Solo For Two

Georg sighed quietly, unnoticed by anyone. It was burdensome to reiterate the reality Sasha was denying and to deliver another shock to him. But it was Georg’s role to handle the unpleasant emotional tasks. He knew that in such situations, it was better to maintain a professional demeanor rather than offer clumsy comfort. So, with a stern expression, he explained once more.“You heard it directly from Lord Scar last night that the patronage would end. Please return to your home today.”Initially, Georg thought Sasha might react with intense emotions, unable to accept the situation, or perhaps harm himself in another delusional state as before. However, Sasha’s downcast face showed only traces of recollection, resignation, and perhaps a bit of resentment from the previous night; there was no strong reaction.“I see,” Sasha said with a long sigh, then remained silent.‘Does he remember what happened yesterday?’Georg and Levin tried subtly to gauge Sasha’s thoughts, but they couldn’t discern what he was thinking.“We’ll send a carriage this evening, so just pack your essentials,” Georg said.Sasha gave no response. It was unclear whether he was ignoring them or lost in his own thoughts. However, his fingers trembled slightly.After finishing his business, Georg left the room, followed by Levin. Once the door was fully closed, Georg quickly motioned for Levin to go back inside.“Why?” Levin asked.“I don’t think we should leave him alone for a while,” Georg replied.“Ah…”“What if he does something reckless?” Georg thought of finding Sasha by the riverside last night. Although he would continue to monitor Sasha’s well-being, it would be challenging to check on him constantly with separate residences. Understanding Georg’s concern, Levin nodded and re-entered the room.“Oh, could it be…?”Georg paused, realizing that his superior might have anticipated this situation from the start, leaving the woman’s presence deliberately. He unconsciously touched his brow.After the movers left, a carriage arrived in front of the mansion. Levin, holding a small handbag, boarded the carriage first, followed by Sasha, who carried Charles. As Georg closed the door, he said, “You should be able to settle in comfortably right away. If you left anything behind, let me know.”“Yes, understood. Thank you,” Levin replied.The carriage departed.Inside the swaying carriage, Levin heard a brief account from Sasha. Although much was left unsaid and the perspective was entirely Sasha’s, Levin understood that it largely matched Georg’s context.“I think Karel was very disappointed in me. I might not have another chance.”“……”“I told him I wanted to quit ballet and leave, and it seemed to upset him. I shouldn’t have said that. I think it’s really over now. But I haven’t even had the chance to ask for forgiveness for that time…. I didn’t leave intending to abandon Karel.”“Sasha, you haven’t lost everything. You still have the stage.”“Right.”Sasha looked down and pulled at the corners of his mouth. Levin only realized later that it was a bitter smile.“I even thought that if I got seriously injured, Karel might worry about me….”“Sasha.”“But if Sasha Sedrin, the dancer, disappears, if I’m completely useless, Karel will despise me.”Levin looked at Sasha’s profile as he spoke calmly about his thoughts. His face, dry and devoid of tears, seemed parched.“…Why do I always realize things too late?”Sasha questioned himself. Levin couldn’t offer any premature comfort.＊ ＊ ＊As if the brief departure had been a lie, Sasha’s mansion quickly returned to its former state.Upon returning home, Sasha sat by the window as he used to, watching the passersby. Seeing his listless figure, Levin thought of the Sasha from before meeting Lord Scar. More precisely, before reuniting with “Karel Clements.”He would continue to push himself to dance until he felt pain, and sometimes he would turn to drugs to forget the pain. He might ask Levin to buy him alcohol several times a day, searching his pockets for cash. Despite nothing improving or getting better, Levin felt overwhelmed by this reality.‘The Sasha from before meeting Karel Clements….’Suddenly, Levin thought of someone: Julian Ludwig, the only friend who had informed Sasha of Karel’s death.When Levin first suggested that Sasha might write to Julian, he didn’t seem to take it seriously.However, some time later, Sasha asked Levin the same question.“I think I might write to Julian.”Levin felt a bit strange, as if Sasha were expressing a thought he had just realized for the first time, but she nodded.“He was so upset with me for leaving to pursue ballet and leaving him behind… maybe he’ll forgive me if he knows he’s still alive.”“I think that’s a good idea.”