“Your Majesty, General Kalia has arrived.”

Upon hearing the guard’s words, a presence could be felt beyond the door.

Without particularly heightening her senses, Kalia’s sharp ears could discern the prince’s movements.

‘…So he’s sitting.’

The sound of him sitting could be heard, but there was no immediate instruction to enter.

In the moment of silence, Kalia clenched and unclenched her dry palms, her chest swelling.

The breath she took filled her lungs.

Though she was not one to get nervous, today was a little different.

Retirement.

Though it wasn’t long, she had always risked her life in battle as a knight.

Even before the outbreak of full-fledged war, how many times had she risked her life for the prince’s safety?

She was still young.

She wasn’t tired, but she could lay down everything if necessary.

There would be no need for a soldier like her in this country anymore.

In fact, Kalia was relieved by this.

She had drawn her sword to protect what she held dear, but the blood she spilled in the process was not hers alone.

Those horrific moments where they had to kill each other despite being the same humans under the name of war.

The furious gazes, the screams of pain, and the eyes filled with hatred.

Because of the war, someone lost a father, someone a mother, and yet someone else a child.

She had never deliberately avoided looking, but undoubtedly her sword and her army had taken the lives of innocent beings.

She didn’t regret it.

Because she had something to protect.

If she didn’t strike, the enemy would have slaughtered ‘us’.

The best she could do was to end this war as soon as possible to reduce the number of deaths.

That’s why Kalia had plunged into danger, and even when she nearly died, she beheaded the enemy general.

‘But now, that’s all in the past.’

Kalia looked at the closed door with a face still weary from the war.

Before long, a voice beckoned her in.

As she pushed open the heavy wooden door and entered, she saw Louismond, seated at a large oak desk, looking at her.

As always, he greeted her with a soft smile, calling her name.

“Kalia.”

“Your Highness.”

As Kalia gave a light bow to Louismond, her lemon-colored hair tied up swayed like waves.

During the war, she had her hair tied down and fixed in a bun, but as it swayed with her movements, Louismond’s gaze lingered there momentarily before disappearing.

He asked Kalia with a gentle smile fitting for a prince.

“So, come on in. I know it’s your day off, why are you here?”

“I’m sorry for coming abruptly. I was a bit rushed.”

“You’ve come all the way here at this hour, it seems like you have something important to say… should we change our seats?”

As Kalia stopped Louismond from standing up, she took a step forward.

“No, it’s not a long story.”

“Is that so? Then I’m more curious about what it is.”

Louismond, sitting comfortably back in his chair, twirled the pen in his hand.

With a look of strong interest, as if to urge her to speak, he asked.

His luxury fountain pen whirled around on his fingers.

Leaning comfortably in his good-quality chair and twirling his pen playfully, he seemed very relaxed. He had no clue about the heavy blow he was about to receive.

Bright sunlight poured into the study through the unclosed curtains.

Basking in the sunlight splintering through the white curtains, Kalia took a composed breath.

Her decision had been made and there was no change, but a slight feeling of guilt towards the prince arose.

She had intended to support him until he became Emperor…

She had believed without a doubt that she and Simon would protect his back even at the moment he became Emperor.‘… After some time has passed, and once things have settled, then I’ll definitely return.’

As soon as a year, or perhaps longer, she wasn’t sure.

However, when the prince needed her again, Kalia would return to be his strength at any time.

Absolutely.

Louismond patiently waited for Kalia, who was uncharacteristically hesitating.

Since that time when she had lost her arm protecting him, his face seemed to be accepting anything.

Kalia, who had been looking at Louismond’s blue eyes for a long while, slowly opened her mouth.

“I came to request retirement.”

The pen spinning in Louismond’s hand stopped.

After a moment of silence, he tilted his head as if he’d heard something wrong, making a strange grimace.

“It seems I’ve just misheard something…”

“No, you heard it correctly. I said I want to retire.”

At that moment, the pen that had been spinning precariously on his fingers dropped with a clink.

The pen rolled across the desk and thudded onto the floor.

After rolling a few more rounds, it reached right in front of Kalia’s shoes, and she picked it up.

Then, she walked slowly over to the stunned prince and placed it gently in front of him.

“I’d prefer it to be as soon as possible.”

Crash!

In his haste, Louismond’s chair fell over as he suddenly got up.

So much in a hurry, Louismond’s steps got tangled as he tried to get around his desk.

As he wobbled and was about to slip, Kalia swiftly grabbed his hand and supported his waist.

“Are you alright?”

As Kalia, who had instinctively protected him, asked while checking his complexion, Louismond who had been staring at her face in awe, quickly stood up.

“No, I’m not the issue, Kalia! What did I just hear? Retirement!”

Kalia looked at Louismond, who was shouting with a pale, drained face, with an apologetic gaze.

How angry must he be, for the prince, who usually maintains his composure, to stammer his words.

Tsk, she sighed regretfully as she tried to step back, but Louismond caught her arm and spoke.

“Why! All of a sudden, why?”

“I want to rest.”

