Crown Prince Larsen, Fioln, and even Roselun.

Among the three individuals Selina warned to be wary of, Kalcion was about to meet one already. Before heading out to meet them, Kalcion looked at himself in the mirror and clenched his fists. As he tightened his grip, his well-rested biceps and triceps flexed impressively.

‘…Is it enough?’

Upon closer inspection, it seemed slightly lacking. Was it muscle loss from not lifting weights yesterday and today?

“Please, wait a moment.”

Kalcion began doing push-ups on the floor.

“What are you doing?”

Selina asked incredulously.

Without slowing his pace, he replied.

“We might have to duel right away. I’m preparing. If I can intimidate with my muscles first, that would be even better.”

“Ah.”

She was immediately convinced and laid down opposite him.

“Exercising together is more enjoyable. How many were you planning on doing?”

“Just a light hundred.”

“Three sets, make it three hundred.”

Kalcion’s heart fluttered.

This was a first for him… a woman who would join him for three hundred push-ups as a morning workout. His face started to turn red, not from exertion but from excitement. Fortunately, it was during exercise, so he had an excuse for the flushed face.

“Who’s going to count?”

“Let’s take turns.

“I’ll start. One, two, three…

“…One hundred two, one hundred three, one hundred four…”

Their sweat droplets fiercely scattered in all directions.

“Good morni—”

Dion, who had come to the dining hall to greet them after the morning guard shift, was dumbstruck by the training scene unfolding inside the dining room. While the Duke was known for her dedication to training, she was not known to be this spontaneously rigorous.

‘This is why you need to be careful about who you let in…!’

The Duke seemed to have changed since this man arrived. Still, it wasn’t problematic behavior.

No, it was bizarre.

The training wasn’t bizarre, but doing push-ups in the dining room definitely was.

“Should, should I join, too?”

Rather than standing there dumbfounded, Dion considered joining in on the bizarre activity. Kalcion glanced at him and sharply declined.

“No. I’m the only one bulking up.”

He had to showcase the most beautiful and robust muscles above anyone else. In the meanwhile, his ambition made Dion step back and simply repeat breathing exercises.

“Three hundred, done.”

Finally completing three hundred push-ups, both panted as they stood up. No matter how regularly one trains, three hundred push-ups are bound to leave anyone breathless.

“Go, the carriage has arrived!”

The chief attendant stomped his feet, urging them on.

“Let’s go now.”

“Yes.”

Kalcion, looking at his arms in the mirror, nodded in satisfaction. His arms looked significantly larger, thicker, and firmer than before. If it came to it, he looked tough enough to take down a bear with his bare hands.

Dion, fueled by competitive spirit, glared at Kalcion’s arms.

‘Today’s training starts with five hundred push-ups!’

* * *

The carriage rattled to a stop in front of the entrance.

As soon as the door opened, a man with sparkling brown hair tumbled out and immediately sprinted towards Selina.

“Lady Selinaaa! It’s been a while!”

“It hasn’t been long, Lord Fioln. What brings you all the way up here to the North?”

Selina took a step back, her response cold and formal. Fioln, who had been approaching her with open arms, halted his steps abruptly.

“Well, I just had to see my dear Selina! I came running at once!”

“I didn’t invite you, though.”

“Don’t ignore the feelings of someone who rushed here worried about you! Suddenly hearing your fiance is missing, how shocked I was… Who’s this punk?”

Fioln noticed Kalcion standing beside Selina a beat too late, and his eyes filled with malice. Without needing an answer, the existence of a ‘handsome, tall, well-built’ man indicated only one thing.

“A new lover.”

“What?! How could you! How could you find a new lover so quickly?! What about me?! What am I supposed to do?!”

“What should I do about you?”

“You’ve stolen my heart. You have to take responsibility!”

“I never took it.”

Selina gestured as if throwing something away. It was a clear statement of her intentions. Nevertheless, if he were someone who’d listen to that, he wouldn’t have been called a ‘b*stard’ in the first place, nor would he have persistently followed her all the way to the far North.

Kalcion realized it was his turn to step in.

“Who are you?”

“Someone I know.”

“Not just someone she knows! This Fioln is so sad! We’ve been to tea parties together, danced at parties, and I’ve escorted you! We even wore matching colors at a party!”

“That’s just someone you know.”

To Selina, that was just someone insignificant. However, Kalcion’s eyebrows twitched. It wasn’t entirely insignificant.