“Ah… but Karel must have had a reason for changing his name, for not telling anyone….”After much contemplation, Sasha eventually sent the letter to Julian. The process of self-justification Sasha went through before actually writing the letter was unimaginable to others.In the letter to Julian, Sasha removed all references to “Karel.” This was to protect Karel’s new identity as Scar.However, for those who remembered Karel, the letter was filled with details everyone would know. It talked about his sun-bleached golden hair, the occasional smell of the slaughterhouse that clung to him, his generous and calm demeanor, and his adeptness at fishing and cooking. Even to those unfamiliar, the sentences brimmed with affection for the subject.The letter concluded like this:“It is so difficult to be alive and yet unable to meet again.But unlike me, you are wise, so you will not ruin your relationship with him.If you want to meet him, please come find me.Sasha Sedrin.”＊ ＊ ＊Julian was wandering through the center of Paris in a carriage.“I think it’s just two more blocks straight ahead…”Julian frowned as he spoke to the coachman, who nodded continuously, not understanding a word. The coachman, seemingly from the equatorial region, had not been in Paris long and did not speak the language well.Julian sighed deeply as he haphazardly tucked the folded address paper into his lapel.Now in his mid-thirties, his platinum-blond hair neatly swept under his hat and his upright posture were not much different from the past. The only change was that his thin-rimmed glasses had slightly thicker lenses. He peered out of the carriage window with his deteriorated eyesight.“Stop! We’re here. I said we’re here! Don’t you see the mansion?”Julian gestured to the coachman to halt the carriage, and as he got out, he slammed the door hard enough to make a sound. It was a rare experience for Julian, who was usually generous with money, to not want to tip. After all, it had taken forty minutes to reach a destination that should have taken just fifteen from the central station.Julian slowly ascended the steps of the mansion.Sasha Sedrin. The one who drove him away after giving him his sworn brother’s inheritance lived here.Recently, Julian knew he was gaining notoriety, both in a good and very bad way. Although Julian hadn’t paid much attention to gossip since cutting ties with Sasha, the rumors were so rampant that he couldn’t help but hear them.The good rumors were that his tickets sold out in the blink of an eye every season, due to people wanting to see him in person, and that even hundreds of standing tickets on the day were crammed in because of his soaring popularity. The recent remodeling of the Garnier Opera was widely speculated to be an expansion due to the audience drawn by Sasha Sedrin.And the bad notoriety was the rumors about his relationship with the mysterious noble “Lord Scar.”Recalling the Sasha Sedrin he knew, Julian imagined what that patron relationship might have looked like. It was not surprising that Sasha sought someone new to depend on, a second Karel, after Karel’s death.However, according to rumors, it seemed that this time Sasha was unilaterally declared an end by the other party, not the other way around. Julian was curious about how Sasha was enduring this, as he always imagined Sasha as someone who received love and attention.And in the midst of that, a letter reminiscent of Karel…Julian secretly thought Sasha might have fallen back into severe depression.This visit to France was not so much because he believed in Sasha’s letter but because he felt it was the right thing to look after him if he was in a serious state. If he were beyond help, Julian was ready to take him to Switzerland, where Karel and Sasha had once stayed together in a psychiatric hospital.Julian knocked on the mansion’s door.It wasn’t long before the wooden door opened behind the security iron gate, crafted with a vine pattern in thin black metal. However, the face that appeared was a stranger.“Ah… is this the home of Sasha Sedrin?”“Yes, he is inside. Julian… Lord Ludwig?”Julian nodded. The woman, with calm-looking dull blond hair, opened the iron gate for him. Julian walked inside the house.The mansion, built in the city center, was quite luxurious but slightly old. Julian moved step by step into the room, quickly scanning the house. Baby toys, a bottle on the table, a baby food spoon…“Sasha?”When the woman opened the bedroom door, Julian found even a small crib. Surprised, as he hadn’t imagined Sasha would be married, Julian hid his surprise and greeted Sasha.“It’s been a long time. How have you been?”Sasha, who was sitting on the bed watching the baby sleeping in the crib, slowly turned his head. In the dimly lit room, where thick curtains cast deep shadows, Sasha’s face was directed at Julian.Reading the deep resignation and lethargy on his face, Julian cautiously approached him.“Sasha.”“I thought I’d never see you again.”A faint smile spread across Sasha’s face as he spoke.Julian vividly remembered their last encounter. The memory of angrily scolding Sasha and forcing him to sign over money and land records. Though he had been furious at the time, as time passed, Julian often recalled Sasha’s face—the face that was shocked by Karel’s death.If the dead remain silent, the living must live on. Julian often regretted not giving Sasha time to mourn Karel. After all, it was his foolish sworn brother who decided how to spend his life for this man.“If you’re alive, you’re bound to meet again.”“Do you really think so?”“Yes, you and I have met again like this.”