A small figure ran through the damp forest.

The footsteps of a woman pushing through the mist flowing between the trees were breathless.

Behind her, the shadow of a black beast pursued.

“Ugh!”

Her shoe came off, leaving red footprints as if revealing the fugitive’s whereabouts with blood-soaked feet.

Hunting dogs with pointed ears followed closely behind, not missing the pungent smell of blood.

As the sound of four paws pounding the ground quickened, so did her heartbeat.

“Huff, huff…!”

Her chestnut hair, damp with sweat, became disheveled, and scratches from tree branches marked her white skin.

But she ran with all her might, forgetting the pain, until her lungs felt like bursting.

The tall, straight trees quickly brushed past. The trees standing like iron bars stretched on endlessly with no end in sight.

Finally.

“Woof!”

With the howl of a hunting dog right behind her, pain shot through her leg.

At the same time, her body pitched forward.

“Ugh!”

A groan escaped as her body slammed into the ground.

When she turned her head, she met the persistent gleaming eyes.

The large hunting dog had its mouth clamped on her slender calf, its jaws working with sticky saliva.

When she realized she could no longer run away, another pursuing dog leapt, aiming for the nape of her neck.

‘Please…!’

Just as she squeezed her eyes shut.

“Yelp!”

Along with the beast’s death cry, a piercing sound was heard.

And at the same time she felt the jaw clamped on her leg release.

Rip!

Hot blood splattered onto her torn clothes.

The woman who had been chased slowly opened her eyes.

The large hunting dog’s corpse lay sprawled on the blood-soaked earth.

She slowly raised her head, forgetting even the pain stabbing her leg.

A few steps away. A person stood there.

The back view of a man as black as a shadow, wearing a black cloak with hair as dark as jet black.

She sat up, grasping the damp earth.

At that moment, the sword-wielding man slowly turned his head.

As violet eyes shone above the black shadow, her heart began to pound loudly.

‘Why…!’

She quickly lowered her head like someone caught stealing, hiding her face under her hair.

Splash, the sound of stepping in a pool of blood echoed through the quiet forest.

The shaded forest wind was unusually chilly, and searing pain spread from her leg.

She crouched smaller, sitting in the pool of blood.

The damp air soaked in murky fog pressed deep into her lungs.

Soon a shadow fell over her slender white hand.

She hoped that dense shadow would pass by without noticing her.

But the shiny black boots trampled even the slightest breeze mercilessly, stopping in front of her.

“…To encounter you in a place like this.”

A drop of blood that had not yet cooled fell from the tip of the sword held by the shadow’s owner.

Soon after, a hand in a black glove grasped her chin and yanked it up.

And she met them. Violet eyes shining brightly in a colorless world covered by gray clouds.

Sched Lester.

The Duke who ruled the Duchy of Lester, known as the Sword of the North.

On the other hand, a former slave of mixed blood from the barbaric Lupus tribe, called the Black Wolf.

The duality inherent in his name became gossip fodder for high society, coming up in people’s conversations whenever they were about to forget.

But to her, Sched was not mere gossip material.

“My lady, are you alright?”

Memories long buried flowed into her mind as if they had been waiting.

The dam of oblivion she had built up firmly to forget began to crumble bit by bit.

The memories that flowed out through the narrow gap soon broke through the embankment and flooded her mind like a deluge.

The memories rose up to her chin, consuming her.

The violet gaze dryly scanned her. She felt suffocated.

“You disappeared after abandoning me.”

His lips, calm as a quiet horizon, moved slowly.

“…Is this all you amounted to?”

Mockery seeped into his monotonous tone.

Pushing aside her disheveled hair revealed a mess.

Reddened, swollen cheeks, scabbed lips, torn maid’s uniform, one shoe missing who knows where, feet covered in wounds.

And a calf covered in blood from the dog bite.

She squeezed her eyes shut and turned her head.

The two knew each other well.

But she had never wanted a reunion like this.

She didn’t want to meet him in such a filthy state, covered in mud.

No. They shouldn’t have met in any form.

How did she manage to escape…

She struggled to escape from his gaze.

The violet eyes narrowed.

“Louise.”

The long-forgotten name flowed from his lips.

The discarded name once again shook her heart.

A name that was executed long ago on charges of heresy.

A name of treason that should no longer be called in this world.

“Louise Ideana.”

He once again forced her to turn her head and meet his eyes.