“You matched clothes?”

“No, it was just a coincidence that we wore the same color.”

It was actually Fioln who had found out in advance what Selina was going to wear and deliberately chose from his collection of clothes prepared in every color to match hers. Unaware of this backstory, she dismissed it as a coincidence.

Still, Kalcion’s sharp instincts told him otherwise.

This couldn’t be a coincidence. There was a clear intention behind it, and this man was dangerously persistent.

“It makes me uncomfortable. From now on, please only match with me.”

“….”

Selina turned to Kalcion with a ‘why are you like this?’ look, then suddenly snapped back to reality.

‘Right, we’re acting.’

It was time to align their words meticulously, so she nodded with all her might.

“Right, right. Let’s do that. Let’s match a hundred clothes in the same color.”

“I’m delighted.”

Kalcion glared at Fioln menacingly as he spoke. The word ‘delighted’ seemed to sound bloody.

‘…Well, let’s see you try.’

Then, he subtly rolled up his sleeves. The firm arm muscles, a result of the morning’s workout, twitched visibly.

Fioln’s face turned pale.

“It would be more enjoyable to match clothes with a ‘man’ rather than a ‘child,’ wouldn’t it?”

“Iick!”

Fioln bit his sleeve in response to the insult thrown his way. Nonetheless, intimidated by Kalcion’s muscular arms, he couldn’t muster the courage to charge at him.

* * *

“Well done. Truly excellent. You’re proving your worth. At this rate, we can resolve this quickly and send you back.”

As Selina commended him for his encounter with Fioln, Kalcion humbly bowed his head.

“It was less of a challenge than I expected. I was prepared for a physical confrontation.”

“There might still be one in the future. Stay vigilant.”

“Yes. But… are you sending me back?”

Kalcion was surprised by the early mention of the reward.

It was a term discussed upon their first meeting in the Beast Mountains. Everything he would need for living here — food, shelter, clothing, financial support for settling down or even assistance to return to his original world if he wished — was covered.

He had thought the last part was just being polite.

“Can I really go back?”

“Maybe?”

“Maybe…?”

“No one has actually been sent back before.”

They had all been found deceased, unable to be sent back.

“But there’s still a way to try.”

This was unexpected information.

Kalcion felt a complex tug at his heart. He should have been ecstatic at the hope of returning to his original world, but he wasn’t bouncing with joy. Instead, it felt like a heavy weight had settled in his chest.

Turning to Selina, she looked out the window with the same weightless gaze as always.

“Excuse me.”

“Hm?”

Selina turned at his meaningless call.

Kalcion suddenly realized the dark desire nesting in his heart. He wanted to add weight to that light gaze.

* * *

It was a mistake to provoke Kalcion, who was walking around restlessly at night. Fioln blocked his path during his stroll in the garden.

“Hey, you.”

“….”

Without responding, Kalcion just slantedly looked at Fioln with his hand buried in his pocket. Honestly, Fioln was insignificant. He didn’t even seem like a man.

Wavy brown hair, pale and delicate skin, a small stature, and a whiny voice…

More of a boy than a man.

A boy so delicate Kalcion could send him to the afterlife with just one hand. While some might find that appealing, Selina certainly did not. However, Fioln would never admit that to himself.

‘I’ll win over everyone and become Selina’s partner!’

He recklessly approached Kalcion like a small dog, unaware of its size.

“Where did you pick up that piece of bone, you stray dog?”

“The dog bone is you. My bones are solid.”

“…Are you insane?”

“One could say somewhat insane.”

Considering he couldn’t take his eyes off a woman whose status, race, nationality, and even dimension were entirely different, someone he was destined never to meet again. In Kalcion’s mind, there was only Selina, so the furious barking of the brown puppy might as well have been a breeze passing by unnoticed.

“…You. Keep that up, and you might just disappear without anyone knowing.”

But the threat casually thrown out by the brown puppy was not to be taken lightly.

Kalcion’s eyes narrowed.

“Did you threaten Aite like that?”

“….”

Instead of responding, Fioln glared menacingly. If he were indeed behind Aite’s disappearance… honestly, it would be anticlimactic.

So, Kalcion laughed it off lightly.

“Honestly… with such a noticeable appearance, I’m not worried about disappearing without a trace.”

“Hey…!”

Fioln’s indignant shout split the night, unable to deny the truth in Kalcion’s words.

__