“It’s because you gave me a chance.”Sasha seemed genuinely happy about the reunion, as if he had forgotten the harsh treatment he received from Julian. Sensing how much Sasha missed people from his demeanor, Julian pulled a chair close and sat next to him.It was time to start catching up on the stories they had missed.＊ ＊ ＊“Colonel, what else is needed between a man and a woman other than love?”After the guest left, Rambouillet sat in the drawing room, reflecting on the conversation they had just had. She spoke the words that Karel had once said, and a slight sense of self-reproach overcame her.“The most strategic marriage creates a happy marriage.”Rambouillet’s parents had always emphasized this point, and Rambouillet herself had chosen her partners by this criterion. She believed that a marriage where both parties clearly benefited would lead to lasting happiness. The Grand Duke, and indeed Karel, thought the same.However, when explaining her marriage to others, she would conceal the strategy and wrap it in the guise of “love.” For her, a life lived for appearances had become second nature, but sometimes she felt this melancholy.“What are you thinking about so deeply?”“Oh, Karel, I didn’t hear you come in…”Rambouillet replied, lifting her head. Karel was looking down at her.“It seems you had a guest.”“Yes. Many people have been visiting to offer their congratulations lately.”Karel’s gaze briefly lingered on the table before dropping. On the table was an ashtray with the stub of a cigar that had been smoked down to its end. It was a familiar shape. It was the same brand of cigar Karel had once received as a gift, and he knew someone who was a connoisseur of this particular cigar.‘Colonel Armand.’Neither Armand nor Rambouillet had given Karel any hint that they were meeting. Rambouillet might have thought of the colonel as just one of many visitors, but Armand was different. Meeting the fiancé of his own subordinate’s spy and keeping it secret… it was obvious. Armand suspected him and didn’t bother to hide it.Karel sat on the couch opposite without showing any sign.It was obvious what he had come to investigate. To understand what strategic alliance Rambouillet and he were forming.‘He must have thought Rambouillet would be easier to extract information from than me.’Karel took out a cigarette. As the tin case opened and closed with a click and the clear sound of the lighter striking was heard, Rambouillet reached out her hand as well. After handing her a cigarette and lighting it for her, she took a few puffs and continued speaking. Her face looked a bit complicated.“There are so many rumors going around these days.”“Don’t worry about the rumors.”“…Yes. I wanted to thank you for making it so I don’t have to worry anymore.”It was a slightly sharp response, but Karel simply nodded. It seemed that she had heard about the recent loud breakup between Karel and Sasha.To deceive others most effectively is not to have a perfect alibi or meticulously crafted lies. Karel believed that to act flawlessly, he must deceive even himself. By extracting emotions similar to those of the person he was portraying from within himself, he could exhibit remarkable acting skills.The problem was that sometimes he became confused about what his real life was. This was especially true just after waking up from sleep or when intoxicated, moments when it was difficult to maintain mental strength and concentration. At such times, when he was acutely aware of his bondage as a spy, he felt as if he was still a prisoner of war, while playing Scar made him feel as though he could live as a titled noble for the rest of his life.In this temporary confusion experienced while living a false identity and disguised life, Karel often wondered if he had already completely lost Sasha.‘I believed it… that you would love me until death… you deceived me, I believed it…’Karel recalled Sasha’s tear-streaked face, wounded and crying.Amidst the masks of his life, if nothing else were true, the fact that he had lost Sasha was the most evident truth.“Karel, my parents always said that the most strategic marriage makes for a happy marriage.”“I’ve heard that before.”“Is what you can gain from me truly necessary for your life?”“…”“Tell me.”She was doubting whether the “bargaining chip” she could offer was truly valid. Watching her seem unusually anxious today, Karel remained silent. Since the balance of his life as a double agent was broken, the marriage had long been meaningless to him.However, what Karel could assure her was…“I don’t understand why you need the title so much. You’re not the type of person who clings to such things.”Her expression revealed her insecurity that the cards she offered might not be the best to bind Karel. Inwardly, Karel thought Rambouillet was a woman with good intuition. No matter how much he deceived even himself, the truth seemed to emerge like mist.Karel saw himself in Rambouillet.Just as Sasha had once relied on their emotional bond to entrust his safety to him, Karel sought to ensure his safety by staying with Rambouillet. It felt like looking into a mirror. The yearning for love, pouring out affection even knowing it would not