“Oh, Kalia! If you needed a vacation, you should have said so.”

“No. I want to retire.”

Louismond began to persuade her as if he didn’t hear Kalia calmly denying it.

“Do you want to travel far by any chance? Wherever you go, all expenses will be supported by the palace. Where do you want to go? Just tell me, Kalia.”

Kalia respectfully lowered her head and answered.

“No, I’m fine.”

“Is it because you were upset with the imperial family? You have to tell me, who is it? Is it, ahh, Simon? That bastard, right? I knew it. You were getting along too well a month or two ago! It’s him, isn’t it?”

Of course, the incident with Simon two months ago did have a significant impact on her decision to retire, but it was not because of him that she made this decision.

Even if Simon was largely to blame, she couldn’t tell the prince, ‘I am going to have his child.’

Kalia looked down as if in a dilemma, consciously touching her belly slightly.

To be honest, she didn’t feel anything yet.

And it was not like she had a clear realization either.

All she had was a faint, very faint joy and trembling, but Kalia wanted to grasp that.

A small hope of being able to have a child. The hope of having a family of her own.

“I need peaceful time.”

“Time?”

“Yes. I may have used the grand word ‘retirement’… but if Your Highness needs me, I will return at any time. However, it won’t be soon.”

“…”

“I want to leave.”

The most popular war hero in the Empire suddenly declared retirement.

She said she wanted to leave the palace and him overnight.Louismond was still in shock, but he was trying to suppress his feelings and coolly think.

‘…What could be the reason?’

He glared at Kalia to find even a small clue, but there was nothing he could read from her tightly closed lips and calm eyes.

An exasperated Louismond asked in a voice that seemed to lose its strength.

“Why did you suddenly make such a decision?”

“I can’t go into details. However, I can swear that it’s not a betrayal to the country or the imperial family.”

“….Kalia, I also have never once thought that you would betray me.”

At Louismond’s statement, spoken through clenched teeth, Kalia gave a slight smile and said, ‘Is that so?’

It was an honor to earn the trust of her lord.

She hesitated for a moment, thinking of the answer she had been thinking about all the way here in the carriage.

Although she couldn’t go into detail, she felt she should at least say something.

It wasn’t something she could hide forever anyway.

“It seems I will have a family.”

“…What did you just say?”

Facing Louismond, who was stunned with his mouth flapping open, Kalia showed a smile for the first time since she entered the room.

“My family.”

It was a smile Louismond had never seen before, a smile as if she had the whole world.

* * *

Thud.

With the quietly closing door behind her, Kalia walked lightly down the hallway.

‘Good, one obstacle down.’

After saying it, she felt so relieved and refreshed.

The story had taken longer than she thought, and the sky had darkened unexpectedly, but the hallway was brightly lit by magic lights.

The rainy season would start soon. The months before the rainy season had short days and long nights.

The Empire’s rainy season was short but intense. For about 2-3 weeks, the sky was always dark and the rain didn’t stop.

Crops not protected would rot in the water, and if a heavy downpour fell, riverside villages could be submerged.

The magic department of the Empire provided various magics throughout the country to minimize damage during the rainy season.

This was the busiest time for the magic department.

‘I need to leave before the rainy season starts. If the rainy season starts, I can’t leave, and afterwards, it would be too late.’

Therefore, Kalia had no choice but to make her decision hastily.

‘I have a lot to prepare for. First… I need to meet Simon at least once.’

The patrol guards and knights guarding each floor, as well as all the attendants, stopped in their tracks and bowed respectfully each time they passed her by.

Her smooth nods in response to their envious greetings, something that she thought she would never get used to, somehow became routine.

Unlike most nobles, who don’t even acknowledge the attendants’ greetings, Kalia never once ignored or feigned ignorance of their greetings.

She was not originally a noble. She had purposely never instilled in herself the arrogant consciousness of a noble.

‘… But I will soon be saying goodbye to even this kind of scenery.’

Kalia thought calmly as she slowly descended the stairs.

Her steps were as forceful as usual, but today, she couldn’t help but put more strength into her toes.

‘Such unnecessarily high stairs. No wonder the people working in the palace are so thin.’

It was while Kalia was passing by the window next to the staircase, raising a complaint that she had never thought of before.

Beyond the large, magnificent window, something glittering under the bright rising moonlight caught her eye.

Her brisk steps came to an abrupt halt.

Unconsciously, she moved closer to the window and looked at the beautiful man with silvery hair soaked in moonlight and a pale complexion.

A man with a sharp yet delicate beauty, dressed simply in a shirt and trousers, his top button casually undone.

The man, standing in the middle of the rose garden spread out grandly between the tower and the main palace, was looking up at the graceful night sky bathed in moonlight with his hands casually in his trouser pockets.

As if he was sensing the fragrance, drinking in the night air, or gazing at the moon.

That man, standing so nonchalantly and staring at the sky, was the only Duke of Magic of this Empire, the young head of the Ministry of Magic, and the father of the baby in Kalia’s belly.

It was Simon Terroan.