The tavern by the dock was as noisy as ever. Foreign merchants spouted unfamiliar tongues in excitement, captains of merchant ships sought new sailors, and newcomers to the port guzzled rum until their noses turned bright red.

The air reeked of the briny, fishy scent clinging to seafarers’ bodies, mingled with the stench of hard liquor.

Elisha had chosen this place, out of all possible spots, to drag Adrian Oberon to for a simple reason. She believed it would be unbearable for a man raised in the pampered north as a grand duke’s heir.

If she could make him detest the south enough to leave of his own accord and call off the engagement, she couldn’t ask for more.

As Elisha pulled open the tavern’s wooden door, a cheerful bell rang.

“Welcome!”

She naturally found a seat amidst the crowd. Then she looked up at Adrian, who stood awkwardly, unable to blend in with the rowdy surroundings.

Wearing water-soaked clothes was out of the question, so he had thrown on whatever old navy uniform had been left behind by other sailors. Elisha had expected him to look ridiculous and shabby, but he didn’t.

Of course, he was the grand duke’s son. The sharp glint in his red eyes as he scanned the tavern, the chiseled jawline revealed every time he turned his head… it was all too striking. Anyone else would’ve looked like a country bumpkin in that outfit, but not him. He looked elegant, almost unreal in his beauty, detached from reality.

‘Disgusting.’

But Elisha wasn’t one to fall for such a shell. The looks that had captivated not just the northern regions but the capital’s social circles were utterly useless against her.

She knew too well the real Adrian Oberon hidden behind that flawless mask.

Just then, the tavern owner placed two large mugs of dark beer in front of them.

Elisha raised her mug to her lips first. Adrian followed suit, but as soon as the dark beer hit his tongue, a slight frown appeared between his brows.

He set the mug down and pushed it slightly away. Then he glanced at Elisha’s nearly half-empty mug.

“If I recall, Admiral, I thought you preferred wine to beer. Was I mistaken?”

For a moment, Elisha felt like she had been doused in cold water. Her fingertips turned cold, while something hot surged inside her.

But she quickly composed herself and schooled her expression.

She absolutely didn’t want to let it show. Didn’t want him to know that she still remembered everything that had happened in that garden. That it was all still etched into her heart.

Not in front of Adrian Oberon, who brought it up so casually, as if he remembered none of it.

That was Elisha Shooter’s last shred of pride.

“The noble heir of a grand ducal house must find this place uncomfortable, I assume?”

Despite her biting words, Adrian simply gave a relaxed smile. “I’m fine. However, it doesn’t seem like the right place to deliver Her Majesty’s letter.”

“Her Majesty’s letter? I haven’t heard anything about that.”

“Naturally. You tossed the proposal into the sea before I had the chance to say anything, and you threw me out of your unit.”

As he spoke, a faint smile lingered at the corners of Adrian’s mouth.

He wasn’t wrong. Elisha had thrown him out. She had banned him from every part of the base—from the warships, the shooting range, the training grounds.

Yet even after that, Adrian was sitting there with his usual smooth expression, watching her in silence.

That subtle smile on his lips felt like it was mocking her. Elisha had to suppress the urge to storm out on the spot.

“Well then, show me the letter.”

Adrian obediently pulled out a paper bearing the queen’s seal and handed it to her.

Elisha skipped over the tedious formalities and words of praise and went straight to the main content.

[As the marriage has already been arranged, I hereby appoint the young lord of Oberon as Vice Admiral of the Sepian Navy, so that the two of you may become quickly accustomed to each other. I expect the engagement procedures to proceed swiftly. I also look forward to the feats you two will accomplish together at sea.]

Elisha’s hand trembled. She couldn’t even crumple the letter; she just clutched it tightly.

Then her gaze drifted down to the final lines.

[Along with this letter, I send a ring set with the Tears of the Goddess as a token of the royal family’s blessing upon this union. I ask that you accept the young lord of Oberon together with the ring.]

“The ring?”

“The one you threw into the sea this afternoon, Admiral.”

The moment Adrian spoke, Elisha’s face paled.

What did that ring even look like?

She couldn’t remember.

Naturally so. She had tossed it into the sea without even checking what kind of jewel was set in it or what metal it was made of. With her own two hands.

In other words, Adrian was now saying that Elisha Shooter had cast away a possession of the Sepian royal family into the sea.

As if he had read all her worries, Adrian opened his mouth. “There’s no need to worry, Admiral. I retrieved it.”

When Elisha looked up at him, Adrian curved his ruby-like red eyes into crescent moons and smiled.

Then he opened his fist before her eyes. In Adrian’s palm sat the sparkling diamond ring from earlier, completely unscathed.

“Didn’t you throw me out of your unit this afternoon? That’s when I went and retrieved this ring from the sea. I’m fortunate I found it before sunset…”

She couldn’t take it anymore. She couldn’t listen to Adrian Oberon’s shameless words a moment longer.

He truly acted as if he were sincere about this marriage. As if he were earnestly, dutifully obeying the queen’s command to marry the illegitimate child he had once looked down on more than anyone else.

“You’ve quite the stomach, Young Duke.”

Elisha abruptly cut him off. As silence hung between them, the painted-on smile slowly faded from Adrian’s lips.

“How can you smile so brightly while proposing to a filthy, disgusting bastard like me?”

“……”

“Just what—what did Her Majesty offer you in return for marrying me? For you to smile like that?”

‘What would your oh-so-noble friends say if they knew?’

The petty words rose to the back of her throat, but Elisha bit down hard on the inside of her cheek. She couldn’t let him know she was still dragging out something from years ago like a child stuck in the past.

If Adrian realized she was still stewing over something he had long forgotten, Elisha would want to drown herself in her beer glass right then and there.

And yet, even when blatantly mocked, Adrian showed no reaction.

Even under the dim, yellow tavern lights, his red eyes and his pale skin—like the snow blanketing the north—stood in stark contrast. His high nose bridge and sharply cut jawline remained flawlessly distinct.

It was a face all of Sepia praised. But Elisha wanted nothing more than to shatter that flawless mask.

Still, Adrian Oberon wasn’t an easy target. He simply looked at Elisha, worked up and seething, in complete silence.

With eyes so calm, it was as if he were looking at something pathetic.

Yet Elisha couldn’t hold her tongue.

Back in the academy, she had fought tooth and nail to knock that haughty arrogance off his face, only to end up realizing she couldn’t do anything and had run away.

And now the man who had driven her to that breaking point stood before her, making the rage she thought long discarded come roaring back.

“Was it a mine? I heard a gold vein was discovered recently in Tierra, now annexed into royal lands. Ah, but that alone wouldn’t be enough for the noble Young Duke to promise his future to a bastard. Then, was it a fiefdom? Or perhaps another title?”

“…None of the above.”

At that unexpected reply, Elisha, who had been driving him into a corner, lifted her head. Adrian’s expression filled her golden eyes.

His lips, usually crimson, had lost all color. His face had gone deathly pale. The corners of his eyes were faintly flushed, as if he were hurt.

But it was only for a fleeting moment. Adrian quickly returned to his usual blank, chilling expression, and Elisha brushed it off as her own misunderstanding.

“Then? What did you receive? If it’s not a mine, a fief, or a title, then what in the world did she give you to make you—”

Adrian cut her off as if he couldn’t stand to hear another word.

“Nothing.”

“?”

“I received nothing.”