be returned, her anxiety, and the relief that at least she had something to offer, along with the prickling sense of inferiority.That was why Karel could not follow the orders from his homeland.The order to return with Rambouillet’s corpse.To a pitiful woman who only gave her love to the wrong person, it was a cruel fate.If Karel returned alone, he would be suspected and punished for leaving a connection in Paris, and she was likely to be killed by another Austrian spy. Conversely, if he did not kill her and brought her along, she would be dealt with by their homeland as soon as they arrived in Austria, making saving her meaningless.Karel rhythmically tapped the sofa’s armrest with his fingers. Coldly analyzing, there was nothing he could gain from her. However, turning a blind eye to someone with no value would surely lead Rambouillet to death. Yet he did not want to drag anyone, not even a loyal soldier like Georg, into the mire, let alone a woman who knew nothing.Karel pondered again. Since the balance of his life as a double agent was broken, the marriage had already become meaningless. However, what he could assure her, no, what he must assure her, was…‘Her life.’While Karel was caught in his own conflict with a face that revealed no emotion, Rambouillet felt a chill from her fiancé, who did not answer her question. They did not seem like a couple on the brink of the most splendid wedding.Between the long silences that broke their conversation, only their individual worries overflowed.＊ ＊ ＊“So, you’re saying that Karel being alive isn’t just Sasha’s delusion.”Julian rested his chin on his hand, listening to the words of the live-in maid, Levin. From her description alone, the person known as Scar seemed quite similar to Karel.“But if he is really my brother, he wouldn’t have a reason to do that. At least, for him, Sasha was practically the purpose of his life…”“People change, you know. Even feelings of love can end after just a few years, can’t they?”Julian shook his head at Levin’s words.“If you knew what he did for Sasha, you wouldn’t say that. It goes beyond common sense.”With a shallow sigh, Julian glanced at the closed bedroom door. Although it was slightly ajar, the quiet suggested that Sasha was still asleep.“Before he nearly died, Karel was a soldier. I heard there was no one on the Eastern Front who didn’t know him. He probably had many brushes with death. By the time he came home on leave, having accomplished much in the war, he was already an officer… I know him. He wouldn’t have fought so hard just for success. It was because that was the sure way to return home. Surviving, I mean.”As Julian recounted the past, Levin found herself listening intently. The ‘Lord Scar’ she met was a difficult person, always tense, but the man Karel, as described by Julian, was not like that.“Even joining the army… it wasn’t by his own choice. He was sentenced to 25 years for murder but was told he wouldn’t have to serve the sentence if he joined the army. At first, I thought that, compared to the weight of the crime, he should be grateful for even 25 years and just wished he would serve his time and be released.”“…Why did he commit such a crime?”Shocked by the word “murder,” Levin asked with a pale face. However, Julian bit his lip and shook his head.“That’s why he’s crazy. You know that Sasha is very unstable too, right?”“Yes.”“It was Sasha who stabbed someone. But because he couldn’t remember the incident, Karel decided to take the blame.”“……”Levin could not close her gaping mouth.“At the time, Sasha couldn’t distinguish between hallucinations and reality and even attempted suicide several times. In fact, he had spent time in a psychiatric ward. What would have happened if he went to prison in that state? There would be no warden willing to save a self-harming prisoner. The battlefield was no different…. Even healthy people come back from there insane, so how could Sasha have endured it… Karel knew this.”Julian suddenly lifted his head.Levin’s silent gaze was directed somewhere behind Julian.Could it be…Julian slowly turned his head.Sasha was standing in the doorway, having listened to their conversation.＊ ＊ ＊‘Bastard! You, crazy bastard! You cut my face?’Blood gushed backward into his throat. When he coughed, warm, metallic-tasting liquid threatened to spill into his mouth. As soon as he sat up, a man in uniform kicked him back in the shoulder.The soldier punched him in the face again. The pain resonated in his skull, rendering him speechless.However, he still held a knife in his hand.Clutching the small knife tightly, Sasha raised his arm and drove it into the soldier’s collarbone. The man’s movement ceased.The soldier made a strange groan. Sasha withdrew the knife and stabbed it into his neck again. A spray of blood splattered on his face. Even then, he did not let go of the knife.Again and again, he slashed at that face.Those who believed they could treat those beneath them as they pleased, the hands that touched him without permission, the authoritative ones who turned violent when refused, the eyes that rudely scrutinized him from head to toe…‘Die, just die…’Hateful memories flashed through his mind. Sasha, trembling, cursed those he despised. However, from his open mouth, only a small, trembling sound escaped.