At the end of his persistent gaze, the corners of his red lips twisted upwards.

“…I thought you were dead.”

At the low, grinding words, her heart plummeted.

There was no longer any warmth felt in the hand gripping her chin.

The eyes that had shone with pure brightness in distant memories were nowhere to be seen.

“You should have given me a chance for revenge before dying.”

A smile flashed across his cold face for an instant.

Relief at not having lost the opportunity for revenge.

A sense of victory at not having let his prey escape.

The pure, warm light of the past had now become an outdated ornament that no longer suited him.

Instead of clumsy innocence and cumbersome kindness, he now possessed refined arrogance and beautiful cynicism.

Much had changed, and the same was true for her.

“Riana…”

The voice that barely escaped her trembling lips sounded like the cry of a sacrificial lamb on the altar.

“I am… Riana Serpens.”

The tip of her tongue stung as she uttered the name.

Riana Serpens, everyone called her that.

Louise Ideana, the criminal who committed treason and heresy, no longer exists in this world.

All that remains is a commoner maid named Riana.

Lowly, with no trace of the noble dignity of an aristocratic lady.

“You seem to have mistaken me for someone you know, Your Grace.”

Riana bowed her head, feigning the most brazen expression she could muster.

She reminded herself of who she was now.

Gone was the beautiful platinum blonde hair of the noble lady. Instead, dark brown hair like dead leaves was disheveled.

She sat on the muddy ground wearing a torn and dirty maid’s uniform instead of a dress that had not a speck of dirt.

She wore shoes woven from cloth instead of meticulously tanned leather shoes that gleamed. No, now she had lost even one of those shoes, revealing bloodied bare feet.

She had discarded the soft, melodious accent of the west and adopted the relaxed, leisurely one of the south.

So until now, no one, truly not a single person, had recognized her.

But.

“A mistake?”

A strange light flashed under his long lashes.

At the same time, the long fingers holding her chin slowly trailed down her neck.

The sensation brushing her nape was both hot and chilling.

Riana froze as if a blade had touched her.

And then.

“You can’t fool my eyes, Louise.”

His emotionless hand grasped her collar and roughly pulled it open.

The buttons of the already ruined maid’s uniform came off limply.

Beneath the parted collar, her pale, unremarkable collarbone and shoulder were exposed.

His downcast gaze focused on one spot.

The black crescent moon-shaped birthmark etched above her collarbone.

“You shouldn’t try to deceive me, you know that, right?”

He gripped her collar as if pulling the leash of captured prey.

Undeniable evidence was etched on her body.

Her slender hands hurriedly grasped at her collar, trying to close it.

“Let me go.”

“…Me, let you go?”

Her feeble resistance faded under his rough fingers.

“I need to go back.”

“Where to? Baron Godwin’s house?”

When Sched Lester asked in a mocking voice, her widened eyes looked up at him.

“How…”

How did he know I was a maid working at Baron Godwin’s house?

As suspicion clouded her trembling eyes, Sched’s gaze carelessly pointed to the fallen hunting dog.

The nameplate hanging from the dead dog’s neck clearly bore the crest of House Godwin.

Moreover, the blood-stained black maid’s uniform had the rustic frills unique to this region. It was clearly the maid’s uniform of Baron Godwin’s house.

“To want to return to the baron’s house even after such treatment, what remarkable loyalty.”

“…The baron treats me kindly.”

Riana clutched her dirty skirt with trembling hands.

Sched’s eyes narrowed.

“Kindly?”

He scanned her through narrowly slitted eyes.

The state of a maid cherished by her master looked quite good indeed.

“I wonder just how wonderfully kind he must be to you.”

A sardonic smile played at the corners of Sched’s mouth.

His fingertips slowly caressed the hilt of his sword.

Realizing his intentions, Riana shook her head.

“My master…!”

“Are you worried Baron Godwin might retaliate against me?”

Sched Lester chuckled and yanked hard on her necklace.

Her body pitched forward, suddenly bringing her much closer to him.

Riana held her breath as his was close enough to brush her cheek.

The heavy scent of the forest mingled with the metallic smell of blood wafted from him.

Sched met the eyes of Riana, who could barely breathe.

“If you think I’m still that slave from the past, you’re mistaken, my lady.”

His low voice brushing past was chilling.

Riana’s lips trembled.

“As much as you have fallen, I have risen.”