Or in other words... she's strong.
Julius wondered if the barrier surrounding them was most likely her doing. Had she done so to protect him? No — that couldn't be right. Even if his senses were fooling him right now, the woman standing in front of him was none other than Josephine von Konrow herself. What if this was all a ploy to make him lower his guard? What schemes was she playing at?
And yet... on the other side of the coin — if she really was helping him, then for what reason? As far as Julius knew, the Konrows were the last family he'd ever expect to set foot in the Tezca Duchy, let alone be the one accompanying him right now.
There are no unconditionally good people.
That was the perception Julius had held over people for as long as he could remember — and it was a conviction that had been carved into him by experience, not cynicism. He had seen the smiling faces of nobles twist the moment they no longer needed him. He had watched loyalties shift like tides under the weight of gold or fear. Every act of kindness he had ever received came with a ledger, and someone, somewhere, always came to collect. And so Julius had learned early on: when someone does something for you without reason, it isn't kindness. It's an investment. The only question worth asking is — what are they buying?
His resolve was tested once.
"Yes, you are."
Silence — from the barrier.
"Miss Josephine, if I may be rude..."
From the moment she uttered those words, the world outside the barrier fell completely silent. He could only hear what existed inside of it. Julius couldn't see the barrier itself, but he could roughly estimate its size.
A spell? Is she a mage? This is the first time I've ever heard of a spell like this...
"You — what did you do?"
"Me?" A pause. "It's a little magic trick. More importantly, shouldn't you be worried?"
A magic trick, she says. There was no way something like this was a simple trick — but what intrigued Julius far more was the latter part of what she'd said.
"What should I be worried about?"
He genuinely had no idea.
"I am Josephine von Konrow, member of the Konrow duchy. You should know what situation you are in — correct?"
Yes. This woman was implying that he had already fallen into whatever scheme she had laid out for him. That he had walked in blind and played his part perfectly. He should have known better. He should have been on guard from the very beginning, and yet —
"Pfff — hahaha!!!"
Julius couldn't help it. He laughed.
It was because despite all of that — despite everything his mind was screaming at him — Julius trusted his instincts more. And his instincts were telling him, clearly and without hesitation, that this woman bore him no malice. That from the very beginning, she had already been protecting him.
Even if this was part of a greater plan, Julius felt that he could trust this woman.
"I apologize, my lady — I don't mean to be rude." He steadied himself, the laughter fading into something more sincere. "It's just that lately, I've had this... intuition. The ability to sense whether someone is good or not simply by looking at them."
Then, for some reason he couldn't explain, he became flustered. He looked away, glancing toward the opposite direction.
"And I can say with certainty — you are not a bad person."
Somehow, just telling her the truth felt natural.
Julius caught it. She was startled for just a moment — a flicker — before she raised her fan with practiced composure.
"Currently, it is my duty to accommodate Your Highness."
Then the moments that followed felt more like a dream than reality.
The shadows around them began to gather at her palms, coiling and writhing as she cupped them. The darkness in her hands moved like something alive — like shapes of people clawing to escape. Julius couldn't tell exactly how many there were, but the moment she swept her fan in a single graceful arc, the shadows in her hands vanished almost instantly — and the darkness surrounding them dissipated as though it had never existed.
Julius felt it immediately. The weight in the air — the presence lurking at the edges — was gone.
She took them all out?
Though it hadn't been completely ruled out that she was his enemy — "You. Why?" Something tightened in his chest. "You'll get caught up in this."
It worried him. For some reason.
"Don't get the wrong idea. I am merely acting within my responsibility."
Julius turned the necklace over in his palm before placing it back around his neck.
His assessment of Josephine von Konrow was more or less complete.
She is neither enemy nor ally.
That indifference of hers — and those words she had uttered. He could roughly piece together what was happening. Indeed, if anything happened to him or his entourage, it would most likely be pinned on whoever was accompanying them — and since Josephine was an outsider to the Tezca Duchy, she would be used as a scapegoat. It was simply in her best interest to keep things clean.
But it displeased Julius.
Not because a woman was protecting him — no. Julius was well aware that the strength Josephine possessed was beyond anything he had anticipated. She was possibly the most powerful person here, presently. Though Julius could probably fend off an attack himself, to dispatch every threat simultaneously — at a considerable distance — was an entirely different feat.
And no bodies were found...
What terrifying power.
He revisited his earlier impression of her. A flower blooming on a battlefield — one she had built herself. Like an unreachable summit carved from the weight of everything she had endured. And yet... that alluring scent of hers.
He clenched the necklace gently in his hand, then brought it close.
...It smells like flowers.
It was almost addicting. He couldn't admit it to himself — because he couldn't yet understand what he was feeling. He released the necklace and rose to his feet.
"Your Highness, dinner is ready."
An attendant appeared at his side, quietly drawing him back to the present.
"Yes..."
He had more pressing matters to think about. Right now, he was the representative of the Solidana Kingdom — a suicide mission plotted by his own half-brothers.
I mustn't lose myself at such a critical time.
He couldn't even fully trust his entourage right now.
The only one I can truly trust is myself.
This was a trial handed to him by fate. Though his mother had taught him to be humble, he could not fully suppress the royal blood running through his veins.
I can't let a woman shake me up this much