“Sasha, Sasha!”When he regained consciousness, the knife’s handle had just slipped from his grip. He heard the sound of its blade clattering to the floor. Sasha groped to grasp the knife again. However, someone was already holding him firmly so that he could not move his hand.He was being hugged tightly from behind, the person holding him trembling all over.The one crying then was not himself, but Karel.Sasha recalled how Karel’s large, strong body shook with fear. He also remembered how the soldier’s face, already fallen, was damaged beyond repair.Karel cried as if aware there was no reversing this horrible act. Nevertheless, he gently laid him down on the bed, as if the blood staining his hands and face were invisible, covering him with a well-dried blanket. Then he tenderly caressed his sweat-and-blood-slicked cheeks as he usually did.‘Just lie here… for a while.’Sasha woke with a start and screamed.Despite the fear Karel felt about the crime Sasha committed, he decided to bear everything himself. Yet he only showed a gentle smile to Sasha.Such a Karel, with handcuffs on his wrists, was walking out the door with his back turned.He had to stop him. The one who committed the crime should pay for it. Karel couldn’t be allowed to sacrifice himself.However, his locked throat oddly refused to let out any sound. His body also felt bound, unable to move. Sasha beat his chest and screamed silently.“Sasha! Calm down. Stay lying down.”Unlike Karel, an unscarred, clean white hand pressed down on Sasha’s chest.Sasha shook his head slightly, taking sharp, gasping breaths. Tears streamed from the corners of his tightly closed eyes, soaking the pillow.“Seems like he’s having a nightmare.”Levin said.Julian nodded as he turned to look at her. It seemed that Levin had feelings for Sasha that went beyond those of an employer. It was obvious to anyone who observed them. Julian liked the calm woman with her dull blonde hair and gave a bitter smile, thinking that it was fortunate there was at least one person who would stay by Sasha’s side.Still, he felt a heavy heart knowing that Sasha was in this state because of what he had revealed.‘I didn’t think he wouldn’t know.’Seeing Sasha so shocked by past events, Julian was also shocked, to the point of being speechless. He hadn’t expected that Sasha would be unaware that Karel had taken the blame for his crime and gone to war.Julian had misunderstood, believing this was something agreed upon between Karel and Sasha. He thought that Sasha had sold his half-brother’s future to save his own life and to fulfill his ambition of becoming a dancer. Because of this, Julian held a prejudice that Karel was a foolish man to take on the blame, as if surrendering to the seeker, and that Sasha was cunning for taking advantage of it.But now that all the facts had come to light…It was when Julian was keeping silent that Sasha quietly opened his eyes. Levin hurriedly took a step closer.Perhaps he forgot the nightmare upon waking, as Sasha’s face looked slightly more at ease than before.“Julian.”“Yes, Sasha.”Sasha parted his lips to say something. Then, after a moment, he slowly spoke in a hoarse voice.“Karel once asked me how far I could sacrifice for him.”“…….”“I answered back then that sacrifice was waiting. I thought that at the end of sacrifice, I could have Karel back.”Julian just listened to him.“But sacrifice was about giving myself, even if I couldn’t get Karel back….”“Sasha, not everyone loves in such a way. You don’t need to blame yourself.”Levin had brought some alcohol in the meantime.When Julian first suggested giving Sasha some alcohol, Levin was worried, saying the doctor had told him to cut down on it.‘When someone is emotionally distressed, it’s not good to impose too strict restrictions, and it’s better to let them rely a bit. Only people with strong mental fortitude can overcome it themselves.’And sure enough, just as Julian said, once Sasha was slightly intoxicated, he seemed calmer and slept well. Levin soon became convinced that Julian was prescribing better remedies than the doctor, understanding why Sasha relied on Julian.Sasha murmured as he took the drink offered by Levin.“I don’t know why Karel loved me.”Julian pressed his forehead at Sasha’s tearful words. It was something he had pondered as well, ever since he accidentally met Sasha near the Russian border.“Even Karel himself probably doesn’t know.”“I don’t know why he didn’t take revenge on me after coming back, either.”Sasha recalled Karel after they reunited.Sometimes he would caress him tenderly and hold him in a deep embrace. Sasha thought that if all that was left were hatred and a desire for revenge, he wouldn’t have been able to pretend, even as an act.“Now, stop thinking about it and try to get some rest.”Julian fed Sasha a small glass of liquor. Even after wiping his liquor-soaked lips with a handkerchief, Sasha lay on his back, staring at the ceiling for a while.A few days later, Sasha expressed a desire to attend Karel’s wedding. Although everyone was worried about Sasha’s condition, his determination was firm.When Georg came to Sasha’s mansion with a few belongings left at the residence, Sasha made a direct request to him.