hesitantly, but not averting his gaze, Julia replied,

"I'm going back to my bedroom."

"What for?"

Julia bit her lip at the cold voice that immediately struck back.

She thought that in the morning he would change his mind about her staying only in his bedroom.

But it didn't seem to be the case. Julia tightened her grip on the skirt of her dress.

"Are you going to keep me locked up?"

"If you keep trying to run away, you will be.”

Hearing the reply without hesitation, Julia remained speechless for a while and looked up at him as he approached.

As usual, his face was expressionless. He was a man who just gave orders without any explanation.

Julia relaxed her grip on her dress and bowed her head. Her pale eyes grew redder.

Fernand flinched without realizing it, but it was just that.

All that flowed out was an indifferent voice that swallowed all emotions.

"Tell me you will stay with me and don't bring up the divorce or anything else."

"…"

"Then I won't lock you up or monitor you anymore."

Julia gave a small faint laugh, looking like she was about to cry.

It was obvious what he wanted from her. He wanted her to live as the obedient Grand Duchess like she had been.

me to live on the apparent great public expense as before. Even if she was hated and treated coldly, even if this was hell, just be quiet and stay by his side.

Julia's deep voice flowed from between her dry lips.

“Until when…”

"…"

"Are you going to be harsh to me, to the very end?"

The faint glimmer of light in Julia's eyes disappeared completely. 

This man, who had said with all his might that he hated her, was now suddenly telling her to stay by his side. He didn’t even tell her a convincing reason.

He just ordered her to do so, as if her heart was nothing to him. 

Julia became more and more frustrated. The bank of emotions that she had barely been able to contain completely collapsed.

She didn't want to understand this man any more.