“I know it would be disrespectful to Madame Rambouillet if I attended. Even if I just watch from a distance, that would be enough.”“Are you serious? If you get caught, you’ll face humiliation.”Georg said, deliberately hardening his face to hide his discomfort.“I can’t meet Karel privately anymore. Meeting secretly would cause more issues. Still, I want to see the face of the man who once loved me just one last time. So please, grant me this one request.”‘La Traviata,’ the lost one.For a moment, Georg recalled the story of the novel The Lady of the Camellias, which inspired the opera.After leaving the young nobleman in the countryside and returning to the capital, she soon resumed her former life. As if to say she wasn’t worth loving, urging him to give up his affection quickly.Hearing rumors that she received noblemen’s patronage and spent nights with many men, the young man became furious and eventually publicly humiliated her with harsh words. Moreover, he took another lady, her friend, as his lover.‘Still, I want to see the face of the man who once loved me just one last time.’The Lady of the Camellias also said this, bearing all the misunderstandings and losing her beloved to another woman. While dying from illness, she wished to see the young man’s face one more time before she died.However, the young man visited her only after she had already passed away. Georg didn’t particularly like this novel. His least favorite part was the ending.‘Reality doesn’t have to be such a tragedy.’In the end, Georg granted Sasha’s request.＊ ＊ ＊On the wedding day, Julian and Sasha disguised themselves and entered the cathedral where the wedding was taking place.Their seats were a bit distant from the wedding procession but close enough to clearly recognize the faces. Thankful for Georg’s consideration, Sasha took his seat.Before long, the groom, dressed in an elegant white suit, entered. Julian observed the face of the ‘Lord Scar’ walking from afar intently.There was no doubt that the man’s height, build, and the color of his hair reflecting the light were those of his half-brother. Whether the relief of him being alive came first or the regret for his former half-brother, who had erased even himself, the only family he could call his own, Julian decided not to dwell on it.At some point, Sasha and Julian thought they locked eyes with Karel.No, it was not an illusion. He was precisely looking in the direction where Sasha and Julian were seated.‘This is the last time I’ll see Karel’s face.’Karel’s gaze lingered on Sasha for a long moment. Although it was brief compared to the time they had spent together, Sasha tried hard to remember that face for a long time.Julian merely tipped the brim of his hat and gave a short nod as a greeting toward Karel, who was looking at him.During the ceremony, Sasha kept his eyes on Scar’s back with a clear mind. Julian, who had accompanied Sasha out of concern that he might act impulsively, felt increasingly sympathetic as time passed and Sasha remained calm. It seemed as if he truly regarded this moment as the last one. Instead of fleeing from the wounds of the past, he was trying to hold on to this memory of Karel for as long as possible.To Sasha, the ceremony felt very short. Without another moment of eye contact, the couple left the cathedral.“Sasha. Think about why Karel tried so hard to save you. Value your life.”Julian noticed that Sasha was gripping his hand on his knee so tightly that his fingers were turning white. He gently loosened Sasha’s clenched hand and held it in his own. He thought he glimpsed some scars from self-harm but chose to ignore them.“Julian, I’ve never once thought about dying.”“…….”“I don’t even know when or what I might do to myself.”Sasha’s eyes turned to Julian. They were filled with anxiety about his own deteriorating state of mind.“You can receive treatment in a psychiatric ward.”At Julian’s words, Sasha nodded like an obedient child.“If I start to lose my mind or do something strange, you must tie me up and send me to the ward.”“Understood.”Sasha pulled his hat down deeply and bowed his head. The two blended into the crowd and slowly exited the venue. Among the people excited by the grand wedding, they managed to leave without attracting any attention.In front of the cathedral, crowds had gathered, hoping to catch a glimpse of this high-profile union. Reporters were jostling with uniformed soldiers in a struggle to get a photograph.Amidst the crowd, Sasha soon spotted Levin. Levin, who had dressed Charles in a cute outing outfit, greeted them with a pleased expression. Sasha smiled back, and she looked relieved. Sasha held Charles in his arms, and Julian bought street food for Levin. The four of them walked home relatively peacefully.Behind them, a luxurious carriage adorned with a thousand white roses rolled by. It was the ceremonial vehicle carrying the couple off to their honeymoon destination.From the moving carriage, Karel’s eyes briefly glanced at Sasha, but he did not notice.